As I drag on another hoodie and fight the urge to put on the heating, the soft sands and sun-bleached stones of Ambrosia Island are undeniably appealing. So, too, is Mythwrecked’s promise of a wholesome, frictionless adventure – as we haul ourselves towards 2024’s finishing line, I can’t imagine anything more delightful than losing a few hours exploring a lush, tropical island.
Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island reviewDeveloper: Polygon TreehousePublisher: Whitehorn GamesPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out now on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One
If you go in with that mindset, knowing that Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is an uncomplicated, unhurried game that unfolds gently over ten-ish hours, then I don’t suppose there’s much to be offended by. You’re Alex, a young woman shipwrecked on an island paradise where a gaggle of Greek gods are dealing with collective memory loss and friendship fallouts. Your job is to jog the former and foster the latter by scouring the island for lost mementoes to help your new pals remember who they are and why they loved each other in the first place.
The gods, reskinned in contemporary personas that will delight and irk in equal measure, are initially wary but open up as you converse and do favours for them, as well as uncover clues about their lives before you got there. Every potential pal is unlocked in precisely the same way (chat, do favours, get mementoes, chat more, do more favours, get more mementoes), which means that from as early as a half-hour in, you’re done – Mythwrecked won’t have any more surprises for you.
Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island – Release Date Announcement Watch on YouTube
And look, I get it. Maybe this is what you’re looking for. Maybe you’re a little burnt out on the AAA grind and are seeking a game that’s gentle and predictable in precisely this way. Maybe you the back-and-forth of fetch quests and treasure hunts across the petite Ambrosia. All of this is true of me, too, but ultimately, there’s a fine line between predictable and boring, and Mythwrecked sadly falls just on the wrong side of it for me.