Inspired by the classics like Story of Seasons, which was originally known as the Harvest Moon series, Stardew Valley set a new bar for farming simulators. While the old Harvest Moon games such as A Wonderful Life and Friends of Mineral Town created the formula that gamers know and love today, Stardew Valley implemented it in a way that no modern Harvest Moon games were able to capture anymore. Follow its success, a number of Stardew Valley-inspired titles have spawned, including Coral Island.

Now, thanks to Stardew Valley, new indie farming sims have fallen victim to the "clone" accusation that often comes when a game sets the new standard for a genre. For example, after Breath of the Wild became a groundbreaking adventure-exploration title, a number of games inspired by it began cropping up, such as Genshin Impact. But as players now know, Genshin created many of its own, unique mechanics separate from Breath of the Wild. The same will likely be said about Coral Island.

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Coral Island is like any other farming sim in that it implements the same basic mechanics: tending to farm with crops and animals and romancing villagers by getting to know them and giving them gifts. Based on the game's extended trailer, there's a lot that Coral Island pulls from Stardew Valley, such as mining and some rudimentary combat. And it draws back to the old days of Harvest Moon's Harvest Goddess with the Coral Three, one of which is the Goddess of Flowers shown in the game's trailer.

But Coral Island is centered around the fact that it's set on an island, with all the struggles and perks that come along with it, such as environmental activism and pollution, as well as swimming and water activities. The underwater merfolk kingdom, which now features dateable NPCs thanks to the Kickstarter milestones, is a huge draw for prospective players.

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Different than other farming sims that only support heterosexual and homosexual relationships, Coral Island takes it a step further by including a nonbinary character named Dippa. There's currently only speculation and rumors about the game including trans characters, because that type of information may only be revealed once getting to know a character, but Coral Island is currently the most diverse upcoming farming sim, with a range of races, genders, and backgrounds to represent all players. Each dateable comes with in-depth backgrounds, not only including their interests but what drove their career paths, the struggles they've faced in their lives, education, and goals.

Another villager that shines in terms of representation is Suki, a recently divorced mom. Previously, Suki was just an NPC who is currently figuring out self-love and has a healthy relationship with her ex-husband. Her character's design prominently features stretch marks on her belly, a side of pregnancy that often gets swept under the rug. But now, instead of keeping the divorcee ineligible, she can be romanced in the upcoming farming sim as well.

Similar to JojaMart in Stardew Valley, a corporate entity known as Pufferfish Drilling Co. plays a large role in the game's story. Here, however, the focus is on environmental justice than on evil corporations. Marine biology is an important factor, surfacing in ways such as a lab, and players can go diving. Diving itself unlocks a number of activities, such as cleaning the ocean floor of pollution and meeting the merfolk in the mermaid kingdom.

So while many of the game's aspects stem from the classic farming sim formula found in Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, and Stardew Valley, and players can expect that standard playstyle, Coral Island pays special attention to marine life and environmental activism, while being more inclusive to the spectrum of genders and sexualities where other farming sims lack.

Coral Island is expected to launch Early Access in October 2021 for PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox.

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