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[Draugoth]

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Game Information​

Game Title: Animal Well

Platforms:

• PlayStation 5 (May 9, 2024)
• Nintendo Switch (May 9, 2024)
• PC (May 9, 2024)

Trailer:

• ANIMAL WELL - Release Date Trailer

Developer: Billy Basso

Publisher: Bigmode

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 86 average - 100% recommended - 10 reviews

Critic Reviews​

But Why Tho? - Charles Hartford - 9 / 10

Animal Well delivers a gorgeous art style paired with unique gameplay and an uncompromising vision

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CGMagazine - Jordan Biordi - 9 / 10

Animal Well kept me captivated from start to finish and long after. Fans of Metroid-likes NEED to play this.

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COGconnected - Jaz Sagoo - 80 / 100

Quote not yet available

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Checkpoint Gaming - Omi Koulas - 8.5 / 10

Uncover secrets, evade dangers, and embark on an eerie journey in ANIMAL WELL. Billy Basso has crafted a dark neon aesthetic and enigmatic gameplay that delivers a Metroidvania unlike many others. The mystery and cryptic puzzles won't be for everyone, but those who enjoy a challenge and a good platformer will be rewarded with a haunting adventure.

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Digital Trends - Giovanni Colantonio - 4 / 5

While the urge to bypass the mental work will be strong, Animal Well is at its best when you trust your own instincts. Doing so will reveal one of the Metroidvania genre’s most arresting adventures, one that trades mechanical genre tropes for genuine mystery and surprise. And once those secrets begin to overwhelm, consider joining the collective cause as an organized ant colony inevitably forms from scattered insects. That’s the final adaptation lying at the center of Animal Well, a game that will perhaps stand in as a metaphor for how a single organism becomes a thriving species. One blob can only do so much, but there’s power in a herd.

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GameSpot - Richard Wakeling - 9 / 10

Animal Well delights with its non-traditional approach to Metroidvanias, combining unique items with a reactive and surreal world that's full of surprises.

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PSX Brasil - Portuguese - 85 / 100

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Push Square - Stephen Tailby - 8 / 10

Animal Well is an extremely rewarding game — if you're willing to lose yourself in it. The sort of mysteries it's hiding go well beyond finding collectibles, giving you a rich and detailed world to unpack. If you have the patience and the curiosity, it's absolutely worth plumbing its depths.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Unscored

A gorgeous and immensely absorbing metroidvania platformer that is both easy to get into and dense with secrets.

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TechRaptor - Andrew Stretch - 10 / 10

Animal Well is a game that promised platforming and puzzles and has managed to absolutely nail both in execution. Platforming fans will have an enjoyable time reaching the credits and will be content to set it down while puzzle gamers will be enamored by the depth that Animal Well has been able to achieve. You won't get more satisfied by a game solving puzzles like these.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Glad to seethis getting good reviews, game looks very cool indeed.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

89 on OpenCritic! Will give it a try this weekend since it's a day one release on PS+ Extra/Premium.

 

[dreamstation]

What's wrong with the PS version to have a lower score? Looks great though.

 

[Fbh]

People said Dunkey was going to have a rude awakening when he found out selecting good indies to publish was going to be hard.
Seems like he did a good job on his first try though.

 

[Trilobit]

What's wrong with the PS version to have a lower score? Looks great though.

No idea, I played it on my PS5 and had zero issues. It's a very polished game. All the time I played it I kept thinking "I want a sequl, I want a sequel, I want a sequel". I played it on PS Plus, but I think I'll buy it too to support the developer.

 

[mayham2199]

What's wrong with the PS version to have a lower score? Looks great though.

That is strange I thought it was running great put a ton of hours into it.