This review contains spoilers
Yeah I blasted through this in three days. Overall I thought it was very good, though some puzzles just aren't that fun when you play by yourself.
Honestly, most of what I'm going to say here has already been covered elsewhere so I'm just going to go layer by layer and discuss.
0 Layer. I loved the presentation, pseudo 16bit with minimal color and minimal music. I didn't love the music, as there just wasn't enough of it, but the overall quiet was interesting.
1st Layer - Metroidvania. A super solid control system. I really liked the variety of mechanics, differing from the usual double jump/air dash/wall jump combo that you get in most of these games. Not that there's anything wrong with that, its just a nice change of pace. The items for both traversal and item discovery were great to learn; the first time I realized you could use the disc as a ride-on put a wide smile on my face. The map is expansive enough without being insane (looking at you, Afterimage), and fast travel is reasonable with just enough backtracking.
I also liked that the bosses were all non-combat, and requires thinking like a puzzle more than just shooting at a big thing with a gun. It really matched the aesthetic of the world and telegraphed that you are a tiny speck in the Well.
2nd Layer - The Egg Hunt. Ok, so you beat the game and you may have found a good number of eggs. The next step is pretty obvious, get the rest of the eggs. I found a pretty good strategy from a podcast "check the black areas", meaning if there's an empty space on the map, there's probably an egg there. I was able to get 90% of these before I gave up, which I think is completely fair, to avoid running around the map for a few more hours. Again, not too bad.
SPOILER COUNTRY AHEAD
3rd Layer - Rabbits. Ok, here's where I think the game fails to live up to its contemporaries Fez, Tunic, and Outer Wilds. Unless you're really into the community day one, some of these puzzles are just going to be impossible or not fun to input on your own. I'm specifically talking about the mural puzzle, which originally took 50 people to solve. Well, I'm playing on my own, so I literally have no choice but to look up the solution. Fun. I found a couple more rabbits on my own but I didn't really feel motivated to find the rest and put the game down after getting the Second ending and looked up the rest.
I really loved Fez, and I liked Tunic for a similar reason. Once the first part of the game is completed the meta puzzle is revealed to you. That the real puzzle was in plain sight the entire time, the Golden Path in Tunic, the Tetrominos and alphabet in Fez. I don't think Animal Well has a puzzle as good as those, just a set of smaller "big" puzzles that didn't really add up to something worth pursuing on my own.
So is Animal Well worth playing? Absolutely. Will it scratch the Metroidvania itch? Yep. Will it scratch the Fez-shaped hole in my soul? Not really, but I think it was really admirable to try and if you are playing with a group of 5-10, you'll probably get a lot more out of this then trying to go it alone.
Metroidvanias I played in 2024 Ranked:
1. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
2. Animal Well
3. Blasphemous 2
4. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
5. Afterimage
6. The Mummy Demastered
Honestly, most of what I'm going to say here has already been covered elsewhere so I'm just going to go layer by layer and discuss.
0 Layer. I loved the presentation, pseudo 16bit with minimal color and minimal music. I didn't love the music, as there just wasn't enough of it, but the overall quiet was interesting.
1st Layer - Metroidvania. A super solid control system. I really liked the variety of mechanics, differing from the usual double jump/air dash/wall jump combo that you get in most of these games. Not that there's anything wrong with that, its just a nice change of pace. The items for both traversal and item discovery were great to learn; the first time I realized you could use the disc as a ride-on put a wide smile on my face. The map is expansive enough without being insane (looking at you, Afterimage), and fast travel is reasonable with just enough backtracking.
I also liked that the bosses were all non-combat, and requires thinking like a puzzle more than just shooting at a big thing with a gun. It really matched the aesthetic of the world and telegraphed that you are a tiny speck in the Well.
2nd Layer - The Egg Hunt. Ok, so you beat the game and you may have found a good number of eggs. The next step is pretty obvious, get the rest of the eggs. I found a pretty good strategy from a podcast "check the black areas", meaning if there's an empty space on the map, there's probably an egg there. I was able to get 90% of these before I gave up, which I think is completely fair, to avoid running around the map for a few more hours. Again, not too bad.
SPOILER COUNTRY AHEAD
3rd Layer - Rabbits. Ok, here's where I think the game fails to live up to its contemporaries Fez, Tunic, and Outer Wilds. Unless you're really into the community day one, some of these puzzles are just going to be impossible or not fun to input on your own. I'm specifically talking about the mural puzzle, which originally took 50 people to solve. Well, I'm playing on my own, so I literally have no choice but to look up the solution. Fun. I found a couple more rabbits on my own but I didn't really feel motivated to find the rest and put the game down after getting the Second ending and looked up the rest.
I really loved Fez, and I liked Tunic for a similar reason. Once the first part of the game is completed the meta puzzle is revealed to you. That the real puzzle was in plain sight the entire time, the Golden Path in Tunic, the Tetrominos and alphabet in Fez. I don't think Animal Well has a puzzle as good as those, just a set of smaller "big" puzzles that didn't really add up to something worth pursuing on my own.
So is Animal Well worth playing? Absolutely. Will it scratch the Metroidvania itch? Yep. Will it scratch the Fez-shaped hole in my soul? Not really, but I think it was really admirable to try and if you are playing with a group of 5-10, you'll probably get a lot more out of this then trying to go it alone.
Metroidvanias I played in 2024 Ranked:
1. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
2. Animal Well
3. Blasphemous 2
4. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
5. Afterimage
6. The Mummy Demastered