Yoku’s Island Express

This is a pretty good bug-themed pinball adventure/metroidvania. It's extremely polished and generally very fun to play. Lots of secrets to find, items to collect, and areas to explore. The pinball physics aren't perfect, but the game is designed very well around them. My main complaint is that as you explore the world, backtracking can become increasingly tedious. There is a limited fast-travel system, but I would have liked to see a more fast-paced "pinball-y" way to quickly move around the map on a larger scale. This slow backtracking distracts from a gameplay experience that is otherwise pretty dense and fast-paced.
Overall, Yoku's Island Express is a great looking and feeling game with a lot to see and do. A very interesting take on the metroidvania genre.

Criminally underrated metroidvania that undeniably deserves a sequel. The whole pinball thing really makes it one of a kind.

I want to update my review. I dont think i gave it proper positive review that it deserves and I dont think I explained my slight issues with the game.
This game is freakin awesome. Its a mix of sonic spinball and ori and the blind forest. The aesthetic is great. Very colorful and bright, but also gloomy and dark when it needs to be. The world is huge which is so impressive for such a small indie game. The story is pretty good, not perfect, but still jams in enough heart to make you feel sad at times and happy at others.
The basic mechanics are pretty interesting and fun as you move through the world pushing a marble. No jumping just using pinball bumpers and paddles to get up in the air and traverse quickly. There are some great unlocked abilities that add to the movement in interesting ways. One of the more fun things is moving through the world and seeing little secrets and wondering how you get access to them. And then you unlock a new skill and you want to run through the map trying to figure out everything you missed and you went through the first time. And the game makes you feel clever when you solve a puzzle without assistance. Its a great game. I spent about 13 hours in it, sometime it was one without me playing others was just me exploring around trying to access stuff I could not yet.
Now I am going to point out somethings I didn't love about the game. Not because they are bad, but I think if they were tweaked a bit I would have loved the game a bit more. These are not really negatives as much as slight challenges or frustrations I had. Honestly though this game is worth the play through. Its not too long and its not too hard. Don't let the next few paragraphs detract from the fact that this game is freakin awesome and I highly recommend it.
I felt like some of the mechanics lead to punishment by tedium. For example the slugs. Once you are able to suck up the slugs you are able to move in interesting ways. Some of the puzzles have blocks that can be blown up by slugs and you have to hit them. The thing that becomes tedious is when you have to grab a slug and hit a specific area in the pinball area. Its not bad at first, after the 10th time of grabbing the slug and missing the hole you want to snap your controller. I know this is ultimately a skill issue, but damn it would have been nice to not have a timer and just have the button to blow it up. There are parts of the map that this would have saved me some sanity as well.
I would say the same thing about the grappling hook. I really wish I could deploy when I wanted to or at minimum re-grab if you miss your target. I was lucky that I was able to scale the big tower up top on one pass, but going back up I just kept missing it and it broke my brain. I saw a video when trying to figure out a puzzle I wasn't getting where the user seemed to be able to re-grab pretty freely, for me it felt like i would miss, I would be close and it would not grab.
Ok so this is a weird issue but honestly my biggest complaint. I mentioned how big the map is, well as you get near the end traversing the map is tedious... plain and simple. You are down in the caverns or in the upper mountain and want to get all the way over to the starting point. Better hope you are near a beeline, if not you are traveling quite a bit of way and might have to use the map to make sure you are not going the wrong direction. I think this is fixed in two ways. 1. Fast travel. Similar to assassins creed when you do a specific thing you unlock a fast track portal. The purpose is to get to a section that you already unlocked with ease. 2. Chapterize the map. You make the green level, the ice level, the depths, the dungeon, the workshop, and the center is the tree god. Perfect now you can also track better what you missed and how to complete that area. I think this is something you could add a the end of the game if you want to make sure people experience the entire world. If you find a way to make traversing better from all parts of the map, not just by the mail area you make this game 10x better for me. I would almost for sure 100% as I wouldnt have to travel to an area and then spend another 5 minutes going to the other end. For me this was the biggest frustration. God It almost killed the end game for me.
Outside of those small complaints a few more I am not mentioning this game would be perfect. Like I said I highly recommmend still. Its a solid indie and I hope they make a second. Because of the price I am thinking about buying it for a few friends.

The combination of pinball and metroidvania gameplay is enough to make it stand out but the lush, vibrant visuals and overall relaxed tone of the entire experience truly make this game one of one. The visuals and the atmosphere combine to bring a cozy charm that's rare for any game or piece of entertainment in general to capture. If you want a "chill" game that isn't a sim or involves farming this is an easy recommendation.

This is the kind of game you have in your library for years, not even knowing how it got there and keep ignoring over and over every time you're looking for something new to play. But once you actually give it a chance you realize you were a dummy for not playing it much earlier.

Yoku's Island Express follows the titular character (a dung beetle) pushing a ball of dirt everywhere he goes as he takes on his new job as postman (postbeetle?) in the island he finds himself into, and quickly finds himself having to save the whole place from destruction by an unknown entity. In your way he'll meet a lot of quirky characters, solve a lot of puzzles and battle a lot of monsters.

Yoku's is a metroidvania but with an interesting twist: traversal and puzzles play like a game of pinball. You don't have a jump button, but the whole island is filled with flippers and springs that are activated with the push of a button, launching you and your ball in the desired direction. While this makes traversal unique and interesting (as you have to time your presses and make use of physics like you would in a normal game of pinball) the puzzles feel take shape of diifferent pinball tables (cleverly set as part of the scenery). It's really an unexpected approach, but it works perfectly and it's a lot of fun.

Of course, like in any game of this ilk you also acquire as you go a bunch of extra abilities that allow you to reach previously inaccessible areas. Of note is the fast travel method, that's unique, interesting and very useful in solving puzzles and gathering collectibles instead of being a simple teleport, like they tend to be in these games.

It really is a game like no other, and in a very good way. I recommend it 100%, and I would love to see a sequel. Some advice, though: if you're gonna start playing this game and you're interested in gathering collectibles you need to learn as soon as you can what the scarabs are so you can start working on them from the get go. That'll save you a lot of backtracking.

Yoku's Island Express is a delightful mix of pinball and platforming in a beautifully crafted world. Its charming art style and unique gameplay mechanics make exploration fun and refreshing. Although the game is short, it’s a creative experience that stands out for its originality and charm.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

This game is some real comfort food especially if you love the hybrid open exploration and pinball fused together. 100% worth to be in your library.