Pssst Hey, do you like cats? Do you like the Monster Hunter Series? Do you like MOBILE PUZZLE games? Then guess what! Felyne Isles is for you! Your main character is a Felyne that you can customize in SO MANY different outfits that you unlock as you progress through the game. Help other Felynes rebuild and recover the island by completing puzzles (some pretty difficult) and rescue other Felynes in need!
If you are familiar with typical match puzzle games, then Felyne Isles will definitely have a familiar feel to you and should be easy to pick up from the get go. What sets it apart, at least from puzzle matching games I’ve played, is the ability to match diagonally and some of the unique puzzle mechanics. Compared to other puzzle matchers, I would say this game is on the harder side. I am on level 195 in the main story and that’s fairly low compared to other puzzle mobile games I play. There is the typical ‘Heart Status’ that lowers every time you lose a match and refills over time. Like with most mobile Free to Play games, top-up purchases are in the game.
So you want to fully play FTP? Can you? YES! It just takes time. What all can you purchase? Your standard powerups are always available to buy with their in game currency that you can purchase or acquire over time by playing. You can extend matches if you lose by five moves with this currency as well, and there is an event pass. The current event pass in the game as I write this is an event to get a Zinogre outfit. While the outfit itself (hat, outfit, and body) were on the free pass side, the purchased side of the pass has two hand cosmetics, a backpack cosmetic and eye cosmetics, along with many powerups on both sides of the pass. Progress for the event are matches played separately from the main story quest and involve puzzle battles with the unique Zinogre boss!
Zinogre boss you say? So you fight monsters in the game? Yes! Each monster boss you encounter has their own special ability within the game to make the puzzle even more challenging. (Boss fights are labeled ahead of time as hard). I have just scraped the surface of bosses so far with Zinogre, Barroth, Jaggi, Ludroth, Gypceros, Lagombi, Bnaha, and Qurupeco. Each with different abilities that trigger at certain times. These bosses are nothing to sneeze at either; they can quickly end your match if you aren’t careful with dealing with their abilities. On the upside, if you do defeat them, you get their monster part and can craft an outfit of that monster for your Felyne! There are tons of outfits so far, with 8 different sections of customization! What’s great is while you are recovering your town (and customizing your own personal base) a parade of real player’s Felynes walk around your island. You get to see all the different outfits everyone has! Add friends to send gifts (powerups or hearts) to each other to help boost through the levels.
So events and the main story is that all? NOPE! There are also special Felyne Request missions, Expedition Tours that give you materials to craft outfits, Repel Quests that give monster specific parts, and item quests that give chances at getting extra hearts and powerups. There is tons to do if you’re looking at playing a game while on the go! Definitely worth trying if you are itching to try a new mobile game.
--FINAL VERDICT--
Gameplay: 3/5 - Challenging yet fulfilling, a good addition to the MH series in the form of a FTP puzzle mobile game.
Visuals: 4/5 - A high quality mobile game from a visual standpoint, great 3D models and effects for what it is!
Sound: 3/5 - While the BGM is chill and tropical, some of the sound effects are a little harsh in my opinion. I do typically mute mobile games as well, since they are typically played at random times in public.
Final Score: 4/5 - Definitely keeping as part of my mobile game rotation for a while!
