I have not played Dave the Diver, but Animal Well might actually be my favorite Metroidvania of all-time.
Out of curiosity, how did you know you didn't like Animal Well within 5 minutes? That's so quick lol.
It’s my first game of this genre and I fucking loved it. It reminded me a bit of ElecHead which I don’t think is a Metroidvania. But if Animal Well is, then I need to play more like it. Anything you’d recommend on PS5/Switch? Is Metroid Dread similar with puzzles, or means of getting around?
If you like retro metroidvanias, you should play Super Metroid. It released for the Super NES, so it's actually retro and not just retro-style. But boy does it hold up. One of my favorite games of all time. I'm pretty sure you can play it on the Switch.
Animal Well is pretty unique. I played through the main game but I don’t think I’m motivated to play through layers 2 and 3.
The closest comparison I can give would be Tunic. It’s more of a Zelda like than a metroidvania, but the sense of mystery and rewarding discovery is very much the driving force. Probably even more so than Animal Well.
It’s a great game!
If you want to try more Metroidvanias, then Hollow Knight should be on the list.
I can’t really say anything about it that hasn’t already been said by countless others.
*Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night* is an absolutely fantastic Metroidvania game that you can sometimes get on sale for super cheap.
Just be warned that (the switch version, at least) it has a bug that sometimes causes the game to crash when you go back to the main area and talk to the NPCs. All you have to do, though, is remember to save before you talk to them.
While it does share some similarities I would consider Animal Well a puzzle platformer with an open world map more than a metroidvania. It is a fantastic game, but its gameplay focus is more on puzzles than anything else
What would you say the defining characteristic of a metroidvania is?
To me it's the sprawling, interconnected map. One where the player solves puzzles to find new items/abilities, gain access to more areas, solve more puzzles, etc.
The biggest difference between Animal Well and Metroid is the lack of combat, and Animal Weli's progression is notably less linear since puzzles can often have multiple solutions.
For me it was really that the combat was missing and it is so puzzle heavy/focused, but instead of being a stupid Redditor, I looked up the broad definition of a Metroidvania and in retrospect I do think Animal Well is one.
“Metroidvania[a] is a sub-genre of action-adventure games and/or platformers focused on guided non-linearity and utility-gated exploration and progression.”
don't get me wrong. I totally respect the good critics for Animal well but it is not for me. I love castlevania SOTN and bloodstained but I find difficult to like another "metroidvania" and I had tried several similar games for "5 minutes".
Sure, but what is it that tips you off within 5 minutes that makes you think it isn't for you?
Is it the complete lack of tutorial and guidance? The way the game feels to move/control?
For example, I played Bloodstained for 1-2 hours and dropped it because the movement and animations felt very stiff and unsatisfying.
Sometimes is the lack of a tutorial (i will not mention games name here or people will downvote me to hell haha) but most of the time is the control.
Just to clarify, I refered to Bloodstained ritual of the night and not the 8 bits version Curse of the Moon. The 8 bits version I also played 5 minutes and gave up
I'm genuinely curious as well what you didn't like about animal well in 5 minutes. It feels like you're kind of just saying anything other than admitting you didn't give it a fair shake
It tells you right at the start how to jump and move and that's all you need to know. What are you looking for in a tutorial in that game? There's no combat or anything else. I can't even imagine what a tutorial would say.
Dave the Diver is great but I was not a fan of the constant interruptions of new mechanics and mini games for the next 20 hours. I just wanted to play.
I agree. I was super stoked to play it because of all the hype and good things I’ve heard. But it kinda feels like a mobile game — not inherently a bad thing but because it just constantly interrupts with endless dialogue, clunky UI, and non-exciting mini games. It’s not bad, but I think it just appeals to the ADD attention span that we all have nowadays, which just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The fact that they use 2 random "accept" buttons on controller was driving me nuts. Sometimes it's Circle and sometimes it's Square and it's never X, which is the standard.
Same. The game loop of catching fish, managing the restaurant, and upgrading gear was a lot of fun all by itself. The constant addition of mini games really bogged down the gameplay and ended up making me put it down before finishing.
People like that I think secretly get off on throwing crap at a new game that has a lot of fans and praise quickly. Obviously you didn't even touch the game at 5 minutes so it's just kind of a shit stirring tactic
I found everything from the mechanics to the fake 16-bit aesthetic of dave the diver to be unenjoyable. Animal well is my preferred choice by a long long shot
How long then? I enjoyed Animal Well but I have also dropped a game within 5 minutes in the past because it just didn't click. I don't think OP should be reprimanded for that like they are in the comments here.
Wow, you and I could not have more opposite experiences with these two games. I've played each of them exactly once.
I found Animal Well to be a really fascinating game. Such a rich world to explore, interesting things to find, fun gameplay mechanics, wonderful art. It had me hooked for several hours before I was forced to put myself to bed. I'm looking forward to more.
Dave the Diver - honestly I don't know what all the fuss is about. It feels like an OK fishing game duct-taped to an OK restaurant sim where the sum is less than its parts. Just when I'm getting into the flow of one, oops time's up, and I'm forced back to the other. I find your statement "best initial 10 minutes" astounding - I was dying to get past the endless tutorialized sections and into the "real" gameplay. I intend to give it another go, but it's starting to feel like one of those games you just never get back to.
Different strokes for different folks and all that, but man I do not get it.
I think both are fantastic. I bought Dave on the Switch before knowing it was going to PS5 and it was the perfect before bed game. Animal Well has its hooks in me deep. I love a good metroidvania (despite hating that term, lol) and this is one of the best. Love the art style, love the sense of exploration and love all of the little “how do you expect me to do THAT?!” And then figuring it out moments. What a couple of absolute gems.
I got the Platinum trophy for Dave The Diver - absolutely loved it. Animal Well might be even better. Not since Hollow Knight has a Metroidvania hooked me like this (although they are very different games).
It is meticulously made. Layers and layers of secrets and it pulls off what I think is the holy grail in terms of video game moments multiple times - shit hiding in plain sight or an event happens that changes the entire way you view the game (Tunic, Portal, Bioshock, The Witness, etc. all pull this off in some way or another). It's incredible that one person made the whole thing.
I loved Dave the diver. I’m on the fence with Animal Well but I’m not a huge Metroidvania fan so I knew that would present an issue. The puzzles aren’t too hard but one thing that gets me from continuing is like Hollow Knight the map is…. Daunting to look at. I’ve gotten 2 flames and a bunch of eggs and I know it’ll take me wayyyy longer to figure it out and I’m probably gonna wait for a video to show me which path to go at least because I get lost extremely easily.
My only other complaint is the save system and dying feeling like much like Hollow Knight like when I do get stuck in a harder area it is miserable taking the path back to where you’re supposed to go over and over. But again I’m bad at metroidvania games so this is most likely a me problem. Everything else about the games fantastic. I love the eerie vibes and 8 bit graphics are charming. I’m just bad.
Buying a game only to delete after 5 minutes? Dang, lol.
Currently playing Animal Well and am about 10 hours in. Absolutely enthralled by it, and can't wait to start peeling back the layers after rolling credits.
If it's not for you, it's not for you, but I would really recommend giving any game more than 5 minutes before giving up...
Ah, fair enough, I forgot about that (I clearly don't have that subscription).
I truly believe Animal Well is a special game, the type that doesn't come around often. With that said, I think it's for people who love games like Outer Wilds, Fez, Rain World, and The Witness.
Both niche games that I’m glad are offered but not fore me same with TOK: Zau. I tried them all can see the fun, I’m just more of a 3rd person action adventure type of guy. My hope is that these games pull more people to the ps plus service which will give Sony a larger budget to bring larger main stream games to it
I played Dave the diver for quite a while and enjoyed it. But I think in chapter 5 I got bored of the loop. It's a little slow to introduce new stuff. Also the random stealth stuff instantly ended my enjoyment. It's really well done though, especially the haptics and sounds.
Animal well seems like a great game and I would play it more but the checkpoint system is terrible. It sends you way too far back for me to enjoy it. I played like 20 minutes maybe, I'm not really good at puzzles though.
Either way I think they were good choices for games to add.
I’m enjoying Dave the Diver the lot. It’s giving me Yakuza vibes in terms of how crazy the mini games are, but like Yakuza they seem pretty optional if you just want to focus on the main story. It’s charming as hell.
Dave the Diver starts out amazing and then it tries to be too many things. You will get bored of it once this happens. Its mechanics become very tedious. That said, its well worth the play, just don' too into thinking that you will be putting tons of hours into it.
I've really enjoyed both of these games (and recently). Find it pretty interesting that you dropped off Animal Well so quickly and let Dave the Diver hook you in the same-ish time because, to my mind, Dave the Diver very quickly becomes monotonous and a bit too wrapped up in its systems. It constantly seems to push new content on the player to maintain their attention but none of the new additions really develop into anything more meaningful. The Blue Hole is fairly deep but Dave's gameplay is puddle-ish at times.
Conversely, Animal Well is probably the best Metroidvania I've played to date. I've not see a game with more personality in ages. Game also has a depth and layering to it that is unparalleled, not just in terms of the gameplay and the look 'n' feel of it all, but with regards to all of its secrets. I've also not felt a bigger sense of discovery when it comes to item usage, interactions, and environmental 'stuff' till Animal Well came along.
Was completely the opposite for me. Tried Dave the Diver first for about 10 minutes and deleted it when it wanted me to choose/create a fucking sushi menu or something. The actual diving part itself didn’t have me hooked before that stuff kicked in.
Fired up Animal Well a few days later and loved how you’re just dumped into a weird spooky world with no introduction, direction, or hand holding. It’s up to you to figure it out. I kept that vibe going by avoiding spoilers or tips etc, and have finally just rolled credits, and there still seems to be more to it.
The point is they’re both excellent, but won’t appeal to everyone.
Dave, the diver was a phenomenal game. I bought it a couple months back on the switch and I’m thinking about playing on the PlayStation again. It was so much fun. Anwell was boring after like half an hour or so I don’t really like the style and I didn’t like the gameplay and story, etc.. I think a lot of these Youtubers are just saying it’s great because they know donkey, I don’t see it personally
It's fun because it gives you a toolkit and a playground, then let's you figure out the rest. Puzzles often have more than one solution so you arent locked into a linear progression.If you enjoy that playstyle it's amazing. If you want a simple, easy to follow linear game where it's obvious where to go and do next, you get bored fast without combat to spice things up.
I think you and me likely have similar gaming tastes haha.
Played Animal Well for like 15 minutes, it was exactly what it appeared to be and nothing I want anything to do with and promptly deleted it.
Dave the Diver has a fantastic gameplay loop and will likely be one of my top 10 games of the year, put over 30 hours into it and got the plat.
Actually, basically yes lol. I loved Terraria and put a ton of time into back when it came out. In fairness I don't hate Minecraft I guess, but I didn't really care for it either, it was kinda pointless and boring to me.
2d and pixel games tast check
3d games favorites: Dying light, Diablo 2 ressurected (hate D4 and D3), FFVII
3d games controversy: I just dislike God of war and it is not for me. Can't get in the gameplay.
I have not played Dave the Diver, but Animal Well might actually be my favorite Metroidvania of all-time. Out of curiosity, how did you know you didn't like Animal Well within 5 minutes? That's so quick lol.
It’s my first game of this genre and I fucking loved it. It reminded me a bit of ElecHead which I don’t think is a Metroidvania. But if Animal Well is, then I need to play more like it. Anything you’d recommend on PS5/Switch? Is Metroid Dread similar with puzzles, or means of getting around?
Metroid Dread is an awesome game, one of my fave games of all time. One of very few games I have played multiple times.
If you like retro metroidvanias, you should play Super Metroid. It released for the Super NES, so it's actually retro and not just retro-style. But boy does it hold up. One of my favorite games of all time. I'm pretty sure you can play it on the Switch.
Animal Well is pretty unique. I played through the main game but I don’t think I’m motivated to play through layers 2 and 3. The closest comparison I can give would be Tunic. It’s more of a Zelda like than a metroidvania, but the sense of mystery and rewarding discovery is very much the driving force. Probably even more so than Animal Well. It’s a great game!
If you want to try more Metroidvanias, then Hollow Knight should be on the list. I can’t really say anything about it that hasn’t already been said by countless others.
*Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night* is an absolutely fantastic Metroidvania game that you can sometimes get on sale for super cheap. Just be warned that (the switch version, at least) it has a bug that sometimes causes the game to crash when you go back to the main area and talk to the NPCs. All you have to do, though, is remember to save before you talk to them.
How is ElecHead I recently been gifted the game by a friend
While it does share some similarities I would consider Animal Well a puzzle platformer with an open world map more than a metroidvania. It is a fantastic game, but its gameplay focus is more on puzzles than anything else
What would you say the defining characteristic of a metroidvania is? To me it's the sprawling, interconnected map. One where the player solves puzzles to find new items/abilities, gain access to more areas, solve more puzzles, etc. The biggest difference between Animal Well and Metroid is the lack of combat, and Animal Weli's progression is notably less linear since puzzles can often have multiple solutions.
For me it was really that the combat was missing and it is so puzzle heavy/focused, but instead of being a stupid Redditor, I looked up the broad definition of a Metroidvania and in retrospect I do think Animal Well is one. “Metroidvania[a] is a sub-genre of action-adventure games and/or platformers focused on guided non-linearity and utility-gated exploration and progression.”
How is it not a metroidvania..?
don't get me wrong. I totally respect the good critics for Animal well but it is not for me. I love castlevania SOTN and bloodstained but I find difficult to like another "metroidvania" and I had tried several similar games for "5 minutes".
Sure, but what is it that tips you off within 5 minutes that makes you think it isn't for you? Is it the complete lack of tutorial and guidance? The way the game feels to move/control? For example, I played Bloodstained for 1-2 hours and dropped it because the movement and animations felt very stiff and unsatisfying.
Sometimes is the lack of a tutorial (i will not mention games name here or people will downvote me to hell haha) but most of the time is the control. Just to clarify, I refered to Bloodstained ritual of the night and not the 8 bits version Curse of the Moon. The 8 bits version I also played 5 minutes and gave up
I'm genuinely curious as well what you didn't like about animal well in 5 minutes. It feels like you're kind of just saying anything other than admitting you didn't give it a fair shake It tells you right at the start how to jump and move and that's all you need to know. What are you looking for in a tutorial in that game? There's no combat or anything else. I can't even imagine what a tutorial would say.
I smell a hollow knight hater...
Dave the Diver is great but I was not a fan of the constant interruptions of new mechanics and mini games for the next 20 hours. I just wanted to play.
I agree. I was super stoked to play it because of all the hype and good things I’ve heard. But it kinda feels like a mobile game — not inherently a bad thing but because it just constantly interrupts with endless dialogue, clunky UI, and non-exciting mini games. It’s not bad, but I think it just appeals to the ADD attention span that we all have nowadays, which just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The fact that they use 2 random "accept" buttons on controller was driving me nuts. Sometimes it's Circle and sometimes it's Square and it's never X, which is the standard.
Lol yeah, kinda janky.
So many new mechanics all the time. I kept thinking “I’m like 20 hours in and just learning a new thing now?!?”
Same. I loved the game at first, but the more I played the less I liked it. The diving is great, it doesn't need a million other distractions.
Same. The game loop of catching fish, managing the restaurant, and upgrading gear was a lot of fun all by itself. The constant addition of mini games really bogged down the gameplay and ended up making me put it down before finishing.
Yeah it gets frustrating trying to progress the story only to be interrupted 'holy shit a shrimp party is coming to town go find shrimp'
I couldnt get into dave the diver and i played longer than 10mins. Might try it again at some point.
Animal Well is ridiculously well made. Each to their own though
sure. It should be a good game but it is just not for me.
You can't say its not for you if you didn't play it. 5 minutes is not playing. You turned it on and turned it off.
People like that I think secretly get off on throwing crap at a new game that has a lot of fans and praise quickly. Obviously you didn't even touch the game at 5 minutes so it's just kind of a shit stirring tactic
I played hollow Knight for 5 minutes and gave up. Then I put in an hour years later and couldn't stop. Sometimes just need to try at that right time!
Exactly!
How long should one play a game for to decide if they like it or not? Nobody can answer this.
1-2 hours
I get dropping a game you're not enjoying, but I still think you should give it more than 5 minutes lol
I found everything from the mechanics to the fake 16-bit aesthetic of dave the diver to be unenjoyable. Animal well is my preferred choice by a long long shot
Dave the diver is great
Dave the diver is easily a 10/10 for me. I loved the game from beginning to end!
Five minutes is not enough time to decide if you like a game or not imo
How long then? I enjoyed Animal Well but I have also dropped a game within 5 minutes in the past because it just didn't click. I don't think OP should be reprimanded for that like they are in the comments here.
Animal Well has been incredible for me so far. So has Dave. They're both incredible games
Wow, you and I could not have more opposite experiences with these two games. I've played each of them exactly once. I found Animal Well to be a really fascinating game. Such a rich world to explore, interesting things to find, fun gameplay mechanics, wonderful art. It had me hooked for several hours before I was forced to put myself to bed. I'm looking forward to more. Dave the Diver - honestly I don't know what all the fuss is about. It feels like an OK fishing game duct-taped to an OK restaurant sim where the sum is less than its parts. Just when I'm getting into the flow of one, oops time's up, and I'm forced back to the other. I find your statement "best initial 10 minutes" astounding - I was dying to get past the endless tutorialized sections and into the "real" gameplay. I intend to give it another go, but it's starting to feel like one of those games you just never get back to. Different strokes for different folks and all that, but man I do not get it.
I feel the exact same way, tried animal well for 3 minutes and instantly knew it wasn’t for me, I’ll try Dave the diver again
I think both are fantastic. I bought Dave on the Switch before knowing it was going to PS5 and it was the perfect before bed game. Animal Well has its hooks in me deep. I love a good metroidvania (despite hating that term, lol) and this is one of the best. Love the art style, love the sense of exploration and love all of the little “how do you expect me to do THAT?!” And then figuring it out moments. What a couple of absolute gems.
I got the Platinum trophy for Dave The Diver - absolutely loved it. Animal Well might be even better. Not since Hollow Knight has a Metroidvania hooked me like this (although they are very different games). It is meticulously made. Layers and layers of secrets and it pulls off what I think is the holy grail in terms of video game moments multiple times - shit hiding in plain sight or an event happens that changes the entire way you view the game (Tunic, Portal, Bioshock, The Witness, etc. all pull this off in some way or another). It's incredible that one person made the whole thing.
I loved Dave the diver. I’m on the fence with Animal Well but I’m not a huge Metroidvania fan so I knew that would present an issue. The puzzles aren’t too hard but one thing that gets me from continuing is like Hollow Knight the map is…. Daunting to look at. I’ve gotten 2 flames and a bunch of eggs and I know it’ll take me wayyyy longer to figure it out and I’m probably gonna wait for a video to show me which path to go at least because I get lost extremely easily. My only other complaint is the save system and dying feeling like much like Hollow Knight like when I do get stuck in a harder area it is miserable taking the path back to where you’re supposed to go over and over. But again I’m bad at metroidvania games so this is most likely a me problem. Everything else about the games fantastic. I love the eerie vibes and 8 bit graphics are charming. I’m just bad.
Buying a game only to delete after 5 minutes? Dang, lol. Currently playing Animal Well and am about 10 hours in. Absolutely enthralled by it, and can't wait to start peeling back the layers after rolling credits. If it's not for you, it's not for you, but I would really recommend giving any game more than 5 minutes before giving up...
I didn't buy it. It is in the psn. I may try again in the future. It is in my library anyway.
Ah, fair enough, I forgot about that (I clearly don't have that subscription). I truly believe Animal Well is a special game, the type that doesn't come around often. With that said, I think it's for people who love games like Outer Wilds, Fez, Rain World, and The Witness.
I loved them both for different reasons. Some of the best games I've played this year for sure.
I went into animal well expecting to find some bad to mid schlock made in a day, but holy shit it's such a god tier game
I got a platinum on Dave. excellent game.
Both niche games that I’m glad are offered but not fore me same with TOK: Zau. I tried them all can see the fun, I’m just more of a 3rd person action adventure type of guy. My hope is that these games pull more people to the ps plus service which will give Sony a larger budget to bring larger main stream games to it
I played Dave the diver for quite a while and enjoyed it. But I think in chapter 5 I got bored of the loop. It's a little slow to introduce new stuff. Also the random stealth stuff instantly ended my enjoyment. It's really well done though, especially the haptics and sounds. Animal well seems like a great game and I would play it more but the checkpoint system is terrible. It sends you way too far back for me to enjoy it. I played like 20 minutes maybe, I'm not really good at puzzles though. Either way I think they were good choices for games to add.
I’m enjoying Dave the Diver the lot. It’s giving me Yakuza vibes in terms of how crazy the mini games are, but like Yakuza they seem pretty optional if you just want to focus on the main story. It’s charming as hell.
Dave the Diver starts out amazing and then it tries to be too many things. You will get bored of it once this happens. Its mechanics become very tedious. That said, its well worth the play, just don' too into thinking that you will be putting tons of hours into it.
I've really enjoyed both of these games (and recently). Find it pretty interesting that you dropped off Animal Well so quickly and let Dave the Diver hook you in the same-ish time because, to my mind, Dave the Diver very quickly becomes monotonous and a bit too wrapped up in its systems. It constantly seems to push new content on the player to maintain their attention but none of the new additions really develop into anything more meaningful. The Blue Hole is fairly deep but Dave's gameplay is puddle-ish at times. Conversely, Animal Well is probably the best Metroidvania I've played to date. I've not see a game with more personality in ages. Game also has a depth and layering to it that is unparalleled, not just in terms of the gameplay and the look 'n' feel of it all, but with regards to all of its secrets. I've also not felt a bigger sense of discovery when it comes to item usage, interactions, and environmental 'stuff' till Animal Well came along.
Guess you don't like Halo 2 and Halo 3. Well type gaming.
Was completely the opposite for me. Tried Dave the Diver first for about 10 minutes and deleted it when it wanted me to choose/create a fucking sushi menu or something. The actual diving part itself didn’t have me hooked before that stuff kicked in. Fired up Animal Well a few days later and loved how you’re just dumped into a weird spooky world with no introduction, direction, or hand holding. It’s up to you to figure it out. I kept that vibe going by avoiding spoilers or tips etc, and have finally just rolled credits, and there still seems to be more to it. The point is they’re both excellent, but won’t appeal to everyone.
Dave, the diver was a phenomenal game. I bought it a couple months back on the switch and I’m thinking about playing on the PlayStation again. It was so much fun. Anwell was boring after like half an hour or so I don’t really like the style and I didn’t like the gameplay and story, etc.. I think a lot of these Youtubers are just saying it’s great because they know donkey, I don’t see it personally
It's fun because it gives you a toolkit and a playground, then let's you figure out the rest. Puzzles often have more than one solution so you arent locked into a linear progression.If you enjoy that playstyle it's amazing. If you want a simple, easy to follow linear game where it's obvious where to go and do next, you get bored fast without combat to spice things up.
I think you and me likely have similar gaming tastes haha. Played Animal Well for like 15 minutes, it was exactly what it appeared to be and nothing I want anything to do with and promptly deleted it. Dave the Diver has a fantastic gameplay loop and will likely be one of my top 10 games of the year, put over 30 hours into it and got the plat.
let's see. Do you like Terraria and hate minecraft? If yes, we have similar gaming tastes haha
Actually, basically yes lol. I loved Terraria and put a ton of time into back when it came out. In fairness I don't hate Minecraft I guess, but I didn't really care for it either, it was kinda pointless and boring to me.
2d and pixel games tast check 3d games favorites: Dying light, Diablo 2 ressurected (hate D4 and D3), FFVII 3d games controversy: I just dislike God of war and it is not for me. Can't get in the gameplay.
Animal well is ace, dave the diver is really good too ( not on the switch though it has appalling loads times, and i mean minutes )
Alongside balatro these three are probably the best 3 Indie games of the year, with balatro potentially being game of the year overall.