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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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