Metroidvania Game Animal Well Releases May 9 for PS5, Switch, and PC - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 April 2024 / 1,511 Views

Publisher BIGMODE and developer Shared Memory announced the Metroidvania game, Animal Well, will launch for the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam on May 9.

"I started development on Animal Well seven years ago and spent the majority of my evenings and weekends since that time working on it," said solo developer Billy Basso. "I quit my day job about two years ago to finish the game and couldn’t be prouder of how the game turned out. This has been my passion for a long time, and I’m so excited to finally share it with the world."

View the release date trailer below:

Read details on the game below:

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.

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 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.

3 Comments

Jumpin (on 19 March 2024)

While it does resemble Cave Story, it doesn’t look like a proper Metroidvania game. More like another type of 2D open world adventure. When I think Metroidvania, I’m thinking a game that’s like Symphony of the Night, a Metroid-like game with added hack n slash combat and RPG elements.