Alba: A Wildlife Adventure

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure

Switch - World - Title card.

Developer Ustwo Games Publisher Ustwo Games Published 2020-12-11 Platforms iOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Macintosh, tvOS, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series Genres Adventure, Atmospheric, Exploration Themes Adventure, Cartoon, Drama, Wilderness Distribution Commercial

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is an adventure game developed and published by Ustwo Games for iOS, Macintosh, tvOS, and Windows on 2020-12-11, and then ported to several other platforms. The game uses the Unity engine.

In the game, you play as a little girl who returns to the island where her grandparents live only to discover it has become quite polluted and the nature preserve has fallen into disrepair. The mayor doesn't have any plans to fix it and might even make it worse. Your goal is to clean up the island to make it more appealing to wildlife while at the same time trying to convince everyone living there to have a stronger appreciation for its natural beauty.

Personal

Own?	No.
Won?	Yes. Windows port. All animals, all side quests, 9/9 achievements.
Finished	2023-07-30.

I got the game as part of the Whimsy & Wonder Humble Bundle. The trailer looked interesting, so I started playing it. After a couple play sessions, I beat it with 100% completion.

Review

7	5	8	6	4

Best Version: Windows

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The game is very uplifting. You play a little girl who tries to make life better for those around her by giving them a stronger appreciation for nature.
• As someone who tries to take pictures of all the wildlife around him in order to catalog it, this game was perfect for me.
• I love hearing the constant bird calls as you move about in the island. They make it possible to locate birds by their sound alone, and the field guide is a wonderful resource.
• The art style is quite nice and consistent throughout the game.
• Being able to replace the weathered pictures on the wildlife signs was very satisfying.
• Although there aren't any strong melodies, the ambient music is quite fitting for the setting. I also like how you can adjust the radio stations to hear more local music.
• The skipping and flying Alba does while she's running is cute.
• I was a bit annoyed when I triggered the ending sequence even though I was still missing two animals, and thought I would have to replay the game to find them since it auto saves. So, I appreciate that the designers give you one final day to find any last animals or finish up any tasks.
• I appreciate that you not only play a girl but a person of color.

Bad

• The controls for both mouse and gamepad need revision. Neither felt comfortable, especially when using the camera. At least the on-screen instructions helped.
• I would have preferred some actual puzzles. While I enjoyed the entire game, the game holds your hand the entire time, always telling you where to go and what to do.
• I wish there were a way to run faster. When you have to get to the other side of the island, it takes a long time. This is especially apparent when you've finished most of the tasks, and there isn't anything left to sidetrack you.
• I felt as though the game implied the fire in the nature preserve was the result of the nearby propane tank, where Alba can break into the fenced in area and unlock the gate, but nothing seemed to come from it in the story.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Title Cards

• 

  Steam.

• 

  Switch - World. Most title cards are variations of this.

• 

  Switch - Australia.

Videos

Trailer.

The making of Alba.

Additional design information.

Longplay.

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass	Alba and Inés are both strong women, and there are many other positive women in the game.
Bechdel test?	Pass	Alba talks to a number of women about a variety of things.
Strong person of color character?	Pass	I think everyone in the game is a person of color, and there are several different skin tones used.
Queer character?	Pass	Erika and Maria appear to be in a relationship and there is an LGBT pride flag in the city.

Also, Alia appears to be Muslim.

Links