The Indie Informer

The gentle themes and comforting visuals of Creatures of Ava are almost immediately eclipsed by pain and death. Aboard her escape pod, a young naturalist, Vic, suddenly loses connection with her team. Lights blast, warnings sound, and I strap in for a high velocity impact. The violent crash shoots me back into my memories of another catastrophe in an escape pod. Much younger, I watch my parents in their last moments struggle to ensure my safety during the space station’s collapse. History repeats itself as I emerge from the small vessel alive and alone.

The thrilling start to the adventure is paired with a top-tier animated art style, with some of the scenes taking my breath away. However the intensity and visuals soon take a sudden turn. Leaving my pod, the world around me comes to life with 3D graphics reminiscent of Fortnite, something which may turn some players off. The world is vibrant and lush, though. There’s no arguing against that.

It doesn’t take long to discover one of the game’s most delightful mechanics: Photography. The picture-taking elements are outstanding and help immerse me in the environment while building the world. And the creatures are so unfairly cute. This is the moment Creates of Ava really hooked me.

Unfortunately, its action and puzzle offerings aren’t as strong. I’m only an hour into the game so far, so I hasten to admit I haven’t seen the depths of either. Combat at this point centers around a staff-like artifact that has the power to manage the “withering.” This growing corruption infects living creatures from plant to animals, and I can attempt to heal a hostile withered creature with the staff’s powers — while avoiding its deadly attacks.

Due to the passive nature of holding down a button and hopping out of the way, the action feels flat. But I do get to pet the healed animals at the end, so that’s a bonus. Similarly, the puzzles so far have been sound, though well-trod.

Adventuring and discovering everything this verdant planet has to offer picks the experience back up. My first encounter with an alien archeologist named Nim’ar set me laughing, as my companion held tight to the belief that my legs must be broken despite all proof to the contrary. After all, Nim’ar reasons, humans are well-known to have impractically weak limbs.

Finally setting out into Creatures of Ava‘s open world was a joy, and traversing the land holds plenty of sights to take in. I wish I was more excited to jump into the puzzles and fights, but simply running around snapping photos has been splendid.