4. I can\u2019t believe I kept playing it<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\nThe review I was quietly dreading<\/h2>\n I\u2019m not going to lie \u2013 when Island of Hearts first landed on my list of games to review, my immediate reaction wasn\u2019t excitement or curiosity. It was mild panic. Not because I thought the game would be terrible, but because I already had a sinking feeling this might become one of the more embarrassing reviews I\u2019ve had to write for as long as I can remember. There\u2019s just something inherently awkward about telling friends, and especially my wife, that you\u2019ve spent the last few nights playing a live-action dating simulator where your main objective is to flirt with influencers and content creators on a tropical island while trying not to choose dialogue options that sound like they were generated by a particularly overconfident teenage boy.<\/p>\n
And yet, after spending several hours with it, I\u2019ve come to realise that awkwardness is basically the entire point of Island of Hearts.<\/p>\n
The game immediately reminded me of those strange FMV-heavy PC titles from the mid-to-late 90s, back when game developers became obsessed with live-action video because CD-ROMs gave them enough storage space to experiment with it. Games like The 7th Guest<\/b>, Voyeur<\/b> and Phantasmagoria<\/b> were filled with cheeky humour, exaggerated flirting, and situations that felt just self-aware enough to get away with being sleazy.<\/p>\nA throwback to the weird FMV era<\/h2>\n\nImage: 4Divinity<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Island of Hearts feels like a modern descendant of that era, except instead of grainy video footage and B-grade actors, you now have cleaner cinematography, influencer culture, and social media personalities stepping into the spotlight.<\/p>\n
By the way, if you didn\u2019t already know, Island of Hearts is actually a Singapore-made PC game. Produced by Titan Digital Media and publisher 4Divinity, it was led by Singaporean influencer Tan Jianhao.<\/p>\n
The funny thing is that the game doesn\u2019t even try very hard to disguise what it really is. Underneath the branching dialogue choices and relationship routes, Island of Hearts feels far less like a traditional narrative-driven game and much more like a giant piece of interactive fan service designed around its cast. You play as a recently single guy who finds himself on an island surrounded by attractive women, and from there, the experience mostly revolves around spending time with them, making dialogue choices, and trying to steer your relationships in different directions.<\/p>\n
Less of a game, more of a fan service fantasy<\/h2>\n\nImage: 4Divinity<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nImage: 4Divinity<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The cast lineup itself makes that intention pretty obvious. You\u2019ve got Siew Pui Yi <\/b>as Emily, Debbie Wee<\/b> as Gabby, Nahyun Kim<\/b> as Mia, Baby G<\/b> as Sophia, Ayako Ogawa<\/b> as Chloe, and Leah Usami<\/b> as Lily. If you already follow these creators online (ahem<\/i>), then a large chunk of the appeal here is simply the novelty of interacting with them in a semi-romantic, interactive setting. Every character gets moments that feel carefully tailored around their public image and personality, whether it\u2019s playful teasing, flirtatious conversations, or scenes designed to make fans feel like they\u2019re getting a more personal version of the people they already watch online.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s also why I struggled to view Island of Hearts as a \u201cproper\u201d game at times. The gameplay systems technically exist, but they almost feel secondary to the fantasy being sold. Most of your time is spent moving through conversations, picking dialogue options, and occasionally taking part in mini-games that feel more like pacing breaks than meaningful mechanics \u2013 they are maddeningly simple, or maybe that was the point. The branching storylines and multiple endings do give the game some replay value, but honestly, the real hook is simply seeing how the cast members react to your choices and watching different interactions play out.<\/p>\n
Oddly enough, that\u2019s also where the game becomes strangely compelling despite itself. Some scenes feel surprisingly natural, especially when the conversations slow down and stop trying too hard to be flirtatious. There were moments where I almost forgot I was playing a dating sim because the interactions actually felt relatively grounded. Then there are other scenes where the dialogue becomes so aggressively awkward that I had to breathe slowly and paused before selecting an option, because I genuinely did not want to hear the line delivered out loud.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, curiosity always gets the better of me.<\/p>\n