Adorable Adventures Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 & PC)

Adorable Adventures’ take on the wild is beaming with idyllic optimism and heartfelt correspondence, emotional warmth and even a slight slither of humor. A curious boar; a wildfire that prevents unification; and a peculiar sense of smell that can reunite a family come hell or high water. Oh, Adorable Adventures is, true to its word, an adorable third-person adventure game that gets its priorities straight, and one that, in the spirit of determination, delivers a rewarding tale that transforms drawn-out pastimes into satisfying culminations with cozy climaxes. And yes, Boris the Boar is as equally adorable as the moniker implies.

What initially starts out as a wildfire in a seemingly picturesque woodland soon transitions into a cozy coming-of-age tale that follows Boris—a youngling with a nose for breadcrumb trails and clues—and his desperate quest to reunite with his family against the backdrop of a vibrant park. As the boar in question, it falls to you to operate the power of scent and embark on a journey to the far reaches of a Cévennes National Park-inspired world. A simple objective, but one that also happens to launder a lot of weight and bite-sized moments of satisfactory results, thankfully.

Adorable Adventures is all about exploring a world and learning how to reconnect with nature. In the beginning, you find yourself with a short tether to the wild, and a library of scents that have no relation to your natural instincts. However, as you begin to plod through the woods, clamber over rocky ledges and splash through sparkling riverbeds, the catalog of smells begin to expand and a route soon begins to illuminate the path home. It’s reaching that point in the narrative and figuring out how to tighten your bond with nature, that’s the tough part. Well, I say tough part when really I mean, a frail obstacle on an otherwise peaceful walk.

If you’re worrying about Adorable Adventures being a difficult game with complex puzzles and unnecessarily unforgiving platforming challenges, then you’re in for a treat. Frankly, if you can follow the dotted line and interact with the world via light prompts and button-smothering sequences, then you can probably sweep this tale beneath the rug without a hitch. See, while the game does rely on your ability to collect scents and chronicle them in a manner that is beneficial to your quest, at no point does it force you to solve irregular puzzles or overcome treacherous tasks. No, because if Adorable Adventures is anything at all, it’s a cozy sandbox that openly rewards experimentation. And as a result of that, you don’t really need a backlog of experience to understand it, much less play it. Simply, you’re a boar that does, well, boar things.

Against a vibrant backdrop that emits all sorts of color and eccentricity, Adorable Adventures comes into its own as a lovingly crafted third-person wild escapade with a lot of heart and vigor. The animations are cute, and the world itself is teeming with little details and hidden secrets for you to unearth. And, again, there is no pressure for you to complete things in a timely manner. It’s just you, a forest full of surprises and adorable activities—photography, races, and lore-riddled mysteries, for example—and an ever-evolving sense of smell that ushers you into vast worlds and entices you to discover more mini-games and little pockets of joy out in the wild. Sure, it’s simple, but it’s also incredibly easy to fall in love with.

If you’re not refining your sense of smell and fleshing out a portfolio of scents, then you’re either hopping through tire swings, discovering cairns, or capturing photos to complete a checklist of side quests. Granted, none of these tasks are mandatory for beating the game, though they do add a little extra meat to the bones, so to speak. If you ignore the optional tasks, then you could quite easily swivel through the main quest in an hour or two. But, again, it’s the little jobs that make the journey worth taking a break from. Four hours, though, and you’ll have seen just about everything that Adorable Adventures has to offer. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you.

Of course, while the game itself is rather short and lacking in major twists or turns, its world and all of its vast secrets are clearly plentiful here. And, to be fair, it is an easy game to get lost in, too, with enough routes, beaten tracks, and cozy embellishments to keep you sniffing out nature’s wonders for a handful of hours or more. Would I personally go back to it? Probably not, no — but for good reason. See, Adorable Adventures is like a good book: you enjoy the read, but once you breeze through the final pages, you don’t really feel that there is more to unlock. It isn’t a sci-fi epic, and it doesn’t feature underlying messages that you can only decipher on the second read. You enjoy the time you spend with it, and then feel satisfied when it finally ends the chapter and closes the book on you. Weirdly, I don’t mind that sort of ending.

Verdict

Adorable Adventures feels like a good book—a cozy coming-of-age tale about a boar, a quest, and a gift. It might not reinvent the wheel and grease the axis of a conventional third-person sandbox adventure title, but where it lacks in modern innovation, it makes up for in cuddliness and wholesome storytelling, simple gameplay mechanics and lightweight puzzle elements. And I suppose, to that end, Adorable Adventures lives up to its promise of delivering a short experience that is, quite simply, both beautiful and on-so-adorable.

It’s best not to expect a weighty game with all sorts of plot twists and character development arcs here. If you can bring yourself around to enjoy some clean and lightweight interactive elements and a heartfelt message from the wild, however, then you might just find yourself sniffing around the beaten path for a lot longer than you would have initially expected.