From PS Blog: "It is dark. It is lonely. You don’t belong in this world. It’s not that it’s a hostile world… it’s just… not yours. As you uncover its secrets, the world grows on you. It takes on a feel of familiarity, yet you know that you’ve only probed the surface. The more you discover, the more you realize how much more there is to discover. Secrets leading to more secrets. You recall the feeling of zooming closer and closer in on a very high-resolution photo. As you hone your focus, the world betrays its secrets.
When describing Animal Well to new people, I find it best to start with the mood I’m trying to create. It has the sensibilities of the survival horror genre, but it’s not really a scary game. It has puzzles and platforms, but it’s not quite a puzzle platformer. The art style is simple looking pixel art but will be employing lighting and visual effects that will push the PlayStation 5 hardware. Summarizing Animal Well succinctly is a challenge. There are no hardcore platforming challenges, intense fights, or jump scares, but lots of situational lateral thinking brain teasers set in a creepy yet not-uninviting world. "
Nirav from GL: "Animal Well has shattered my understanding of game design in the best ways."
I'm Loving it! The physical edition goes on sale tomorrow from LRG. I know a lot of people dislike them, but I want a physical copy of this game so I'm gonna double dip and buy it again!
A small but mighty metroidvania that you won't be able to put down
WTMG's Leo Faria: "I would like to reiterate that the fact Animal Well was created by a sole developer is worthy of an entire room giving it a standing ovation. It’s impeccably well-designed, with a ton of secrets to unfold, but I also feel it wasn’t that much fun at all times. I’m all for a game not holding my hand throughout its entire runtime, but it didn’t need to feel so cryptic, and so focused on trial-and-error, especially when its checkpoints were way too far away from each other. At times, I loved exploring its many secrets. Other times, I felt so frustrated I wanted to throw my Switch across the room. All in all, it’s still worth checking out if you’re into a deceptively complex metroidvania, but be aware of some truly obnoxious design choices and roadblocks."
