When Eric Cartman asked Butters in South Park why he wasn't playing World of Warcraft even though he was at his PC all the time and Butters replied, "I'm playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure," I laughed. I sat there and laughed at him, because how can a game about Hello Kitty possibly stop you from playing such an epic MMO with your friends? But now I completely get it. After spending an almost unreasonable amount of time living my best island life alongside Hello Kitty and her best friends, I wouldn't want to put any time into creating beer-basted boar ribs either.
I've been waiting for Hello Kitty Island Adventure to release on PC after its debut on Apple Arcade in 2023. I tried to avoid people talking about it as much as I could since I wanted to go into it completely unassuming of the adventure ahead when the PC launch eventually rolled around, and I can happily confirm it was well worth the wait. As far as life simulators go, it's exactly what you'd expect. It's got a reasonably sized map to wander around freely, plenty of opportunities to collect items and craft or cook, and a very cute cast of characters to develop relationships with and complete quests for each day. Plus, it's Hello Kitty and her friends so it's very hard to not immediately praise, as someone who's a fanatic for all things cute.
