Island is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Setsuna Sanzenkai. Much of its gameplay is spent on reading the story's narrative and dialogue. The text in the game is accompanied by character sprites, which represent who Setsuna is talking to, over background art. Throughout the game, the player encounters CG artwork at certain points in the story, which take the place of the background art and character sprites. The game follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game, the plot will progress in a specific direction. The game is set on the fictional island of Urashima in Japan, inspired from the Japanese story Urashima Tarō. The island was controlled by 3 families, and is plagued with a fictional disease named Soot Blight Syndrome. The three families have decreased in influence, and have, by the time of the game, decreased in power. The main character, washed up on the shore and claiming that he has traveled back in time, works with three girls from the influential families in order to challenge island traditions. The game uses a flowchart system to visualize the paths. There are three main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each heroine. There are five parts of the story - Karen, Sara, Rinne, as well as Midsummer and Winter. Throughout gameplay, the player is given multiple options to choose from, and text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made. Some decisions can lead the game to end prematurely, which offer an alternative ending to the plot. To view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction.
Developed by the visual novel studio Front Wing, Island was produced by Ryuichiro Yamakawa, with G.O. writing the scenario. The art direction and character design were provided by Yōsai Kūchū. Background art is provided by Magnum and Cre-p. The game's music was composed by Hijiri Anze. Rated for all ages, the development staff classifies the game as a. Front Wing released the game for Windows on 28 April 2016. Prototype released a version for the PlayStation Vita on 23 February 2017, and they released a PlayStation 4 port on 28 June 2018. An English version of the visual novel was released on Steam on 24 August 2018, with Frontwing stating they were considering releasing it on other platforms. Island has three pieces of theme music: one opening theme and two ending themes. The opening theme is "Traveler's Tale", sung by Riya of Eufonius, the first ending theme is, sung by Chata, and the second ending theme is by Eufonius.
Adaptations
Manga
NyaroMelon and Front Wing published a two-chapter four-panelcomic stripmanga crossover with NyaroMelon's Berlin wa Kane manga, titled Island x Berlin wa Kane, on Akita Shoten's Champion Tappu! website between 7 and 21 April 2016. A two-chapter manga adaptation by Naoya Yao was serialized in Simsum Media's Cosplay Channel magazine from 21 April to 11 July 2016.
Anime
A 12-episode anime television series adaptation, directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi at Feel, aired from 1 July to 16 September 2018 on Tokyo MX and other channels. Crunchyroll streamed the series, and it was also streamed by Funimation with an English dub. Series composition is handled by Naruhisa Arakawa, music is handled by Akiyuki Tateyama, and characters are designed by Kousuke Kawamura. The first opening theme song is "Eien no Hitotsu" by Yukari Tamura, and the first ending theme song is "Eternal Star" by Asaka. The second opening theme song is "Closing Tears" by Tamura, and the second ending theme is "Marine Snow" by Asaka. There are four insert songs performed by the main characters: "Lasting Memories" by Rinne Ohara, "Purest Summer" by Karen Kurutsu, "Tennen Kinen Girl Janai yo" by Sara Garandou and "Quiet sea" by Rinne Ohara and Setsuna Sanzenkai. Although Rie Murakawa had originally been announced to return to her role as Sara from the game, the character was recast following disputes over the script between Murakawa's agency Haikyo and the production committee and staff. Haikyo's requested changes would have required changes to already completed animated sequences and the script, and would, according to the production committee, have affected the nature of some characters, as well as the quality of the animation and the anime in general. Due to this, Haikyo sent the production a list of suggested actors who could replace Murakawa, and in the end, Hibiku Yamamura was chosen.
