I've been playing this franchise since my childhood and i'm a big fan so my opinion is quite biased, but bear with me.
In this first installment (at least for the west) you play as the male character in a deserted island with the aid of a female character (who lost her glasses and won't be of much use outside specific situations). The main mechanic is exploring the island, managing your characters' health and gathering food in order to survive. Most of the time you'll be going out alone (since you are faster than if you bring the girl along) to do a reconnaissance round (to then come back with the girl if you need to push a big log to progress, etc) and gather food while you're at it, to then bring it home and have the girl cook it. That may be one of the main flaws of the game, that you can't cook yourself and need the other character to do it for you, and she sucks ass at it at first - burning your food and losing nutritional value until she gradually gets better at it, but it'll take a long while. But the game wouldn't work without her, because the two of you make a very cozy unit that help and support each other, and their dialogue in the story inmerses you in their situation. The maps of the game have their flaws, but it's in their intricacies that i find them interesting and fun to explore until i know every nook and cranny of it -where does this item spawn, where is the best fishing spot, etc. Another great aspect of this game for me is the fact that there's no imposed pacing, and you can do whatever you want at all times, choosing to focus entirely on exploring the island to progress the story or just sit back and relax to the daily island life of managing the resources needed to survive. This last aspect may prove itself to be a bit hard at first as you learn how much you should be eating and drinking and how much saving for later, but that was the most fun for me when i was a kid.
I find this game so enjoyable to play, and i can do so for hours on end just to enjoy the unusual daily life routine of waking up your characters, going for a walk to explore a bit and gather food, bring it home to eat it, go to sleep and repeat. Even if it may sound boring, the routine is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game for me. Besides that, i also fancy starting it from scratch to be able to explore the island all over and over again. Maybe that's because i don't find the ending part particularly fitting or fullfilling, but i do like it and think it's funny at times. Overall, solid game. Even so, i really think its sequel, Lost in Blue 2, really shines through and polishes a lot of stuff and is a much better game.
In this first installment (at least for the west) you play as the male character in a deserted island with the aid of a female character (who lost her glasses and won't be of much use outside specific situations). The main mechanic is exploring the island, managing your characters' health and gathering food in order to survive. Most of the time you'll be going out alone (since you are faster than if you bring the girl along) to do a reconnaissance round (to then come back with the girl if you need to push a big log to progress, etc) and gather food while you're at it, to then bring it home and have the girl cook it. That may be one of the main flaws of the game, that you can't cook yourself and need the other character to do it for you, and she sucks ass at it at first - burning your food and losing nutritional value until she gradually gets better at it, but it'll take a long while. But the game wouldn't work without her, because the two of you make a very cozy unit that help and support each other, and their dialogue in the story inmerses you in their situation. The maps of the game have their flaws, but it's in their intricacies that i find them interesting and fun to explore until i know every nook and cranny of it -where does this item spawn, where is the best fishing spot, etc. Another great aspect of this game for me is the fact that there's no imposed pacing, and you can do whatever you want at all times, choosing to focus entirely on exploring the island to progress the story or just sit back and relax to the daily island life of managing the resources needed to survive. This last aspect may prove itself to be a bit hard at first as you learn how much you should be eating and drinking and how much saving for later, but that was the most fun for me when i was a kid.
I find this game so enjoyable to play, and i can do so for hours on end just to enjoy the unusual daily life routine of waking up your characters, going for a walk to explore a bit and gather food, bring it home to eat it, go to sleep and repeat. Even if it may sound boring, the routine is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game for me. Besides that, i also fancy starting it from scratch to be able to explore the island all over and over again. Maybe that's because i don't find the ending part particularly fitting or fullfilling, but i do like it and think it's funny at times. Overall, solid game. Even so, i really think its sequel, Lost in Blue 2, really shines through and polishes a lot of stuff and is a much better game.