Animal Well Announced for PS5 and PC - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 05 March 2022 / 1,411 Views
Developer Shared Memory has announced Animal Well for the PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam. It will launch later this year or early next year.
"When describing Animal Well to new people, I find it best to start with the mood I’m trying to create," said the sole developer for the game Billy Basso. "It has the sensibilities of the survival horror genre, but it’s not really a scary game. It has puzzles and platforms, but it’s not quite a puzzle platformer.
"The art style is simple looking pixel art but will be employing lighting and visual effects that will push the PlayStation 5 hardware. Summarizing Animal Well succinctly is a challenge. There are no hardcore platforming challenges, intense fights, or jump scares, but lots of situational lateral thinking brain teasers set in a creepy yet not-uninviting world."
View the announcement trailer below:
Here is an overview of the game:
Explore a dense, interconnected labyrinth, and unravel its many secrets. Collect items to manipulate your environment in surprising and meaningful ways. Encounter creatures both beautiful and unsettling, as you attempt to survive what lurks in the dark. There is more than what you see.
Key Features:
- Explore: Illuminate the Dark
- Dense atmospheric puzzle box world with attention paid to every detail.
- Light candles for safety and gradually fill out your map.
- Nonlinear—explore and collect items in whatever order you choose.
- Tons of secrets.
- Solve Puzzles: Observation is Rewarded
- Enemies, environment, and items interact in surprising and systemic ways.
- All items have multiple uses.
- Learn how innocuous details can become meaningful.
- The main game is just the beginning. Players will be discovering hidden puzzles for years.
- Survive: Tread Carefully
- You must assess for yourself what is safe and dangerous.
- Focus on tension and suspense rather than action.
- You are disempowered, but can make clever use of your environment and items.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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