Castaway [PC] | REVIEW

I’ve got a bit of a hectic life at the moment with it being the summer holidays and having a little one to look after, so it’s always nice to play something that is a bit more bite-sized and simple in design. Castaway offers just that, with its charmingly fun retro-style adventure beatable in under two-hours, but also coming with a low price point to add to the appeal.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Castaway puts players in the role of a space traveller who finds themselves crashing down to a small island on a mysterious planet full of peculiar monsters and… dinosaurs? Upon arrival, three dastardly pterodactyls don’t only steal the tools you need to try and escape from the island, but also your canine companion, sending you on an adventure to track everything down. It’s a simple yet cute tale that doesn’t flesh out too much, but come on… who wouldn’t want to save their little doggy?

The core gameplay loop of Castaway would best be described as a lite version of one of the older Legend of Zelda titles, with players beating up enemies in top-down action, solving small puzzles across a selection of dungeons, and using the tools they find along the way to access new areas. It’ll feel very familiar to a lot of gamers, but in a pleasant way that makes it easy to pick up and play.

That being said, it should be noted that Castaway is VERY simple in design, so those who are familiar with the genre will find themselves working through the adventure with ease. There are only a small selection of enemies to face off against that are pretty easy to handle, and whilst the bosses do bring with them more elaborate attacks, it’s never difficult to figure out how to approach them. I didn’t die once during my playthrough, so if you’re looking for an adventure that’ll provide a stern test or intricate mechanics, you won’t find that here.

“I’d be remiss not to mention that the developer noted that they wanted to make the game an accessible experience as a father of two daughters, and after letting my four-year old try the game, I watched on proudly as she was able to handle the enemies and even solve some of the puzzles (albeit with a little bit of help).“

That’s not a criticism though, because Castaway is fun to play despite its simplicity. Whilst combat scenarios or the puzzling moments weren’t especially challenging, I still enjoyed beating up the baddies and solving each enigma in my path. There was something satisfying about scouring off the beaten path with my new tools to find the extra heart containers to extend my health bar, though I’d be lying if I said Castaway wasn’t pretty linear in design. It’s also very short, with my playthrough coming in at around forty-minutes, which felt like the perfect length for the simplistic mechanics to maintain their charm without growing repetitive or leaving me wanting more.

You do unlock a Tower mode to play through once you beat the game though, which essentially acts as the conclusion to the Castaway experience. This takes a rogue-like approach, with players working their way through fifty-floors of the tower that steadily increase in challenge, all whilst unlocking upgrades like extra health, more powerful attacks, increased speed, and so forth. It actually provided more of a challenge than the main game, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I died twice before succeeding (once on floor 49 and once on the final boss). Luckily, I learnt where I was going wrong on those subsequent attempts, so I did find success on my third try. It was really satisfying too, with the simple mechanics of the core experience fitting in with the rogue-like setup perfectly – so much so that I found myself enjoying fighting through the Tower more than playing the main game.

I had a good time playing through Castaway, but I think a lot of its appeal came from the fact that it has been pushed as a smaller game from the get-go. It might normally be seen as a bit of a criticism that I managed to beat both the main adventure and the Tower mode in less that ninety-minutes with minimal fuss, but given that Castaway is meant to be a shorter and easy-going experience, the length stands out as one of its more appealing features. I have a bit of a hectic life, so I’m ALWAYS up for playing more shorter games like this, especially when they’re available at a cheap price (it’s launching at £6.99 on Steam which feels fair for what you’re getting). I’d be remiss not to mention that the developer noted that they wanted to make the game an accessible experience as a father of two daughters, and after letting my four-year old try the game, I watched on proudly as she was able to handle the enemies and even solve some of the puzzles (albeit with a little bit of help). There aren’t many games that have let me do that outside of kiddie-focused releases, so it certainly earns some extra kudos there – especially since she was genuinely enjoying playing the game. She hasn’t beaten it yet though, the noob.

Check out some screenshots down below:

I’ve got to give a shout out to the old-school visuals too, which I adored throughout. You know how I mentioned that Castaway plays like a retro Legend of Zelda title? Well, it looks like one too, with the vibrant world design reminiscent of Nintendo’s famed franchise… the hero bears some similarities to Link’s appearance in Breath of the Wild too, so the inspiration is clear. It looks delightful though, whilst the up-beat soundtrack adds to the charm.

My only complaint? I wish there was a bit more diversity in the visuals of the dungeons. With only three dungeons in the game, it’s a shame that they all look exactly the same. And sure, I know this is meant to be a smaller game and I understand that it takes time and effort to design the art, but it would have added a welcome dose of variety to the visual experience.

There were also a couple of other little things that would’ve made Castaway a more complete experience. There are multiple difficulty settings for the game (including an ‘Invincible’ mode that alleviates all damage and an ‘Unfair’ mode that sees the player take one-hit kills with no checkpoints), but I think it could have done with one extra difficulty mode to keep players tested. ‘Normal’ mode was a bit too easy, but ‘Unfair’ didn’t appeal to me… maybe something in-between that upped the enemy damage whilst decreasing yours would make for a more challenging but rewarding experience? I think a trick was missed by not including the bosses from the main game or even some puzzles in the Tower mode too, which would have added to the diversity and kept me on my toes when dealing with the ever-increasing challenge.

Developer: Canari Games
Publisher: Canari Games
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2564860/Castaway/