Relaxing and beautiful. This game is exactly what it says it is, and if that sounds good to you then you should buy it. It's a simple game with a lot of care given to each of its parts. It's a visuals-focused experience which really does succeed in transporting you to serene, expressive locations that are a joy to explore and photograph.
The basic structure consists of visiting an islands, taking pictures, and then returning to your boat and choosing the coordinates for a new island. I really enjoyed the idea of using longitude and latitude coordinates for island seeds, and the nautical interface for it is a great touch. You can also save ("remember") islands, which you can then easily re-enter from the main menu.
By default, only the last photo you take on each island before leaving is saved, which forces you to be thoughtful and deliberate. However, there is an option to save as many pictures as you want, and I preferred this because often I would get that awesome picture but want to keep exploring and taking more pictures before leaving the island.
Speaking of options, there are quite a few, including a sprint button which is disabled by default but can be turned on if you find yourself getting impatient. I left it off because the default speed seems perfect for taking in the surroundings and noticing good pictures. But I think its great that the option is there.
The camera has a number of options and settings which allow you to accomplish a variety different looks and get creative with your photography. I think the aperture/ focus/ focus-lock system is implemented very smartly, and the filters actually look good (which is unusual for photo modes, lets be honest here). My only complaint wrt camera mode is that the buttons to skew the camera are mapped to J and L, and these are the only keys in the game which aren't re-mappable. I expect that this will be remedied in a future update tho, and it doesn't distract much from the enjoyability of lining shots up.
The exploration and atmosphere are really the star of the show, especially because of the excellent color palletes and shader work. There are a lot of really great atmospheric details which vary by island, from the phases of the moon to rivers which flow to the ocean, to variety of visually-striking weather effects. The islands really are the star of the show here, and are a joy to photograph. I've played several other open-ended first person photography games, and Shutter Stroll is by far the most visually striking and contemplative. You really just want to sit in these places, feel them on your skin, and take in the serenity.
Of course, as is always the case with procgen levels, there inevitably comes a point where its ability to show you new stuff slows down, and it becomes a little less exciting to explore. This is normal for a game like this, but there is always that feeling of "I wish there was more stuff". I will say that there are a fairly large amount of rare scenery to discover, some of which is really creative and beautiful; I thought I saw them all, but looking at screenshots I see several I never encountered. Still, I would have liked to see more varied foliage models and grass (since these are the most common type of scenery), and perhaps more occasions where the level generator went outside its typical patterns. Still, i think the game delivers on what it promises to wrt the amount of content, and Im still finding something to love about each island several hours in.
Regardless, Shutter Stroll is definitely worth your time and the very reasonable price of admission. Yes, its a relaxing time, but it's contemplative and affective too like the feeling of sitting by the ocean and just listening. There really is more to find than you might assume.
