Animal Well [Review]
Just shy of 9 months ago, I was in Seattle enjoying a smorgasbord of amazing video games at PAX West. Among the many awesome titles I got my hands on, Animal Well stood out in my mind long after I left the show floor.
In Animal Well, you take on the role of an unassuming little brown blob, and set out into a dark, beautiful and dangerous world: one that’s teeming with predators. Unlike most metroidvania titles, however, you aren’t immediately granted a short sword or magic to attempt to dispose of enemies…in fact, you remain pretty much powerless through the entirety of the game. Instead, you acquire a handful of tools, such as a wand that produces bubbles you can jump off of, a disc that lets you strike switches and buttons in hard to reach places. Tools like these enhance your ability to traverse rooms and solve the many puzzles waiting for you as you work to unravel the mystery of the world you find yourself in.
Just a few short days after its official release (5/9), gamers and critics alike are singing the praises of Animal Well, and I am happy to join the resounding chorus and reinforce a sentiment that has been shared many times already: Animal Well is a masterful video game, and has emerged as a dark horse for one of the best games of the year.
Often times, a retro title will emulate the 8-bit aesthetic of games of yesteryear…but powered by modern technology, offers a ridiculous amount of depth either in combat systems or an eventual evolution in graphics over time (as displayed skillfully in Sabotage Studio’s The Messenger). Animal Well does no such thing. I think moreso than any other retro title that I’ve played to date, Animal Well feels as though it originally came out on the NES, and it’s just now been released from a long-sealed vault.
Each room is thoughtfully crafted, and as you navigate the surprisingly large world, you’ll begin to appreciate the numerous layers of detail lovingly placed between each pixel. There are interactions that you wouldn’t expect to uncover, and sometimes may even happen on accident - as was my own experience while exploring. I just happened to use one of my items to create a bubble, only for it to be sucked into the mouth of (what looked like) a nearby statue. Jumping towards the bubble, I found myself whisked through a series of pipes, and all of the sudden I realize that an entirely new method of transportation had been opened up to me.
These moments of surprise quickly evolve into delight, and then further curiosity. This is Animal Well’s winning gameplay loop: appealing to the natural instinct to explore and discover the unknown.
Being a game about exploration and puzzle-solving, your key skillsets are your ability to solve problems, and your ability to platform. There are a wide range of opinions on the supposed “difficulty” of said platforming. In my view, I would say that 90% of the platforming you do in Animal Well is very manageable, with about 10% requiring a bit more skill or contemplation to sort out the proper order of operations. Similar to the joy of discovering secrets buried in the various rooms, you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised at how some of your tools can enhance your ability to traverse gaps, or clear vertical obstacles. While not quite as robust as the hidden move-set in Celeste, there are definitely some more advanced techniques you can employ in Animal Well to smooth out the difficulty for that 10% of more challenging segments.
Another winning element of Animal Well is its superb sound design. I vividly remember sitting down at PAX to play this, having the headphones on, and the moment our main character climbs its first ladder, I was immediately transported back to the late 1980s. The digital pitter-patter as they ascended the ladder was a powerful hit of nostalgia, and this only grew stronger in the rooms that followed. Complementing this retro series of sound effects is a powerful soundtrack, with swelling crescendos that can be surprisingly emotional.
While the world of Animal Well feels impossibly large to your character, the game itself is fairly brief. Many folks are rolling credits between the 7-10 hour mark, with a 100% completion time of closer to 18-20 hours. However, there are numerous macro-puzzles and mysteries to solve in the post-game, even assuming you secured all of the collectibles. The game’s creator, Billy Basso, has stated that there are some mysteries and puzzles that players will continue to uncover for many years to come.
Animal Well does exceedingly well at crafting a mysterious world, and the immersion is compelling. However, this immersion can also lead to moments where you will feel hard-stuck. While the sound design and overall aesthetic help to alleviate the frustration of re-treading ground, moments of visiting and re-visiting areas in order to make sure you’re on the right track can sometimes put a damper on an otherwise engaging experience.
All in all, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with Animal Well, and fully agree that it’s on track to be one of the standout successes of the year. You can get the game for free with a PS Plus Extra subscription tier, or for ~$22.50 on Switch or Steam (10% off at launch).
