The Dog Island
A dog's quest for a legendary healing flower.
The Dog Island, a 2007 adventure game for Wii and PlayStation 2, puts players in the role of a canine seeking a special flower to heal a sick sibling. This quest requires becoming a "sniff master," with help from other animals. It is the third title in The Dog series, after The Dog Master and The Dog: Happy Life, and the first to be released outside Japan.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Yuke's
- Publisher
- Yuke's (JP); Ubisoft (WW)
- Platforms
- Wii, PlayStation 2
- Genre
- Adventure
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The Dog Island is an adventure game where the player controls a dog exploring environments and completing tasks. The dog can walk, run, crawl, and bark; barking is used defensively against enemies such as snakes, gorillas, bears, and bats. Most enemies can be stunned by barking behind them, and holding the bark button produces a howl that stuns an enemy indefinitely until the player leaves the area. If an enemy attacks, the player loses HP or suffers a poison or shock status. The player starts with 3 HP, upgradeable to 10, and losing all HP forces a restart from the last save point. Sniffing and digging reveal items underground, indicated by blue circles for plot items and yellow for generic ones. Non-plot items can be recorded in an NPC's encyclopedia for bones, the game's currency. Fishing and insect-catching require winning a short minigame, and the resulting animals can also be traded for bones. Bones are earned from tasks and used to buy healing items, accessories, and clothing.
Plot
The player character is a dog living in Puroro Town with mother Mar and younger sibling Emilio or Maria, depending on gender chosen. The sibling is sick with a disease that limits outdoor play; their father Doluk left to find a cure but never returned. The sibling sneaks out to watch the player at a festival, then collapses from exhaustion. The local doctor admits they cannot stop the condition from worsening, so the player sails with a crew to The Dog Island to see Dr. Potan. During a storm, sea captain El Dorado calls off the mission, but the player jumps into the ocean and is separated. Rescued by Amalia in Pupsville, the player befriends Petasi, an anc exiled by his queen for mischief; to return to Anc Land, Petasi must raise a tree through good deeds. Dr. Potan agrees to go to Puroro Town with a cure, but it is not strong enough. He suggests searching for the Legendary Flower, said to heal everything, back on The Dog Island. Obaba, a traditional healer, says the flower is hidden and only findable by dogs in touch with nature. The player learns sniffing from masters Yi Lu, Rode, and Grand Master Tao, who says raising the Anc Tree by helping dogs is necessary. Once the tree is tall enough, Tao directs the player to find a medal in Kunka Ruins to access Ancient Grove, where the Legendary Flower is found wilted.
Reception
The game received mixed or average reviews on both platforms according to Metacritic. IGN called it a seriously odd title but noted its overall size and robust feel made it worth a second look, and stated that the Wii version proved casual-centric titles can be well-made. Famitsu scored the PlayStation 2 version 25 out of 40 and the Wii version 24 out of 40.
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