Beasts of Maravilla Island is a 3D Adventure game coming to Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PS4, and PC. Embark on your adventure as an aspiring wildlife photographer in the hidden, magic jungles of Maravilla Island. Explore a mysterious 3D island and solve puzzles to discover extraordinary creatures, interact with them in their natural habitat, and photograph the enchanting, unique behaviors you reveal!
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I was surprised, not normally my type of game but i liked it, it being short does help it though.. if it was an hour or two longer id have quit but i was happy with the game
A really nice concept with bad execution. I love the idea of a game where you take pictures of unknown creatures and document them. The creature designs in this game are lovely. Unfortunately, it just isn't fun to play.
Your character moves around very slowly, and the environments and animations have an unfinished look to them. The framerate is very bad and there are some lag spikes. It doesn't matter how good or bad the pictures you take are, and the game will register pictures as being of animals or plants that are behind something else.
The sound design is nice though. I like the music and the rainforest ambience.
Your character moves around very slowly, and the environments and animations have an unfinished look to them. The framerate is very bad and there are some lag spikes. It doesn't matter how good or bad the pictures you take are, and the game will register pictures as being of animals or plants that are behind something else.
The sound design is nice though. I like the music and the rainforest ambience.
A super cozy very short game where you log some insects and such.
Take a decent concept and make it a real slow time with some really basic graphics
I like photography games, this one has wonderfully designed creatures and interesting environments. Sounds like a match made in heaven? Not quite.
Even over its short run time Beasts of Maravilla Island is very repetitive and simplistic. Within 20 minutes you have seen everything the game has to offer, and no amount of pretty art and cute animals can really make up for that
Even over its short run time Beasts of Maravilla Island is very repetitive and simplistic. Within 20 minutes you have seen everything the game has to offer, and no amount of pretty art and cute animals can really make up for that
You play as Marina Montez, equipped with her late grandfather’s journal and a camera. She’s off to Maravilla Island to photograph the mysterious creatures and plantlife that he had documented. Now, it’s up to Marina to capture the beauty and magic of the island to make sure it doesn’t disappear.
Visuals
Beasts of Maravilla Island uses a 3D low-poly style, but the environments are rich and dense and so pretty. Marina herself doesn’t look amazing, but for the most part, she’s just a tool to explore and experience the world around her.
Sound Effects + Music
Surprisingly, Beasts of Maravilla Island is fully voice acted. Marina is the only human character, but all of her lines have voiceover. Some of the creatures have their own unique noises as well.
The background music is soothing and nice, if repetitive. It’s a lot of wind instruments, which I enjoyed. I just wish there had been more variation.
Gameplay + Controls
Beasts of Maravilla Island is an explorative photography adventure. You move Marina around each area, stopping when you see something you want to take a picture of. There are a lot of controls, but they’re easy enough to get the hang of. I used an Xbox controller, since I found that more intuitive than the mouse and keyboard controls.
The gameplay is pretty simple. You get objectives for each area, which are just a list of plants and animals you need to photograph. For the most part, they’ll just be there for you to a snap a shot of. Others may need a little more interaction. You have 20 frames to get the best shot that you can, although there isn’t a scoring system to determine what is a “better” shot. It’s all up to what you think looks best for the album.
I liked walking around and taking pictures of everything. It was fun to just look around and see the critters behave in different ways. However, I found some of the objectives too scripted. It kind of made the exploration feel less exciting. For example, in the jungle the main species is the flying monkey, which you need to photograph in four different behaviors. I assumed you’d just wander around and hope to find them in the behavior you need. Nope, these are all scripted events that you find linearly.
Replayability
While I really enjoyed my time with Beasts of Maravilla Island, it’s not a game that I would play again. Like I said, it’s pretty scripted, so felt more like a narrative adventure rather than a true explorative game.
Overall
Beasts of Maravilla Island is a gorgeous and relaxing game for any cozy gamer. It’s a short experience, but definitely a worthwhile one.
Visuals
Beasts of Maravilla Island uses a 3D low-poly style, but the environments are rich and dense and so pretty. Marina herself doesn’t look amazing, but for the most part, she’s just a tool to explore and experience the world around her.
Sound Effects + Music
Surprisingly, Beasts of Maravilla Island is fully voice acted. Marina is the only human character, but all of her lines have voiceover. Some of the creatures have their own unique noises as well.
The background music is soothing and nice, if repetitive. It’s a lot of wind instruments, which I enjoyed. I just wish there had been more variation.
Gameplay + Controls
Beasts of Maravilla Island is an explorative photography adventure. You move Marina around each area, stopping when you see something you want to take a picture of. There are a lot of controls, but they’re easy enough to get the hang of. I used an Xbox controller, since I found that more intuitive than the mouse and keyboard controls.
The gameplay is pretty simple. You get objectives for each area, which are just a list of plants and animals you need to photograph. For the most part, they’ll just be there for you to a snap a shot of. Others may need a little more interaction. You have 20 frames to get the best shot that you can, although there isn’t a scoring system to determine what is a “better” shot. It’s all up to what you think looks best for the album.
I liked walking around and taking pictures of everything. It was fun to just look around and see the critters behave in different ways. However, I found some of the objectives too scripted. It kind of made the exploration feel less exciting. For example, in the jungle the main species is the flying monkey, which you need to photograph in four different behaviors. I assumed you’d just wander around and hope to find them in the behavior you need. Nope, these are all scripted events that you find linearly.
Replayability
While I really enjoyed my time with Beasts of Maravilla Island, it’s not a game that I would play again. Like I said, it’s pretty scripted, so felt more like a narrative adventure rather than a true explorative game.
Overall
Beasts of Maravilla Island is a gorgeous and relaxing game for any cozy gamer. It’s a short experience, but definitely a worthwhile one.