This one might seem like a “less is more” kind of indie metroidvania, being made by a one-man army and having this minimalistic art style in a game with zero dialogue and combat.
This is misleading; minimalistic Animal Well is not. It is a complex, deep game made with dedication, care and the utmost intricacy.
It is a masterpiece in the sense that it creates this layered environment that 1. Leaves the player with complete freedom over how to experiment with its tools in order to progress through its elaborate world; 2. That in turns rewards them by making them feel clever by solving seemingly hard puzzles by themselves; 3. Said puzzles have different levels of depth for different kind of players, and they all get something out of it.
Animal Well’s secrets have secrets. And its secrets’ secrets also have secrets. And even though that might pressure some, it is made in such a way that allows for you to play through it your own way and finish it seeing only what you want to see.
There’s the puzzles for those who feel satisfied by just playing through the game and reaching the end credits; there’s puzzles for those who really want to see what the game can offer, requiring thorough exploration and attention to detail; and then there’s puzzles for the obsessive maniacs that analyze every single atom that is present in the many different biomes and try to make sense of the most minute of details, engaging in this community-wide search that will probably take months or even years to see through.
I’m on that second category, but I did have to ask a friend (google) for some hints to get through some of the brick walls in my progress. It gets THAT complicated.
Even with that, reaching the end of it was considerably fun, and while I don’t plan to help the community on the search for REDACTED, I definitely will be there when they inevitably get to the bottom of it all.
This is misleading; minimalistic Animal Well is not. It is a complex, deep game made with dedication, care and the utmost intricacy.
It is a masterpiece in the sense that it creates this layered environment that 1. Leaves the player with complete freedom over how to experiment with its tools in order to progress through its elaborate world; 2. That in turns rewards them by making them feel clever by solving seemingly hard puzzles by themselves; 3. Said puzzles have different levels of depth for different kind of players, and they all get something out of it.
Animal Well’s secrets have secrets. And its secrets’ secrets also have secrets. And even though that might pressure some, it is made in such a way that allows for you to play through it your own way and finish it seeing only what you want to see.
There’s the puzzles for those who feel satisfied by just playing through the game and reaching the end credits; there’s puzzles for those who really want to see what the game can offer, requiring thorough exploration and attention to detail; and then there’s puzzles for the obsessive maniacs that analyze every single atom that is present in the many different biomes and try to make sense of the most minute of details, engaging in this community-wide search that will probably take months or even years to see through.
I’m on that second category, but I did have to ask a friend (google) for some hints to get through some of the brick walls in my progress. It gets THAT complicated.
Even with that, reaching the end of it was considerably fun, and while I don’t plan to help the community on the search for REDACTED, I definitely will be there when they inevitably get to the bottom of it all.
ventoforteN
29 days ago