• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Animal Well |OT| The First True Metroidunkavania

So what's this game like? What game would you compare it to? Halo 2 meeting Halo 3?
Halo 3 meets Disco Elysium

Actually it's a bit like early Metroid games with a heavy emphasis on platforming/traversal puzzles. Unlocking doors, finding tools and so on. There is no direct combat ala Metroid but instead you use tools in clever ways you have to figure out yourself to circumvent dangers. It's very well done.
 

BadBurger

Many ā€œWhelpsā€! Handle It!
Holy shit this cat cage room is making me wanna bury my controller in the TV.

If I just went through the room you're talking about, I almost gave up but managed through it. I wish the platforming was just a little tighter. Lots of falling of stuff for me. It could just be me getting older and my reflexes not being what they used to be, or I'm just a scrub, but this is my only light criticism of the game thus far.
 
Lots of falling of stuff for me. It could just be me getting older and my reflexes not being what they used to be, or I'm just a scrub, but this is my only light criticism of the game thus far.
THANK GOD this isn't just me. I have the PC version, PS version and I bought it on Switch this morning. I could be that its the most recent version I am playing, but the switch version feels the most responsive to me. I have played PC with Dual Sense/Scuff/Other controllers (wired and wireless were available) and the pc version feels the most "off" to me in terms of landing my jumps and performing edge jumping.

Outside of that Goldie-locks bullshit, the game has been great this weekend. I also paid for it three times....to me this game is easily worth the $70
 

Thief1987

Member
If I just went through the room you're talking about, I almost gave up but managed through it. I wish the platforming was just a little tighter. Lots of falling of stuff for me. It could just be me getting older and my reflexes not being what they used to be, or I'm just a scrub, but this is my only light criticism of the game thus far.
I agree that platforming is kinda bad here, especially when you need to do very precise movements, controls just not suited for this.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Having fun with the game, decided to download it instead of waiting for physical. I'll still buy it and keep sealed. I'm getting lost as a MFer, other than that enjoying it. I figure I'll learn my way around the map in due time.
 
Last edited:

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Does anyone know if every room is required for you to beat the game? I have no idea how much of this stuff is even necessary since the game doesn't really tell you. Since the game tells you so little, I didn't want to find out I finished the game and be like damn there are still a ton of rooms I didn't explore. But since I have no idea what even advances the game I was hoping it's one of those games where every room has a purpose and you can't "accidentally" beat it having only played a small percentage of the exploration.
 

MrRibeye

Member
At a point now where I'm totally lost and have no idea how to progress. Re-visited multiple previous locations but they were dead ends. :(
 
Does anyone know if every room is required for you to beat the game? I have no idea how much of this stuff is even necessary since the game doesn't really tell you. Since the game tells you so little, I didn't want to find out I finished the game and be like damn there are still a ton of rooms I didn't explore. But since I have no idea what even advances the game I was hoping it's one of those games where every room has a purpose and you can't "accidentally" beat it having only played a small percentage of the exploration.
I feel like most of this was talked about already but throwing a spoiler tag just in case.

Explore every room? Na. You actually cant get to every room without beating the game iirc. You get some items after you beat the final "boss." The good news for you however is that once completed, you end up just jumping down the well in the middle of the map and just continue to find stuff. It's not like your game ends or anything like that. I would also think you would know you are getting to the end, as a new spot opens when you collected the 4 flames.




Anyway, I just got the platinum today. Truly awesome game, would be my GoTY so far but Balatro is just otherworldly awesome. My playthrough says about 25 hours for that but it's probably more like 20. Had the game on in the background for a good bit while multitasking with other things. The rabbit secrets are freaking TOUGH. I got 3 and after you beat the game with the true ending, there's an area which shows how many rabbits you have and are missing. I missed a shit ton and I felt I explored nonstop. Want to jump to other games so that's probably the end for me, but I'm gonna look back in a couple months and see what other secrets I missed out on from the web. It's crazy how much there is to really find.

I would highly recommend this to anyone. It's a cheap game as is and it's "free" on ps extra. Well worth my time.
 
I have to say, this focus on whimsical toys as "weapons" and tools is so fun. I love that you have to figure out alternate ways of using them etc. yourself. The New Way To Get Around trophies are cool for example. Figuring some of those tricks out to get across areas is really satisfying.

There are so many cool little clever A-Ha! moments here. THIS is the kind of shit I want from games without combat, not just a lack of combat. This is how you make engaging alternatives to violence in games. So many Indie titles go for this but simply feel boring and like there's a void where combat typically is. Really appreciate that about this game. I've played a lot so far and it's always interesting and exciting.

I think I have about 29 eggs so far?
 
Back to back whiplash post!

When are insta-death bosses like this Iguana ever a good design decision?

Edit: I forgot I'm not on Era anymore and have to pretend to be level headed. So yea, fuck this garbage ass boss and fuck this dumbass OHKO bullshit.

Edit #2: I'm allllllll better again now that I beat it šŸ« 
 
Last edited:
Finished the eggs, really enjoyed the game though by the last few my brain was spent. Not because of difficult puzzles, but monotony trekking across the map each time I unlocked something new. Really enjoyed my time though, and although I have no desire myself to figure out all of these ARGs and obtuse meta puzzles, I am loving reading about them. Incredible how people have already figured out some of the secrets it wasn't expected anyone would even know are there.
 
Finished the eggs, really enjoyed the game though by the last few my brain was spent. Not because of difficult puzzles, but monotony trekking across the map each time I unlocked something new. Really enjoyed my time though, and although I have no desire myself to figure out all of these ARGs and obtuse meta puzzles, I am loving reading about them. Incredible how people have already figured out some of the secrets it wasn't expected anyone would even know are there.
I'm there.

I love and appreciate the game greatly on many levels but the, what I assume to be, home stretch right now has been an exercise in frustration. The lack of any meaninful fast travel only makes me sigh and groan at this point. Blob moves kind of slowly and looking at a question mark 3/4 across the map or MAYBE a two pixel hole to check out is only annoying at this point. Hollow Knight had the effect on me where the obscurity eventually tipped the scale into tedium and obnoxious design choices.

I spent probably an hour just trying to mop up all my map markers to gain access to the Red Flame and just gave up. I keep having that annoying feeling of solving something BUT...it's a fucking egg. Like in Metroid when you uncover an obscure area finally and think you're getting somewhere and it's a missile expansion. This game takss that to new heights of frustration.

Then I run into a mini-boss character. I need firecrackers. Spend another 20 minutes looking for them, find myself halfway across the map and the backtrek makes me shut it off again.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Got my second flame last night. Figured out for the first time you can travel through those pipes by shooting a bubble at it and jumping in. I tried it much earlier in my playthrough and I guess I didn't enter it at the right angle because it didn't do it before. So now I'm going to have to go back to that spot and try it again and see if it takes me anywhere new.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
So I found the M. Disc room. I know I need to get the fake disc again, but I can't figure out how to put the original disc back. Is that not an option anymore? Don't tell me that I'm going to have to outrun this ghost cat that you can't get rid of all the way back to that M. Disc room...

I don't even know how that would be possible.
 

Maiden Voyage

Goldā„¢ Member
So I found the M. Disc room. I know I need to get the fake disc again, but I can't figure out how to put the original disc back. Is that not an option anymore? Don't tell me that I'm going to have to outrun this ghost cat that you can't get rid of all the way back to that M. Disc room...

I don't even know how that would be possible.
You keep the disc for the rest of eternity
 
So I found the M. Disc room. I know I need to get the fake disc again, but I can't figure out how to put the original disc back. Is that not an option anymore? Don't tell me that I'm going to have to outrun this ghost cat that you can't get rid of all the way back to that M. Disc room...

I don't even know how that would be possible.

It's very, very doable. You can use any means to accomplish this. In a game this open ended, nothing is cheesing.
 

LegendOfKage

Gold Member
It's very, very doable. You can use any means to accomplish this. In a game this open ended, nothing is cheesing.
Can you just spoil this for me? I'd appreciate it. Use a spoiler tag if you'd like, but this thing is kind of ruining the game for me at the moment, and if there's a way to cheese it, I'd really like that.
 
Can you just spoil this for me? I'd appreciate it. Use a spoiler tag if you'd like, but this thing is kind of ruining the game for me at the moment, and if there's a way to cheese it, I'd really like that.

Grab the disc. Immediately use your flute to travel to the warp room with the different heads, go to the bottom right animal head so you'll be in the bottom right part of the map. Wait there until the ghost appears, then warp right back to the room and go through the bear's mouth. By the time the ghost catches back up to you, you'll have a 3 or 4 room head start.
 
Wasted another two hours wandering around and getting more pissed off by the minute. It's taking everything in my power to not uninstall this and say fuck it. I figured out several more question mark areas...only to get more eggs and nothing that progresses the game.

I just wanna beat it and get this over with. I'd love to shit on the dev's desk at this point. Never played a game that was so awesome and went to sheer hate like this lol.
 

Maiden Voyage

Goldā„¢ Member
Grab the disc. Immediately use your flute to travel to the warp room with the different heads, go to the bottom right animal head so you'll be in the bottom right part of the map. Wait there until the ghost appears, then warp right back to the room and go through the bear's mouth. By the time the ghost catches back up to you, you'll have a 3 or 4 room head start.
I just ran like a mfer to the warp room and then to the disc slot. Your way is much smarter :messenger_open_mouth:

Wasted another two hours wandering around and getting more pissed off by the minute. It's taking everything in my power to not uninstall this and say fuck it. I figured out several more question mark areas...only to get more eggs and nothing that progresses the game.

I just wanna beat it and get this over with. I'd love to shit on the dev's desk at this point. Never played a game that was so awesome and went to sheer hate like this lol.
To beat layer 1, get the 4 flames on the map. Eggs are for layer 2 & the true ending.
 
Last edited:
To beat layer 1, get the 4 flames on the map. Eggs are for layer 2 & the true ending.
I ended up looking up what to do for the last red flame. I would've never figured that out in a million years and assumed I was missing a proper item. Again I love almost everything about this game but some elements pushed the obscurity into absurdity for me and just soured me on the game.

I'm really weird about looking up solutions. I've uninstalled various puzzle games etc. because I'd rather not finish the game than cheat. Having to look this up ruined the game for me and I just uninstalled it. I guess I should've put it to the side but I logged 13 hours prior to cheating for the red flame and at least 4 or 5 of that were aimlessly chasing open pixels on the map.

Still an amazing game on many levels but not for me apparently.
 
Just beat it, final egg count is at 50, there are two chests that seem impossible to get on this playthrough so I'm not exactly sure how to get the "true" ending without starting a new game, thought it would go to NG+ with all tools intact.

Fantastic game and an instant classic in the puzzler genre, will be there day 1 for whatever the dev does next, they earned it.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I wish the fast travel points were on the map before you unlock them. I have the animal flute and I don't remember where the damn animal heads were. Not sure if I feel like traversing the entire map again to find them all.
 

linko9

Member
Just beat it, final egg count is at 50, there are two chests that seem impossible to get on this playthrough so I'm not exactly sure how to get the "true" ending without starting a new game, thought it would go to NG+ with all tools intact.

Fantastic game and an instant classic in the puzzler genre, will be there day 1 for whatever the dev does next, they earned it.
There's no way to lock yourself out of the true ending. The only things you can "miss" in a playthrough involve not dying, and going fast, but none of the rewards are necessary to progress to the true ending.
 

Maiden Voyage

Goldā„¢ Member
I wish the fast travel points were on the map before you unlock them. I have the animal flute and I don't remember where the damn animal heads were. Not sure if I feel like traversing the entire map again to find them all.
Beside the upper right, they generally correspond to the location of the map. IE top left means top left of the map, middle left is middle left, bottom right is bottom right
 

StueyDuck

Banned
This game has everything I love in games in general but for some reason isn't biting. I guess I'm just more for the puzzles Than the platforming.

I can see how this could be someone else's the witness or outerwilds though. Gonna try push through some more
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
So I was trying to light all the candles and I know there are limited matches. But I've found that areas I lit up don't stay lit. So couldn't you accidentally relight an area you've already lit up and screw yourself out of lighting all the rooms? I can't remember if I relight a room at some point.
 

elhav

Member
This game is phenomenal. It's one of the most original and interesting puzzle games I've played in a long time. More interesting and enjoyable than Fez for me, and I loved Fez. It really probes your imagination, and rewards you for experimenting. Easily my game of the year so far
 

Maiden Voyage

Goldā„¢ Member
This game is phenomenal. It's one of the most original and interesting puzzle games I've played in a long time. More interesting and enjoyable than Fez for me, and I loved Fez. It really probes your imagination, and rewards you for experimenting. Easily my game of the year so far
If you have not played Tunic yet, you're in for a real treat with that one. It supplanted Fez as my favorite indie game.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
One of the things confusing about the map is how some areas look partially unexplored, but really it's just one area leading to another part of the map from the other side. I just realized for the first time you could place markings on the map lol no idea how I missed it and I'm almost done the game.
 
Top Bottom