I’ve played Animal Well for a couple of hours now… it’s a very good, very inventive, great looking indie Metroidvania.
…but it’s still just an indie Metroidvania, and not hugely different to the dozens of other games in the same style we’ve been seeing for a decade now.
Maybe there’s more to come and I’ll end up eating my words, but so far I’m a little bit surprised by the wall to wall 10/10s it got.
Some of the puzzling is getting really clever, asking you to use your abilities in ways you wouldn’t expect. It gives you a buzz when you crack it, almost like you’ve broken the game with your own cleverness - and I can see why that in particular is playing well with the critics.
It’s also added some precision platforming though and, if there’s one way to make me lose interest in your game quickly, it’s with precision platforming.
Still, there’s something about it that keeps me playing….
Finished.
Verdict: I liked it.
Billy Cupid