This review was done on PS5, a console that handles AAA games on the regular without any issues, and yet Beasts of Maravilla Island struggled with performance at times. Marina (the protagonist) will then rise into the air like a hot air balloon without so much as an animation that I could discern. Jumping across rivers and streams is as simple as aiming for a lily pad and running at it. There is a crouch button which I might’ve used twice in the whole game but that’s it. There is no jump, sprint, throw, or anything of the sort. The traversal mechanics of this game are as simple as running forwards. If there were any real danger here maybe the threat would’ve kept me in suspense, as it is there was no repercussion for failure, no loss of health (probably due to the absence of a health bar), nothing. This didn’t take me a while due to the difficulty of the puzzle, rather the beast would only charge after completing a certain set of animations that took a while, following which he would leap into the air for 5 seconds and repeat. The only one that took me any longer than a minute was towards the end of the game where I had to persuade a beast to charge at me to demolish some pillars.
Instead, they’re little more than roadblocks that only serve to extend your time in each biome on the island. The concept here is nice but doesn’t get pushed to any sort of complexity that would make the mechanic interesting. These typically revolve around using either your camera flash or your whistle to startle creatures or plants into creating a bridge or lift to help you access new areas. Mixed in with the photography and the cross-country trekking is the occasional puzzle. Allowing you to believe that this world is truly intriguing enough for both Marina and her grandfather to have been obsessed with it. Environments are interesting and have a feeling of depth, the creatures moving through the world bring it a real sense of vibrancy.
The one positive that I think is there for all to see is how great a job this game does with colour. I found myself towards the end of the game’s 1-hour runtime, just breezing through environments in an effort to reach a more compelling narrative conclusion. There is a checklist of things to find and for the more unique species, a list of behaviours to study, but I never found myself particularly motivated to find them.
Each new species registering in your journal once the photo is taken and whilst there are some nice instances of unique interactions between animals, orchestrating a monkey choir using the whistle button springs to mind, most of these are shallow and uninteresting, which in a game using wonder and exploration as a hook, is the opposite of good.Īdditionally, there is little to no incentive to take these photographs outside of a completionist’s mania. As you trek across the island you can snap a cornucopia of the various flora and fauna on display. Speaking of photography, it is here where the game’s core mechanic lies. Instead, your journal is already filled in and you just add some photos to the blank pages. When I watched the trailers before firing this baby up, I was under the impression that you filled this journal in as you went with illustrations of the critters you encounter, making each player’s book a unique reflection on their time with Beasts of Maravilla Island.
Beasts of maravilla island gameplay skin#
At first glance Beasts of Maravilla Island comes off as a colourful, unique take on the genre that Pokémon Snap perfected (don’t me), but sadly the interest is barely skin deep as performance issues and a lack of depth hamper this adventure game from Banana Bird Studios and Whitethorn Games from ever soaring to the heights that its creatures awkwardly rise to.Īttempting to thread together what would otherwise be an aimless wander around a tropical island is the narrative device of the journal your Grandad left to you.
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