ANIMAL WELL Reviews

This game is awesome. The amount of secrets waiting to be revealed and solved is insane. This game is a love hate relationship as the puzzles are difficult but fun and interesting. Easily one of my favorite metroidvanias to date.

I had fun overall but the trial and error aspect made it frustrating at times

What can I say, this is an extremely well made puzzle metroidvania (metroidbrainia?) that deserves your game time. The controls are competent, the puzzles are VERY well made, and it's accessible even for those players who don't normally play puzzle games. It presents itself in layers - you don't necessarily have to go deeper into the next layer to finish the game, but digging deeper into the game is almost always rewarding.

Animal Well is easily the most unique Metroidvania I’ve played. The game revolves almost entirely around exploration and platforming with combat being extremely minimal (if you can even call it combat at all. And it's a good thing too because they’re easily the areas where Animal Well excels compared to its peers. It's a very distinctive style with the low-resolution CRT-style visuals and luminescent textures. It makes the map both visually appealing and unsettling at the same time. And the effect is further complemented by the sound design, consisting largely of artificial-sounding electronic static, whirs, and humming, really pushing the old low-tech vibe that the visuals are trying to convey. The lack of combat makes it easy to get immersed in the world since you can focus your full attention on your surroundings rather than getting distracted by enemies and other miscellaneous features. But what’s especially impressive is the game’s overarching design. So far as Metroidvanias go, the map is extremely amenable to non-linear exploration. You can go through the game in just about any order you wish with minimal obstacles even when you lack the items you obtain elsewhere (though having those items still unlocks plenty of secrets and shortcuts). The items themselves are also very unique. You don’t get the Metroidvania staples like a double jump or grappling hook. Instead you get stuff like a [spoiler]yo-yo[/spoiler], [spoiler]slinky[/spoiler], [spoiler]bubble wand[/spoiler], [spoiler]frisbee[/spoiler], among various others. Both the map and how you interact with it give Animal Well a very distinctive feel compared to similar games and contribute a lot to the novelty that helps make its short runtime feel a lot more substantial. And of course, the constant search around the environment for traversal methods and hidden secrets draws even more attention to the visual design. While Animal Well’s unique design helps make its simplicity a lot easier to bear, I still have a few problems with it. I don’t oppose the decision to strip the game of combat but what remains of the ‘gameplay’ isn’t much. The platforming is pretty simple and doesn’t take long to master while the few puzzles aren’t that hard to figure out. Even the boss ‘fights’ are painfully brief and end up feeling like an anticlimax to all the actions you had done before. The game’s lore is minimal enough that there isn’t much narrative satisfaction to making progress either as it's never especially clear what the point of anything was. There are some deep secrets and ARG stuff but that's really not an aspect I have any interest in so it doesn’t impact my appraisal of the game. Overall, I had a great time playing Animal Well. Especially for a one-man studio, it's impressive just how much the game manages to do. And while the short runtime and simple gameplay hold it back from greatness, they don’t detract from the stuff it manages to do well.

Animal Well is beautiful retro metroidvania game. It's filled with so many secrets that I willingly had to stop myself from 100%. Every room I went in, I was suspicious of every little wall that could be hiding something. I finished the game thinking everything was done but how wrong I was. The atmosphere of this game is immaculate, you really get the feel of being in a long abandoned temple/well filled with its own ecosystem, where you are only a little insignificant part of it. It's easily noticeable that the dev had a lot of passion when making this game, the attention to detail is amazing. If you liked this game and are looking for something similar, I highly recommend trying out Rain World. It's not really a metroidvania, but you're a little creature that's part of a larger ecosystem with a big map to explore.

There are animals. And there is also a well. The best description I can give I guess. Just play this already, it can run even on your Smart Fridge so dont go whining about how your computer is not good enough.

Animal Well is an absolute gem for fans of metroidvania games, effortlessly blending nostalgic retro gaming elements with modern, innovative gameplay. From the moment I started exploring its beautifully crafted world, I was transported back to the golden age of gaming, where exploration, discovery, and puzzle-solving were at the heart of the experience. The game’s pixel art is a stunning throwback to classic titles, with every environment meticulously designed to evoke feelings of nostalgia while still feeling fresh and exciting. The soundtrack complements the visuals perfectly, setting the mood with eerie, atmospheric tones that enhance the sense of mystery and wonder throughout your journey. The gameplay itself is a love letter to metroidvania enthusiasts. The world of Animal Well is interconnected, and the sense of freedom in how you approach puzzles and challenges is incredible. There's always a new area to uncover, a hidden secret to find, or a clever environmental puzzle to solve. The world feels alive, with every corner holding the potential for something new and surprising. What truly sets Animal Well apart is its sense of discovery. It doesn't hold your hand, allowing players to dive deep into its world and uncover its secrets at their own pace. This sense of exploration, combined with the satisfaction of solving intricate puzzles and gaining new abilities, makes for a truly rewarding experience. Overall, Animal Well is a fantastic blend of nostalgic retro gaming and modern design. It's a must-play for anyone who loves the thrill of exploration, the joy of uncovering secrets, and the satisfaction of solving clever puzzles. ∞/10 recommend

A 2D "Puzzle Metroidvanias" where you explore a large map, slowly get more items to do things and can do the ending while only having done 25% of the game. Similar to FEZ. + Very cool pixel artwork. + Surprisingly good sound design. + Unique puzzles and items. + Unique bosses and battles. + Sprawling map with excellent manual marking options. - Scanline shader (can be disabled!). - One or two puzzles really do need a guide, like the barcode puzzle. - Inventory gets a bit clunky. It took me about 12 hours to get all achievements, but that's not 100% of the game. Great example of the genre and a fun puzzle game, worth getting. It's bigger than you think!

A really fun metroidvania puzzle type game. The game starts you off with no direction then vaguely kind of points you towards collecting four things and then leaves you to it. You have to explore. You have to find the items that enable you to overcome obstacles, and you have to figure out how they even work. The game has a nice (if low res) map that lets you place stamps and even freeform draw on it to mark places you think are secrets or that you should come back to. Shortcuts and secret walls abound. There's friendly and hostile animals to surmount, but they're more like puzzles than enemies. You don't fight them as much as find a way to neutralize them. I quite like how a lot of the gear you find has a basic use but also more advanced uses that can interact with map elements in interesting ways, or allow you to do movement skills that seem like you're cheating the game. With advanced use of things you can seemingly trivialize puzzles or sequence break sections. But the game has hidden its most advanced puzzles behind the scenes, and it expects you to use every ability at your disposal to find and solve them. The game does go too far though. Regrettably the true secret ultimate endings can't be achieved on your own, literally you cannot get all pieces of information with just your copy of the game. So you have to look up a guide, and then you find out that there's even multiple levels of this secret ending stuff. I didn't like it when Tunic put this "out of the game" puzzle stuff at the end of a wonderful game and I don't like it here either. Otherwise a wonderful game though!

An absolute must-play if you enjoyed games like Outer Wilds or Tunic. Captured my attention for days straight until I had it figured out. I am in love.