Disney Illusion Island review – Great for a casual audience

Disney Illusion Island is a 2023 Metroidvania starring Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. Throughout my playthrough, I played as Minnie, but you can select whomever you’d like. Each character has its own charms, but as far as I could tell, the gameplay for each character isn’t different. During your time, you’ll be gathering stolen tomes that protect Monolith, the island that you’ll be playing on.

Simply Beautifull 

Monolith is an awesome location to play on, and it had me hooked from the moment the game started. A big part of that is because of how Disney Illusion Island looks. This game features gorgeous hand-drawn artwork that is a feast for the eyes. And while the gameplay got stale for me after only two hours of playing, the younger players whom I let try the game had an absolute blast. 

Disney Illusion Island hooked me with its visuals. From the start of the game, you’re hit with a beautiful, fully animated, hand-drawn cut scene that had me grinning from ear to ear. After the cutscene, you’re tossed into Monolith, and after a short tutorial, it becomes apparent how much love actually went into creating the visuals. Even the animations are teaming with life, and each character has a different set of animations, meaning that your play experience is going to look unique. In general, the character and set designs are charming.

Another standout is the voice acting. I love watching the cutscenes because it’s like watching a cartoon. The characters are well done, and each is true to how they are in other media. There are also some references to what the characters have previously accomplished, which I thoroughly enjoy.

Story 

As the story starts, Toku, a small fuzzy dude, tells you that books that keep their land in check are missing. They were stolen by thieves from the 3 biomes of the world. This portion of the story introduction is cute, well animated, and full of character. Though it didn’t hook me. That’s not to say that it wasn’t an interesting setup! It was just basic for me, maybe a touch too casual. Casual isn’t an issue, but I tend to need more substance to sink my teeth into a story, even if it’s a Disney story. It was funny to see that the picnic that the gang was looking forward to was a ruse. 

I talk about this more below, but because of the lack of more advanced gameplay, I found myself slipping away from the story. This game is non-violent, and normally, I can vibe with that, but because of the way Disney Illusion Island is formatted, story elements became eyerollingly boring for me. Though the cutscenes were still fun to watch. 

Gameplay

The start of Disney Illusion Island is extremely basic. Your first quest is to find an item to help you jump further. However, I found this lesson to be important to the people I was playing with, who had no experience with games like this. So while I found this tedious and boring, they were having a blast exploring and trying to remember where to come back to. This doesn’t last long, though, and soon you have your jump item from Mazzy! Each character gets their own item, but they all do the same thing. Mickey gets a jetpack while Minnie gets a paper plane, for example. I think this was an interesting way to make characters feel different without giving characters distinct gameplay benefits. 

One of the best parts about this game is introducing new players to the platforming and the connected map. The tutorial does an excellent job of teaching you the basics, while little hints that are littered around the map will help players get a bit of an extra edge when playing. But Disney Illusion Island takes this introductory approach a little too far; game mechanics and skills are introduced slowly. For example, there is no reason that jumping further and jumping higher were two separate quests. 

Disney Illusion Island has almost no combat, which is why I found it to be so boring. By the time I reached the second biome, the world was blurring together. Without combat, there was nothing aside from the art style that sets this game apart from other games in the genre. However, the platforming is fantastic and extremely smooth. While I got bored running around, I never got bored doing the more complicated platforming portions of the game. 

While there are bosses in this game, they are tedious. I beat one solo, and it was not fun. The fights are basic, even when playing with two hearts, and can often feel like they’re dragging on longer than they should be. To go further here, boss fights tend to have you avoiding things while jumping on a platform or something similar. You’re never really fighting the bosses with any specific moveset because when you boil it down, the game has no combat. 

Final Thoughts 

Disney Illusion Island is a great game for a casual audience. When I was playing solo, it felt like a slog, but I had people rotate in and out for multiplayer, and that is when the game blossomed and became more fun. 

Watching my friends and family get into the story and lore was a real treat. I can recognize when I need a more meaty game experience, but that feeling goes away when I’m laughing with my friends. Disney Illusion Island is great for kids, too. The simplistic gameplay experience makes it a great entry point for younger players. I played most of the second world with my niece, and she had a blast. In multiplayer, you get new skills too. These skills help you rescue or heal your friends. 

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