mythwrecked ambrosia island review
Image via Polygon Treehouse, Whitethorn Games

Review: Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island Feels Like It’s for Kids

Cozy games is one of those genres that can have a different definition depending on who you ask. Some view them as non-violent games with pleasant interactions where you help people with their issues. Others view them in the same realm as casual games to relax to, like The Sims or Animal Crossing. Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is a picture perfect example of the first kind of cozy game. Despite that, I found it very difficult to remain cozy while playing it due to its shallow story and character interactions, as well as its visuals.

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Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island follows Alex, a normal backpacker who goes on a trip to take a break from modern life. After a storm hits her boat, she finds herself on an island full of amnesiacs who share the names of Greek gods and goddesses. In fact, they are the gods and goddesses themselves. They all had a falling out in the past, though they don’t remember details of that, nor do they recall their lives or powers as deities. Alex needs their assistance in order to get off the island, and so she helps them regain their memories and their senses of self. However, ‌there’s a greater mystery afoot as to why these gods and goddesses lost their memories in the first place.

hephaestus mythwrecked
I didn’t scale my output properly in OBS. The game doesn’t have a border. Screenshot by Siliconera.

This game reimagines the gods and goddesses in a pretty modern way. For example, Hephaestus appears in a wheelchair due to his Greek mythological counterpart having a physical disability in his legs. It does also whitewash the figures, sanding away some of their more controversial history and personality traits. Zeus and Hera seem like they’re a happy couple here. “Dysfunctional” isn’t a strong enough word to describe them in the original myths.

It’s an interesting interpretation of the familiar stories and characters. Ares was my favorite, because the idea of him taking up farming as therapy and his opinion on how wars are in modern times was something I’ve not seen in other media. Hades looks like he would’ve been popular with those who were in the Onceler fandom way back in the days of yore. While I did like Ares’s depiction in this, I have to say that I wanted a lot more from the dialogue and character interactions. For all that the gods and goddesses’ falling out and severed connection play a huge part in the story and their character arcs, we hardly see them speak with each other in the game, even though they’ll gossip and complain about their fellow deities to Alex. I’ll discuss more about this point later.

mythwrecked ambrosia island tasks
Screenshot by Siliconera

For now, let’s talk about what it’s actually like to play this. The gameplay loop of Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is really simple. After speaking with one of the Greek gods, they’ll request that you do something for them. What they want differs from god to god. For example, Hermes wanted me to go feed birds, while Aphrodite wanted me to clear the dust and rubble off the mosaics she made around the island. Meanwhile, Poseidon wanted me to fill up the fountains again. You’ll also need to search for mementos to help them regain their memory. Your friendship level with a particular god will only increase after finding the mementos and completing their requests, and you’ll need to max out your friendship with everyone in order to clear the game.

The entire game is running around the island and completing these tasks. There’s a limit on how many requests you can fulfill at every friendship level. Once you hit the maximum, you need to unlock the deity’s memory before you can continue doing so. This then sets you off on a trip around the island again. In other words, the entire game feels like you’re completing fetch quest after fetch quest, which isn’t bad on its own. It’s what I expected from a cozy game. But the characters and Alex herself are a little unlikable because of their dull or one-note personalities. Since the entire game revolves around helping them out, it can feel like you’re completing a bunch of chores rather than enjoying running around the island. Like, the only reason I want to help them is because the game locks me out of progression otherwise.

Fortunately, the game is really easy to play. Because everything is on my map, I never got stuck. Alex will also constantly remind you of what you’re looking for in an area, and when I needed an item to let me traverse the water, Alex was kind enough to tell me so I wasn’t wasting time looking for a memento I couldn’t access. When returning mementos to the gods and goddesses, you have to figure out what belongs to who. They’re pretty easy to figure out, but even if you’re unsure, you can simply test out all the mementos and see which one works. There’s no penalty in doing so. The music is my favorite thing in this game, so running around the item while listening to it and a podcast or something made for a pretty relaxing time.

mythwrecked ambrosia island alex
Screenshot by Siliconera

While I like the music in the game, the visual aesthetic isn’t exactly my cup of tea…. The character designs themselves aren’t too bad. However, their expressions always make them seem like they smelled something bad in the air As well, the shading for skin tones, especially on Aphrodite and Alex, makes them look like they’re exhausted and haven’t blended out their make-up. It didn’t look appealing to me. Hermes in particular looks like a joke. Since I’m not sure if this was an intentional stylistic choice or an art style, I won’t say anything more about this. The environments do look really nice with the light color scheme, though. But I wish the island was more varied. So much of the game has you running around Ambrosia Island, yet so much of the island looks the same that it can start getting boring.

The biggest criticism I have towards Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is the story. As mentioned earlier, very few of the characters are compelling, which is detrimental in a game that revolves around helping them. The dialogue never quite becomes “therapy speak” or “Tumblr language,” but it still feels like I’m reading something that I might hear on a children’s show. While Alex may have spent anywhere between fifteen to twenty days on the island, the actual play time is short enough that it’s possible to clear the entire game in a single sitting. So I found it difficult to connect to these characters and care about their issues, even though that’s the entire point.

The game seems to expect a base level of affinity towards the characters, who are classic figures in mythology. Unfortunately, they’re reimagined versions so removed from their real-world counterparts that I’m basically meeting people I’ve never met in my life. I like Athena in mythology, but feel nothing for Athena in this game. Conversely, I despise the mythological Zeus, yet feel nothing for him in Mythwrecked. That apathy is a pretty baseline emotion I had throughout the entire seven hours of playtime. In fact, I found it fascinating that I never grew to care for anyone, since I’m usually quick to like characters.

mythwrecked ambrosia island dialogue
Screenshot by Siliconera

At several moments, the game seems to introduce themes, but it never gives them much attention or fleshes them out enough that I’m confident in saying that’s what the game is about. The entire point of the game, as well as a part later on, seems to criticize technology. It never actually says anything about it, though. There are also several moments when Ares and Poseidon criticize modern warfare and marine pollution. But again, the game never really delves much further in that. Not every game really needs a deep theme or message. But introducing them without any meaningful follow-up can get a little frustrating, especially when they’re interesting enough conflicts in a game that’s already devoid of them.

Conversations between Alex and the deities can feel shallow, because they don’t sound like actual people talking to each other. It reminded me a lot of the skits on children’s TV shows—the ones that teach kids to share or be nice to each other. In fact, this entire game, between the gameplay loop and dialogue and even the collectible mythological lesson, feels like an educational game for a much younger audience. I won’t delve into spoilers in this review. But I will say that, outside of a brief moment when I thought the story was going to have some real depth, the ending for this is ridiculous in the same way that shows for very young children can be.

I’ve played many cozy games in private and for work. It’s a genre that’s received some flack over the years, and the criticism isn’t without merit. If Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island was a simple game about Alex running chores for the Greek gods, then complaining about the story might be gauche. But I’ve played cozy games where the story didn’t matter, and this isn’t it. From the amount of dialogue and lore, it does seem like the developers had a story they wanted to tell. Unfortunately, it kind of fell flat here.

While Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is a nice way to unwind at the end of the day, it’s definitely not something I would recommend for long consecutive hours. The story and characters lack meaningful depth, and the 3D models were distracting. However, if there’s a child in your life who’s interested in Greek mythology, this might be a fun game to get them for Christmas.

Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is readily available on the Switch, Xbox, and Windows PCs.

6
Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island

You're shipwrecked on a lost mythical island. As backpacker Alex, you must befriend the forgotten gods of Greek mythology and restore their memories. Explore the dynamic island and its story sandbox to build new friendships, solve the mystery, and save the gods. PC version reviewed. Review copy provided by company for testing purposes.

The gameplay loop itself is relaxing and easy. But the characters and the story are so shallow despite being such a huge part of the game that it can grow tiresome.

Food For Thought
  • Try to collect as many ambrosia apples you see, as well as purchase the farming plots from Ares. You'll need a lot of them later on, and it's easier to start saving up a healthy supply when you still don't need a lot of them.
  • There's a lot going on underneath the surface of the game. I just wish that the game focused a bit more on that.
  • The nighttime music in this game is seriously nice. If looped, it would make the perfect soundtrack for when you're working and want something calm to listen to.

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Author
Image of Stephanie Liu
Stephanie Liu
Stephanie is a senior writer who has been writing for games journalism and translating since 2020. After graduating with a BA in English and a Certificate in Creative Writing, she spent a few years teaching English and history before fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming a writer. In terms of games, she loves RPGs, action-adventure, and visual novels. Aside from writing for Siliconera and Crunchyroll, she translates light novels, manga, and video games.