I think that a good chunk of the discourse surrounding Animal Well is being directed towards the owner of its publisher, the one and only Jason “Videogamedunkey” Gastrow, and not the star of the show, sole developer Billy Basso. Whilst I will commend Dunkey on his brand new venture, with an emphasis on curating indies and giving developers fair shares in an increasingly hostile environment, I want to focus my review on the game itself and the impressive work coined by Basso. With that being said, if you ask me whether or not Animal Well is one of the best games of the year, as most reviews are stating… I wouldn’t say so. Here’s why.

In Animal Well, you play as a random sentient blob traversing a mysterious cavern (or well, or whatever the hell this is supposed to be) inhabited by loads of animals (both benign and evil) and a handful of spirits. You’re here to explore the many secrets this well hides, in a metroidvania game with an emphasis on exploration and puzzle solving. Combat is reduced to a minimum and is not the game’s main focus.

Right off the bat, I was impressed with two things. Animal Well manages to look minimalistic and overly detailed at the same time. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but the developer has managed to pull off a really unique visual style… which sadly, gets a bit repetitive after a while. I think this is due to the repetitive backgrounds and excessive usage of dark blue. Even though the game is meant to look retro, many of its post-processing effects look crisp and modern. Firecrackers explode in a barrage of lights, colors, and 60 frames per second. Ghastly characters scale and rotate in creepy ways, and so on.

The other thing that wowed me was the amount of secrets and easter eggs. Animal Well looks simplistic at first, given how few upgrades and movements you have at your disposal, but this is deceptively complex. Every single area has something to unveil. Every map section has a little easter egg or quirk for you to find out. You can even control the lamps onscreen by touching them with your finger. Lots of invisible walls hide small rooms, and there are secret passages everywhere. It is a game tailor made for word-of-mouth discussions or asking your friend for help. It’s almost like how we were talking about our experiences with Elden Ring a few years ago. But here comes my main gripe with Animal Well as a whole…

The fact the game is amost entirely devoid of text, and nothing is told or explained to you is actually fun at first, but it becomes a nuisance after a while. This is a puzzle game with lots (and I do mean LOTS) of death traps and other sections which might either stop you for dozens of minutes at any given point, or just straight up kill your character due to the limited health and recovery system. Lots of failures and deaths await you, and that’s an issue due to how far away each checkpoint is.

Animal Well wants you to explore at your own leisure, but this is not cozy or relaxing. On the contrary, it’s full of challengers at pretty much every new room you can find. Given how there is no set direction to follow, you will probably start exploring any specific spot until you get stuck in a puzzle section, or simply die. You may be reverted back to a checkpoint from half an hour ago, getting rid of your entire progress in between that period. I found it to be really frustrating, as the fact the game doesn’t tell you a damn thing just artificially extends its runtime. I don’t think that’s exactly a neat design choice. Challenging is fun. Annoying isn’t.

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.

Graphics: 7.5 It manages to look minimalistic and overly detailed at the same time. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but the developer has managed to pull off a really unique visual style… which gets repetitive after a while.	Gameplay: 7.0 Exploration-based metroidvania, with minimal combat. It’s all about bashing your head against walls until you find solutions to the convoluted puzzles in front of you, as the game doesn’t hold your hand at all. Platforming sections are a bit of a nuisance.
Sound: 6.5 It’s mostly ambient sounds and the occasional animal sound effect. Gets the job done, but no one will judge you if you play the game whilst listening to something else on your headphones.	Fun Factor: 7.0 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. Some questionable design choices made Animal Well feel a lot more frustrating than it should have.
Final Verdict: 7.0

Animal Well is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch.

Reviewed on Switch.