Visually, the game’s bright and colourful cartoon look is quite appealing and the different areas all stand out. Don’t expect much of a challenge in this regard. Such as copying the monkey’s singing to make them come out of hiding or later, manipulating light to create platforms. To do this with these and the other main creatures, simple puzzle solving is required. For example, the first area focuses on some form of monkey and you’ll have to take several candid shots including getting them to sing and dance. To progress through each area, a certain number of pictures must be taken of the area’s main creature. This does remove most of the impetus to take the best pictures possible.
You can take a picture through a wall of an animal (if the camera says it is there, it is) or a close-up, centre frame professional one and it counts the same. It quickly becomes clear that the quality of your picture taking only matters to you. It’s a shame though, that there’s no scoring system attached to the picture taking. This is fun and with just enough difficulty to make finding every possible picture in an area a bit of a challenge. The goal is to fill your journal, so that is what you will do.
Exploration is limited but necessary to progress and, of course, to take pictures of the environment and wildlife. Part open-world, part linear, the areas you can explore are sizable enough but there’s always one path that leads onwards. It’s a sweet story that doesn’t exactly grip but does craft enough of an interesting narrative to keep you moving forward. Along the way, she will learn the importance of respecting and preserving nature as it is. It does exist though and Marina will have to take pictures of its teeming wildlife to prove to the world just that. She has followed in the footsteps of her late grandfather and with his journal and camera in tow, set off for the island that was thought not to exist. Set on the mythical island of Maravilla, players take on the role of the young wildlife photographer Marina Montez.
Similar to the likes of Pokémon Snap, except not on rails. However, its indie underpants are showing and it’s got a lot of rough edges.ĭeveloped by Banana Bird Studios and published by Whitethorn Games, Maravilla Island is predominantly a photography game. With a magical and dream-like world, easy to understand gamplay mechanics and a sweet, lessons to be learned story, there is a lot to like about Beasts of Maravilla Island.