![]() It will be up to Marina to restore the Island and take photos of its inhabitants and their unique behaviours. He wants Marina to travel to Maravilla Island and save it, as the magic is fading. You play as Marina Montez, a wildlife photographer, who has her grandfather’s journal and camera. So after the hype and the must play rail photo experience Pokemon Snap comes Beasts of Maravilla Island, with a similar concept but totally different. The perfect way to start with the genre and full of charm and whimsy, this is a wholesome experience I’ll be returning to again and again.Review Rush was kindly supplied with a review code. ![]() Beasts of Maravilla Island did just that and scratched the photography game itch I never knew I had. ![]() It is rare that I feel so compelled to play a game in a single sitting, so late at night and utterly enjoy every single second I played. I wanted my diary to be full of great photos. There is plenty of replayability even when you have found them all so long as you get hooked onto the photography element as I did. Each area has about 30-40 different species of animal to find and photograph so if you don’t spot them all the first time, you can dive in via chapter select. Admittedly, that is the quickest way to get through and discover all the animals as you go but it did feel one level too short (it has 3 large areas to roam). That’s just as well as the game is only 2.5 hours long. It is a very chilled and relaxed experience and when it looks and sounds so vibrant and beautiful, I didn’t want to rush. Outside of photos, the puzzles are extremely simple and easy to complete and aside from a not-really-a-boss boss battle finale, you aren’t in peril either. The camera options are streamlined and simple. Patience and timing are key – the animals do their own thing if you leave them be. I found myself wanting to get birds flocking together in flight or several animals in the same shot. Flip through them, discard them, get artsy with angles or just photo the scenery instead – it is all up to you. Your photos then go into your diary and you can keep up to 20 photos of each animal type. It is simple, easy, free of jargon and intuitive. You can zoom in and out and flip it around for the fun selfie mode (complete with facial expressions to choose from). Your camera is literally a point and shoot camera. It is a curious decision because initially, I wondered if I’d be bored being so hands-off but then I found the voyeur side of things fascinating. You can whistle call them as a playful back and forth to get them to perform those actions but aside from that, you are an outside observer. Birds will fly around, other creatures will hide and some might need photos taken when they are doing certain things. ![]() Instead, you are led down almost entirely linear paths into showcase areas with a variety of different creatures to photograph. The story isn’t the main thrust of the game. Playing as a teen girl who doesn’t seem to believe in magic anymore, she arrives on the island to discover the magical beasts of Maravilla Island are starting to run into trouble. Some of these beasts are just too wholesome for this world.
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