Creatures of Ava is hitting Game Pass Day One. You are Vic, a conservationist visiting the planet Ava as you attempt to save its local flora, fauna, and indigenous people from a deadly infection. They call it the withering and for 10 to 20 hours, depending on how completionist you’re feeling, you’ll battle to save the planet from this gruesome fate. Creatures of Ava is a beautiful, moving title. A solid story is paired with interesting gameplay mechanics that never see you engaging in combat. I adored the title by the end, so let’s get into just what you’ll be doing in it.
Ava
The star of the title is the world of Ava. There are five distinct biomes in Creatures of Ava and you’ll start in the grasslands. After your drop ship crashes you’ll quickly meet the natives and start to learn how this ecosystem functions. Much like Avatar and many other spiritual-focused titles, Ava is an ever-connected populace. The plants, animals, peoples, and the planet itself share a deep spiritual connection that your human protagonist is unable to understand. Ava has an infection that is slowly destroying all life and turning the animals aggressive.
Each area has its song, with which you can connect to the local animal population and have them help you with platforming puzzles via direction control. To get them friendly though you’ll need a trusty scientific instrument from a culture long-lost to the planet. You’ll get a spirit-rod type device that can heal the wither, removing it from infected creatures and local flora. This makes up the majority of the gameplay as you clear blisters to open up paths, sooth animals to be able to use their innate abilities to open more paths, and you never actually fight back as Vic. She is there to save, never harm, and it was refreshing to have this almost Pokémon-style title that focused on helping instead of using your enslaved animals to fight for your amusement.
Vic will visit each area and be tasked with rescuing a set number of the unique wildlife there. I got my review code on Friday evening and this embargo was only three days later on Monday. The game has a fair number of side quests with the majority being “go here, get thing, come back”. It’s a video game assed video game, with a light crafting system to heal or get temporary buffs, and a basic skill tree that is your main reward for exploring. I had nearly every skill unlocked by the end though I could see finding all of the items needed to boost your HP and stamina taking a decent amount of time to find.
UE5 Can Look Real Purdy
Creatures of Ava has obvious budget limitations as many of the game’s conversations are not voiced. It can be jarring when a voice kicks in suddenly after an hour or more of only music and sound effects. That music is beautiful, featuring a heavy dose of flute use, as one of the game’s main mechanics is the songs of each zone that Vic will learn to play. These songs are learned via and Tchia-style note wheel and every time you want to connect to an animal you haven’t already cured you’ll need to play their song back to them. The game was forgiving if you accidentally hit a note in-between that you weren’t meant to as well. When the voice acting does kick in it’s solid, with Vic the protagonist’s VO doing my favorite work. The locals, your close friend and colleague Tabitha, and the closest thing the game has to an “enemy” all do well in their limited opportunities.
Graphically Creatures of Ava is gorgeous. I played on Xbox Series X and PC and the game ran well on Unreal Engine 5. Using Lumen on PC lowered my FPS by a fair amount but my 5800x and 7900xtx combo were able to maintain a near 120fps lock while using FSR on performance mode. I didn’t notice any slowdown from the 60fps target on Xbox; it looked fantastic there. Much like Fortnite, this UE5 title is not going for realism. Creatures of Ava has an incredibly vibrant color palette and stylized look that will stand the test of time. Using the Rod to cure enemies of their wither is a lock-on fest full of different colors as you collect new powers throughout the main campaign.
These powers are your progression blockers, not allowing passage to certain areas until you possess them. You can assign two of the four at any time to the right bumper and trigger respectively. Time will slow down as you choose between them and they are used a lot in the platforming sections as well. The other main mechanic and it’s great for showcasing how pretty this game is, sees you using a camera to take pictures of characters, creatures, and the environment. At any time you can press right on the d-pad and bring up the camera, with a skill allowing you to slow down time so you can take the best pictures possible. Every time you take a new picture of something interesting you’ll get experience points, too.
As far as bugs or issues with the game go I didn’t have any major bugs but I do have some issues. A few of the biomes feature plants that explode when you get close. In the first area, they not only deal damage but blind you for ten seconds as well. In the second, instead of making you blind, they stick you in place until you press the B button numerous times. There are booster drinks you can take to make their secondary effects be negated but I found those damned plants ruined the flow of gameplay for me whenever they were around. This mostly relaxed title saw me bouncing around losing most of my health half-blinded until I was lucky enough to find the right booster and making as many as I could. Outside of that the gameplay loop is a great mix of decent platforming, engaging takes on how you have to clean creatures/environments, and rewarding exploration.
Wrapping Things Up
Creatures of Ava is an excellent title, and it’s on Game Pass at launch. If you want a game that lets you explore a gorgeous alien planet, get your inner photographer on, and know when to mix in its version of combat then I think it is well worth a download.
Creatures of Ava
Played on
Xbox Series X (Main) & PC
PROS
- Gorgeous
- Great Music
- Interesting Story
- Solid Gameplay
- Perfect Length
CONS
- A few gameplay mechanics kill the rhythm
- Story beats can be predictable
- Voice work is good but too rarely used
I know that what I’m seeing is healing, but those healing sessions looks like combat to me.
It’s like you’re a priest in WoW but have only renew!
Wow, cool looking game, very vibrant. Achievements look like a bit of a collectable-fest.