We’ve played our fair share of action adventure games, many set on Earth, some zapping across the galaxy, but never one set entirely on a single alien planet. So, we were excited to play Creatures of Ava, a game that promises to be a different take on the classic genre, not only with its location but also with its creature-saving premise.
Playing as nature adventurer Vic, you are sent to the planet Ava to study the wildlife and help save it from a disease known as ‘the withering’. Your mission is to explore the planet, document using your camera, cure diseased animals and round up healthy ones so they can be teleported back to the mothership. You will also have to persuade the indigenous tribes, the Naam, to also leave the planet to escape the disease.
Humans have visited the planet before and throughout the game you’ll get to explore the long-abandoned bases and discover more about why the locals are more than a bit cautious of human visitors. Vic has good intentions, and genuinely believes she is there for the greater good – but is she? The storyline is written to gradually reveal just the right amount of information about the past and present reason for humans to be on Ava, providing a distinct feeling of uneasiness for the player. However, we feel that there could have been more to the story. It touches lightly on the history of the cultures on the planet, and the role of the Neem as its guardians, but never quite goes as deep as we would like.
At the start of the game Vic finds the Nafitar, a magic staff that allows her to remove the giant weeds that spread the withering, allowing access to blocked areas. It also has a very important role in helping her to cure Ava’s animals of the disease. Infected animals are dangerous and will try and harm you by various means such as charging or spitting, but a healing beam shot from the Nafitar will tether itself to the animal and gradually suck the disease from it. You can also connect animals together and heal more than one at once. You will have to jump, dodge and roll to avoid being attacked by animals during the healing process which can be quite tricky as you try to manipulate the camera to allow you to focus on where the animals are.
This combat is a light touch and low stakes, especially compared to similar games, but still constitutes a large part of the gameplay. As you advance through Creatures of Ava, the Nafitar is upgraded with additional spells, making it more powerful and useful. For example, you’ll be able to unlock previously blocked paths and cure more animals.
For anyone who has played an adventure game before, you will know the drill – there are many, many quests. Some are part of the main storyline and it is these that will progress the game and others are side-quests which are fun little diversions. You will have to talk to the Naam as well as your co-worker, researcher Tabitha, to carry out the tasks needed to unlock new areas of the planet. There is some voice acting but the majority of the communication between characters in the game comes in the form of written subtitles, which we inevitably found ourselves skipping though.
To help you find your way around Ava there is a map shown in the bottom right corner of the screen at all times, and your location is always shown as well as the direction you need to take to reach your destination. You can also access a larger version of the map, which is helpful to show you exactly where you need to head, as well as the location of the various landmarks. You will also unlock a few human-built portals, which act as a mechanism for fast-travel, and become very handy as the map gets bigger.
The planet is split up into four distinct biomes, each ruled by a different faction of the Naam, and are unlocked as the story progresses. They contain different flora and fauna and have a very different feel to each other. For example, the grasslands are light and open, whereas the jungle is dark and ominous. Each biome looks stereotypically alien with its bright colour palette and range of bizarre creatures; this adds a point of difference to similar games set on Earth.
In each biome one important mission will be to collect a certain number of each species of animal. Despite members of the tribe being wary about humans, Vic is given a flute to play to tame the animals so they follow her and she can lead them to the transportation bots that can beam up the animals. To do this you first listen to the animals sing a simple melody consisting of a few notes, which you then recreate on the flute. Once animals are tame you can pet them leading to some cute interactions and, more usefully, control them to break down certain barriers or dig up hidden treasures. This was a fun aspect, and contributed some light puzzle-solving, but not totally original.
Creatures of Ava is an open-world game, in the sense that you can go off and explore the wilds if you wish but there is never really a reason to want to do this – the area of each biome is not huge and you will get to visit each area of the map by simply completing the main quests. At the start of the game we decided to go off piste and explore, only to find several blocks to the paths (which are only opened up later) and many tall rocks, which Vic cannot climb. Vic’s not great on descending either, as a relatively short fall can often wipe chunks off her health or spell her demise completely, but we never did figure out exactly how far she can fall without harm.
These limitations to exploration felt restrictive after the truly open nature of the previous adventure game we played, Tchia, where we could climb, fly and swim to our heart’s content. In fact, despite having a whole planet to explore in Creatures of Ava, it actually felt smaller and more enclosed, a bit like being in an indoor film set rather than in an open world.
Other than falling, Vic’s health bar is depleted by being attacked by infected animals. Once it’s emptied you will respawn at a previous place in the game, but without obvious save-points it’s impossible to know where and when this will be. Fortunately, you can refill health by drinking health potions, which you can find lying around or craft using foraged plants.
Crafting is just one of Vic’s skills, and these can be viewed by accessing the skill tree. By completing quests, you will earn skill points which can be spent in progressing her skills, such as making the Natifer beam more powerful, increasing the size of the health bar or the number of spaces in her inventory.
Creatures of Ava is a large game, with the main storyline taking around 10-15 hours so it provides players with an awful lot to do and discover, but is it worth your time? For players who are looking for a game that is simple to pick up and play, with easy combat then we would certainly recommend Creatures of Ava. However, if you prefer your action adventure games to be heavier on the action with a larger area to explore then you may want to look for another planet to play on.
