Lately, there’s been plenty to criticize when it comes to triple-A gaming, enough that one could be tempted to think that gaming as a whole is in a creative slump. All it takes to shatter that thought, though, is looking at some the creations shown through events like Indie World and BitSummit. This year’s Bitsummit in particular was filled with awesome projects, with games likeXenotiltin particularly having impressive showings.
It wasn’t the only game to stand out, though. Actually, Shared Memory’s Animal Well might have left the most lasting impression of all. It didn’t have the fast, flowing gameplay of something likePepper Grinder, but it did have an almost inescapable sense of atmosphere.
Upon jumping into Animal Well, one will be tempted to think of it as a metroidvania-style experience. It plays out in a large, 2D map populated with enemies to defeat and items to find. Players also can’t go everywhere right from the beginning, requiring certain upgrades to progress. Beyond that, though, it’s safe to say that the game somewhat departs from genre norms.
According to developer Billy Basso, items will indeed help progression, but they won’t be required in the same way that they usually are. So, it’s likely that we won’t have to be dealing progression like that ofMetroid Dread,wherein we need to do things like find the missile upgrade before we can open red doors. The demo sections shown at BitSummit appear to bear this out too. Progress was always a matter of solving a room’s challenge rather than outright needing a given item.
Something else that came out in the Animal Well demo was its (and Basso’s) dedication to secrets. Even in the relatively small area shown therein, one couldn’t help but stumble across small, hidden spaces. These spaces held special egg items that will apparently have some significance later on in the game. What exactly that significance is, well Basso wasn’t saying, so it seems we’ll all just have to wait and discover their purpose together. Needless to say, though, it’s probably going to be worth thoroughly combing each chamber.
It seems that no all of Animal Well’s secrets will be the sort that one can just stumble across. He didn’t give any indication as to the nature of such secrets, but Basso did mention that there could be some things in Animal Well that will likely only come out via community effort.
As for the minute-to-minute experience, though, Animal Well might be best described as “enthralling.” Even on the crowded BitSummit show floor the demo had no trouble establishing an enveloping sense of atmosphere. It’s the visuals perhaps that contributed most to this effect; they’re immediately attention-grabbing, being an odd mix of complexity.
Foreground elements like grasses, creatures and the player character itself all look as though they’d be right at home on the NES, but backgrounds tend to be more complex than that. Everything moves at what looks like 60fps, water surfaces have ambient reflections, light feels dynamic and everything has a sort of old CRT display scanline aesthetic. It’s the sort of look that’s interesting when seeing screenshots, but has much more impact while playing.
Complementing this art style (which often encourages one to stop and take it in), is gameplay that favors a slower, more methodical approach. As mentioned before, there are enemies in Animal Well, but one isn’t going to be spending most of their time in combat. Instead, dealing with them is more like a puzzle; one has to either find away around the creature or find an indirect way of dealing with it. The same could be also be said for several rooms in the demo wherein the way forward wasn’t immediately apparent. It paid to stop, assess and test any interactive elements in said rooms, so it’s likely that the same will be true of much of the full release.
Sound design in the Animal Well demo also contributed quite a bit to the overall sense of immersion. The music was subtle, giving way almost completely to ambient sounds like flowing water, rustling grass, the character’s movements and the kind of ever-present echo one would expect to hear in an underground space. Each room, game-y as it was in design, sounded like a real space, and it made a real difference!
This all to say that Animal Well is looking rather impressive so far. All its elements: art style, sound and gameplay all work together to create a real sense of intrigue that one can’t help but be drawn to. Whether or not that intrigue will have a satisfying pay off in the end still remains to be seen, but what’s been shown so far is promising. It’s tempting to say that this is great for a solo project, but that would only serve to take away from it. Seriously, keep an eye on this one.
