Animal Well is an outrageously dense game. It's a bit hard to be more specific than that without accidentally veering into spoilers, but it feels like every major discovery you find completely recontextualizes everything you thought you could see or do in this world. I don't think I've ever had as many mindblowing moments in a single game before and, even if you ignored the rabbithole this game invites you to dive into, the surface layer of Animal Well stands up on its own as a very well executed Metroidvania. This is honestly a stunning achievement of a game, especially for a solo developer, and I'm glad it's getting the praise it deserves.
To address the elephant in the room, Animal Well can indeed get pretty Fez-like at times and, while I certainly didn't dislike Fez, I wouldn't say I was a huge fan of it either. My issues with the more esoteric side of Fez are twofold, but in my opinion Animal Well solves both of these issues in it's own way. Firstly, an awful lot of the content in Fez is locked off behind one or two major bottlenecks that it's very easy to get stuck on. Animal Well on the other hand is remarkably good at making most of its puzzles have multiple solutions (at least at the lower and mid levels), making this not be an issue until you are literally cleaning up the last few dregs of any given challenge.
I also thought Fez's late game puzzles were too clever and mad for their own good. And... well, Animal Well is no different there. But Animal Well is much better at signalling its off-ramps. In Fez it only became clear right towards the end that I wouldn't be getting all the Anticubes, which made all the time on the ones I did get feel wasted. But in Animal Well, there is a pretty strict hierarchy of madness; going for completion in any of the 'depth levels' rewards you with something and is pretty good at letting you know what to expect from the next level, so you can know in advance whether that layer is for you or whether now would be a good time to stop. Compare it with something like Inscryption; most players will get a peek or two behind the curtain at some of the ARG madness in that game while they play, but the ARG side of things is well-telegraphed, clearly only for a subset of players and has very little impact on the game if you choose to ignore it. Animal Well does exactly this, but refines the formula even more in ways I cannot discuss because of spoilers...
The puzzles in this game are mostly very fun, very clever and make you feel like a genius when you work some of them out. And this is somehow true at every level in the game; by the late-game I was looking back at some of the early secrets I was smug at finding and thinking how foolish I was for thinking that was impressive. The game is very good at giving you reasons to go and explore its entire map yet another time, and this... it's a mixed blessing to be honest. While it is very cool to go back to a room you thought you'd fully explored and find yet more secrets hidden in the cracks, a lot of the mid-to-late game in Animal Well does end up with you somewhat aimlessly traipsing across the map, and it can feel quite time wastey. For the most part the few moments of discovery do make each journey worth it, but often times collectibles are hidden behind illusory walls and the like, which are just a bit frustrating and not always signposted in the best way. But overall, the puzzles are great; I am super impressed by some of the ultra late-game puzzles (which I googled after completing the game, no way was I diving that deep into the Well on my own), and the variety on show in this game is incredible.
The aesthetics in this game are also very strong. The retro art style, bizarre animal theming and droning ambience make this a richly atmospheric experience, and a unique one at that; I don't know of any other game that feels anything like this one. What Animal Well is sorely missing, however, is some context. While there is definitely worldbuilding of a sorts in Animal Well, there isn't a plot or any characters to speak of, and this lack of any real context makes the game that much less immersive and that much more... well, video gamey. To be clear I'm not asking for Disco Elysium levels of writing here; the plot in Fez was extremely thin in the ground but, at the very least, I knew who the PC was and knew why they were solving all these puzzles. I really think a basic introductory cutscene like Fez's would have really helped frame Animal Well in a much better way and made the whole experience that more engaging.
But I think that lack of context is the only thing stopping me giving full marks here really because, aside from that, it's hard to see how Animal Well could do what it aims to do any better. It's one heck of a debut solo game, and I look forward to seeing what Billy Basso goes onto create next.
To address the elephant in the room, Animal Well can indeed get pretty Fez-like at times and, while I certainly didn't dislike Fez, I wouldn't say I was a huge fan of it either. My issues with the more esoteric side of Fez are twofold, but in my opinion Animal Well solves both of these issues in it's own way. Firstly, an awful lot of the content in Fez is locked off behind one or two major bottlenecks that it's very easy to get stuck on. Animal Well on the other hand is remarkably good at making most of its puzzles have multiple solutions (at least at the lower and mid levels), making this not be an issue until you are literally cleaning up the last few dregs of any given challenge.
I also thought Fez's late game puzzles were too clever and mad for their own good. And... well, Animal Well is no different there. But Animal Well is much better at signalling its off-ramps. In Fez it only became clear right towards the end that I wouldn't be getting all the Anticubes, which made all the time on the ones I did get feel wasted. But in Animal Well, there is a pretty strict hierarchy of madness; going for completion in any of the 'depth levels' rewards you with something and is pretty good at letting you know what to expect from the next level, so you can know in advance whether that layer is for you or whether now would be a good time to stop. Compare it with something like Inscryption; most players will get a peek or two behind the curtain at some of the ARG madness in that game while they play, but the ARG side of things is well-telegraphed, clearly only for a subset of players and has very little impact on the game if you choose to ignore it. Animal Well does exactly this, but refines the formula even more in ways I cannot discuss because of spoilers...
The puzzles in this game are mostly very fun, very clever and make you feel like a genius when you work some of them out. And this is somehow true at every level in the game; by the late-game I was looking back at some of the early secrets I was smug at finding and thinking how foolish I was for thinking that was impressive. The game is very good at giving you reasons to go and explore its entire map yet another time, and this... it's a mixed blessing to be honest. While it is very cool to go back to a room you thought you'd fully explored and find yet more secrets hidden in the cracks, a lot of the mid-to-late game in Animal Well does end up with you somewhat aimlessly traipsing across the map, and it can feel quite time wastey. For the most part the few moments of discovery do make each journey worth it, but often times collectibles are hidden behind illusory walls and the like, which are just a bit frustrating and not always signposted in the best way. But overall, the puzzles are great; I am super impressed by some of the ultra late-game puzzles (which I googled after completing the game, no way was I diving that deep into the Well on my own), and the variety on show in this game is incredible.
The aesthetics in this game are also very strong. The retro art style, bizarre animal theming and droning ambience make this a richly atmospheric experience, and a unique one at that; I don't know of any other game that feels anything like this one. What Animal Well is sorely missing, however, is some context. While there is definitely worldbuilding of a sorts in Animal Well, there isn't a plot or any characters to speak of, and this lack of any real context makes the game that much less immersive and that much more... well, video gamey. To be clear I'm not asking for Disco Elysium levels of writing here; the plot in Fez was extremely thin in the ground but, at the very least, I knew who the PC was and knew why they were solving all these puzzles. I really think a basic introductory cutscene like Fez's would have really helped frame Animal Well in a much better way and made the whole experience that more engaging.
But I think that lack of context is the only thing stopping me giving full marks here really because, aside from that, it's hard to see how Animal Well could do what it aims to do any better. It's one heck of a debut solo game, and I look forward to seeing what Billy Basso goes onto create next.