I'm tempted to hold off on review because I hear the postgame is so robust, but I have to many thoughts, so here I am after hitting credits. I apologize for the unstructured ramble; I'll update this review when I've done postgame stuff.

Metroidvania is the genre that I think I like way more than I actually do like: I used to call it my favorite genre, and I STILL have plenty of games I consider favorites and replay over and over. But in truth, I feel like I'm in love with an idealization of the genre that rarely gets met by any game not called Super Metroid: Sequence being only a suggestion, with alternate paths and sequence breaks accomplished not just by glitches and wall clips, but mastery of mechanics and their nuances to master the environment. For whatever reason, the whole genre seems to have collectively decided that abilities, a persistent map, and collectibles are all that matter, with most of them feeling like tightly linear affairs pulling you on a string through a world that feels like it's begging to be truly trekked through, but disallowed by the developer for a myriad of reasons that I probably understand but think are silly.

Animal Well is Super Metroid 2. Not the only Super Metroid 2, but certainly one of the rare ones. (I would not be surprised if the solo developer was VERY inspired by my favorite Super Metroid 2, by the way. I'll leave it unnamed and see how many people guess it. Hint: It's not even a real metroidvania.)

The atmosphere? Moody. The ability upgrades? Unique to the point that I'm not sure I've seen a single one of them in another metroidvania, AND most of them with multiple hidden uses. The handholding? Nonexistent. The "intended" sequence? Hell if I know; I legit could not tell you how much of what I did on my one run so far was the path of least resistance or a sequence break.

There's just so damn much in this game that encourages you to get creative with what you have to see what works, and chances are if you can logically conceptualize something working within the bounds of the game's rules, it will, indeed, work (with or without tons of retry and maybe some luck). The result is the best metroidvania I've played in an absurdly long time, meeting my idealization of the genre in a way almost no others do.

And the fact that what I describe seems to have been a near-universal reaction among people playing it, that this game that doesn't tell you anything and expects you to get creative to progress is based? Man, oh man, I really hope metroidvania developers take note.

I think it's a good game, but I don't see why everyone was making such bold claims about it. I think it has really unique visuals and aesthetics that separate it from most other games, and that's probably it's strongest attribute. The combination of the music and ghastly visuals really contribute to make a somewhat scary otherworldly jungle of an environment, very befitting its name. The player slowly gets access to a few really interesting tools that tend to have multiple uses that you discover through experimentation, which are all pretty fun. I think the game is a short but definitely good ~5 hours. But even with the innovative multipurpose nature of the tools you get, they don't actually lead to multiple solutions for any puzzle. For anyone one puzzle there's only solution, so those seemingly hidden features of a tool just become the norm. It's level design is pretty good with overlapping routes and going over the same part of a map because you unlocked a new route, and when you got stuck it was relatively straight forward to figure out where you needed to go. The world of animal well is pretty interesting, but no one part of it sits with me long enough that I feel super invested or connected to it.

I think the game is good don't get me wrong, but is more of a sign that we should be on the watch for the developer's (and publisher's) future endeavors as this is a good first showing that only shows promise for what's to come.

a common refrain among Games People is that gameplay is paramount to a title's success and should always be placed first at the expense of everything else. I'm not so shortsighted as to think there's no merit to this line of thinking, at least in that developers should understand their priorities for the health of their game. it's understandable why this idea has gotten so popular in opposition to the Grafiks Craze of the '10s, because that method of advertising and understanding games is actually even worse. however, Animal Well is not a game that puts gameplay first. it is blisteringly obvious when you play it that the bulk of the developers' passion went into the art, animation, and sound design, culminating in an incredibly memorable journey. I had a ton of fun with this one even if I was a little too stupid for all the puzzles. I certainly won't be 100%ing it, but the sights and sounds of the ending especially will stick in my mind for quite a while.

i'm retiring it now because of all the Sony stuff (which i will not be talking about lol) but also because i just kinda lost interest in it

it's good! the game is executed to its vision extremely well, and it really helps the overall experience of the game by really feeling like you are playing it how it was meant to be viewed. combined with a goofy sort of tone and a reliance on having fun with friends, it makes for a fun time to goof around in and pass the time. i only played like 6 hours of it, mind you, so i can't speak to a lot of the inner workings of the game, mechanics, and all that, but i had fun with it

the biggest problem that comes with these kinds of games is that, for me, i love playing games solo and with friends. this game is so focused on the cooperative experience that you have to play with more than just yourself, and it does turn me off quite a bit when i just wanna kinda fuck around and do things on my own. it's why i got so hooked on Destiny, it's why something like Age of Empires hooks me so well, just any of these games that have both a solid single player and multiplayer experience works so well.

Good luck on your future Arrowhead, i really hope you're able to keep this momentum going!