Animal Well Reviews
Uncover secrets, evade dangers, and embark on an eerie journey in ANIMAL WELL. Billy Basso has crafted a dark neon aesthetic and enigmatic gameplay that delivers a Metroidvania unlike many others. The mystery and cryptic puzzles won't be for everyone, but those who enjoy a challenge and a good platformer will be rewarded with a haunting adventure.
Animal Well is an extremely rewarding game — if you're willing to lose yourself in it. The sort of mysteries it's hiding go well beyond finding collectibles, giving you a rich and detailed world to unpack. If you have the patience and the curiosity, it's absolutely worth plumbing its depths.
Animal Well kept me captivated from start to finish and long after. Fans of Metroid-likes NEED to play this.
Animal Well delivers a gorgeous art style paired with unique gameplay and an uncompromising vision
Animal Well is a refreshing twist on the Metroidvania formula. Its tight platforming and clever puzzles make each exhilarating trek to distinct regions a blast. Although the retro-inspired art direction and odd presentation may not resonate with everyone, the originality and charm that imbues the game make this trip to the absurd a must for fans of the genre.
Animal Well is a game that promised platforming and puzzles and has managed to absolutely nail both in execution. Platforming fans will have an enjoyable time reaching the credits and will be content to set it down while puzzle gamers will be enamored by the depth that Animal Well has been able to achieve. You won't get more satisfied by a game solving puzzles like these.
A gorgeous and immensely absorbing metroidvania platformer that is both easy to get into and dense with secrets.
Animal Well is stunning and mysterious, a visual treat that offers open-ended and thought-provoking exploration. The total lack of explanations may put off part of the audience, but those who are willing to see how deep the iceberg, or rather the pit, goes, will have a lot to enjoy in this surrealist metroidvania.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Animal Well's deep secrets and arresting atmosphere will suck you down the rabbit hole.
Animal Well delights with its non-traditional approach to Metroidvanias, combining unique items with a reactive and surreal world that's full of surprises.
Animal Well is one of the most interesting indie games that has been released so far in 2024.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Animal Well is a stunner of a metroidvania, usually charming but frequently creepy, mysterious but by no means unapproachable, and filled from top to bottom with secrets that are always satisfying to uncover.
It’s one I’m grateful I experienced knowing so little, and urge anyone else sitting on the fence to wholeheartedly embrace until the darkness and biologically fueled light sources of its world envelop you in your beautiful, if slightly chilly, new home.
Teeming with life, secrets, and charm that surprise and delight, Animal Well held my full, undivided attention
Animal Well is a beautiful, multi-layered puzzle box that’s both fun to simply play around with, and an utter delight to slowly crack open, secret by secret.
Explore a bright vision of subterranean nature in this astonishingly rich Metroidvania.
Without giving anything away, it suffices to say that this rabbit hole goes a long way down, and if Animal Well is a Metroidvania, it's so much more besides.
Developer Shared Memory's stated goal is "to craft complete experiences that will be playable long after the world loses its internet connection," and screen after screen, Animal Well excels in delighting your eyes and giving your brain something to stew on. It's a riposte against a culture of post-launch updates in favour of a meticulously crafted, singular vision with potentially years' worth of discoveries baked in. By all indications, Animal Well delivers on that long-term promise and does so with a one-of-a-kind elegance.
Animal Well is sure to be one of 2024's surprise hits. It's Metroidvania gameplay plays second fiddle to a seemingly endless mystery
Animal Well is a fantastic breakout title from both a new developer and publishing studio. Fans of Fez and Tunic will feel right at home jumping into this well.