Pokémon fans should not sleep on this Xbox Game Pass day one drop

Forget battling creatures against one another, move over to creature-catching games, there’s a new kid in town, and it’s the ultra-peaceful creature-tamer Creatures of Ava, coming to Xbox Game Pass as a day one release on August 7.

Recent changes to Game Pass’ pricing and tiers mean that the cheapest tiers no longer have access to day one releases as part of their subscription, so users can either upgrade their Game Pass subscription or get the game on Steam, where it will also arrive on August 7.

Developed by Inverge Studios and published by 11-bit Studios, Creatures of Ava is an exploration-driven action-adventure game in which players are on an expedition to the planet Ava, tasked with stopping a life-threatening disease, The Withering, and saving the inhabitants and creatures across the planet.

Gameplay

Players will take on the role of Vic, a young nature explorer, and her task of exploring and saving planet Ava. There are over 20 creatures for players to tame, and there’s none of the violent battling seen in similar games – players in Creatures of Ava peacefully befriend critters with a special flute.

As Vic tames new creatures, their unique skills and knowledge of the world enable deeper exploration of the game’s environments with new traversal methods and environmental challenges and puzzles.

Art

The game aims to encourage “curiosity-driven exploration of its distinct ecosystems,” a task which the stunning visuals are fully set up to achieve. The trailers show off the game’s distinctive art style and impressive use of color and design to create an engaging world that players will truly want to explore.

Story

Despite being driven forward by a player’s desire to explore, Creatures of Ava will have a main story and plot. What’s more, all signs point to the story being a good one – it was co-written by Rhianna Pratchett, veteran games writer of the Tomb Raider franchise, and Mirror’s Edge, and of course, the famous fantasy author Terry Pratchett’s daughter.

Explore the world and work with the planet’s inhabitants, the Naam, to discover the source of the recurring infection, The Withering, and discover how to put a stop to it once and for all.

Featured image credit: Inverge Studios/11 bit studios

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