Creatures of Ava sugarcoats an emotional story with cutesy cartoon critters and it's convinced me that I need to save the planet
We could learn a thing or two.
Action adventure creature collector Creatures of Ava is bound to capture the attention of any previous Palworld player. Doused in bright colours and filled with eclectic animals, it's an enchanting world to step foot into. But, outside of its gorgeous cartoon-like visuals and whimsical music, a story of developing empathy towards a culture different from your own unfolds. And that's where Creatures of Ava sunk its talons into me.
Protagonist Vic is a witty, compassionate character that I found myself adoring quickly. Her voiced narration and character interactions made me connect with her far easier than having to read dialogue off the screen. Although Creatures of Ava isn't shy about having its inhabitants spill information in numerous text blocks, the most important parts are highlighted through audible conversation. Paired with the stunning visuals, I could've easily sat back and enjoyed each cutscene stitched together like its own TV show.
These conversations also served as my way to understand the skills I was learning as I played. Creatures of Ava uses a magic staff, referred to as the Nafitar, to interact with parts of the map. It can be used to destroy witherbloom blocking your path, levitate parts of structures to help your platforming, or give yourself a shield so you can walk across fungus-infested floors without taking any damage.
Basically, it's the one tool you use, and having characters break down its abilities was essential in me gaining my confidence in making the most of it. If I had been bombarded with spell slots locked to different keys, I wouldn't have enjoyed Creatures of Ava in the same way and probably would've fumbled a lot more trying to use the right ability. But, having all my special abilities tucked into a neat scroll wheel and locked to a single tool was far less overwhelming.
However even with magical abilities unlocked as you go, the gameplay of Creatures of Ava is incredibly straightforward. The story was easy to follow, and the majority of main quests involved me racing back and forth relaying messages between characters or finding items around the map. The world helps to carry the more monotonous moments, and in particular the critters that inhabit it are what kept me powering through the classic fetch quest fatigue.
I love a funky little fella in a video game. As soon as there's a beastie, I'm more than likely searching whether or not there's a plushie form of it. Fortunately, Creatures of Ava is filled with friends of all shapes and sizes, and what makes the experience even better is that you can pet every single one of them. In addition, each species has its own special ability, such as biting through ropes holding bridges up or pushing huge stone blocks out the way.
One of Creatures of Ava's biggest challenges is learning what each creature is capable of and knowing when to utilise their skills appropriately. But, if you're like me and find it hard to retain so much information at once, the Avapedia you fill out each time you encounter a new species is a great source of information when you're stuck. Having this on hand each time I found myself struggling to solve the puzzles of a certain biome like the Jungle or Swamp was incredibly helpful, because I would've just run around in circles otherwise.
Taming the creatures also deserves its own shoutout. I'm so used to having to slowly approach beasts, soothe them, and bribe them with some sort of food or treat before I can befriend them. But, in Creatures of Ava you have to use the power of song. You're given a flute at the start of the game and taught a special tune to help the biomes inhabitants know you're friendly. This isn't enough to have them trust and follow you though. You need to repeat each species' individual tune to gain their trust, and as you go through each section of the map these grow in difficulty and include more notes for you to hit through the on-screen wheel.
Rather than taking these animals in for your own collection, you take them in for research to understand the environment. As you go through the story, you realise that Creatures of Ava is all about sustainability and the improper use of animals for science, which is a pretty important message sugarcoated through its cutesy critters and bright gameplay.
As an action adventure creature collector, Creatures of Ava is a fun albeit a bit repetitive addition to the genre. However once you dig past its surface, its emotional story of saving a world from destruction and helping its inhabitants makes for an unforgettable game. Having a somewhat heavy message behind such a sweet game is a fantastic way to get players of all ages to listen and understand that it's a fictional representation of a very real problem. And who knows, it could encourage the next age of Vics to get out and see what wonders the world has to offer.