REVIEW: ‘Animal Well’ Delivers Excellence That Won’t Be For Everyone (PC)

Animal Well is a pixel art 2D Metroidvania developed by Shared Memory and published by Bigmode. Players guide a small brown blob with feet through a haunting maze as they dodge enemies, solve puzzles, and navigate the ever-growing labyrinth before them. It’s a fantastic, uncompromising, handcrafted journey. Overall, it’s an excellent experience that will be polarizing as it reveals itself to the gaming community.

There is no narrative opening explaining why the player is setting off on the journey that Animal Well challenges them to. This was initially a problem for me, as narrative purpose is a big motivator for me. Looking back on my experience with the game, it feels like the perfect way to establish the game’s greatest strength: that it is what it is. There is not a single moment in Animal Well that feels like it’s there because it’s expected of the game. As the vision of a single developer, the game feels like a passion project in the truest form.

The visuals are the first element that catches the player’s eye when approaching Animal Well. While pixel art is nothing new to the indie game scene, what this game does with the visual style is extraordinary. There is so much subtly to the visuals throughout the game. Each area of the map is filled with little details. Vines, flowers, rocks, and other elements are all crafted beautifully. Pixel art is often muddled by too much detail. Not the case here. It’s doubly impressive when combined with all the movement in the environment.

Everything is animated gorgeously, from the flickering of candles to the animation of the various creatures in the maze, and the protagonist itself. There is a level of life to the subjects of this game that is hard to believe. Every motion feels smooth and perfect. The animation goes to great lengths to showcase every action in the clearest way possible. The character feels alive in the space. How it interacts enhances the game’s immersion. How vines drape over and slide off the protagonist is striking in its execution, despite how simple the concept is. The world of Animal Well is brought to life through all these small moments.

The game’s visual presentation also does a great job of making the world feel like it has a past. While there is no narrative setup, the game never feels like there isn’t a story connected to it. We just aren’t in on what it is. Ruins scattered throughout the map feel structured and purposeful. They aren’t just random elements placed to look cool. This sense of visual world-building goes a long way to make up for the lack of narrative.

While visuals draw a player in, gameplay keeps them coming back. The lack of combat sets this game apart from many Metroidvanias. While enemies will attack, there is virtually no fighting back for the player. Enemies mostly have to be avoided for progress to continue. While avoiding enemies is often frustrating in games, Animal Well does great making many of its encounters engaging, as it weaves puzzle-like elements into these moments. The creativity in the approach to enemy encounters is one of the amazing elements of the game that won’t be for everyone.

Like all games in its genre, the player initially has a limited number of options when they start their adventure. Capable of little more than jumping, the player’s repertoire grows as new items are acquired. While each piece of gear gained has an obvious use for it, Animal Well demands the player expand beyond the obvious to progress through its maze and overcome the threats there.

The assortment of items players come to wield is as creative as how they can be used. For example, a yo-yo can hit switches around corners thanks to an intricate momentum system that lets the player fling the toy around corners. Frisbees, firecrackers, and more are added to the player’s arsenal. Each provides a variety of unique gameplay options.

Why I say this will be a polarizing element is how unexpected many of these secondary uses are. Several different times during my playthrough I managed to make progress only by accident. While the revelation these accidents provide brought a sense of joyful discovery, they were proceeded by times of frustration. I would find myself going around the map searching for something I’d missed, only to eventually discover the answer was there all along. Animal Well never holds the player’s hand when it requires them to expand their understanding of what they can do.

The other element that will prove trying to many is the map itself. The labyrinth the game takes place in is cunningly designed to make every room feel unique. This uniqueness delivers wonderful gameplay moments that will challenge players. However, the catch is that in focusing on the experience of each space to the extent that it does, travel around the map feels like an overlooked concern.

Backtracking is a core component of Metroidvanias. Animal Well makes the experience far more painful than most. Even when taking the most direct route from one point on the map to the other, the player will frequently feel like they are taking the long way around. Even a limited fast travel system the player eventually unlocks doesn’t do much to alleviate what is the game’s most frustrating element.

The hardships of navigation are increased due to the map design. The world map is the one area where the game’s pixel art style does it no favors. Spotting where you can go and deciphering how to get there can frequently feel like a chore.

The game’s final element is a subtle but well-executed sound design. The atmospheric sounds of the game reinforce the darkness and depth of the world. It keeps the players on edge as they explore the game’s many traps and dangers.

Animal Well delivers a gorgeous art style paired with unique gameplay and an uncompromising vision. While this vision enables something striking and memorable, it also causes its greatest failings. These failings will make it a pass for some players, but those looking for what the game excels at will revel in their time with everything Animal Well has to offer.

Animal Well is available now for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.