Eagle Island Review
A retro adventure that soars high.
With a sense of adventure and a thirst for the unknown, Quill sets out on a sea-faring journey. Both he and his two avian companions are having a whale of a time when things go horribly awry, and they find themselves on a mysterious island. Things seem okay at first but then the unthinkable happens: a gigantic eagle comes down and takes one of the birds away with it, and here begins your journey.
You play as Quill, who has a deep bond with the still present Koji, as well as the now-birdnapped Ichiro. You know little about the place you’ve found yourself, you just know you need to rescue your companion. It’s a fairly standard opening, but the story isn’t the focus here – the gameplay is.
Eagle Island is a roguelike metroidvania, but rather than having both parts mesh with each other, they are kept separate. The main world itself is set up like a metroidvania, with new areas being hidden away behind abilities you need to earn by completing the dungeons. The dungeons are all randomly generated in a roguelike fashion. Each time you enter one the layout will be different, but the boss and the reward will be the same.
It’s an intriguing take on this particular genre splice, one that works quite well for the most part. It means the dungeons are never dull thanks to randomisation, while the overworld is easy to memorise when you need to backtrack. It results in a refreshing version of both, at least in terms of exploration.
Combat, however, is a mixed bag. This involves you firing Koji, your owl companion, at any and all enemies in your path. You can do so in the eight cardinal directions of old-school gaming, which offers you some flexibility.
Where it shines is when you do so in the air; holding your attack while airborne results in Quill hovering in place. This is great when it comes to some of the trickier enemies later in the game. Better yet, if you can land consecutive hits you can effectively stay airborne indefinitely.
This doesn’t always feel balanced though; against smaller enemies, it doesn’t serve much purpose, while using it on bosses makes them feel trivial. It lacks the balance necessary for this style of game, with smaller enemies being far more likely to take you out than the end-of-level monstrosities that are meant to be the main challenges. It detracts from the experience somewhat.
As you adventure through the various dungeons, you come across different perks to choose from in order to power up. Some of these are temporary, like a cuckoo bird which attacks enemies on screen, while others are permanent, like a health upgrade. Due to the randomisation, you always feel the need to pursue these and hope for the best, always trying to break the game in your favour through some outlandish combination of skills. It’s a fun system and one I’ve yet to exploit, despite my best efforts.
Outside of the gameplay, the superficial aspects of the game are brilliant. The visual style makes it look exactly like a game from yesteryear, with the gorgeous animations and creative monster designs helping the tug of nostalgia. The sounds are equally excellent too; the music is good and attacking makes an intensely satisfying ‘thunk.’ There’s even the mind-breakingly annoying beep sound whenever you’re at low health. It’s excellent.
On top of all of this, there is a huge variety of modes and difficulties to choose from. You can go for speedruns, full rogue-lite modes, and the traditional story mode which is also split into three difficulties. It’s the kind of customisation that only comes about from paying attention to your audience, something this Kickstarter project has clearly been doing all along.
All in all, Eagle Island is a very charming game. It combines a beautiful aesthetic with a simple yet endearing story and some fun gameplay. Despite the issues with balancing, it is still a lot of fun to play, and it’s hard to deny the rush you get when managing a 20-hit combo in midair against a giant snake. It’s a lot of fun to play and should keep its hooks in you long after you’ve finished it thanks to different ways to play it.
[Reviewed on Switch]