Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (2020)

I thought this would be a good game for my 8-year-old; low-stakes, no combat, basically a walking sim. But I got super sick and found I couldn't play most any game without making lots of frustrating mistakes due to fever brain fog and exhaustion-slowed reflexes. I thought this might be a nice little diversion while I convalesced in the most comfortable chair in my house.

It did indeed fit the bill for something I could play while nearly totally incapacitated, but I found the music delightful and the unadulterated positivity refreshing. They built a place that feels so authentic but also magical; exploring the island really conjures the adventurous feeling of exploring grandpa's neighborhood on summer vacation. It's simple enough that a child (or a flu-incapacitated adult) can play it but engaging enough to provide a pleasing distraction for a few hours.

Perhaps my most cringe-worthy trait is hope. I truly believe that we can turn stuff around on this planet if we take action. You know- loser dope beliefs. Which is why I found Alba to be so uplifting. It game-ifies recycling and helping birds get cut out of six-pack plastic, and you can stop the evil hospitality industry. Someone must stop the evil hospitality industry.

It is a simple game that doesn't overstay its welcome (I think they coulda made the island twice the size and the story twice as long and I wouldn't've gotten sick of it) packed with sweet moments and a charming art style.

Plus Alba has a skip cycle that gets tossed in with her walk cycle which makes her the most realistic little girl in video games sorry I don't make the rules

Alba a wildlife aventure ressemble un peu à Pokémon Snap dans son gameplay. En vacances chez votre Papy et votre Mamie sur l'île de Pinar del Mar en Espagne, vous vous voyez confié un vieux smartphone et son application d'encyclopédie de la faune sauvage. Votre but sera d'immortaliser les espèces de l'île avant votre retour sur le continent à la fin de la semaine.

C'est sans compter sur le maire corrompu qui a choisi de raser la réserve naturelle pour y construire un hôtel de luxe. Les riverains sont bien embêtés. En effet, cela représente une opportunité d'emploi pour cette petite île au tourisme sinistré.

Avec votre meilleure copine, vous avez donc une semaine pour collecter des signatures pour votre pétition. Pour se faire, il faudra aider les riverains dans leurs petits tracas et leur montrer l'intérêt du patrimoine historique et naturel de leur île. Petit à petit vous allez récupérer des outils qui vous permettront de réparer les infrastructures et faire revenir les animaux.

Ca a été une superbe expérience toute courte et toute cozy au rythme de la musique espagnole à qui on a porté un soin très particulier. Vous pouvez aller à votre rythme à la manière de A short Hike. Les créateurs du jeu disent avoir voulu recréer la liberté de l'enfance à la campagne et ça se sent. Elle est libre Alba, Papy et Mamie lui disent au revoir le matin et lui envoient un texto le soir quand le diner est prêt et entre temps vous n'avez qu'à crapahuter dans les fourrés.

Je pense que le jeu s’adressait davantage aux enfants mais même en temps qu’adulte j’ai passé un très bon moment. (En partie parce que la faune est en partie la même que là où j'habite donc j’ai réellement appris des trucs et c’est trop cool !). élément de gameplay inutile et trop mignon et donc indispensable : lorsqu’un PNJ vous pose une question vous devez hocher la tête avec le stick analogique. So cuuuute.

An easy-going, environment-minded game that caters to casual players and those who want to delve into entry-level ornithology.

Being already into the nature of birds and introduced to Spanish culture, Alba felt like a treat for simple knowledge while playing into the environment-related intrigue, such as running your own wildlife protection and helping society. The fauna book plays into the collectible element of the game and, as much as I could recognize several bird types IRL, there are some other fascinating types found here that ain't from my geographical area (since I live in Sweden).

It's a pleasantly wholesome game that merely took me a couple of hours to complete, despite the fact of moving around feels bogged-down by the lack of running speed or instant travel. A well-done game for relaxing and passing the time, while learning a bit of the Spanish culture and birds.

Alba is a game about taking pictures of the local wildlife on a Spanish island while trying to prevent a potential hotel from ruining the environment. The premise is cute but quite tedious. You mostly move around the town at a slow speed taking pictures of birds. Everyday you do a few story activities, pretty simple for adults but probably engaging for young children.

The game would be really improved by the addition of a sprint button, bicycle, or ability to jump. The game while cute wasn't atmospheric enough to distract me from extremely boring movement. I completed most of the game's content in just over three hours.

Unless the premise of taking pictures of animals really intrigues you, I'd skip this. If you have children under ten, it'll probably be a good experience for them. Its harmless and mildly educational.

If you can suspend your thoughts enough to just enjoy the ride, this is a pretty chill experience. Everything is simple and low stress. The whole experience is brief but every part of it is meaningful.

You are a child that has to save your (very very) small island town's nature preserve from being turned into a hotel by getting everyone on the island on board with saving it. You do this by photographing every single animal on the island (there's 60 of them, most are birds, many of which look about the same. 60 isn't a lot, believe me) and cleaning up trash. Inexplicably, everyone just needs to find a specific animal (that is somewhere 30 feet away from their face if they'd bother to turn around at all ever) or have a very simple task performed for them. Every single person on the island is indulgent of you .

This is so true that at some point you find a sick squirrel and go get the only vet on the island who is happy to drop everything to go treat a single, common wild animal at the request of a child. They cannot identify the exact poison afflicting the squirrel but they have the exact cure for it anyway. They leave it with you to go administer. They give you more than enough. When you apply it to this and other animals, they perk up instantly like they're a junkie you injected narcan into (at this point I had to firmly remind myself that this game is for children and I need to relax my standards just a bit). The adults are useless trope is taken to a hilarious extreme. Most of the adults in the island will stand around while asking a child to build things like ladders, bridges, signs, small structures. Which you do. You just go around performing amateur carpentry. This sort of thing is typical of the game.

Couple more complaints. For a game about taking pictures, you don't get to keep any pictures you take. The actual picture you take is meaningless, it's just to check off the box next to this animal. Some look so alike that you're going to be constantly photographing the same ones just to be sure. The difference might just be the feet or head of this bird is a slightly different color than this bird , but this is a different species in real life (really? This bird and the one with blue feet can't breed and make fertile offspring? It's the same bird!!). The game makes you think it's more complex than it is. For example when you have to photograph specific animals (birds, let's be honest. It's always birds) to repair one of those here's what you cdn find here signs, you can literally find everything you need while standing next to the sign. Then a bird watcher will show up and go oh wow we have birds here. I didn't see them right in front of my face until this sign told me about them. Is this a dive into sensitive blindness or is the game just trying to manufacture ways to make me feel useful? Often someone will ask you a yes or no question and you have to manually nod or shake your character's head with the stick by pressing it up and down or side to side. This might be the most pointlessly annoying thing I have ever had to (it's for KIDS Elizabeth, it's for kids).

Really it's a fun , well made game and it's good for a few hours of joy. It's not at all worth the price but if it goes on sale.

Please note I was high the whole time I played it. Adjust your expectations accordingly. It might not be that much fun really. But nah it's good. It's good

Playtime: 2h51m (story finished, 55 animals shot)

Review

In Alba you play as Alba, a girl who runs around an island taking pictures of animals, picking up trash and fixing every wooden thing. It's a very relaxing experience, except when you try to shoot a fast flying bird, or one that won't show up until later (which the game doesn't tell you). It's nice and kinda cute, and it's all very "positive". It's also very shallow, involves lots of similar looking birds and invokes no feelings at all.

If you wanna switch off your brain for a bit and walk around a nice sunny island, this is for you. Just don't expect something emotional like Dear Esther or Gone Home.

Here are the negative stuff I thought about this game:

1. Character walks slow
2. No control over running or walking
3. Can't walk and look at the map at the same time
4. Can't find the tables that we are supposed to put the images of the animals and can't know if we even unlocked that table or not. (could have been added to the map UI or something)
5. Could have added a warning to press shift when we were following the mayor

Similar to:

Pokemon Snap (Gameplay)

Miitopia (Style)

Animal Crossing (Style)

A Short Hike (Style)

Little Mouse's Encyclopedia (Style)

Cost: $20 Absolutly worth it

This game follows a young girl who made a animal preservation organization and then has to save the natural reserve from turning into a hotel. The story is really well writen and fun to play through.

Overall it took around 5 hours to 100% and I would suggest it, especially good for younger children or just an easy game.

+ Religious, Sexual, and Racial Representation

+ Go at your own pace

+ Well built scenery and environment

+ Real animals

+ Great storyline

+ Special reward for finding all animals

+ Good for children

+ Pettable dog

- Character walks slow

- Can only run a few seconds at a time

- Some animals are extremely hard to find

- Can eat but no animation

About fifteen years ago I lived in Spain for a bit after a period of living and working in the UK. I lived in a small coastal town on the Mediterranean not unlike the island town in Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. This game brought back a lot of memories of living there. The early morning fish market, the nearby islands, the food, the people the 35°C days.

Alba is my favourite thing from ustwo since Monument Valley, and it's a gorgeous departure from their previous puzzle games. It is a charming story of a young girl, Alba, who saves a wildlife park from developers all while visiting her grandparents.

Alba is a very chill game. While there are some minor environmental puzzles, the main activity of the game is taking photographs. You're essentially tasked with taking pictures of every form of wildlife on the island. I've heard people often compare it to Pokémon Snap in that regard.

It's a cute game with an enjoyable story that makes for another fantastic addition to Apple Arcade. It's also now out on Switch for those without an Apple device.

One note about gameplay and UX: I highly recommend playing it with a controller if you can. Although usTwo cleverly created two entirely separate control schemes complete with different aspect ratios (landscape with gamepad controls for the Switch, AppleTV or iPhone with controller vs portrait with touch controls for an iPhone washout attached controller), I maintain that the touch experience was convenient but the less enjoyable way to play the game. I played using a BackBone One, but any Bluetooth controller will do.

And now for some more critters!

Alba is a brief, wholesome and heartfelt experience. I enjoyed it for a lot of the same reasons that I enjoyed A Short Hike (though I prefer that game for its movement). A great choice if you've had a stressful day and are looking for something to unwind with for a few hours.