Coral Island: The Best Mermaid Game?

Hi Merfolk!

Over the summer, I've been posting a lot about the best mermaid games out there. But I've finally found the game you must try! With vibrant settings, lush underwater environments, and plenty of mermaid stories, Coral Island is the best game for anyone who secretly wants a tail.

In this post, I'll cover the game's premise, my review, all about the mermaids, and tips for getting started.

What is Coral Island?

From the Steam App:

Coral Island is a vibrant, laid-back farm sim reimagined with multiplayer! Experience enchanting island life at your own pace: farm with friends, nurture animals, build relationships, hang out with a diverse cast of characters, and dive into the magical Merfolk Kingdom.

It’s time to leave big-city life in Pokyo behind and start a new chapter of your life on Coral Island!

Be who you want and create the idyllic farm of your dreams, where you’ll tend crops, nurture animals, and build a bond with the natural world around you. Help revitalize the nearby town and its surrounding coral reefs, and forge relationships with a vibrant community of more than 70 fellow people who call Coral Island home.

Review:

Out of all the sim games I've played, Coral Island has become my favorite. There's tons to do and explore, leading to hours of gameplay and character leveling. Not only do you start your own farm and later create artisan products, but you can design your home, build relationships with your community (and find a romantic partner) along with saving the ocean from a major environmental tragedy.

As you build your farm, the player has the option to meet a marine biologist named Ling by the pier, and this is where the magic happens. Once you dive in, you'll explore a lush underwater world, rebuild coral environments, clean up trash, discover new creatures and collect sea scavengeables along the way as you build up your farm.

Plot:

I've been playing this game since early July, and so far the plot is engaging with a lot of environmental messages along the way, especially with keeping the community and surrounding wildlife/nature areas clean. There are fun and creative ways to expand your farm, earn coins, and continue your family's farming legacy! Throughout the game, there are also a lot of beautiful and emotional cut scenes with realistic characters who are each dealing with their own struggles.

My only criticism was the black roots subplot. Once you dive into the crystalline sea, you learn about these toxic black roots that have spread through the mermaid kingdom, killing the coral and putting the entire ocean in jeopardy. However, this issue wasn't explored in much detail and wraps up quickly. I'm still learning about the main plot, so it's possible this will be explored later on. If so, I'll post an update below.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is fairly simple, especially if you're not experienced with games. There's a quick tutorial once you reach the island along with other explanations as the player progresses with their farm. Later on, you can create artisan goods like farm fresh mayo, cheeses, juice, wine, pickles, jams, and more.

As you become a part of the community, you can choose how you respond in player/NPC(non-player character) dialogue and even attend cute festivals to boost your community rating and earn more loot! When you continue to heal the environment and make offerings to a nature goddess shrine, you unlock more island environments. In fact, I'm still unlocking new parts of the island! Other magical beings include elemental giants, who can enchant your tools and help you gain more resources. This is something I'm still exploring.

You'll notice some references to merfolk around the island, but the player must dive in to see the real magic.

There's also a lot of character customization options from hair, clothing, skin color, eye color and more. These options can be changed whenever you want, allowing the player to collect costumes and clothing.

One of my favorite aspects of the game was adopting a pet! This was the first game I've ever found that has a bearded dragon and a cat that look exactly like my babies!

My only con is the game relies heavily on resource farming, which can be tiresome at times, but it's also rewarding to see your little farm grow.

The Mermaids

The player first encounters mermaids in a nearby coral reef that has to be unlocked. Once I saw the mermaids, I smiled with joy! It was so awesome to see mermaids as the main character instead of a side. When you continue to heal the reef, you'll eventually unlock the mermaid kingdom, a small community of merpeople that's similar to the island you live on. Each mermaid has a gorgeous tropical tail and individual personality. Some of the mermaids are even dateable later on.

The mer-king will ask you to approach the throne and explains they need help cleaning up their world and healing their revered coral tree. While I was happy to help, I'm not sure why they couldn't help as well? At times, they came across as a bit needy or lazy since they rely on the player to do all of the heavy lifting. I would've liked if they could offer resources to the player along the cleaning process.

Later on, once you can become a mermaid using the oracle's magic potion, run your own undersea farm, and change your tail color! You'll even get a little undersea home with tons of decorating options.

Tips To Get Started

1) A lot of info is thrown at you right away along with different quests. Focus on just getting your farm started with seeds and fertilizer.

2) If Ling asks you to meet her by the docks, do it asap! This is your entry into the ocean and further on, to meet mermaids. Plus, while your farm is starting, gather as much ocean stuff as you can, like shellfish, creatures, and different seaweed(hold onto magic kelp) to sell. This can help give you a coin boost right away.

3) You may run into other side quests as you continue to play. Focus on the ocean and healing the sick coral to get to the mermaids faster!

Final Thoughts

Coral Island has exceeded my expectations both as a gamer and mer-enthusiast. It's a moderately priced game with tons of gameplay hours, beautiful scenery, engaging stories, and tons of secrets to continue unlocking!

This is the ultimate mermaid game right now, and I cannot recommend it enough.

I give this game *****5 stars.

-Sirenita The Selkie