ANIMAL WELL

[h1]Animal Well – hidden gem of a game.[/h1] [hr][/hr] My favourite type of game, where you explore and search for Easter eggs and hidden paths, but elevated to the absolute extreme. You think youve completed the game? Welcome to layer 2 of Animal Well. Oh, you’ve completed layer 2? Welcome to layer 3. Oh, you completed layer 3?.. yeah, I could just go on. A game with infinite secrets, some of which Im not even sure are ever solved, combined with awesome mechanics and unforgettable visuals, is just perfect. Still one of my favourite games.

鬼才匠人Billy Basso七年磨一剑，创造了《动物井》这部堪称极具工匠精神与创新意识的解谜神作。 作为一款类银河城解谜游戏，本作最大的优点是原创性。传统类银的攻击、二段跳之类的能力一个都见不着，玩家接触到的全是独此一家的新机制，谜题也都围绕如何发掘这些能力来展开。游戏中的能力各个都充斥着童趣味：飞盘、泡泡棒、妙妙圈、悠悠球……每次拿到新能力，游戏都会立刻安排谜题来展示它的用法。这些谜题往往符合直觉，但又不会太过直白，需要你脑筋转个弯才能想通。比如悠悠球，就能用来击中开关、打碎尖刺、吸引小狗、吸引龙猫、控制老鼠转轮……用途多得很。而且拿到悠悠球的附近区域，就有一圈关卡专门让你试手这些功能。从前期获取四项主要能力的挑战，到中期回溯旧关卡用已有能力找隐藏，再到后期拿到进阶能力后考验综合运用能力，整个流程的关卡设计始终不落窠臼，时不时就能给我一个惊喜。游戏里海量的收集品和隐藏要素，也给喜欢探索的玩家提供了足够的正反馈。微波粼粼的水面、随风摆动的藤条、光暗分明的洞穴……像素艺术与光影构成的井内世界的画面风格也相当养眼。 不过，本作的玩家门槛也确实不低。精准平台和解谜，单拎出来都是上手门槛极高的类型，两者结合的本作就更不用说了。另外，后续能力获取比较分散，经常搞不清到底是能力没拿齐所以过不去，还是真的无解，这种不确定性加上反复跑图，确实会带来一些负面体验。此外，由于谜题顺序和开关等原因，本作的地图看似全面连通，实际走起来并没有常规类银河城那么顺畅。很多地方直走过去不了，只能绕一大圈，加上传送点少得可怜，反复探图对耐心的消耗真不小。而且本作大量隐藏谜题严重依赖社区协作，作者似乎觉得只要社区合力能解出来就行，对单个玩家能否独立完成并没有太在意。这一点我实在不太认同，很多公认的解谜神作，我都可以不看攻略打通，但《动物井》的64颗彩蛋全收集，我估计绝大多数人靠自己都搞不定，更别说后面那些更深层的谜题。就这一点而言，本作的新人友好度，确实是较差的。 不过说到底，这些遗憾并不妨碍我对《动物井》的欣赏。它用登峰造极的创意和工匠精神，构筑了一座几乎没有陈词滥调的迷宫，让人叹为观止。但它也注定不是那种人人皆可上手的大众神作，它或许不适合所有人，甚至只适合少部分那些愿意被谜题反复“折磨”、享受社区共解乐趣的硬核玩家。可一旦对上了电波，这就绝对是那种十年难遇一次、一遇上便可吹个十年的神作。

There is more. There is always more. Keep going. Go deeper. Also, it's super refreshing to see a game this data efficient. There are no loading times because the entire game is loaded into memory. It's under 34 MB. The whole game.

[h2]神作，能玩到动物井实在是太幸福了。[/h2] 一个人用七年的时间精心雕琢，将其凝缩成仅33M大小，只想说有这样的游戏制作人是所有玩家的福气。 但这个游戏可能不适合所有人，比如： 像素风，整体画面较暗。[b]（但真的非常精致生动！[/b] 全程没有任何文字说明，弱引导。[b]（但解谜关卡设计得极其精妙，每个道具的使用都让人多巴胺喷涌！[/b] 少量解谜需要一定的操作水平，卡时机较严。[b]（也可能是我将问题复杂化了！但谜题对应多种解法实在美味啊！[/b] 类银河恶魔城的探索游戏，有大量隐藏需玩家细心查看。[b]（地图提供了大量信息，仔细看地图不靠攻略也能发现绝大部分，而且地图设计得堪称一绝！[/b] 游戏通关后仍有大量谜题，解题脑回路出乎意料，普通玩家必须借助攻略。[b]（个人认为这些属于彩蛋，虽然复杂且难度颇高，但并不是强制性的，也与成就无关，属于制作人设置的“看不见的山”。本体足够满足普通玩家！[/b] 我爱动物井！敬佩制作人！

Animal Well is a metroidvania game without any combat in it. There are enemies, but you have to outsmart them rather than fight head to head. Both the visuals and music are great. It feels exactly like a retro game would if the technology had been better back then. At the same time, it doesn't copy anything from other games, and the gameplay feels unique and fresh. If you're not a 100% completionist, the time to beat will be about 8 hours, which feels just right for Animal Well. My complaints about the game: * The game doesn't explain the bubble jump chaining mechanic, even though I would say it's the main mechanic of the game and it's hard to figure out on your own that this is possible. * The Ghost Dog chase is an absolute disaster because you have to go through an area with 4 elevators where getting the timings right is important, and Ghost Dog with its doglings is very distracting both visually and audibly. * There's a platforming sequence where you have to do everything with the right timing, otherwise you get reset to the start of it. Since this sequence is the only way into the next location, and I had to visit that location three times, the resets become especially frustrating. * Animal Well starts as a metroidvania built around puzzles and secrets, but later in the game platforming plays a much bigger role and the game becomes mechanically demanding. This is a low blow for many people who just wanted a chill experience solving some puzzles. * Fast travel is not very generous, so you still have to walk quite a lot. But since the game is small, it's fine, as there aren't that many objectives. It's also hard to figure out the flute sequence for the fast travel hub on your own, even if you see the hint for it. * Later in the game you get so many usable tools that cycling through them becomes quite annoying. I'd prefer to be able to select a tool directly instead.

I must be missing something, but this never really grabbed me 🤷

Trying to remember playing Animal Well is like trying to remember an acid trip: You can intellectually recall things happening, but those things evoke feelings you can't quite comprehend anymore. Truly a unique experience, with a frightening degree of freedom. The game also does an amazing job of not teaching you anything, whilst nudging you to learn. A masterclass in games as an art form. (But I so wish I could rebind controls on KB)

Not bad, nor great. An enjoyable platformer consisting of solving puzzle rooms using various tools you find, it's pretty looking, with smooth gameplay. However, it did not keep me immersed for very long, It can get a little tedious and repetitive at times, and will often involve a LOT of backtracking and attention to detail, particulatly if you're planning to reach the true ending. You often feel like you're just back-and-forth searching for things over and over rather than advancing at a fluid pace through levels. In my opinion the game is overrated. It's a cool little experience if you have the patience for it, but nothing ground breaking. Had I known this before I started, I would've probably invested my time in a different game, but for what it's worth, I had an ok time playing it.