A Brutally Honest Review of Coral Island (1.0 Full Gameplay Review)

[@PristinePanda]

in this year of 2023 we gotta stop calling every farming sim a stardew valley rip off considering stardew valley is so heavily inspired by harvest moon the developers have even said that. all farming sims are very similar, but we cant just call them all rip offs or copy cats, they all take inspiration from the same OG game. also i just could not get into stardew valley but i love coral island, so obviously something is much different because if they were the same i wouldnt like it. i just think everyone calling every farming sim a copy cat makes people turned off to trying others out. that being said, i agree with you. i wish the character customization was better, i get the theme of the game but when i play games like this i just wanna make myself lol its definitely its weak point.

[@thirdboot]

I actually agree with this for all farming sims except for Coral Island's case. It's so similar to Stardew Valley that it feels like a Stardew DLC with a 3D reskin. Everything from the beginning sequence of the game to the timing of which they play the background ost is incredibly reminiscent. I'm not even saying this as someone who likes Stardew all that much. I've played almost every farm game in recent and past times and this is just my general observation.

[@PixieLem0nz]

⁠@@thirdbootno literally it has almost all aspects of stardew valley but in 3d to the point where if you have played stardew u don’t even need tutorials for the game it’s literally the same. Not all farming sims are stardew valley but coral island most certainly is. It’s alright though because it’s still a good game and it built off of what stardew created

[@Eric_8724]

Don't get me wrong, I love Coral Island but having played Stardew Valley as well, Coral Island really does go well beyond just being similar. The plot, mechanics, and gameplay are all pretty much identical to Stardew Valley with some Animal Crossing mixed in. To illustrate just how close Coral Island is to Stardew even some of the side quests are copied, for example there's a quest in Stardew where the mayor asks you to help find his missing shorts and in Coral Island there's a quest where the mayor asks you to help find his missing hat.

[@dunkyourdonuts2282]

you missed the part where developers and marketers actually want (or even pay) people to say that because they want to draw in the huge stardew valley fandom

[@foxwitch]

HAHAHAHA really check out old Harvest Moon games then come back to us the romance, the story development, the harvest goddes is all from there

[@zeppo1982]

It's funny, I love farming games but for some reason I could never get into Stardew Valley, meanwhile I've been playing Coral Island non stop.

[@suan333]

As someone who played SV in the pandemic and now has rediscovered it, mods are a huge add on to the game once you've played vanilla. And even the creator of SV encourages those mods. I think it is noticeable when a game has been made by one person by their own or multiple.

[@MyOwnShedOfLight]

I only got Stardew Valley because it was like $7 for it on my phone. And honestly it's quite nice for passing time, and when I don't have my laptop.

[@GamerScrolls]

Me too

[@TEESALSAS]

I tried playing Stardew Valley but stopped when I kept missing the events because I couldn't find their locations. I also don't like the retro look and feel of the game.

[@adjengjojonuryunitah.939]

mee too!

[@0927kira]

WARNING! The game is currently buggy on everywhere except PC so please wait for an update before buying. Let's also remember that this is a very small indie team and lets be patient with them ^_^

[@hufflewoof325]

its a bit buggy on pc as well

[@0927kira]

@@hufflewoof325 i dont experience any bugs on pc but the bugs on console i heard are gamebreaking

[@0927kira]

:o what was shown in the trailer that is not in the game? @@sentient.ball.of.stardust

[@yurabbityu]

​@@sentient.ball.of.stardustHonest question, which contents announced in the trailer were not included upon release? Thanks for answering.

[@miruz3519]

@@yurabbityu me too, I'm curious which part of 1.0 trailer that they shown that wasn't in the game? Because i've seen everything except wedding, mermaid form, and that orangutan throwing a tantrum. I'm still on first year and town rank C so maybe that's why but i've seen people showing screenshot of wedding and mermaid form on reddit, the only one i haven't seen is the orangutan throwing tantrum, anyone seen it yet?

[@williamwatson4354]

My biggest complaint is that you can only save when you go to sleep. The game has crashed on me 4 times since full release and I've lost several items that I worked hard to obtain.

[@Wft-bu5zc]

Also there's still a build version perpetually on the screen. SERIOUSLY?

[@1ManRandom]

Yeah. It could just be an issue with trying to load things in the middle of the day, but it really does feel like an artifact of older form of game design where resources were more limited. In any case, it does make the game a little harder to enjoy, since I have to be more aware of the time in order to make sure that I don’t start a day that I don’t have time to finish.

[@Fayetta13]

I don't know if maybe I'm being picky, but I was hoping that you would mention that the game is unfinished. The last quest is titled WIP for work in progress. You won't be able to continue until 2024 when they release the Savannah biome. It's also the reward for the final alter, the Rare alter. I haven't been ANYONE mention this in their reviews and it makes me a bit mad. Not at the reviewers, but the game. In my opinion at least, the game literally is not finished. I wish I had known that previously.

[@piperbird7193]

There is a roadmap that does show that the Savannah is 2024, so we knew the giants wouldn't be finished. Also, the reward for the final alter is a mythical pet.

[@beththebubbly69]

it's not unfinished. the devs made it very clear which things would be available in 1.0. they thought they would only get $75k on their kickstarter and made like $1.3mil or something, making it impossible to have all the stretch goals finished by 1.0. Stardew 1.0 was an absolute fuckin mess too. doesnt mean it was unfinished.

[@sentient.ball.of.stardust]

@@beththebubbly69 The literal trailer for 1.0 shows savannah ffs. And it's been years since the kickstarter, giving them plenty of time to figure it tf out and hire the people that can get it done considering they actually had the funds to do so. This entire game was meant to be a scam for kickstarter but it got too much attention and they ended up having to actually make a game. I never regretted backing something so much in my whole life.

[@ahuhok1307]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@piperbird7193not all players know that when they decided to buy the game. Not all has been following the game's progress from the beginning :) Since it's a 1.0 release you'd assume that at least the story is finished.

[@Vulpix298]

@@beththebubbly69 Sorry but "1.0" means full release. That means finished. If the main story isn't even done that's not 1.0. It's deceptive to call it that and call it a full release when it's still missing MAIN STORY CONTENT.

[@morganr6520]

I’ve been a cozy gamer since 2005 and this is my FAVORITE farming sim I’ve ever played. Thanks for the review, makes me happy to know more people might pick it up now from your video!

[@CodeXana]

EXACTLY the same for me! I got my first GameBoy Advance SP on my 9th birthday on May 4th, 2005

[@ampersan3]

If you guys care about character dialogues, you may want to wait for a little bit for them to fix some bugs. NPCs will often repeat their lines every single day like Pablo keeps on talking about how his brother is good with handling with tools, Judge Ross with her ramen, etc. Also there are reports that your spouse will congratulate you on your wedding as if they're not your spouse. It's kind of immersion breaking. Nevertheless I agree with Satch and this game is enjoyable and is the most fun I've ever had ever since I played Stardew Valley. This one's a good game for me to play with while waiting for SDV 1.6 release.

[@lysslongfart]

I agree! I've actually been not even paying attention to what a lot of them are saying because so many of my NPC's are repeating lines. :(

[@shyfox7554]

i did not know that character dialogue repeating was a glitch thanks you

[@marctheriault5531]

@@shyfox7554 It is not a glitch, in most games, you cannot have a decent conversation with an NC, because devs would waste too much time developing such conversations for a handful of people who have nothing better to do. Having said that, the devs opted for deception to entertain the players, and that is a shame.

[@stevie8718]

I have been the biggest Coral Island supporter, BUT they have rubbed me the wrong way promoting the 1.0 release.... WITH AN UNFINISHED GAME. 1.0 means whole, full, Finished - the main story isnt even completed. Fair enough they going to add more cool feature updates, but no excuse for main story not being completed. I didnt notice a difference between last early access update and 1.0 except losing my progress. Ill keep supporting, but that is scammer territory.

[@marctheriault5531]

It is probably scammer territory, or at least deception territory, so why do you keep supporting them? I suppose because you did not realize yet how deceiving the game is (why the rocks are different colors in the mine; why you cannot find Suki anywhere when you want to give her what she wants; why you will keep cleaning the sea forever...)

[@stevie8718]

because @@marctheriault5531 ... i had these expections for any game in EARLY ACCESS which I enjoyed. I cant predict the future unfortunately, so when i purchased a 1.0 release, i felt i was safe to be buying a full complete game - which it wasnt, hence my complaint. I couldnt have known until after the fact

[@CurlylegendxIG]

Lmao omg. Literally was looking for suki and I gave up 🤣

[@JustASleepySloth]

I have roughly 130hrs of gameplay of this game, here are my personal pro's and cons: Pro's: Immersive world with extremely likeable characters, even someone like me who hates grinding friendship or making friends in game will take the time to enjoy the cut scenes and gifting. It's very rewarding. Character style is diverse, lots of nice clothes to wear and the mechanics are enjoyable. The option to turn off monsters instantly attacking you in settings- this is a godscend for me who most of the time just wants to grind ores. I love the new grass texture in the ocean, it looked fairly barren before in terms of pallet and life, now there's many more sea creatures, a reward system for unlocking areas and specific areas you need to unlock first by following the vine. I like this it makes everything feel more cohesive. Plus it looks great, I noticed some little fish and other wild life were also added as well as more under sea buildings? very cute! Updated the icons for items to have a clear background and the kitchen UI is now much more enjoyable to use. Nearly all residents like forage of any quality aside from seashells, so easy to gift without loosing money by giving crops and they're all so polite about it! You really get this vibe of community from everyone making you easily hate Karen (I see what they did there with that name) there are also twins in this game, possibly one of which may be an aspie and there is one visibly disabled character in the group as well as many skin tone variations. It's really nicely balanced. *SPOILERS* I looove being able to have a big black whale tail with a skull on the belly, could use perhaps a few more options especially more shark options but you swim SO much faster in this game. Another thing I love is the upgrades and rings, the rings are just such a delight to use although I never bother with the light rings as you will only truly use them in winter and I can usually see well enough not to bother. My favourite rings are the forage increase ring, speed when diving and overall increased speed. I am a speed demon when in the mines. Traps for enemies, a cool idea I've not seen done before they did have a monster scent thing that I was pissed about at first cause it seemed like a rip off from stardew valley but they have not used in it that way and instead made a much more unique set of scents that do different things. I also love how the new load of weapons vary although the default hammer you get in the mines seems to have the highest hit damage? need to explore this further as I never bothered to buy another one but I did get a nicer looking sword further down but it's damage was worse than the basic bitch hammer so I sold it, found out it's sold in the guild for twice as much as the hammer. Nice try chumps. Whilst I have not tried it I intend to buy the auto chest thingy, which honestly not only visually looks cool but is a feature that other farming games I've played don't have. I really like the automation choices in this game, they've really come a long way in making coral island stand out (for all the right reasons!) Random quests, I like these lil quests or requests you'll get from the towns folk; this can be due to levelling up hearts or just for the purpose of levelling up the town. It's clear at all times what you need to do in order to progress, something that wasn't true at first and is good for players like me who like a loose direction in their game so you can play with an objective. The level of your island, the ocean and the museum is very easy to see wherever you are and I like that a lot. It's paced nicely. Upgrade system for bug net and fishing rod; I am soo glad they changed this as there is nothing I hate more than useless items you can't get rid of. Before you would upgrade simply by buying the next best or ultimate best net or fishing rod without needing to do anything but pay, this is boring but also means that if you slowly buy your way up you're stuck with several crappier tools that you no longer have a use for taking up valueable chest space and those early chests are so unforgiving. THE CON'S: Luck for ore spawning seems totally at random, I am always running out of ore and buying it is too expensive even with a butt-load of money, since we need at least 20 ore per bar or per five bars I forget which, this adds up very quickly. Later on if you get a good upgrade for your pickaxe and plenty of bombs then this is a little easier but I still find myself coming back with less than 50 ores on an average day. A good day maybe 100. Copper ore is perhaps one of the harder ones to find, I had one go at getting some where pretty much nothing spawned the whole time I was searching. It was painful. I'm unsure if there's a food that helps with this or if there's a luck system but if not it's direly needed. The tv serves no purpose for me although I do appreciate the effort put into a couple of shows you can almost do without it You can unlock fast travel quite quickly especially if you have money carried over from an older game making the horse and stable completely redundant, even in my og file I rarely used it. The button for getting off of the horse is also very awkward I wish it was just right click. Machines; only being able to put 3 of any item in at one time drives me crazy and means you have too much space dedicated to machines, sheds are currently bugged and will steal your precious aging barrels or other hard to come by machines so I will no longer trust it or use it until that's fixed. It's been a known issue for several months now but I've seen nothing about it being fixed so that's a little concerning since it can be game breaking or soft lock you for kimchi since it cannot be bought. It's also not immediately obvious what can or can't be put into some machines, like it was not clear I could make syrup with the cheese press and I feel like it would make more sense with the oil maker. Currently potatoes cannot be put into any machine, same goes for pumpkins and taro roots can only be made into juice. It annoys me that basil isn't made into pesto by any of the machines or is an option to make in the kitchen since basil juice seems extremely strange to me. I would like to up the number of production to at least five to maybe ten with a late game add on to certain machines or all machines. 3 is far too little and it's a very awkward number often leaving me with one or two of an item left over that will then take up an entire machine on it's own. Lastly the bugs, ohh boy the bugs. I have constant texture errors in the ocean and over the entire island during winter, this is something that has been present from day one, I was quite shocked how no patch was released to fix some of the occurant issues after 1.0 came out. I'm not sure if their team is small, doesn't have time for it or is simply inexperienced but their constant bugs need more addressing. I also experienced a pretty nasty bug coming out of the ocean one time where the entire doc and several buildings disappeared, thankfully I was able to warp out and it fixed itself a little later. Bronze and gold quality vegetables look too similar to me and could use a more definitive colour change. From the last two updates I have had multiple engine crashes, mainly when diving. The first time I booted up the 1.0 file it was also extremely laggy but has since fixed itself. Item duplication glitch, since quest items and animal care items are unsellable or deletable once they decide to randomly multiply in a chest you are stuck with them in that chest forever. I had a glitch where the photograph intended for the cook (forgot his name) didn't give me the option to give it back to him at some point. So I threw it in a chest and now I have two. Frick. Sardines despite being common were extremely hard for me to catch, rarely cropping up and since I had upgraded my fishing rod I could only get gold or higher so I was worried that wouldn't be accepted. Thankfully it was but that was gonna be a bitch if not. Oh and the fast travel ray doesn't work anymore, his location has been moved to a couple other places but they're mostly unnecessary due to fast travel to I wanna say shrines? they get me where I need to go most of the time. Animal life cycle and the ability to get pregnant; both of these things currently don't exist taking any connection and need to care for the animal out of the part of ranching. If it wasn't for the temple offerings I wouldn't even bother with them. (Plus I need not only more pet options but I would like for the pets to have a job, as well as for rabbits and lizards to be able to go outside on the ranch, maybe in a specialised enclosure like in real life. Ironically I noticed there are 9 cat options 3 of which are black and 8 dog options. But only two rabbits and ONE one sad lil lizard. The lizard stans are crying my dudes!) I would also like more horse variation if they make them actually worth getting, I think they should be less expensive so you use them early game as late game you won't use them at all. there is also a chicken that's clearly supposed to be male but acts as a recoloured female- which can happen in nature but it's out of place in this game. Not all letters show up in the journal, you also have no way to write down tasks if you're super forgetful like me if the game doesn't notify you itself. Could use getting some recipes a little earlier like the oil press, I had automated everything at level 6 farming so it was a little harder to get to level 8 than it otherwise would have been- this is also in part by me planting a lot less because I was loaded. My very last and tiny con is this: WHY THE FUCK DO THE MER PEOPLE HAVE STAIRS, THEY CAN SWIM??? THEY'RE IN WATER???

[@rianholmes1139]

Wow. You must've spent 3 days writing this

[@maevamangeol4109]

Thank you so much for this amazing comment I spent some time going through everything you said! Would you be able to tell me if overall it seems to be a good game to invest time in or if I should just wait for a better version with less bug? 😉 Thank you so much!

[@Niki_St0n3]

I totally agree on the super sexy NPCs 😂 when I first saw Chaem I was in love and called her my boo from the start. The main thing I’m super sad about is the Lake Temple bundles. Half of them once completed don’t unlock anything because that aspect of the game isn’t developed yet 😢 I do love the game though. The mini games at the festival are super fun and addicting. Great video!

[@Hugh.G.Rectionx]

i cant tell whether she likes me or want to beat me up lol

[@Niki_St0n3]

lol that’s totally fair

[@samanthaholmes5922]

Honestly I was disappointed you couldn't at least become friends with Derek.

[@nadagita2320]

how tf you treated SV like its the first farming game like this???????? while harvest moon been here for decades.

[@Yithiru]

Now you're making things hard for me. I wanted to get two games in this sale, one would be Outer WIlds and the other is still undecided... Thanks to you I'm even more indecisive what to get. Coral Island sounds very much like my thing.

[@kwcutie911]

I have been playing since early early access and its so fun! Totally worth it.

[@PoisonLatex]

Get outer wilds , it’s a complete game & a lot of fun. Coral island is cute & fun but it’s not complete. You can’t compete the merpeople quest line & be a merperson yet. That update isn’t out yet. So if you have the chance to get outer wilds on sale, get it. Coral island will have another sale & hopefully by then the big meaty update for the merpeople will have come out by then.

[@Beaurisque]

Outer Wilds is a incredible and unique experience. Coral island is great but it's really a classic cozy farm-sim; well-polished with a good DA, but still classic. The two games have really different vibes; Outer Wilds asks you to explore, think and deduce. Coral Island asks you to chill, do farming and thirst for the great cast of npc.

[@Yithiru]

Wow thanks for the advice everyone 🥰

[@chococookie06]

You're correct in that Coral Island isnt complete yet and i wouldnt recommend you buy it yet either, but you can become a merperson in this version, but it doesnt even matter since the whole merfolk questline isnt existent yet @@PoisonLatex

[@orenju465]

Finally! I’ve been searching for a week of a review for Coral Island without a biased take! I wanted to know what people really thought, not the few channels who have been backing the game for years and would not talk about the downside.

[@James-ep8bh]

I would look at some of the top reviews on steam they have all mentioned similar issues. This review doesn't seem unbiased to me. In several steam reviews there were several mentions of clearly missing content.

[@songsayswhat]

Your review came out just in time. I've watched the development of this one & have been going back & forth on whether to buy it. I've always liked the character art style. (Am I the only one who wishes the world had followed that art style for a more cohesive look?) ETA: And for those who want Derek, complain to the developers. Be noisy. I noticed My Time at Sandrock finally made Logan romanceable!

[@CodeXana]

I have been playing farming games for officially over 20 years now. I can say with confidence this is the best farming game I’ve played in WELL over a decade.

[@unhxlyshinobi8352]

Every time I'm looking up a game review and you just so happen to have a review video, I get so excited and watch immediately. I know you will tell me how it is, pros and cons. Thank you for your service, lol.

[@MyOwnShedOfLight]

LOL Stardew Valley copied Harvest Moon 😂😂😂 Just made it a different experience xD

[@piperbird7193]

Right? I cringe every time someone says this copies stardew, like stardew didn't just copy harvest moon. 😂

[@laser__unicorn]

Yup, really pisses me off when people think SV is the first and only farming game...ALL farming games use Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons mechanics because it is the OG game that created these mechanics in the first place. The SV creator said himself he made SV like Harvest Moon because he loved the franchise (don't think the dude making a game by himself in his room ever thought it would create such a huge cult following, tho)

[@Hugh.G.Rectionx]

@@laser__unicorn harvest moon wasn't the first at all. seems like you're just salty that harvest moon is an irrelevant game

[@Hugh.G.Rectionx]

Harvest moon copied simfarm.

[@MyOwnShedOfLight]

@@Hugh.G.Rectionx I never heard of simfarm 😂😂😂

[@lydiayeonnie]

I would looove to see coral island gameplays from you😩 your prerelease videos were so funny

[@trumplostlol3007]

Dave the Diver is the best diving, exploration, fish hunting, mermaid sea people secret civilization, sushi restaurant management, farming, fish pond, boss fighting, .. out there. LOL

[@raeanna451]

I love Dave the diver, I am always surprised more people don't talk about it.

[@equally.marketable]

This game is literally right up my alley. I could never get into stardew, but I love games like this. I’m also going into environmental science specializing in marine life so I’m 100% interested in what this game has to offer

[@karmica7591]

Same, I never bought Stardew Valley cause I’m not too fond of the art style, but I really like this type of artwork in games (may prefer something else more, but I still dig it a lot). I’m playing Wylde Flowers and Spiritfarer lately on the switch, but I’m going to start soon with Coral Island cause my brother gave me his Xbox since he’s not using it much and he will just wait for the next GTA to get it back. Can’t wait, sorry for the rant under your comment lol

[@TheGrifhinx]

SouthEAST Asia. This game is more along the vibes of SOUTHEAST ASIA.

[@λεντεραμερα]

Say it louder pls 😭

[@fransmith3255]

Yeah, it looks great, but a lot of people are saying it's still not FINISHED yet. Release is meant to be a FINISHED game. They released it early for ,money reasons. I bought it on sale, but I'm not going to play it until it's actually finished.

[@DuhAnimeProtagonist]

can you do a video on Sun Haven? i think its pretty cool ive played it for months and they had some good updates

[@Yithiru]

omg I wanted to ask about that too!!

[@sentient.ball.of.stardust]

I love it so much! And the devs are actually listening to players and directly answer questions! It's wonderful.

[@DBT1007]

As INDONESIAN, this game is indeed from the "Rune Factory/Stardew Valley" genre, indeed a great game. But from Indonesia perspective, this game like.. kinda disappoint me a bit. It's about the indonesian identity. Like they use some butchered up english words to say some indonesian words. Like.. Krakatau turn into krakatoa or something like that. I cant explain this thing very well to EN audience if you all never experience this thing. You, as a human from X culture, but follows the perspective of ABC culture sees your culture. It's.. dumb. It's like imagine native american call themselves as "indian". Bruh.. that's a term by European colonist there to call the native americans.. 😅 It will like.. gives nonindonesians some misinformation about indonesia stuff 😅. Again, for example, we name it KRAKATAU, not "krakatoa". We call it JAWA, not "java". Jawa, jawanese. Not the silly "java, javanese". KAMPUNG, not "kampong". KARUNG, not "karong". SARUNG, not "sarong". Etc. Edit: and this game obviously heavily inspired by a resort island like BALI. But aside from the butchered indonesia stuff, this game is indeed good

[@laser__unicorn]

...this is just how you would write the words in the English language, like some words and names in the past were Latinized when translated or like the Japanese add a vowel at the end of an English word or change a consonant because of how they would write/pronounce it in Japanese. Also, I might be wrong, but nowhere have I seen that the Island was in Indonesia, from what I could gather from playing it is a fictional place loosely based in the islands in South Pacific, no place specific. Not once while playing did I think "yep, that's Indonesia and Indonesian culture right there", its supposed to be made-up place with made up culture that's its just based on other real-life cultures, not an actual representation.

[@miruz3519]

I'm Indonesian as well but i don't understand why it frustrates you so much... Even japanese developer use the word Japan and not Nihon in their game and there's no problem with that, they call themselves Japanese not Nihon-jin except if you play the game in Nihongo

[@thirdboot]

From what I saw of the early development shots, it seems like they didn't develop the original game in English (likely Indonesian though I can't really confirm because I don't know the language). So the localization department probably opted to use these terms when they translated it to English later to suit their largest market (North America / Europe). The job of the localization department is not only to translate but to effectively communicate the game's intentions to the audience in question (while keeping in line with the audience's background and culture), which is why they probably chose to use terms that are more generic and not genuine to what locals would use. I don't imagine that it's intended to be a slight against your culture, but instead it's a compromise to better communicate with audiences not familiar to the Indonesian culture and language

[@anmitsuyaaa]

​@@laser__unicornIt IS based on actual existing culture in indonesia tho. Maybe not the entire island, but you can find indonesian culture easter eggs around the town, even some of the festivals are based on actual cultural festival in indonesia. Some of the decors are based on actual indonesian traditional architecture. The giants and dewi sri are based on indonesian traditional believe on agriculture. The merfolks costume and architecture are based on traditional javanese tribe attire. The developers are indonesian so saying coral island is based on indonesian culture is not wrong. Also we are not pacific islander (we are southeast asian)

[@Reza.A9]

Because they set their UI language as English, boy. If we speak Indonesian, we say Inggris, Jepang, komputer, spageti, etc. instead of British, Japan/Nihon, computer, or spaghetti right? Stop being stupid ultranationalist.

[@Dongblossom]

Coral Island is the best farming game since Stardew Valley, you just gotta have a computer that can run it, which not all Stardew players have. It combines a lot of elements that you could only get modded for Stardew into the full game. I get the feeling the 1.0 suggests that they'll continue to update the game from time to time.

[@darkbladehitsman]

Omg I choked on my coffee when I saw the ABCD shirt in the beginning 😂😂😂😂

[@suzannastivell2566]

I used to play coral island but stopped waiting for full launch only to find out savannah not yet added and they are going to be doing some changes to merfolk next year so I will wait till game is complete before returning. Before I stopped playing I had over 1000 hours in game.

[@nathanielplacide4119]

It's definitely a sexy game, can't wait for mods, story expansions and DLC.

[@lydiayeonnie]

They’re gonna add dates and hang outs in early 2024 😩 can’t wait

[@justtosuffer4604]

Well u have to buy mods for this game, it's not free like the sims so, I just use cheat engine and now have unlimited money, like 9999999.

[@prohanta9360]

"this game is the horniest game i've ever played" oh boy, idk what you gonna say because next update they will add "woohoo" feature

[@ANToxic777]

Semeru is like Derek with a twist, so I guess we'd get some in 2024 (or whenever they finish the roadmap). I really wish they polished social interactions a bit more. It feels like pulling a leg all the time with a character. Stardew and even Sandrock felt more organic.

[@BuckyBarnesAndNoble]

I've playing this game for several months now and I love it. I honestly didn't want another farming sim game but when I saw the trailer and how nice the art looked I had to get it. It's pretty unique as well

[@natdomo]

it is bit odd that people compare this with stardew valley instead of harvest moon bcoz of the story line only, i didnt like stardew, but i play this non-stop! except, when i managed to adopt a pet and i found out that its not finished yet (pet doesnt seems to move around, just stay indoor 1 place) bit disapointed that they call 1.0 already. But! beside that, you already have so much to do!

[@delphy2478]

i recently started playing this and i agree. my intial impressions was 'this is stardew-3d' which as okay, but mildly disappointing. then i kept playing and it felt less like a stardew clone but more like a game that was made by people who loved stardew but had a different vision so used it as a foundation and expanded it and went their own way, and i quite like it. i especially like that the incremental progress feels so much better than stardew, with the entire town rating mechanic, and the long term town changes that happen through events and progression

[@jtourt2]

My favorite game right now. Super sweet and the detail of NPCs stories and connections to each other is amazing! I have to have 4 farms because I can't decide which NPC I love most.

[@Nesnesa2612]

god bless Mark and Rafael 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽 though not having access to Axel and Derek kills me a lil bit 😭

[@k.wee21]

oh god please can someone stop saying this is a copy of stardew valley? stardew valley copied harvest moon / story of seasons.. get ur research done , stardew valley did not invent farming game !!!! also its SOUTH EAST ASIA !!!

[@KryaDiere]

You're the one who needs to do their research. This game is seriously like Stardew... right down to breaking open geodes at the blacksmith... unlocking elevator in the mines... bundles.. even the rubbish bin ransacking sounds like SV's sound effect... =_=........Look I love Coral Island, but this is the most "stardew valley inspired" farming game I've ever played. Literally NO other farming game (and I play alot of them, ofc 1000hrs of SV, Portia/Sandrock, Sun Haven, Moonstone, Dinkum, all RF & SoS since I was a kid, Song of Prairie, Evervalley, Palia) even comes THIS close to being a SV clone LOL. Call it like it is, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Being defensive about it only makes it look worse.

[@marikroyals7111]

I mean it does take heavily from stardew valley. I've played harvest moon and I can see what stardew took from it but stardew added to it. Coral island reminds me of stardew with a half baked underwater section (half baked at the moment). And there are a lot of sounds the are the same as stardew.

[@miruz3519]

@@marikroyals7111 If Stardew took something from Harvest Moon and added something new to it with different graphic (pixel) and story, why is people get so angry with Coral Island took something from stardew and added something new to it with also a different graphic (3D) and different story? im curious

[@k.wee21]

@@KryaDiere sure whatever ur opinion, cant argue with sdv fans cos they seem agitated whenever new farming games comes out, why dont u ppl just play sdv and make it exclusive farming game u’ll ever play? SDV was heavily inspired by harvest moon / SOS, these games were the original farming games and u cant deny that, to me SDV is overrated and shitty graphics cant really even go through my first spring playing, ugly characters as well and the fans of this game are just toxic haters and thinks sdv invented it all yuck !

[@Hugh.G.Rectionx]

harvest moon didnt invent farming games either

[@AndiniKissesGoodbye]

a bit of correction, the world and culture is based on south east asia not south asia lol. they’re two completely different places.

[@samanthajames6344]

I LOVE your channel, your reviews, and personality. Ive become a viewer because of sims but wholly appreciate that you are diving into other games! You give such sincere opinions about what you think and its needed! I wish more channels were as genuine!

[@j.j.9511]

Love how none of the major review sites reviewed the console version...

[@strawburyy]

4:55 just wanted to let u know the game isnt based off of south asia but southeast asia! specifically indonesia since the developer is indonesian.

[@isaveu]

Thankyou I was not sure if I wanted to buy this today . Your review was the best , going to buy it while its on sale .

[@draganoidept]

I'd love to see you doing reviews of more games then Sims! You bring good ideas and points about these types of Similation and Cozy games.

[@SkoomaBoi.]

"They are ALL so unnecessarily HOT **maniac laugh** " Loved it xD

[@crazyonion1962]

People says copycats of stardew valley but stardew valley was first inspired form Harvest moon

[@aaronoutdoors7556]

So glad you're brutally honest, I hate it when people tell me things softly.

[@Peach_iced_teaa]

What’s your opinion of this vs Dinkum? I’ve got both but have only been playing dinkum haven’t even started this

[@blameitondanny]

For anyone who was mad about "(insert farming game name) copying stardew valley", I get why y'all mad but is it wrong tho? Stardew Valley set the standard of how a modern farming game should be. It is so popular that Harvest Moon name became overshadowed by it. Think of it as if it became a household name but with gamer. That's why people kept referring a farming game as Stardew Valley-esque because of the popularity.

[@justgio2711]

Stardew really isn’t anything special . Maybe 10 years ago when people were finally able to play a HM clone on the pc. What makes stardew special is mods. That and the fact that literally anyone can play it as it’s available on every device and it’s cheap. But I honestly don’t get the fuss over the actual game itself tbh. Farming sims are a genre.

[@blameitondanny]

@@justgio2711 Farming game is a genre but Stardew Valley is quite a breath of fresh air to me. I'm not die hard Stardew Valley fans but comparing it to other farming games, I'm loving the freedom aspect of it. Then there's the story of how it was made by just one guy. Stardew Valley became popular not just by the game but also the story behind the scenes. Also, I the game is cheap but the quality is astronomically better than some triple A games. Not to mention countless of updates and expansion added without it being a dlc is just amazing.

[@Lillyrosechan]

I feel like there is a lot to do in coral island, I've started with ver 1.1 and even now we still get updates, like the latest quality of life update is great. I did feel overwhelmed at the start but I know there is no time limit for most of these quests so I can just take my time, I don't have to speedrun anything. Meanwhile I love stardew valley but coral island feels like stardew valley expanded with even more mods and like the whole underwater thing made me just fall in love with the game, even more so later on in that story line, because I absolutely love mermaids.

[@danielpp23]

I find it’s progression very slow, after 8 hours of play with my girlfriend we’ve only upgraded one tool and built 2 structures. Everything is pretty expensive to upgrade. Is this normal or am I playing wrong?

[@Irxzh]

Harvest Moon is the OG of these games

[@asher9423]

idk about anyone else but my game is super screwed. It crashes all the time. I love games like this, farming sims and what not. And I am excited to progress. But how can I if I cant donate to the museum or finish a festival without crashing, im on console

[@Moonatje22]

I only recently started playing Coral Island and to me it feels like an Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley mashup and those are two of my favorite games. I bought it being a little cautious due to the community reactions on Reddit. Though so far I LOVE the game. The sustainability/nature conservation part makes it even better to me ^^ Also I want to note how excited I got when I had the ability to make the character you play plussize! As a plussize girly I adore actually being able to make a character that looks like me. The diversity of the NPCs is also wonderful (as far as I've experienced it within the first 10 hours of playing).

[@angie1653]

Thank you Satch, I was debating whether or not get this game, and your review has convinced me to get it!

[@Hugh.G.Rectionx]

i got it a week or so back and im finding it really fun

[@chikasuryani]

To me, Coral island is the best farming game. A very beautiful game

[@franzukato2822]

Albeit a little buggy which also has gamebreaking bug at the moment , although that doesn’t take away my enjoyment of this game. Currently on fall 14 year one and have 8 hearts on 6 characters that I’m choosing who to date hahaha 😂

[@chikasuryani]

@@franzukato2822 what gamebreaking bug?I'm fine and it's winter already

[@EarlGrayTe]

I wanna say that I understand the sentiments that some people have that coral island is a 3d version of stardew valley. The argument so far is that they’re both a farming sim so yes it’ll be similar. But I think what people are unhappy about is the details. E.g Similar to their predecessor Harvest Moon, they have mines and the ability to fast travel through them. stardew valley and coral island mines both feature fast travel waypoints every 5 floors as well as an elevator system, and every ten floors gives you a chest with a reward, which are very similar. The similarities in the story narratives of a large evil corporation coming in to take over and you’re trying to save the town is there. As well as the community bundle system, so it’s easy to say that it’s a rip off. Not to say I’m not enjoying this game at all, all the characters look like they’re from Love Island. This is the first farming sim I’ve played that I actually had a hard choice choosing who I wanted to romance because I wanted all the men including Derek. the combat is much more fluid compared to Stardew because it’s 3D and multidirectional rather than locked in quad direction. I love the diving mechanic. I love the museum, it’s very reminiscent of ACNH as well as the bug catching system. Things I wished coral island had? Some sort of map marker so that I can see where I’m going because the map is huge. And like if our tools were bundled into one like in Fae Farm and it’ll auto switch to whatever we’re using the tool on

[@richardembree1848]

While stardew valley is one of my favorite games, I don’t think u kids realize… Harvest moon is the original. Not stardew valley. If any of these games are “copying” anything… it’s harvest moon. Now I fully understand harvest moon these days is trash but the SNES, PlayStation, n64 versions, (back to nature being the crowning jewel) laid the foundation for all these games INCLUDING stardew valley

[@IcingRose]

I'm thinking of trying this game but am hesitant. If this is worth playing or not? hmm

[@ninefoxstar]

i think the only part that i can relate coral island to stardew Valley is the speed of the character walking or running. the snails can move faster than me

[@Salazarsalsa]

I love the game, but I do experience a lot of lag. When I leave the menu, the game lags every single time.

[@seeess925]

Would have given 10/10. Yet the reason not is invalid. I'm watching this because I never played. But the character creation does not seem to be an issue at all. Same with the controls with no info on how it functions on PC which is the main thing to look at.

[@claudehu3169]

not to nitpick but this game is based on SouthEAST asia, which is rather different from South Asia. I really love this game despite its flaws, and I really, *really* hope they keep updating it. thanks for reviewing this!

[@me301]

"playing Stardew Vally when I was a kid"... Oh God... I'm so old...

[@bbspooks]

Since v1.0-943 the Xbox Series X version of the game is constantly CONSTANTLY crashing. Some have reported losing entire saves. The devs claim they have and/or are working on getting those saves back. They claim they did a hotfix and they should be able to get it back minus a few days of progress, but the players responded back saying they havent gotten a fix or prompt to get their saves back and only option is new game. Game is almost unplayable on Xbox in this current build.

[@hello_again9149]

I love this game for the diversity and more characters you actually see in detail so everyone is hot lol and the whole eco thing because I care a lot for the environnment and having a mission to clean up the ocean and help the town after the oil spill feels more like you have a purpose than stardew valley. I played stardew valley massively and at first I kinda thought Coral island was a bit of a rip off (similar to breath of the wild and genshin impact) but at least they added a ton of new things like mermaids, sea exploration, more characters with more diversity and more animals. Also town rank and more and more rank upgrades like new crops. Also I adore the graphics especially for the food. I do wish they didn't put three black cats that are identical (even though they are supporter's pets) and try and put a pet for everyone like a hamster or a snake. Overall I like it a bit better. So far I've played coral island for 128 hours and Stardew Valley 267 hours (not counting the hours I've played on ps4) so I can compare them pretty well.

[@potatoempress5731]

I legit laughed when seeing so many Indo words and stuff they used instead of the English equivalent, but as a native I'm not complaining.

[@masonbaker1677]

It's all subjective but I really can't get past the art style personally. It just has that awful, generic like Xbox Avatar look to me, if that makes sense? I definitely prefer the pixel art styles of other similar games

[@catboyhole]

same i totally get this

[@randiaz2961]

It’s Southeast Asian, not South Asian 🥲 The music, names, festivals, lore, architecture are Southeast Asian. The creators are Balinese.

[@zachrabun7161]

I think this game is really awesome! That said, I think the game still needs some polish in it's current state. Almost through year 1 and I've noticed more and more issues the further into the game I get. From performance issues to simple things like dialogue that doesn't fit the situation (ie a character talking as if they are somewhere they are not), the game seems like it was released a bit early. Definitely having a blast playing, but it is just a bit disappointing any time one of these little issues diminishes the experience of an otherwise excellent game.

[@kwatschmitsauce]

What do you mean "unnecessarily" hot? It's VERY necessary :D

[@yoips4059]

I expected more brutality from a brutally honest review

[@Diegan]

You mean copy of harvest moon right?

[@briang5389]

I hate how you say they’re copies of stardew valley when stardew valley is just a copy of Harvest moon 😢

[@MaryGershwin]

I have to disagree with all characters looking completely unique. Maybe it's just me having trouble to see the differences in the faces in this artstyle, but they all look like the same kind of disney character and - as you said - they are all way too attractive. That's actually the thing I will always love about Stardew Valley. THESE were unique character models! The only two characters I find kind of looking similar in SV are Caroline and Judy. And they all looked like normal people. I am going back and forth about buying Coral Island because the one thing all cozy games are lacking are deep and unique characters with longer and deeper storylines. The only game that did it kind of well was My Time At Portia. And that is what ultimately keeps me from getting fully immersed in the game. I never want to speak to the townspeople when running past them because it's going to be the next generic line I've heard them say a million times.

[@veradrost9654]

I don't really see what you mean, if I'm honest. I went "Huh, maybe they have a point", so I went to check the character list and I just don't see it. Comparing 4 characters of the same 'race' and gender, (just not to be disingenuous and compare apples and oranges), Kenny, Pablo, Rafael and Theo? Completely different characters. Even Pablo and Rafael, who are brothers, are distinctly different people. Different facial structure, different body types, different personalities, different hair, different levels of facial hair, Same goes when I compare I.E. Scott to Ben, Macy to Dippa, - They don't look remotely like the same "archetype" either. If you looked at only Alice and Suki I could understand it, but they are literally twins if I'm not mistaken. Other than those pairs I couldn't think of any others that might fall in the same ballpark. Could you maybe expand on what you mean?

[@MaryGershwin]

@@veradrost9654 Hi :) of course, no problem. As I said, it might very well have to do with the art style. I guess it is really a personal problem, but all I see are hot disney like cartoon characters with huge eyes. Plus I haven't played the game so I haven't seen the characters very often. It might change if I get to know them better. It is just a personal reason for me not really wanting to play the game right now because this was my first impression.

[@veradrost9654]

@@MaryGershwin Ey, that's fair enough, really. If anything it's just a shame it puts you off to such a degree. There are plenty of games I haven't picked up for arguably arbitrary reasons so I don't fault you for it. I do agree that there's a rather high degree of "attractiveness" going on. The only single individual that I wouldn't describe as conventionally attractive is Charles (Just not my type), and he's a doctor of all things, which kind of off-sets that. So yeah, I'm a fan of the variety/representation, but there's definitely room for improvement regardless. IE More age differences in the Singles. They all seem 20 to 30 maximum. Where is the silver fox! *Shakes fist*

[@MaryGershwin]

@@veradrost9654 hey, I didn't even consider the lack of age difference! That is actually something that was putting me off in Stardew Valley, funny enough. I couldn't romance Abigail or Maru because they were still such teenagers, they almost seemed underage to me...? At least they acted veeeery childlike still. I would always go for the older bachelors like Harvey, Elliott or Emily. I would love some silver foxes! Maybe I should try Coral Island some day. I've heard lots of good stuff about it, it was just the gameplay I've seen so far that didn't really catch me. Plus I have horrible orientation and that island seems massive! I know will get lost all the time.

[@MaryGershwin]

@@veradrost9654 plot twist: I may have bought the game yesterday^^ and I may already have a crush on Rafael...

[@PsilentThunderer]

Have you done a playthrough on your channel of this game? I like your style but Sims really went downhill for me like eight or so years ago. They just monetized everything and shortchanged every pack or item and it took the want to ever play another sims game. This game I could watch you play.

[@trishaprosper2066]

so i take it that fae farm copied this game or did this copy fae farm?

[@DollsChvrch]

People keep saying SV, that came out in 2016, SV was definitely inspired by the OG,s which would be Harvest Moon, and Animal Crossing (I feel like I'm missing one) lol, just pixel version really.

[@Wandering_MoonFox]

Game doesn't work on Xbox. Hasn't since the 1.0 release. Please mention this if you're going to review it.

[@Wandering_MoonFox]

So, they fixed some issues... long enough to play past the "all white people are bad" point. If that appeals to you, then this game will probably be right up your alley.

[@Ayarte]

Khem.. bug free? I still can't edit my house on console, i have 4th lvl house and no furniture, because you can't pick any in edit mode😔

[@feraldrgn]

Thanks for the review, very helpful & I think I'll pick it up even though I also have Stardew Valley.

[@silverYolo]

there are legitimate complaints to be had, and im sure more will come now that its official out, but a lot of yalls complaints in these comments comes back to you confusing a genre and its trope/mechanics for being a copycat. its not "copying" stardew, they are just the same genre of game and have the same mechanics as... literally every other game in the genre. i think its especially telling that this is a user misunderstanding vs actual game problem because a lot of you only took these games up in the pandemic and are bleeding them together. most of the people who actually play and enjoy the genre have already noted this game is not copying stardew, or animal crossing, or other such games

[@g0dZi-X]

I love these Harvest Moon type of games. Make more of them~!

[@jessicacoleman4588]

I wish this game enabled mods in the future I hope it goes in cureforge

[@Elephant-Fresh]

Why couldn’t the mermaids be with the fish part in top and human part on the bottom

[@Tribalquake]

yep. it's so strange to me that all the "eyes" on the male character customization are asian-ish... we need flat eyes, rounded eyes, sad eyes, serious eyes... more eyes please

[@hopecore-art]

Can you pet the animals?? :)

[@k.morgen3375]

Can u make more reviews about those kind of cosy games 🥺❤

[@nightstar1528]

While I do like it, oh my god does it have issues. For starters the merpeople have no unique dialogue in my game and either repeat dialogue from another npc or can’t be talked to. And the machines. I currently have one stuck to where it’s done but I can’t retrieve the product. Also some of the stuff isn’t all that clear, like where the heck am I supposed to get recipes outside of being sent them

[@AlbinoBlackHole]

I've been playing Coral Island so far and I'm only on Week 2, but I'm having a lot of fun. It's definitely one of the better Stardew Valley clones that i think gets the underlying anti-capitalist message that the original Stardew had in its story. It's not a cash grab. I like the cultural elements, too. I have only one major complaints: It doesn't have the same bite to its characters as Stardew; there aren't struggling alcoholics or secret affairs. At least not that I can see of right now, but that comes up later. I'll see. Otherwise, it's a great game. I've been having a good time.

[@blobs819901]

I felt so old now knowing most people though farming game now inspired by stardew valley instead of harvest moon/story of season lmao

[@KitTheTraveler]

Yeah I felt like there wasn't a lot faces and such which kind of bummed.

[@ItsChuckShirley]

Satch, I think we've all been too spoiled by TS4 for us complaining about the lack of char customization. Most cozy farming game does not have a lot in that department. But hopefully it will be improved post 1.0! For the precision on controller, I usually use the strafe function meself. It's still heck tricky, but it's easier than blindly tapping. Derek The Builder dude is PRACTICALLY Derek Hale from Teen Wolf lol. I guess one of the dev is a fan 👀 And Semeru is the silver-haired fish dude version of him(can't wait to 🦴 him in '24 lmao) Also yes, we all want Derek and Axel(*cough* latino Geoffrey McCullum *cough*) to be romanceable!

[@Fairygelic]

I was waiting to get this game because I wanted to see some reviews on it. I’m usually disappointed by these farming cozy type of games because a lot of them are unfinished, barely have any content or are just a copy and paste version of stardew valley. But I think I’ll actually give this one a try. The only thing I don’t really like is the character assets when you’re talking to them, I feel like the art style is pretty generic and it looks like a mobile story game app 😭

[@rayhannbe1933]

a wonderful games develop by small team from yogyakarta ❤🎉

[@PirateKing1256]

i will only purchase coral island if Derek is a marriage candidate.

[@jewellchunn2251]

Wait, we can’t romance Derek😢😢

[@khailirowan5626]

I wish it would be available on mac

[@yongyutang2453]

Good review. I totally agree with you about Derek. 😢

[@maisarahsyanie11]

When it will get out on switch?

[@samanthaholmes5922]

I've had a visual issue while playing this game but other than that ive been enjoying it, still sucks you cant befriend Derek.

[@evrys3221]

They had no business making everyone so hot in this game. I had to buy the game, and I don't even like farming games! lol