Review: Alba: A Wildlife Adventure

Available on: Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox

Cost: €16.99, £16.75 or $19.99

Genre: Casual Adventure Game, Photography Game

Developer: ustwo games

Publisher: ustwo games, PID Games

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is a beautiful casual adventure and photography game where you play as Alba, a young girl visiting her Grandparents for the summer on a picturesque Mediterranean island. Together with Ines your childhood friend, and your Grandfather’s handy wildlife guide and Grandmother’s scanning app, traverse the peaceful Island to discover it’s wildlife, rescue animals in danger and restore the Island’s Nature Reserve to allow the nature’s habitats to thrive.

Story

Alba’s wildlife adventure begins with a visit to her Grandparent’s as a toddler, wandering around the beach taking photos with her Grandfather’s camera. Here the mysterious Lynx is spotted unexpectedly in one of her photos, and her enthusiasm for wildlife exploration begins.

We then see Alba visiting again ten years later as a young girl. Here her Grandfather hands her a Wildlife Guide, and Alba’s adventure can begin with the help of her childhood friend Ines. The environmental theme of the story begins early in the game, with a stranded dolphin on the beach. Alba must gather the helpful residents of the island to help the dolphin back to the ocean.

Alba encounters many animals to rescue during her stay, from seagulls with their beaks trapped in six pack rings to squirrels sick from eating pesticide. The theme of wildlife protection plays out thoughtfully and beautifully throughout the game, leading to her gaining signatures for a petition to save the island’s wildlife reserve from being turned into a luxury hotel.

Gameplay

In order to gain signatures from the petition, Alba must interact with the colourful island residents, taking on tasks to find certain animals, repairing bird houses and broken bridges, to solving mysteries of sick animals and healing them.

The movement of the characters and animals are all very smooth and pleasant to play, and the controls are easy to handle switching between map, to guide to tasks. The tasks pop up as texts intermittently and gently guide you to new areas, however the pacing of the game allows you to explore at your own speed. I didn’t feel rushed at any point in the game which was a really nice experience, so I could get fully submerged in the world and story.

There are animals around every corner to photograph and complete your Wildlife guide, and across 8 different biomes there are different animals living in each habitat. There is plenty to explore and it’s a delightful experience to find an animal you’ve not seen before and repair the fauna local signs so the residents can see what animals are in each habitat.

Graphics and Visuals

The game is bright, colourful and rich with a distinct style. All areas feel well filled and there are animals or islanders around every corner with sweet little details. The transitions from day to night are truly stunning and give lovely closure to each day and then with vibrant and well placed spanish style music that helps to fully submerge you in the game.

Each of the animals have a lovely design that are life like to their true forms, I’m not a bird watching expert but I could recognise a kingfisher in the distance or a songthrush in the air from their striking to true life style. Their static images once placed in the wildlife guide are sweet and fun to collect.

Longevity

To complete the story, you must gather 50 petition signatures, but for completionists you can return to find all 62 animals and complete your guide. While it’s not a long game, I completed it in full in around 4 hours, the game is delightfully filled and has such a lovely casual pace to it I can see myself playing it again at some stage.

Conclusion

Overall, I found Alba: A Wildlife Adventure a truly delightful experience. The story is strong, important and impactful, while still being sweet and lightly homorous. The visuals are striking and highly pleasing as well as a strong sountrack to immerse you and carry you through the story. I played the game in one playthrough which I would recommend to fully absorb the environment and story, but being able to take the game at your own pace is one of it’s highlights. The true stars of the game are the wildlife and animals around the island, each with their own unique style and helping to push the game’s message of animal, wildlife and environmental protection and conservation. I would highly recommend this game to anyone looking for an evening escape that is equal parts adorable and poignant.