Castaway, by Likwid games, takes you away to a tropical island, where survival is found at the tip of your sword, and from the help of a few combat critters along the way. For those that have a fondness for the old school console RPGs of the SNES and Genesis days, this game rings true to the style that you loved so much as a kid (or possibly an adult).

The setting is simple. You wake up to find that you've washed ashore of a mysterious island. Attempting to get your bearings, you stumble upon a strange creature that takes a liking to you for no reason what-so-ever. This little weirdo becomes the first, and most unique, of your new pets. Pets, in the game, act much like they do in your typical MMO. They follow you around and act as allies in battle. Pets level at the same rate you do, and receive the exact same amount of experience per kill as well. While pets are generally weaker than the main character (due to being unable to equip weapons and armor), their help is essential to survival in this strange new land. While your first pet happens to be the only kind of his species in game, you will eventually find yourself with a variety of pets, as each species of enemy creature on the island has the potential to drop eggs for you. Upon acquiring an egg, you can place them in a hatchery that will require a certain amount of time for them to mature into fully combat-ready status. The type of creature you are trying to raise will determine the amount of time required for hatching. For example, the first enemy you encounter in the game will drop and egg that requires 20-minutes to hatch, while the Scorpions from a later area will require a full hour to hatch. Plenty of eggs from each creature will drop during your travels, which leads me to one of the biggest nuisances in the game, pet death. When a pet dies (any pet), it's permanent, and extremely frustrating. You will often find yourself grinding a new pet for a good hour just to get them close enough to your level to be of any use, only to have them die after a few hits during an ambush. While you are able to hatch up to four different eggs at one time, the fact that you must still raise your pets level before it can truly help you during battle will push you away from an overall enjoyable experience.
The camera view if from an isometric angle, and as such, the standard gaming mechanics apply. You attack by clicking once to choose your target, and a second time to initiate combat. Once in combat, you and your pet will surround the enemy and dole out attacks until victory is assured. At this time you have the option of using skills based in either straight forward attacks or elemental based magic. Typical skills use up no MP or other source of energy, rather are only limited to the amount of time it takes to recharge after a single use. Magic skills, while being noticeably more powerful, require the use of elemental shards as well as the limitation of a cool down time. Pets will automatically attack the same enemy you do, but they do have limited control in which you can assign them to wait in one spot and avoid combat altogether, or you can set them to attack a specific enemy on their own. If your life gets too low, you can either use a potion to raise it, or you can remain stationary and it will replenish slowly over time. Pets, on the other hand, require wild berries to replenish life. This is a bit of a draw back, but there are plenty of wild berry drops from creatures.
Graphics are very similar to the SNES era of gaming. Simple yet colorful, they bring a nostalgic joy to your experience that was a special highlight. The isometric view adds a nice touch to the style of the game, giving it a very Diablo like feel, however, the combat is much too slow to compliment this aspect of the game. A great touch is the fact that armor, shields, and weapon upgrades change the look of your avatar throughout the game. Something that may seem small overall, but has a definite effect on your sense of growing power. Music is very mellow and perfect for the setting of the island. Unfortunately, there is only a single tune that plays for all areas. Understandable given the small size of the game, but still disappointing none the less.

Overall, the game is definitely a plus in my book. Not without its flaw, of course, but still an enjoyable throwback with modern elements.

Get the game at:

Likwid Games
Armor Games
Newgrounds
Kongregate

-- Comments: 2

2 Response to See you on, The Island.

June 6, 2010 at 4:26 AM

'Cast away' is allot of fun. I really like it, some one should make a browser based MMO that looks like this.

June 6, 2010 at 4:43 PM

I would definitely play that. It would have the best of both the JRPG and Hack n Slash worlds.

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