I am really not much of a metroidvania kinda girl, it's often a genre I'll appreciate but never really get fully into. Rarely do I ever finish them, I appreciate them for what they are typically just aren't for me and I quite never really got why. In a vacuum it seems like something I'd like. I love exploration based games, I enjoy my 2d platformers from time to time, and I really enjoy action games but for some reason when all of these come together as a metroidvania it often feels like there's something that's just not clicking with me. Animal Well might be the most fun I've ever had in this genre, just because it's so different to most metroidvanias out there right now. Trading action and combat for very serene and eerie vibes, all delivered at a slow and comforting pace to make Animal Well something I really loved playing.

The puzzles are easily the standout feature. They are everywhere. In front of you or behind you. In the light or in the dark. In open space or obscured behind the walls. You cannot escape them, you pick a direction and solve. Thankfully though, there's an ENOURMOUS amount of puzzle variety on offer and plenty of items you can pick up all with quite a few uses to help you along your way. I won't spoil any of them but they're all really unique and really fun to play around with.

The visuals and audio as well are perfect. This is a dark, eerie and tranquil space filled with all kinds of animals to interact with or just observe. All the animation work and hearing animal calls echo throughout the many rooms you'll explore within the Well will really set the mood. Playing with a Dualsense controller is also highly recommended because of the vibrations added a lot to the experience. If you've ever been out in the middle of the night in a forest or by a river while its lightly raining you'll know exactly how the Well would feel like. It is peaceful and creepy and is the perfect backdrop and soundscape to accompany your puzzles.

The platforming is probably the biggest pitfall to in Animal Well. It's pretty good platforming, but some puzzles do require going back and forth between rooms and especially ones with some more challenging platforming, as it can become a bit tedious at times. There's also no combat at all, so platforming is the only kind of moment to moment gameplay. I really liked the platforming and using my items to help me get around so it didn't detract from my experience but if you prefer your metroidvanias to have combat in them, this is not for you. There's also quite a lot more to the game even after you roll credits, so there's still much more to find once you do roll credits.

As a whole package Animal Well is just exactly the kind of game that I'm looking for in the metroidvania genre, and hats off to Billy Basso for developing the entire game solo. It's one gigantic puzzle box that's dripping with atmosphere all the way down and I'll be heading back inside to uncover the many more secrets that are hidden in the Well.