PLEASE read the description. This video spoilers Animal Well AND Tunic.

Gotta say I wish you had said that the video contained major spoilers for Tunic. I assumed the spoiler alert was only for Animal Well which I have played extensively so I had no issue watching that section, but I've never played Tunic and was pretty bummed to hear you just reveal the major gameplay twist with no warning.

@classica1fungus

2 ай бұрын

You be alright

@otterbeans

2 ай бұрын

same sorry

What I loved about my Manticore encounter is that it just sort of showed up and before the music or anything even started playing, there was just this moment where it didn't do anything, and I was just kind of looking at it and trying to process it. Such a great "oh shit" moment.

dunkey fans try not to run a joke into the ground challenge (impossible)

i love you and it's practically hurting me to click away from one of your videos without watching, but i am avoiding all Animal Well content until i've at least beaten the game once @ any %. it's fricken rad that you've done this already though! will come back and watch soon. cheers!

@shaunmartinell5825

2 ай бұрын

Same here! Stopped the video at three minutes 42 seconds because I’ve been playing this game nonstop since it came out and I love it. I don’t want it to end. This game is definitely a 9 out of 10. Possibly 10 out of 10, but I haven’t finished it yet so not sure yet.

I think your framing around the concept of masterpiece is off. As someone who comes from a fine arts tradition, that’s really not how I’m familiar with the term being used. It really just means a work that would be recognized by other masters as the work of a master. Most masterpieces are not that influential nor original. Many theorists even argue almost all art, even master works, ever made are mostly unoriginal. There are also a lot of very original works that are badly made. Personally, I don’t think it’s very fair hold Animal Well to a standard of narrative when it so clearly has no interested in being narratively traditional in any sense. In many ways, I feel it’s better to think of Animal Well as a poem, when most games aim to be more like novels. And I think it’s a mistake to think that poems have less merit or say less than novels or epics. There is a lot of really fascinating iconography-childhood, surrealism, paganism, animism, dada, etc.-in Animal well that imbue a great deal of thematic significance to almost every room. I get that many people don’t enjoy poems, but they have just as much merit as any other art, and that as an explanation for not being a ‘masterpiece’ really makes no sense to me. The other thing that bothers me some is you run through all the things that are not original to Animal Well, but gloss over things that are unique to the game. You could run through that exercise with almost every game as most of any game is unoriginal. Tunic for example is clearly pulling 90%+ from Zelda and similar games. Almost everything is not original. But it’s what Tunic does with that and the little bit it adds that makes it noteworthy. Even the original Metroid borrows almost all it’s ideas from other games and movies. Only original idea in that game is it makes the parasite alien hover, and Samus can turn into a ball. It’s really just in how Metroid packaged side-scrolling shooter with Zelda-like structure together other already existing elements that made the game special. In Animal Wells case, the layering of multiple puzzles in a single room in an open world structure with a move-set that is very multiplicative used on puzzles that often have multiple solutions is just not something that is done often in games and does deserve real credit. But generally I like the video! I agree the pencil could be used more. I am actually using it quite a lot, but I wish you could draw further out on the margins of the map to take notes. And I wish it was not so sensitive. It’s really hard to be pixel-accurate with the pencil. And I agree some of the chameleon feels off a bit to me too. Also, I feel doing ARG’s can be a bit cheap. It’s easy to make a hard puzzle that requires tons of people to solve. It’s hard to make a challenging puzzle that is hard to solve but fun for even one person to pull off. It’s actually why I did not enjoy Tunic and Fez either, though I think Animal Well is a lost smarter for holding off on the fully obtuse puzzle design until the late post-game. Tunic gets to that place a lot faster and I do not enjoy that kind of design. I prefer the logic to be accessible, even if the solution is not obvious at all.

@Temulgeh

2 ай бұрын

wait, what obtuse puzzles are you talking about for tunic? i know there's the music language and everything but this is like, way past the end of the game

@hago3779

2 ай бұрын

what a beautiful comment

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

I appreciate the insightful comment! I may not have articulated this well enough because this vid was unscripted, but a lot of what I said in this vid was meant to give credit to other Metroidvanias where credit was due. I never meant to insinuate anything negative about Animal Well and its originality. I just saw a lot of reviewers saying the things it was doing was original, when really these things had been done in the MV space already. And as an English professor, I must protest about your poem/novel analogy. If I were to view Animal Well as a poem, I’d still personally require some kind of narrative sustenance. I’m not looking for anything epic; just something a little more concrete to keep things grounded and keep me motivated. Solving secrets for secrets’ sake just isn’t enough for me. DON’T READ THE NEXT LINE UNLESS YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT SPOILERS! Also, it’s revealed in the final, final, final ending that the player character is a sentient pellet of rabbit poop. So that’s great. Perhaps this game IS trying to say something 😆

The pencil is part of at least one secret, need to connect the dots

"The pencil was a missed oportunity"

Phoenotopia Awakening is also another metroidvania with a great flute, pretty sad that game is so unknown

@fy8798

2 ай бұрын

Phoenotopia is amazing. Wonderful soundtrack and such a nice spiritual successor to Zelda 2. Really takes that sort of game to where it could be if there had been more like it or Battle for Olympus.

@KingOppSanti

2 ай бұрын

Love that game! Need part 2!

Respect for your unbiased reviews. At least unbiast from sponsorship perspective. (What I mean under this is we all have our own opinions and taste and that is alright)

will return once i beat it to watch the spoiler section. really enjoying this one and glad you did too.

I loved the game so unique and refreshing. Having no cutscenes or dialogue or tutorial feels great too and should be more common tbh.

Totally agree, it is a really good game, irrespective of its links to a popular KZreadr. It's a pure unfiltered vision of one guys hard work which is a real treat given the dev appears to be talented in multiple disciplines. La Mulana 1 & 2 are very high in my top ten MVs and Animal Well has a lot in common with them, especially with the increasingly cryptic puzzles of the post game. I'm currently deep into the so-called "3rd layer" and, apart from puzzles that outright require community participation (meaning you will most likely end up just looking up the solution), I am really enjoying scrutinising the world and filling up my notebook! It's not quite in the same league as the La Mulana's for me but it is truly excellent.

Bro, the hustle is unreal. Can't wait to give this a watch!

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

Hope you enjoyed it!

As far as atmosphere goes anyone who has played rain world I would say that is the closest feeling atmosphere wise and it's great

You got a subscription - when you drop money and are transparent AND informed. Fuck yeah Guru looking forward to a backcatalog of your opinions!!!

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

Glad you’re here!

Inscription has that kinda layers 😮

Only played 9 hours, ~40 eggs and have done a bunch of post game stuff. I loved it thus far but one gripe I have is the travel time. Teleporters don't do much to alleviate this so you're stuck with 5 minute commutes to get to where you want to go, just to try one thing - which might not work. Experimenting is required but the commutes add up to a drag. I've looked things up just to get a better sense of direction of what I should do next and I think that was for the best. Sometimes it was because I didn't unlock a key item yet or I needed to something on the otherside of the map.

I love dunkey, but I really appreciate the fact that you mentioned most of the reviews are not really that helpful.

@yourehereforthatarentyou

2 ай бұрын

i love dunkey but i hate dunkey’s fans

@franciscobutte

2 ай бұрын

Most of reviews just can't separate dunkey from the game. If the game was from an unknown company it would be mid at best. But well, fanbase is poisonus.

Bro you spoiled tunic. Also the big twists came from the multiple uses of each item

Relieved to see someone holding this game up against Tunic. To me it would have hit harder had I not played Tunic, but that just set such a high benchmark for me that this, while fun and creative, failed to leave a huge lasting impression like Tunic did. I hope every fan of the genre experienced that blind.

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

Tunic is legit one of my favorite games of all time.

I got disc and yoyo before bubble wand, and holy hell did the game open with the power of bubbles

I also got bubble wand first, and cheesed so many puzzles through the game with multi bubble jumping.

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

Legend 👑

Im going for the eggs right now. There is so many secret i didnt got on my 1st playtrough, its amazing

I can’t wait to play this one I got Balatro “the poker rouge like” and it took over my brain but this game keeps drawing to it and I’m super curious. Watching carefully but I don’t mind spoilers cause my memory is crap.

Hi guru just wanted to say that when it comes to be original I think that when you look at the tools you get ask yourself if you have played any games that use the same tools in the same way or even with some tools I haven't seen them used in any game ever and I have been playing games since the late 80's,so I do think it's use of tools and how some of them are used is pretty original and at the very least extremely unique.

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

You’re 100% correct. I’m sorry my vid made me look like I thought Animal Well was wholly unoriginal. I was e focused on the larger mechanics other critics were falsely claiming were original instead of actually focusing on Animal Well’s originality. That’s what I get for going unscripted. Live and learn.

I love metroidvanias and puzzle games and loooved Tunic but for some reason I just couldn't connect with Animal Well and found it kinda mid throughout. Meanwhile everyone is losing their mind over the game. I thought I was going crazy. Thank you so much for your complex analysis. It really gave my feelings a framework that I'm comfortable with now amidst the hype.

So I get your point about not having the third layer that blows your mind. As a person that plays lots of Narrative puzzle games. Their is always a point in those games were the Narrative opens up and gives you that holy shit moment. It happens all the time in those type of games that unless you a constant player of Narrative Puzzle games, that type of thing might take you aback if used in another Genre. Like Tunic is great, but everything done in Tunic is very similar to a Puzzle game called Riven. So for me the game didn't wow me like others did. So unless Animal Well still has something no one found yet, it really doesn't have that 3rd wow aspect like people are already claiming.

"dropped 25 bucks to be unbiased" immediately subbed

Great review, have been hesitating getting this, wondering if I would like it without combat.

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

If you’re down for puzzles, you might like it.

100% agree with you about the bubble wand being on the left, as soon as I got to the point where the game makes it look like you should go right I instantly had an overwhelming urge to go left and the first thing I found was the wand also watching others play I was screaming at my tv "GO LEFT" hahahaha

I respect buying your own copy to review 🙌🏽

@Big_Dai

2 ай бұрын

More like he isn't big enough to get one for free?

Why are people talking bout the bubble wand like its a brand new thing? Alwa's Awakening did the exact thing already

@yourehereforthatarentyou

2 ай бұрын

it’s literally just super metroid bombjumping

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

It’s funny. I talked about Alwa’s Legacy in this vid and didn’t even bring up its bubble ability 🥸

Poor decision mentioning the multi-jump with the bubble wand in the spoiler free section. Discovering that for myself (after having the wand for a few hours already) was the best part of this game for me and I hope nobody had the chance to experience that ruined here

this game feels like hollow knight and tunic to me. vague context story that you can build together on your own, and clever little puzzles, that have puzzles within, under, around, above the puzzles.

just picked up the game... kinda has some knytt underground vibes at times.

So far from watching this channel I have bought Grime, After Image, Deaths Gambit, and Unsighted and wish listed tevi

I did not expect to suddenly get spoiled for Tunic, which I haven't played yet. That's a bummer, man. I watched on TV, where you don't automatically see description or comments.

Hi guru, SPOILERS for anyone who hasn't played the game. when you say it has been done before in a metroidvania what things exactly are you talking? I personally have never seen any game that uses a slinky or a frisbee used in that way and I still have about 5 more tools to find oh yeah the yoyo is used in an extremely creative way as well and while I'm sure games have used these items did they use them in the same way they are used in this game?? Just having an item doesn't make creative but it is the way in which it is implemented that is what makes this game very unique. Almost every game has a humanoid character but it's how that character is written or used that makes it unique or original. It's using existing items/tool and ideas in a different way that is unique and seem to be original from where I'm looking. Now I have not played every game ever made no one has so I can't be sure but I have played 1000's for sure

I got the bubble want first, again making the same assumption that the best way to start is going the Super Metroid route

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

Good choice!

As a huge metroidvania fan and fan of this channel I agree with some of the level-headed critique. I just finished the game after 6 hours and have not yet had a chance to dive into the 2nd and 3rd Layer puzzles but while I thoroughly enjoyed the game I don't know that it is the Masterpiece everyone says. For me it felt like a cross between tunic and La mulana but without either games juicy lore. Without collecting all the secrets being tied to any sort of story or plot I'm not finding a lot of motivation to go back in and search for the ones I missed.

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

I’m right there with you. I need something like lore to motivate me.

@pilgrimspromise1132

2 ай бұрын

@@MetroidvaniaGuru imagine Path of Pain but instead of the extra lore info you just got a geo chest

I love it when metroidvanias give you alternative platforming abilities to the heavily overused wallclimb and doublejump. My discovery of the bubblewand was only overshadowed by my discovery of the bubble jump technique. Same with the Frisbee tech( although I find that a bit harder to do). Sidenote: MG: This is a quick and dirty review Me looking at video length: ...ok Double Sidenote: That might be a joke that flew over my head, I am unsure. Anyway I enjoyed your analysis. This game feels more like a secret hunt-vania than a M.Brainia.

A certain reviewer said she spent 40 hours uncovering secrets after the five or so hours to complete the game. Is the game really that deep, are there really that many secrets to find? Or is it mostly just..more eggs to find or whatever.

@haggisman0812

2 ай бұрын

There's eggs and then way more obfuscated stuff beyond that, without external help you realistically aren't gonna find all that

@KingOppSanti

2 ай бұрын

Mostly eggs. 🥚

In terms of puzzle games with stacked layers of mind blowing big brain gameplay/meta revelations, the first game I'd point at is 'Baba is You'. That game is also largely narrative free, so I don't think an explicit narrative is necessary for that sort of thing.

@YaBoiBigNutz

2 ай бұрын

Outer Wilds and Tunic are my favourite "knowledge based progression" games

I agree with a lot of your views and opinions. Personally I find a lot of the game to be completely and utterly annoying like platforming from one screen to another via jumping from one platform to another that’s not even on the screen it’s on the next screen or section of the map. I’m sorry but that’s not diffulty that’s kind of dumb and annoying and there’s some super tedious stuff like bubble spaming with the wand to make your own platforms it’s super tight idk the design of the game is good and the atmosphere is awesome but there’s some really frustrating and annoying aspects. Also like “boss” encounters having some chase sections feel like you just get lucky making it through the chase everything is so dark you are just aimlessly rushing around jumping and hoping to run into a section that will lead you further into the chase that feels bad to me.

@yufeng1707

2 ай бұрын

I found the game extremely annoying, too. If it's going to market itself as a puzzle-based metroidvania, precision platforming or precision sections shouldn't be a thing. Especially if failing the section requires you to backtrack 3 different maps to get it. The atmosphere being ultra dark was more annoying than creepy. The puzzles are also things you'd find in a Mario Maker stage.

Got the bubble wand last lol.

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

That sounds terrible 💀

This game is better than spaghetti and meatballs

Glad to hear that you've enjoyed the game! I can agree with most of your critiques and see the same positive aspects as you. However, the analysis of its metroidbrainia aspects felt...sort of pointless? The game doesnt sell itself as one, so you ended up spending a lot of time reviewing other people's reviews, essentially. Bit weird, but I understand you know your favored genre well. I dont play quite as many as you but I like them a lot as well, vania and brainia.

Personally I'm really enjoying it....great great game. Looking for some great recommendations to continue down the rabbit hole.

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

Try Environmental Station Alpha. You won’t be disappointed

Quote Enviromental Station Alpha!!!

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

I can’t believe I didn’t bring up ESA 🤦‍♂️

You should do The Weird Dream next

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

This flew right under my radar. I’ve wish listed it. Like tight. You played it?

@eetdarichmarx7423

2 ай бұрын

@@MetroidvaniaGuru I picked it up on a whim a few days ago and, while kinda janky, I can’t put it down. Super weird and fun to play.

So what is this game about? You just go around solving puzzles? I get it's exploration but for what purpose? If there's no combat or narrative then what do you find by exploring? Just rooms?

@NAT3s

2 ай бұрын

Eggs

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

Pretty much. Had I waited a little longer to make this vid after all the puzzles had been solved, I’d have more scathing things to say about this game.

Damn I spoiled tunic for myself

Man. Please put The name of The game instead of The credits of The gameplay. That can be a small text un the corner

@nibiru2x410

2 ай бұрын

Why? The title of the game is in the title of the video. He's just crediting the gameplay video he used. If you're watching a review of a game you already know what the game is.

@yourehereforthatarentyou

2 ай бұрын

do you seriously not know what game this is

@NAT3s

2 ай бұрын

The commenter is talking about when clips from other games, like Tunic, are shown.

I almost didn't wanna buy this game because Dunkey gets on my nerves and I wanna be a maximum hater, but I figured thats not fair to the one dev who made an otherwise good game. I'll pick this one up

Once you find the UV Wand, the lore will unravel.

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

I saw some things. The UV light was a cool idea.

that huge, static on screen text gets annoying really fast. at least put it in an upper corner of the screen, to not block halt the gameplay.

@MetroidvaniaGuru

2 ай бұрын

Thanks for the feedback. It’ll be fixed by my next video 😊

I think the thing it has over a lot of indie games is it’s accessibly another level to like 99.999% of them in appeal and gameplay. I finished it yesterday and give it an 8/10. Great game.

how can you say it's not completely original when it's the first well type game???

@NAT3s

2 ай бұрын

Down count out Downwell. Unless this is another joke from Dunkey or something.

Is this the game that's a mix of Halo 2 and Halo 3 I keep hearing about?

So many words to just say it's like halo 2 meets halo 3

@franciscobutte

2 ай бұрын

This is getting old quickly

The like Halo 2 meets Halo 3 thing comes from Dunkeys recent video, “the promo campaign for Animal Well”. lol

I bought it and sorta regret it. I find it slow and kinda unrewarding. Feels like a walking simulator and some annoying back tracking.

@haggisman0812

2 ай бұрын

Unrewarding? You discover a secret like every 2 minutes. I think its incredible

@christopherlyndsay8611

2 ай бұрын

I mean if you don’t like puzzle games then you’re not gonna like it. To complete the main game you barely need to backtrack either.

@brandonsclips7741

2 ай бұрын

I hate how popular the term "walking simulator" has become. It's lost all meaning and IMHO it barely had meaning to begin with. You can't consider games an art form and get upset when someone makes a more slow paced game. It's just not for you, and that's fine

@dougfoster445

2 ай бұрын

@@brandonsclips7741 won’t disagree with with you. I think the problem is how much hype this game has gotten. It’s definitely no masterpiece as some people are claiming. Think they have a good foundation but feels like they are missing a lot

Just beat the game. There is no story 😂

Here we go with game analysis. Gotta hand it to these guys. I think Ima start a channel. I mean I play games why not jump on the bandwagon and start criticizing games. May just hit it big

@isaacq517

2 ай бұрын

lol you're fun

@nibiru2x410

2 ай бұрын

Are you trying to say that reviewing things is a "bandwagon" right now?

@alenezi989a3

2 ай бұрын

Is this your first time watching a video game review?

@gporr7004

2 ай бұрын

@@alenezi989a3 No. that’s the problem. There is too much of this nonsense and it’s all opinion. Problem is people listen to OTHER people too much instead of making their own decisions

The game is good but let’s not fool ourselves, without the Dunkey name this would just be another indie among thousands

@tdc455

2 ай бұрын

Highly debatable, this game is very unique compared to other Metroidvanias. Would it be lesser known? Obviously. But don't pretend it's publisher defines it's personality.

@LawrenceGill27

2 ай бұрын

I really don't think so. That's what I assumed would be the case until I played it. It didn't even cross my mind as a possibility, but if someone told me they thought Animal Well was better than Hollow Knight, I would respect that opinion.

@christopherlyndsay8611

2 ай бұрын

Big disagree, it has a depth and polish that makes it stand out

@alenezi989a3

2 ай бұрын

I think so too.

@razvanradoiu

2 ай бұрын

I literally had no idea Dunkey had anything to do with this game until reading this comment