Welcome to Modojo, 
Lost in Blue Impressions
Written by jdavis on Monday, October 10, 2005
I buy videogames with such frequency that I've become very fickle with how I spend my gaming time. Even if I spent $30 (or $40 or $50) on a game, if it has serious flaws I'm unable to overlook, the odds are it'll get permanently shelved after only a few hours of play, replaced by whatever else I pick up a few days or a week later.
Lost in Blue, on the other hand, is a game that I'm really growing to love in spite of my recognition that it is a flawed experience. The premise is that you wash up stranded on a deserted island. Starving, weak, and dehydrated. All you have to do is survive, and presumably find a way off the island (I haven't reached the end yet).
The first major reason the game keeps drawing me back in is because it has an excellent sense of progression, which is something I've talked about being a sucker for before. You begin by scrounging coconuts and mushrooms that may or may not be poisonous, just to have enough energy to stay alive. Eventually you find rocks, sticks, and other materials to help you build tools such as a spear, rudimentary fishing rod, or fire maker. Once you can catch and cook fish, hunger, while still looming, doesn't cast such a dark shadow over day to day activities. You can start using more of your time to explore the island, finding new materials to make even more advanced tools like a bow and arrow, or a table and chairs for your cave/home. I keep coming back because I only need to find two more logs to be able to build a bed, and then once I have that I can do this, which leads to THIS, etc.
The second reason I'm drawn to the game is its strong sense of exploration. As I get deeper into the game I'm finding that its a more involved and longer experience than I anticipated. I've found a jungle (which houses vines to be made into rope, by the way), plains, where large animals can be hunted, and I just recently found a set of ancient ruins. Every time I press further away from my home base I'm left genuinely surprised at what I find, which is a rare thing in the generally predictable world of videogames.
The last reason Lost in Blue is keeping my attention is its use of the DS touch screen. Carrots and Potatos have to be dug up from the earth. Fish actually speared with anticipitory reflexes, trees shaken to gather fallen fruit, etc. All the tasks that use the touch screen just require very basic interaction... tapping, rubbing, etc., but it adds a welcome visceral element to the game.
The big problem with the game is that so much of it is just so clunky. Moving on the island itself is clunky and slow... inventory management is even worse. Its way too much of a pain to move items from your backpack to your storage shelf, when it should be very intuitive. Normally this clunkiness would be a dealbreaker for me, but Lost in Blue appeals directly to my gaming sensibilities in a major way. It defies traditional genre bounderies, and does an excellent job of convincing players to play just one more (in-game) day.
