Beasts of Maravilla Island | PS5 Review

November 22, 2022 Alyssa White

It’s officially cozy game season. It’s chilly out, seasonal depression is a thing, and most of us just want to curl up with a charming game to relieve stress. Banana Bird Studios’ Beasts of Maravilla Island is a fantastic entry into the genre of calm, peaceful games that I often crave at this time of year.

The Great Outdoors

You play as Marina, a young woman who has traveled to Maravilla Island to finish what her grandfather started years ago. She’s tasked with photographing the flora, fauna, insects, and animals of the island to raise awareness about their existence. She has her grandfather’s expedition journal with her, and this is the most helpful tool in the game. The journal gives you a list of objectives (all revolve around photographing specific creatures and plants) and hints about how to coax certain poses out of unique animals to fulfill your quests.

There are three different biomes in Beasts of Maravilla Island, and they each have their own specific environment and critters that inhabit them. Each area is colorful, vibrant, and the sound design is delightful. It was fun to take my time scouring the area looking for all the different animals and observing their behaviors. How can you not be entranced by hybrids such as otterdiles (otter/crocodile) and binkeys (bird/monkey)?

A Picture Lasts Forever

The main mechanic of this game is photography, and it is extremely simple to use. Simply press L2 to pull up the camera, then press R2 to snap the photo. You do have the ability to zoom in or out, and to enter selfie mode (because of course that needed to be added), but there aren’t any complex abilities or customization options tied into it. There are also environmental puzzles scattered throughout, but they’re simple to figure out and I never struggled with any of them. This could be a bummer if you’re looking for a deeper, more challenging experience but it makes it easier to recommend for those looking for an easier game.

To hear me talk more about Beasts of Maravilla Island, be sure to listen to this episode of The Gaming Outsider podcast around the 1:19:19 time stamp.

Beasts of Maravilla Island would be an excellent choice for children and casual players to dive into with its simple mechanics, cool creatures, short runtime, and bright visuals. It took me a little under two hours to complete in one sitting, and I gained the majority of the game’s trophies during this time. I also didn’t encounter any serious glitches or bugs. I occasionally would clip through the environment and the camera would turn trees into a bunch of dots sometimes while climbing, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment.

The Final Verdict

Beasts of Maravilla Island is a calm, cozy game that is perfect for gamers looking for a simple yet fun experience. Maravilla Island is a unique, vibrant setting, and the photography mechanic is simple yet enjoyable. It is rather short, though, and doesn’t offer much in terms of replayability besides cleaning up missed trophies. This probably won’t appeal to anyone looking for a deep, hardcore game, but it’s delightful enough to wholeheartedly recommend to anyone yearning for this type of game.

This review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy of Beasts of Maravilla Island provided by Uber Strategist for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation 4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.