This is a good, well designed game, no doubt, but definitely overrated.

Though some may like the "additional content," much of the late game consists of tedious backtracking, as some found items simply encourage you to revisit every room. Needs a mechanic like HK Collector's map that respects the player's time. But in general, progression is too hard fought for and just too frustrating at times.

After completing the bad ending and finding most of the remaining items, I just stopped caring to solve puzzles at a certain point (tedious or too obtuse), and that is disappointing.

This game started so simplistic that initially I thought "is this really it"? I couldn't understand the hype at first, because Animal Well - at first glance - looks OK, but not groundbreaking. I breezed through the first few bossfights, thinking that this is not going to be in-depth enough of to really feel satisfying.

But boy was I wrong!

I suddenly started finding additional use cases for my powerups, up to point of thinking "Wow, was this really intended?!". Before I knew it I was constantly making joyful noises. Each new discovery opened up new areas with even more secrets and items to discover, which in turn peels even more layers off the known map. Hints to secrets are sometimes head-slappingly obvious, but often so well hidden (often related accross the entire map) that you can't help but feel amazed by the seemingly simplistic, yet ingenious level design.

This game forces you to take notes (with a built-in pen and stamp), and I also strongly recommend taking some screenshots. These tools are necessary! There is no handholding, but instead you are required to think, learn and execute upon it. The given tools are no power fantasy like in your usual Metroidvania, but smart extensions of known platformer concepts.

And through the entire session it was an absolute joy to see the game and engine running absolutely bug-free with minimal install size. The sound design is great and atmospheric. The seemingly simple graphics
really work wonders in motion with cool lighting, smoke and neon effects.

This constant feeling of amazement is what carried me past an initial doubt into a "I'm going to 100% this game" mindset. Animal Well appreciates your gaming intelligence and curiousity without being too stressful or iterative on known concepts, and that alone is a feat by itself. This game is a milestone and a masterpiece in the genre.

Don't look up any info online, even if it seems frustrating- it's worth it to try on your own