ISLAND
Developer: Frontwing
VNDB Play Time: 35h
VNDB Link: ISLAND | vndb
Character count: 664900
Number of weeks to finish: 26-29 weeks
Summary
Urashima is a small island, far from mainland Japan. It’s a true utopia, blessed with rich natural beauty. But the island harbors a difficult past, and it’s about to be erased, silently, from history.
Soot blight syndrome, an endemic disease, has brought about a rift between the island and the mainland. An offshore platform intended for marine research has long been left abandoned; five years ago, three separate incidents brought the once influential Three Families of Urashima to near ruin. Rumors about children being spirited away have become part of the local folklore, alongside another legend, one that has been repeated on the island since time immemorial…
“Let me tell you the legend of this island: it’s a story of tragic love…”
The key to saving the island lies with three girls, each of whom belongs to one of the Three Families. These girls aren’t able to change the fate of the island by themselves, but might they succeed with the help of the young man who’s just washed ashore? Claiming that he’s traveled back in time, the man immediately sets out on a lonely path, challenging the longstanding traditions of the island, and seeking to change the future. But those aren’t his only goals…
How will his presence transform the lives of these three girls, the future of the island, and the fate of the world…?
Availability
Steam: ISLAND on Steam
Nintendo Switch: ISLAND ダウンロード版 | My Nintendo Store（マイニンテンドーストア）
Personal Opinion
I have started this VN and have finished one main route so far. I think I enjoy it because it is quite chilled, a bit but not completely slice of lifey. I also like it because I find the writing beautiful and quite funny at times. And for language practice, I feel like it is all useful vocabulary (as opposed to something very niche / S.F. or the like), though a bit advanced. Very much novel like due to more descriptions and inner thoughts than dialogs (at least from what I’ve seen so far)
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
- The story structure is quite easy to divide in threads for the club 1 prologue 110.000, and 3 main routes afterwards. I have completed one and it was 110.000 characters too.
- It has a JPDB premade deck Island – Prebuilt decks – jpdb
- On PC and on Switch
Cons
- The main character is not voiced
- More expensive than some other games? Though as with most VNs, usually often enough on sale
- Quite long?
Pictures
Difficulty Poll
How much effort would you need to read this VN?
- No effort at all
- Minimal effort
- Moderate effort
- Significant effort
- So much effort my head might explode
- I don’t know