There is nothing particularly special about the development journey of Billy Basso’s solo debut. Working at a series of big studios, he grew tired of making the games other people wanted him to make and opted to go it alone with one of his own. Five years ago, it was a hobby project; now it is a full-time job. The details may be different, but we have heard dozens of stories like this before. But that doesn’t matter: having now spent several hours with (or should that be down?) Animal Well, we’re happy to report that the game is the special part.
[https://magztertemp.s3.amazonaws.com/1387349800/1648040462/articles/62453f6dc4fbd/1648705146629.jpg]
Yes, if you want to be reductive, it’s another pixel-art Metroidvania. But it evokes a very particular feeling, one that recalls both Fez and Hollow Knight – and these aren’t the kind of comparisons we make lightly. As you explore this world (dense but not overstuffed, intricate without feeling needlessly circuitous), it constantly teases things that arouse your curiosity. There are countless moments when, by happy accident or design, you stumble across something that has you abandoning your current plan to descend down an entirely different rabbit hole. It feels as if there is always another layer to peel back, to reveal things that lie outside your present understanding; indeed, when we talk to him, Basso alludes to Animal Well having three additional tiers’ worth of secrets beyond simple completion.
You’re left to figure all this out: there is no handholding, and no tutorial. Yet it’s never daunting. You always feel like the mysteries will become clear, if you only poke around the place long enough. “I feel like I give people a lot of credit,” Basso says. “I trust them that they’ll be able to do a little experimenting. It’s a simple 2D game, so the possibility space isn’t huge. And I’ve intentionally kept the control scheme really basic – like, I don’t want to really use any more buttons than you’d find on a Super NES controller.”
[https://magztertemp.s3.amazonaws.com/1387349800/1648040462/articles/62453f6dc4fbd/1648705291_loc.jpg]
Your diminutive avatar has the reliable, robust feel of a 16bit platformer mascot. And yet there’s a degree of looseness and spontaneity to the tools they use to get around. That’s particularly true of the yoyo, which you can launch upwards to hit one switch, and then dangle below a platform, its string-pulling taut as you move backward so it can trigger another. A bubble wand is effectively a double-jump by another name, but it feels distinctive, and offers flexibility since you can jump on and off the bubble at different heights – and sometimes you’ll want to ride it downwards. And those aren’t necessarily their only functions. “I’m trying to layer in lots of secrets – not only in the map, but in how things are used,” Basso says.
[https://magztertemp.s3.amazonaws.com/1387349800/1648040462/articles/62453f6dc4fbd/1648705213589.jpg]
Even as your knowledge grows and the boundaries of Animal Well’s elaborate labyrinth begin to yield, there’s an undercurrent of danger. A large chameleon stretches out its tongue in an attempt to gobble you up. Dogs grab you between their jaws and shake you like a chew toy – until you f...
[https://magztertemp.s3.amazonaws.com/1387349800/1648040462/articles/62453f6dc4fbd/1648705146629.jpg]
Yes, if you want to be reductive, it’s another pixel-art Metroidvania. But it evokes a very particular feeling, one that recalls both Fez and Hollow Knight – and these aren’t the kind of comparisons we make lightly. As you explore this world (dense but not overstuffed, intricate without feeling needlessly circuitous), it constantly teases things that arouse your curiosity. There are countless moments when, by happy accident or design, you stumble across something that has you abandoning your current plan to descend down an entirely different rabbit hole. It feels as if there is always another layer to peel back, to reveal things that lie outside your present understanding; indeed, when we talk to him, Basso alludes to Animal Well having three additional tiers’ worth of secrets beyond simple completion.
You’re left to figure all this out: there is no handholding, and no tutorial. Yet it’s never daunting. You always feel like the mysteries will become clear, if you only poke around the place long enough. “I feel like I give people a lot of credit,” Basso says. “I trust them that they’ll be able to do a little experimenting. It’s a simple 2D game, so the possibility space isn’t huge. And I’ve intentionally kept the control scheme really basic – like, I don’t want to really use any more buttons than you’d find on a Super NES controller.”
[https://magztertemp.s3.amazonaws.com/1387349800/1648040462/articles/62453f6dc4fbd/1648705291_loc.jpg]
Your diminutive avatar has the reliable, robust feel of a 16bit platformer mascot. And yet there’s a degree of looseness and spontaneity to the tools they use to get around. That’s particularly true of the yoyo, which you can launch upwards to hit one switch, and then dangle below a platform, its string-pulling taut as you move backward so it can trigger another. A bubble wand is effectively a double-jump by another name, but it feels distinctive, and offers flexibility since you can jump on and off the bubble at different heights – and sometimes you’ll want to ride it downwards. And those aren’t necessarily their only functions. “I’m trying to layer in lots of secrets – not only in the map, but in how things are used,” Basso says.
[https://magztertemp.s3.amazonaws.com/1387349800/1648040462/articles/62453f6dc4fbd/1648705213589.jpg]
Even as your knowledge grows and the boundaries of Animal Well’s elaborate labyrinth begin to yield, there’s an undercurrent of danger. A large chameleon stretches out its tongue in an attempt to gobble you up. Dogs grab you between their jaws and shake you like a chew toy – until you f...
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Edge Uk (Digital) - 1 Issue, May 2022