When the credits roll for the first time, you’ll already be acutely aware that there are layers of this world that you have yet to peel back. Dive back in and you’ll find new discoveries that reconfigure both your view of the world and the way you probe its remaining crannies and unearth at least some of those lingering secrets. Eschewing conventional game-design wisdom, it withholds some of its best tricks for what you might have assumed was the post-game mop-up, which you sense is where Animal Well truly begins. An unlikely nod to an arcade classic; a discovery of an egg with a very different function from the rest; a face-off with an opponent that, when tamed, has surprising practical worth – the rabbit hole deepens even after you’ve hit the bottom. If we’ve a complaint, it’s that some of these later tools have more limited and specific purpose, lacking the multi-functionality of the earlier toys.
Then again, perhaps we’ve simply not discovered what else they can do. Even as we begin to unpick what we can only assume is Animal Well’s final layer – when it comes to one visible secret, we know the what but not the how – there are parts of this world that will, perhaps forever, remain something of an enigma. The fascination of those lingering unknowns is part of whyBasso’s remarkable indie debut takes up residence in your brain when you’re not playing it. But on a more fundamental level, it is simply a beautifully constructed, wonderfully characterful adventure, one that marks the blossoming of a major talent.
