I wanted to like this game more than I did, lots of busywork with finding new items and backtracking through the game to find where to use them, most of the later game items didn't really change the game enough to make that a fun process.

The initial 6-8 hours or so for the main game were cool, I liked how the items/upgrades weren't typical for metroidvanias so you really had to figure out how to use them for yourself. Visually it was stunning and all the lighting effects were very impressive. However, the post game of finding all the secret eggs were just okay, lots of them were just about noticing a small gap in the corner of a room and getting your way there. Luckily I found a lot of the eggs just as I went through the main game. Also, traveling the map so many times looking for the last few things makes you realise that the world in this game isn't very memorable, I didn't develop that inherent understanding of how to get around like I did in other games.

Also wish there was a real soundtrack, it is mostly ambient but the few longer music bits are cool so would have liked to hear more.

Animal Well never really had that joy of discovery from games this is compared to like Fez and Tunic. The big secrets didn't really blow my mind or truly excite me like those other games, nor did I spend a long time scratching my head at them like I did with the golden path in Tunic.

There are a few Quality of Life additions that would have improved this game, why can't I instantly teleport back to my last checkpoint instead of having to go find somewhere to kill myself.

Also really annoying that the craziest traversal item is given to you so late after already completing everything.

This game, along with some crow game and some cat game (of all things) created a Holy Trifecta™️ that made May 9th, 2024 a game that will go down in indie game history forever. Or so what I was told. I know almost nothing about the crow game and I literally forgot the name of the cat game before I was reminded of it. And this game, well I’ll tell you that I think about it right now, after around 2 1/2 hours.

I don’t get the hype. At all.

Supposedly this is a life changing game with unique and intricate puzzles that unravel an incredibly deep story. I even bought this game with the expectation that it would influence my knowledge on game design. However I have seen none of that. All I’ve been doing is jumping around, finding some admittedly unique abilities (eg spring, yo-yo), collecting eggs that don’t do anything for the most part (besides the swan egg), and solving a lot of puzzles.

And the puzzles aren’t mind-blowing genius or anything. They’re mildly unique at best. Some puzzles that I can think of are one with a wave that you manipulate to cross 3 separate points, placing the spring at a certain spot to hit 3 switches without hitting one that sets off crows, and one where you distract weasels from destroying your spring that sets off switches to go through.

Speaking of the animals, this game is similar to Rain World in that the supposedly deep interactions with the animals are underwhelming. Most of the time they just stand there and make noise and don’t do anything. For example early in the game there’s a duck that quacks and that’s it. Doesn’t do anything else. The only useful interactions I can think of are the big rabbit things and the birds.

I have no idea what the story is. All I can describe it as is “you’re a frog and you need to collect 4 flame things for some reason”. The puzzles have told me NOTHING about the story. And supposedly if this game is like an onion then at least give me a hint on how to find and solve the juicy puzzles that MAYBE have lore. But I don’t have a clue on where to find them. The game hasn’t showed me anything. I saw a post saying someone didn’t know what the game was trying to tell them and I wholeheartedly agree. Where is the deep story?

Also, the graphics and music. The graphics make everything look the same, and the pixel art is just okay. Nothing to write home about. The game is really dark visually. Seeing the same shades of blue and black over and over gets pretty old. And the OST is non existent. Just the title theme and the simple telephone save point theme. You will be playing the game in silence with ambience most of the time. Again, like Rain World if you’ve ever played that.

I know some people are going to get mad at me for not giving this highly praised game anything but a glowing review. “This game isn’t for you” why not? I like Metroidvanias (I just finished Islets, a vastly different game but if you’re reading this play islets it’s amazing), puzzle games not as much but I’ll give them a shot if I’ve seen enough good word of mouth like this game. “You are taking the game at surface value” because I haven’t seen anything else that makes me think I shouldn’t. All I see is a game where you hop around and collect flames. Yeah there’s some vague cryptic stuff but if it’s just gonna sit there and look cryptic with absolutely 0 pointers on what it means then it might as well mean nothing. “You haven’t played the game long enough” that has some weight admittedly. Supposedly this is a 25 hour game and I only have 2 1/2 hours in it. Collecting all 4 flames does not seem like it will take 25 hours so maybe there’s a second part of the game I’m missing. I will admit that I haven’t completely given up on the game yet, but the game hasn’t left a very good first on me. Maybe I will finish the game feeling completely underwhelmed and wishing the switch had a refund feature. Or I will join everyone else and say this game is GOTY. Only time will tell.

TL:DR. Don’t get the hype, game is underwhelming and directionless

Wasn't super interested at first but seeing the comparisons to games like Outer Wilds and the Witness piqued my curiosity. I've gotta say, I think those comparisons are a stretch. This is ultimately still just a metroidvania, even if it's more puzzles than combat. Felt more reminiscent of Tunic, borrowing some of those thinky elements but ultimately layering them on top of a more traditional game. While it has some clever mechanics, I was waiting for it to blow my mind and it just never happened.

Getting the items and uncovering the map was decently satisfying, but as it went on there were more and more situations that felt reminiscent of the worst moments in a Super Metroid first playthrough, where you've got no idea where you even can progress and so you end up just poking around, shooting rockets at every tile on the screen, hoping that this hidden passage isn't yet another missile stock upgrade, and the pacing screeches to a halt. I suppose this is me being a metroidvania hater and I'll cop to that. Had my fill.

After sleeping on it, I decided to give the postgame a fair shake. It was as tedious as I expected, full of backtracking and pixel hunting. The additional powerups didn't break the game open quite like I'd hoped, and accessing one of the postgame areas depends on RNG spawns, which, IMO, sucks ass. Maybe the idea is that you'd run into the thing over the course of the game, but it just didn't happen for me - only seeing it once, very early in the game. Ended up spending as long as the base game just to track down the odds and ends to get to a generally lackluster finale.

Animal Well is Tunic if it didn't have terrible combat. Alternatively, The Witness if you wanted it to be a video game.

Similarly to those and other figure-it-out games, it's nigh impossible to discuss without spoilers so I'm just not gonna. Point being if you like puzzles, platforming, and pretty visuals, you'll probably enjoy it.

...look, I know you're probably questioning the 3 star rating. In a nutshell: I thought the game was undeniably well crafted, but I'd be lying if I said I really had fun with a lot of its puzzles. There's a difference between solving and completing a puzzle, and despite the puzzles themselves being clever Animal Well handles the in-between rather poorly.

Pretty often you can see what needs to be done early on, especially if it fits on 1-2 screens. Aside from main route obstacles, most have enough execution steps and/or failure points that they take a while to be done even if you already see how to do them. Throughout the game I often completed a section only to feel more relieved than satisfied. Games only have so long to cash out their dopamine after any given revelation, and Animal Well runs the clock way too long more often than not.

The post game does go crazy though. I respect such a strong commitment to the bit.

I don't get the praise for this game, the high ratings are completely out of proportion. While it might be a great game for new players, it is a super boring and tedious "sequel" for someone who already finished BOTW (multiple times). Note that I put "sequel" in quotes, because in reality TOTK is more of a cheap copy of BOTW with a few new gimmicks.

After the first half hour, which you actually get to spend on a new "map", it quickly becomes clear that the creators of the game want you to explore the entire old map again and solve boring shrine puzzles again. Sorry, but it ain't no fun to do it a second time. By the time I returned to the ground from the Sky Islands, I was pretty much burnt out on the game. I really have zero interest in unlocking the entire map again, it's just tedious and no fun at all.

I couldn't bring myself to finish the game and watched the rest of it in a YouTube video on fast-forward for the sake of completeness. What can I say? I'm very glad I did, because I would have been bored to death with the rest of the game. I'm so relieved that Baldur's Gate won all the major awards last year, TOTK didn't deserve any of them. A classic case of this could have been a DLC. At least I didn't have to spend any money on my copy, as the game was given to me as a gift.

Vib-Ribbon is definitely one of the simplest rhythm games ever made, but I'd say it's probably one of the most solid out there!

Its presentation is very simple. It's a black void with a vector graphics on it, but they managed to make it really charming, especially with the character you play as, Vibri.
She is a rabbit who's just having fun, and she's voiced in a similar manner to Vocaloids like Hatsune Miku, which add up to a very charming character.

Since this is a rhythm game, songs are one of the most important aspects of it, but I find it curious that there are only 6 songs, separated into 3 courses of 2.
They were composed by a band called Laugh & Peace, and they can be bizzare, but I'd say they're good songs. They were definitely made with the game's levels in mind, as there are parts where the song gets really slow or really fast.

But speaking of the gameplay, you only use 4 buttons on the controller. Each button corresponds to an obstacle on the course (i.e. R button for a loop), but there are also obstables that combine two obstacles, so you'll need to press both buttons at the same time.
It gets harder later on, but the timing for it always well made, and I had a lot of fun going through the stages!

And this brings me to, perhaps, the best aspect about this game.
Remember how I said the game only has 6 levels?
I lied.
So how many levels are there?

I N F I N I T Y.

Thanks to some great wizardy on NanaOn-Sha's part, the entire game is loaded onto the PlayStation's RAM, and with that, you can play any music CD you have, and it generates a level for you. And it's not random, too!
This provides the game with so much replay-value, and it could be considered a sort-of "physical DLC", if you will.

Overall, Vib-Ribbon is a very fun and charming rhythm game that I recommend everybody to check out!