Alba: A Wildlife Adventure started its life as an Apple Arcade exclusive back in 2020 and launched to much critical acclaim. UsTwo's game tells the story of Alba, a curious young girl with a love for animals and nature. Vacationing with her grandparents on an idyllic island full of diverse wildlife, Alba and her best friend suddenly find themselves on a mission to save the nature reserve after the mayor announces development of a huge resort hotel.
Equipped with her trusty camera phone and journal, Alba explores the island in an effort to document nature and gain 50 signatures for a petition to halt development of the hotel. It’s a simple, humble story that puts heavy focus on the environment, but still showcases a strong range of unique characters, including Alba herself, a local veterinarian, the mayor, and more.
After a brief introductory section, you’re free to explore the entire island to your heart’s content; it has a very similar feel to the Pokémon Snap series, but rather than being tethered to a fixed route, you’re completely let off the leash. This, ultimately, is what makes Alba: A Wildlife Adventure so appealing; as you wander down a path towards the beach, or climb to the top of a hill, you might spot a new creature in your peripheral vision, stopping you in your tracks as you break out the camera to take the perfect shot.
The freedom you’re given right from the start makes exploration and discovery feel all the more natural and rewarding. To help you along the way, however, the game does feature a notepad that includes specific tasks you need to complete in order to gain signatures for the petition. These could be as simple as photographing a certain number of species, picking up some litter, or discovering the source of a poisoning epidemic affecting the local wildlife.
There’s little more to say on the actual content without spoiling the entire experience, but if you’re worried about how a game migrating over from Apple Arcade might play, then worry not; while the game doesn’t strive to go beyond 30FPS, the frame rate is stable throughout, and graphical hiccups are practically non-existent. Musical tracks are a rarity, as the game prefers to keep the focus on diegetic sound like bird calls and the sea breeze, but the few tracks that do feature really fit quite well with the overall tone.
With so many games featuring death and destruction, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is a breath of fresh air. Much like Pokémon Snap, its focus on observation is a welcome change of pace, and it never feels like the underlying message is being shoved down our throats. At 2-3 hours in length, our only wish is that it lasted a bit longer, but with its relaxing tone and simple gameplay, this is one we suspect you’ll go back to again and again.
Comments 25
Got this one sitting on my wish list. Glad that it's pretty good. Will likely pick it up if/when it goes on sale at some point.
Sweet! Totally sounds like my jam. But might way till it's a lil cheaper at around the £10 mark.
Definitely one of the more interesting indie games I've seen all year.
Eeeeh... Looks good. 😀
Wishing for physical release in the future.
#letsgophysical 🤟
Ah I was hoping for a review of this after stumbling upon it on the shop. Glad to hear it’s good, I’m in.
Looks really good but since it's so short I'll probably wait until a sale.
Surely not being on rails means it’s nothing like Pokemon Snap other than taking pictures? Pokemon Snap is essentially an on-rails shooter. This absolutely is not.
@nessisonett
Not on rail photography games actually sounds better than Pokemon Snap.
I also have Hakuna Matata PS3, photography game by Sony, featuring Sony camera and lenses, take photos of African wild animals. The game is not on rail style, you can walk around to take a snapshot of wild animals but with limited radius to explore.
The length is honestly a plus for me. A game I will actually have enough time to finish.
I finished it yesterday and this game is excellent ! Plus I've learned a lot about cries of birds which are real ones and that you can try recognizing compared to those in your book.
A really little gem !
Looks like we're experiencing a surge in photography games and I'm all for it! Any chance you guys could review Umurangi Generation too?
I'm happy for those who like this type of games!
I'm so glad this is good. Very happy about the short length. Seems a great game to be able to play with your kids.
I like short games, but it's quite expensive if it's over in 2-3 hours. Especially since it looks like it can last way longer.
A Short Hike was very short, but i loved it. This game is going on my wish list, but with other games about to be revealed and maybe dropped today, it might stay on the wish list until a sale.
Just not sure about this for me. I can’t think of any games that relax me really, I see them as more of a stimulant but enjoy if u like this sort of thing xx
Glad to see a positive review here. I've been super intrigued by this game and now I'm probably going to get it. I'll probably play this docked to make it look smoother, should be fun!
Surprised this slipped me by. Thanks for the review.
@dugan it's on sale.
Thanks! I will check it out!
Downloaded on Apple Arcade now that I am subscribed. Nintendo Life is where I get a lot of Apple Arcade reviews from haha. This sounds like a really nice game.
@Bomberman967 yah, I was surprised when I read 2-3 hours? Not sure how the replay value is. Maybe a definite when it goes on sale.
On sale for $15 so I picked it up for my kids to play. The art style and music are fantastic. So far my kids are loving it and I think I will have a go too!
@Perryg92 Like now
@frankdoylezw haha, thanks for the sales heads up! I already bought it in another sale about 8 months ago xD
Really nice, chill game
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