Review: Amber Isle felt like it should have been a win, but I see meteorites in the distance

Rule number one of knowing me; I love dinosaurs. So, Amber Isle seemed like an absolute delight. There are elements here that are very Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but somehow it feels like lite-mode.

You run around an island, running a shop that is meant to revitalize said island and whack things with tools to gather resources. You then use those resources in your shop to make things to sell. You get the errant quest or two, but the bulk of the game is gathering items and running a shop. 

Amber Isle: Dinosaur Crossing?

The game starts off letting you customize your dinosaur – or your paleofolk – and while I do think there is a vast multitude of customizability, it’s a little stiff. I didn’t realize it was that way until I started meeting the other islanders. Their designs kind of make you look less put together.

I definitely loved the fact that you could be several different types of paleofolk and that you could change appendages, spikes, spots, etc. You could even use a color slider to get just the right shade!

To be fair, I didn’t really think anything was off until I met Maple. I envied that winged liner and by comparison, my no-lash having dino-lady felt naked. Additionally, the clothing options were more box-shaped. I didn’t find myself resonating with anything and there was no way to mix and match.

Honestly, you have a mirror in your room that lets you change your appearance, so I figured that you’d be able to make, earn, or buy ways to adjust your appearance, but 10 hours in of gameplay and I still haven’t found anything that suggests that. Bummer.

Once you’ve got your dino all figured out, you’re ready to set off on your “paleoventure.” It seems that everyone in this world goes off on an adventure to find themselves and, more importantly, to find their “Saurname.”

I’m guessing this is a clever play on surname and is nothing more than a title you earn at the end of the game.

Through a series of unfortunate events, you find yourself falling from a hot air balloon and landing on a building, tearing a hole through the roof, and cratering into a shop. A shop that will be yours once the damage is fixed and you pay 500k in the paleofolk currency, Amber. 

Does this debt sound familiar?

You pay back the loan in increments and as you do, you’ll unlock upgrades and licenses for the shop. Once it’s all paid up, the store is rightfully your own.

So, what now? You’ve fallen from the sky and into a big vat of responsibility. Not only are you meant to run the shop and pay back the loan, but you’re expected to help restore Amber Isle in money, resources, and real estate.

Your whole goal is to open up the closed-off parts of the island and make it hospitable so that other paleofolk will want to come to the island and lay down roots.

While you do get quests every so often, your day-to-day is resource gathering, making items to sell, and running your shop.

As you complete tasks, you’ll be rewarded in either currency or inspiration. Inspiration is used to open up “gates” that keep the island sectioned off. But, they’re also used to unlock recipes in your shop.

You have 7 different types of items you can sell like carpentry or stylist. Each of these seven categories has a branching tree of items to unlock that pertain to the theme. Sometimes, you’ll unlock some upgrades here, but it’s mostly just item recipes.

Each item has a few defining traits like what size it is, what category it fits in, which group of paleofolk might like it, and what it’s made of. It’s kind of important to know what you’re looking at because paleofolk will request items that are small, made of stone, etc.

Most of the thought seems to have gone into the shop. Paleofolk can request special orders, pawn things, haggle, and come ask for advice on what they should buy.

Your shop is customizable by changing the walls, floors, windows, doors, lighting, and desk. Also, if you can make the item, you can use it as a decoration. 

Honestly, as I’m writing this, I’m realizing how unbalanced the rest of the gameplay feels.

It’s fine that the shop is the central hub, but the rest of it is just running around in circles, whacking the same things, and hoping you see a new person you can invite to the island.

By inviting new paleofolk to Amber Isle, you’ll notice that you get perks in inspiration. Most importantly, some of them offer upgrades to your items. Getting a better shovel, axe, pickaxe, and scythe helps you to open up more places on your island. But, even when you do get to access them, it’s a very rinse/repeat situation.

Now you have more land to traverse to get resources, hoping you’ll find more paleofolk.

Eventually, you invite Barnaby and he’ll open up the museum, but this just feels like an afterthought. Then again, it didn’t serve much purpose in Animal Crossing either. So, fair.

That’s the game. You wake up, run your shop, gather resources, and repeat.

There is a charm to be found in Amber Isle, but it’s in the middle bits and it’s not long-lasting. At the start, it felt so hand-holdy and I just wanted to explore. It wasn’t until I got into the groove of inviting people and finishing their houses that I felt like it was leveling out.

Unfortunately, the sameness started to wear on me.

Amber Isle is a visually adorable game and there are moments to love, but unless you highly enjoy the grind of running a shop then you may want to pass on this one.

If you want to try out Amber Isle for yourself, you can get it on Steam and, eventually, Nintendo Switch. Otherwise, you can check out our latest review of a game we loved, The Holy Gosh Darn.