izigame.me

As much as I was delighted at the start of this game (the animation art in the intro is GORGEOUS, the unique designs of the creatures, the mechanic of the flute to rescue the adorable lil guys), my experience was tainted by the fact you cannot return to an area once you've played through that section of the story. Whilst it allows you to tick the area off and put it to the back of your mind, it makes it incredibly frustrating when you realise there are incredibly missable things that are now locked behind a second playthrough.
Honestly, I could only recommend this game if you wanted to play it as a stress-free, casual playthrough. Unless you go in with knowledge beforehand of the 100% requirements, you'll find yourself most likely having to completely restart if you don't enter with a guide. The Secret Hall requirement was completely missed for me since I didn't know about it until I was in the final area :(
With minimal spoilers, you can use creatures to overcome obstacles like bridges or plant barriers, however once you rescue the creatures in that area there is no way to get to optional areas that are locked behind these obstacles. I also found that I was unable to meet the requirement for using certain creatures abilities (mostly the last area - apparently said creature can dig which I thought I could use to get my final 2 "ability" uses, however I couldn't find any locations and no longer had walls/columns to knock down), OR missing an image of an infected creature which are no longer able to be accessed because I had already rescued them all. At the beginning, and whilst playing through the second area, I was really enjoying myself and wanted to 100% a game which is rare, but after a while I realised I would have to replay the ENTIRE game just because I missed 3 things - 1 infected image, 2 wind chimes & 1 creature ability requirement. For the missed wind chime, there were 2 in the grasslands that were inaccessible due to the withering, one by the Jungle Gate and one by the Weeping Rock.
HOWEVER: I have seen a recent post by a developer discussing updates in order to bring back creatures once you've rescued them all (unsure of whether they'll be infected or not), but unless there is some sort of sandbox mode where we can return to these creatures, it won't help the sour taste left in my mouth.
I do genuinely adore this game, and would have probably liked my experience so much more if I stuck to my initial casual approach to playing it <3 That being said, I will stalk updates and posts in hopes that I can fix my review soon!!

I'm extremely late to the update for this game, but I finally finished the game! This was my previous review for this game,
"Before writing this review I really thought hard about what to write for it. It was a hard choice between recommending the game and not recommending it, because this game is absolutely beautiful and really fun to play. But at the point of writing the review, I'm at a point where I'm not wanting to continue (at least until there's a guide to help people like me 100% it) knowing that if I leave the jungle biome, it becomes completely inaccessible. That's really disheartening. When I play a game like this, I want to take my time to explore, and instead it feels like I'm being rushed to do something extremely frustrating and time consuming if I want to get all achievements, which I may have already locked myself out of from the first biome, due to no creature respawning/being able to use creature abilities. It still says I'm missing an Ohol ability and an infected Kraj, but I've rescued all the species in the grassland...
I'm at the point where if I had wanted to, I wouldn't be able to get a refund if I tried, so while I recommend the game- or at least the demo if that's still available- I caution new players to really think about things before they buy to play. There is a surprising amount of miss-able content and while I personally haven't run into anything storywise yet, I'm cautious myself going forward.
I'm sorry developers, but your responses to other reviews like this is extremely disheartening and I hope that something changes soon to allow other players to get the opportunity to enjoy your wonderful game."
And now? I need to say that everything about this experience was incredible, from start to finish. The fact that they added a way to find all the hidden collectibles in each map made it that much better and I was able to actually 100% everything- except the achievements, but I don't mind that. There were, of course, still several bugs I encountered- including fake Antaris pillars that kept falling through, but those were fixable when I saved and reloaded. Also, there's two pretty big bugs including the Tehra'ba in the first part of the game where if you leave the jungle and come back, he's just chilling at the boss arena and follows you everywhere. I got a pretty great photo shot of it and Nim'ar! Another one is at the very end where when I got too close to Pini, it actually started to attack me, which kinda ruined the immersion, but that's okay.
Anyway, this game was absolutely worth everything- from the price to the wait for the update- and I'm so happy I played it. Thank you developers for the incredible experience! This is an absolute must play for anyone who likes these types of games!
~ D.C.

In Creatures of Ava explore and help heal the beautiful world of Ava while you befriend strange creatures and meet interesting people.
The Story
You play as the main character, Vic, a researcher who arrives on the planet Ava with hopes of saving its inhabitants and wildlife from a planet-wide disease called the withering. There are four main biomes you will explore as you traverse that are each filled with their own flora and fauna.
Use your camera to take photos of artifacts and people to flesh out the lore of the world and uncover the secret to the withering. Besides your trusty camera you also obtain a magic staff with various upgrades and a magical flute along the way.
Gameplay & Features
Combat
This game does have combat but encounters are not bloody or deadly. You do not kill any creatures but cleanse them of the disease using a magical staff. Once cleansed they can be befriended by using a magical flute given to you early in the game. You can turn on settings in the options menu to help guide you in playing melodies, if you're not as musically inclined like myself.
So combat relies more on dodging, jumping and evading than attacking outright while you use your staff to cleanse the creatures.
Capture the World
Photography is important in this game, so take lots of pictures of creatures, plants and the people that you meet. There is an index called Avapedia that will catalog your finds as you take photos. The Avapedia will also tell you the research objectives you need to complete for each creature alongside the photos you’ve taken of them.
Puzzles
This game does have a variety of puzzles to solve as you go along. Nothing too daunting. You can temporarily tame creatures and inhabit them, using their abilities to advance in a quest. Or you can use the upgrades and magical skills of your staff to solve puzzles like the temporary power of levitation.
Manually Save Your Game
This game does auto-save at certain points but you can manually save at any time. I would recommend doing this periodically and especially before shutting down. Then when you jump back into the game you just have to hit continue and you spawn right where you saved last.
Warning - USE your campfire storage!
I learned this the hard way so posting a warning so you don't mess up the way I did. When you reach any campfire move your ingredients collected to the campfire storage. They are all connected as a shared stash. You only have so much inventory space and each biome has their own plants. So think of the campfire as extended inventory. Truth be told even the campfire could use more slots.
I missed out on collecting samples of every plant to turn in for a quest that requires a plant of each kind from each biome. The kicker, once you leave a biome you CANNOT go back to it. So your locked out and so is your chance of getting those plants again!
Settings
This game has lots of settings so each user can tweak their experience. The graphical settings are vast with display options, upscaling options and graphic settings such as motion blur, foliage, shadow and many more individual settings. There are also audio settings, accessibility settings such as subtitles, UI text scaling, game difficulty settings and settings for the in-game camera and flute guide. Controls can be changed (at least with keyboard and mouse). I never tested a controller however the game page does state that this game is mostly playable with a controller.
The Visuals & Audio
Ava and its inhabitants are gorgeous. Overflowing with a vibrant palette of colours ranging from bright oranges, pinks, blues and more to create a world you want to explore. I can honestly say it is one of the most beautifully crafted games I have played, from the world to the creatures. And you can pet almost every creature in the game once you befriend them.
The soundtrack to this game is relaxing and soothing. The music you play with your flute while trying to befriend the creatures is pleasing to the ear. Ambient sounds are fantastic in this game, from the blowing of the wind, to the water splashing or creatures making their unique sounds. Sound and music were certainly an important part in the crafting of this game and you can feel that as you become immersed into the world of Ava. There are also parts with some voice acting that is very well done, cut scenes or meeting important characters at various parts in the game.
Me hugging one of the adorable creatures you can befriend in-game…pet them all!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3305860258

My Wishlist
I wish this game had a dedicated photo mode. The in-game camera is okay but limited in size and frame. This game is too beautiful not to have a stand alone photo mode with filters, frames and poses you can do with the main character. Also adding in animals to your photos would be nice.
If you’ve ever played Kena you’ll understand what a wonderfully designed photo-mode can bring to the game. This game deserves that same treatment.
Overall Experience
I really enjoy this game. Running around and jumping feels good. Taking photos, befriending the creatures or inhabiting one temporarily is interesting and unique. Each creature has its own quirks, sounds and movements.
Learning to connect with the creatures by listening and learning each type of creature's own song in order to befriend them really leaves a sense of connecting with each of them. Music really is the language of Ava, the creatures, the plants and the people. Truly a beautiful game with a great narrative and adorable beasties to befriend and hug. 💖

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