Creatures of Ava review

Catharsis comes in many forms when it comes to gaming. Sometimes we want to blow things up, sometimes we want to burn things down. Sometimes we just want the simple satisfaction of a job well done. And every now and then we need a cozy game to settle down with. Minimal stress, minimal challenge, but enough content to just kind of sink into and enjoy. Creatures of Ava, from Inverge Studios, Chibig, and 11 Bit Studios, falls comfortably into the latter category.

It’s a pretty wholesome game all round. Co-written by the always wonderful Rhianna Pratchett, Creatures of Ava tells the story of Vic, who crashlands on an alien planet along with her friend Tabitha, and sets about her singular mission with gusto. Ava is dying, you see, slowly wasting away in the grip of a terrible corruption, and Vic and Tabitha intend to save as many animals as possible in the time they have left.

Not just animals, either, but the indigenous people, called the Na’am. They’re fairly primitive by our standards, giving off a distinctly Na’Vi-like vibe in the way they connect with the flora and fauna of their world. But they’re stubborn people, too, refusing to give up their home – and so Vic needs to come up with a way to almost trick them into being saved. They’re distrustful of humans, largely due to the disrespect shown to Ava by numerous human science teams over the years.

Soon armed with the Nafitar, a staff-like relic from an ancient people who predate the Na’am, and a flute that allows her to play songs of the land and tame the animals of Ava, Vic sets out on a very personal, very crucial adventure. There’s no combat in Creatures of Ava. Now and then you’ll come across corrupted animals who will attack Vic and can “kill” her, but all you can do is channel the power of the Nafitar to remove the corruption. Once an animal is free, you use the flute to mimic the song unique to its species and get it to follow you.

Once you have a tamed animal you can do a few different things. First of all, you can pet them, which is so damn cute with every single one that you’ll probably find yourself doing it all the time. But you can also link with them telepathically, allowing you to take direct control of them. They each have different abilities that can unlock certain pathways or help you recover materials. For example, a couple of them have the ability to chew through goo holding up bridges, while some can tunnel or climb to help Vic reach new areas. Ultimately, though, the intention is to get them to a rescue bot and teleport them off-world to be relocated somewhere safer.

The Nafitar is upgradable, allowing for Metroidvania-style progression. You need to remove corrupted roots to open pathways, some of which are tougher and require an upgrade. Likewise, you’ll encounter platforms that need raising and special vines that only open when you’re not looking at them, which the Nafitar can also help you get around. Besides this, Vic only has the ability to jump or dodge.

Rudimentary puzzles block your way now and then, particularly when you find abandoned research stations. They’re always worth getting inside of, too, as some of them house fast-travel teleporters and they always have loot worth finding. Health kits and backpack upgrades increase your HP and inventory space, while there’s an abundance of materials to craft various potions and balms to restore health and stamina.

Finding creatures, solving puzzles, discovering new areas and completing side quests will earn you XP, which can be spent on skill points to improve Vic’s ruggedness or open up new abilities, like turning the dodge into a full-on combat roll. Other improvements include boosting the Nafitar’s powers or the duration of its effects.

A lot of time in Creatures of Ava will be spent exploring the world. The fast travel points are generously located, and besides the odd cluster of corrupted creatures to save, there’s no real stress involved in just walking and running everywhere. Arguably, you could say that the lack of combat is a missed opportunity. I’m not suggesting the game should be violent or that it needs stressful conflict, but the taming system is so simple and intuitive that it’s a shame Inverge Studios didn’t do more with the concept. In a lot of ways it’s similar to Kena: Bridge of Spirits in theme and form, but lacks a similar level of challenge.

Some animals will perform tasks for you, of course, but if you could ride them, or use their unique powers in a more dynamic or exciting way, it wouldn’t hurt proceedings. That said, I’m not here to talk about what a game isn’t; it’s just a shame there isn’t a little more excitement or challenge in Creatures of Ava.

It is gorgeous, though, with a warm, welcoming colour palette that starts to become just a little bit samey after a while. But the animation is great and the environments are highly detailed with a small variety of locations to adventure through. And each new biome is host to strange new creatures, crafting materials, and puzzle elements that do enough to keep you pushing on, just to see what’s coming next. It plays wonderfully well on Steamdeck, too, and I noticed no frame drops or stuttering, and very little in the way of graphical concessions.

The overall charm of Creatures of Ava is helped in no small part by Vic herself. While I wondered a few times if the game had simply forgotten the tragic backstory it allowed us to glimpse in the opening movie, Vic never seems to let anything get her down for long. She’s a refreshing protagonist – a young woman who isn’t angry at everything, isn’t sarcastic all the time for no reason, and is happy to admit when she doesn’t understand something. She’s also funny, dropping the odd quip here and there but giving the impression that she truly cares about the Na’am and wants to learn about them.

Side quests often have you helping individual characters for a variety of reasons, and the fish-out-of-water comedy works both ways, with Ava putting her foot in it more than once – and there’s plenty of mileage to be had from the Na’am’s overall misunderstanding of human concepts and customs. It makes for a charming, amusing story that conveys its messages of teamwork, empathy, and – eventually – acceptance of loss in a way that feels emotionally positive.

Despite an overall lack of challenge and the sense that Creatures of Ava plays a lot of things very safe, it’s still a lovely, cozy game that gives you a reason to explore its world and care about its characters. Well-written and acted (though not fully voiced), the story is heart-warming and compelling enough to keep you coming back for more. Highly recommended for anyone who wants a low-stress game filled with hope and colour and loads of belly rubs.