Confetti’s Cozy Corner: Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island review
If you are looking for a cozy adventure mystery and fetch quest game, then you will love Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island. The protagonist, Alex, is shipwrecked on a mysterious island and finds that the Greek Gods of legend reside on the island but have lost their memories. It is up to Alex to befriend and help restore their memories in order to lift the curse that plagues them, while also trying to find a way home.
When you are introduced to Alex in Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island, you get an immediate sense for her personality, she is a hard worker, a bit of a perfectionist, and has trouble going with the flow. She is supposed to be on vacation from work but is still answering work emails and calls.
While on her boat excursion, a violent storm overwhelms the ship leaving Alex stranded on a mysterious island and the boat’s captain nowhere to be found. While exploring the island Alex meets Oracle, who guides Alex on her journey throughout her duration on the island, and Hermes who becomes Alex’s first friend. Hermes does not get along with the other gods on the island but loves feeding seagulls. If you feed his feathered friends and complete other quests your friendship with him will grow.
This formula of meeting different Greek Gods, completing their run and fetch quests to gain friendship and continue the story, is the core of Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island. This is also similar to Polygon Treehouse’s previous title Roki, where the game mechanics centered on discovering hidden treasures, interacting with monsters lost to history and solving puzzles!
The third-person camera angle throughout the game, outside of cut scenes, left me wishing it was able to be adjusted so I could get more visually immersed in the environment surrounding Alex. As far as auditory immersion, this is done very well. The ocean sounds, the seagulls’ chirps, the crunching sand beneath Alex’s boots as she walks across the sandy beach, and the ambient wind blowing, all combined to sound like a beautiful beach on an island. The ropes swaying and jars clanking as you run by them are my favorite sound effects in the game. The music is also very calming, cozy and makes amazing background music!
As someone who studied Greek Mythology in my undergraduate studies, I believe many liberties were taken in the game when it comes to the personalities of the Greek Gods of legend. For example, Athena is the Goddess of wisdom, warfare and handicraft, but in Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is portrayed as an asocial book worm shut in, which is vastly different from most depictions in other forms of media and art. While Hermes, who is a trickster known for his curiosity and being the Olympians’ herald and messenger, is more of a loner in the game and prefers not speaking to the other gods at all.
In the context of the game where the Greek Gods lose their memories, acting opposite of what they are known for in some cases makes sense, but as a player who loves Greek mythology, it was just a bit unexpected and slightly disappointing. Players who are just looking for a fun cozy adventure may not care about the historical aspect of Greek mythology and will find the characters funny, relatable and more human versus pedestaling them as powerful deities.
All this being said, the humanizing of the deities makes their struggle of being ‘lost’ and Alex’s struggle of being stranded a level playing field. You will have time to get to know each god and goddess throughout your play through, so take your time and enjoy the experience! As you move further into the story and begin unravelling the mystery at the core of the Greek God’s amnesia, you learn more about the new personality of all of the gods and goddesses.
There are many save points throughout the island making it accessible to rest or take a break if needed, no matter where you are in the game. Before you reach the point of no return the game does give you a firm warning, so if you are achievement hunting take this warning seriously or you may miss a few! Also the twist at the end of the game may leave you with your jaw on the floor!
Overall Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is a low stress cozy exploration and mystery quest game with interesting characters you can become friends with, vibrant colors and a fun soundtrack. The game will take you around 10-12 hours to complete, perhaps a bit longer if you are achievement hunting. The game may be geared towards a younger audience as it is very silly, makes very loose allusions to Greek mythology and has simple game mechanics and puzzles, but as someone who is a bit burned out of cozy farming sims, it was a nice change of pace and it plays well on the Steam Deck.
A big lesson I took away from this game is being more okay with going off the beaten path. Like Alex, I can be a bit of a perfectionist and workaholic, and when you do not have balance in your life, life will sometimes put you on a path where you are forced to slow down, take in the world around you and discover something new about yourself.
Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island is available on Steam for $24.99.
Score: 3.0/5.0
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