Platform Played On: PlayStation 5
Available On: PlayStation 5 | Nintendo Switch | Steam
Release Date: May 9, 2024
Genre: Metroidvania
I was not anticipating Animal Well. I knew it existed because videogamedunkey’s publishing studio’s first game is newsworthy in certain corners of the internet, but I didn’t know anything about the game other than it looked like another pixel art platformer. I don’t have anything against that particular style of game, but I also didn’t think I needed another one of those in my life at the moment. Thankfully, it hit PS Plus on day one, so I had access to give it a try at no cost. What I found was a game that I’m not sure will be topped on my 2024 favorite game list.
I would recommend you go into this game blindly. I will not be going into much depth, but even some of the high level discussion points might be better off unknown going in. You’ve been warned.
Metroidvania-Like
The best elevator pitch for this game I can come up with is this: a Metroidvania without combat that puts a heavy emphasis on exploration and puzzles, none of which are terribly difficult. That description does not sound very enticing to me and I might not have installed the game if that is the only thing I knew about it, but it is an accurate description.
The game drops you in with no instruction. Pick a direction and go; you’ll find something. Eventually you start collecting eggs, matches, and some usable items. It is these items which make the game. A firecracker will scare off ghosts (? maybe? It’s never explained) who will try to attack in certain rooms. A bubble gun will generate bubbles you can jump on, then immediately off of to reach spots you couldn’t with a single jump. A yo-yo, recorder, disc, and slinky round out the core items. Almost the entire substance of the game is wrapped up in the design which utilizes these tools.
I won’t spoil how these items are used, but there were at least a dozen puzzles in this game where I let out an audible smirk when I figured it out. The use of these simple items with simple abilities is the real selling point here. I kept playing this game to find out what the next puzzle held and which items I would need to enlist to keep going.
Exploration, But Good
I’ve become a fairly big fan of the Metroidvania genre but the one part about it I don’t love is the exploration. It is why I thought Hollow Knight was “just” pretty good; too many times I had no idea where to go in the massive map. It is why Ori and the Will of the Wisps remains one of my favorites in the genre; there was never any doubt where you needed to go with that map system.
Animal Well never once tells you where to go, but somehow I loved the experience regardless. A lot of this is because the map isn’t as big as others in the genre, and the rest of the credit goes to really strong level design which does a pretty fantastic job making sure you get the stuff you need the first time through. I’m not sure there is a correct sequence in this game. You initially need to collect four special items and it seemed like it would be very difficult without the all-important bubble gun, but I’m not sure it’s impossible to go to that branch of the map last and still complete the other three sections.
I never would have imagined liking a game in this genre which removes combat and gives you zero directional help, but here we are.
Puzzles Can Be Fun
I have mixed feelings on puzzles in games. I immediately go to the Uncharted series where it’s often running around, turning and pushing things until the things are aligned and magic happens. I don’t like that kind of puzzle.
Animal Well has puzzles abound but it does a couple of things which I think really help elevate them, at least for my tastes:
- They are never very difficult
- They incorporate platforming
I don’t really like puzzles where I am left scratching my head for a few minutes, puzzles where that is the hardest part of them. Animal Well does not have puzzles like this. The “what” of these puzzles is typically fairly straightforward so you can move right into the “how” which mostly doesn’t take very long either. When you get to that step, a lot of times you will need to do things with some platforming aspect to complete the puzzle. Be it speed, jumping, or using an item or two, the game almost always has you doing something to complete a puzzle: no pushing and rotating blocks here.
Animal Well, much like 2023’s Cocoon, is a puzzle game for people who aren’t great at puzzle games.
Some Missteps
Animal Well is an unqualified great game. There are, however, some issues I have with the game. First, the tool selection is annoying. Hit a button to bring up the menu, then move to the tool you want and hit the button again. Some kind of quick cycle through weapons or a wheel would have gone a long way here. Not many puzzles here require you to quickly switch between items, but the ones that do are often the larger, tougher tasks and you really don’t want the UI getting in the way of that experience.
Elsewhere, the lack of direction or narration can be seen as a plus, but it also feels like the game leaves a little on the table in not providing anything on these fronts. I suspect no narration is better than bad narration, so I can’t fault this decision too much, I’m just grasping a bit to try to find downsides.
A Great Experience
Animal Well contains some very specific strengths that feed into my enjoyment: platforming, easy (but clever) puzzles, nice retro visual style, relatively short (about 6-7 hours to hit the credits). This isn’t terribly uncommon, there are a lot of games released each year and a lot of them have multiple aspects I should enjoy.
The greatest trick Animal Well manages to pull off for me is to make me enjoy some of its traits which have been turn-offs for me in other games. I have, historically, not enjoyed open-ended exploration in many games. Animal Well gives you zero to go on other than the map, but I enjoyed running in every direction to see what I could find. Most surprisingly, I actually kept playing post-credits to see what else I could discover. Very few games get me to engage in their post-game unless I am interested in a platinum trophy.
I absolutely would not have pegged an exploration and puzzle heavy Metroidvania game with no combat as a game for me. I’m happy I gave Animal Well a shot anyway, because it was a fantastic experience that will surely end up near the top of my favorite games of the year list.
