**VIDEO SPOILERS BELOW** Animal Well review: How deep are you willing to go down a rabbit hole? Animal Well would let you spend hundreds of hours if you wish, but I know where my limits of enjoyment are. The freedom to play for the duration you want is extremely refreshing in the sea of easy games that only cater to novice puzzle solvers. Even if you don’t reach the final ending, Animal Well offers so many new and exciting experiences in the first two endings for it to feel like a complete game. Animal Well’s greatest strengths are its novel mechanics and world design. Every single item is fresh and evokes a profound feeling of childlike wonder. Metroidvanias endlessly reuse the same four abilities, and Animal Well has none of those. Instead, you’re given a kid’s toy and have to figure out how it works. The game plants the seeds for curiosity and discovery without saying a single word, and you never stop learning new uses for your items. The major four items, disk (my beloved), yo-yo, bubble wand, and slinky, are all incredibly rich and flexible. These four fit the game so well that removing or replacing any one would be a direct downgrade, and that’s heavily due to the expertly crafted world design. Like the mechanics, the world design stands head and shoulders above other 2d side view games. Animal Well offers a small but dense world with several layers, rather than a large sprawling world with long dead ends. Every room has a distinct visual appeal and a unique purpose, even if that purpose doesn’t stand out at first. Every corridor’s shape fits its thematic intention. If the goal is to learn something, then the room will be open and undistracting, while hinting you towards a solution. If the goal is to execute precision platforming, then the room feels more arcade-like. If the goal is to unsettle, then it will use darkness and claustrophobia to perfection. The horror in this game is impeccable, thanks in part to the unparalleled sound design. Memory is tied to emotion, and this game forces enough emotions for you to memorize the world’s layout whether you want to or not. That memory will come in handy once you learn how open this game truly is. One of Animal Well’s greatest strengths can be a weakness if not planned for. Each of the four major areas was designed to be played in any order, which makes the world feel much more organic. It’s truly an adventure rather than a series of puzzles on rails. However, because an area can be beaten without first collecting other items, there is an abundance of trivial rooms that only get easier the more items you have. The puzzle difficulty suits a player that has been playing for 15 minutes, but you could easily encounter the same puzzle after 5 hours instead. This would condemn many games to swift staleness, but Animal Well provides a much needed secondary challenge in the form of finding eggs. 2 types of puzzles present themselves in most early rooms. First, the obvious puzzle of hitting buttons to open a door, and second, the burning curiosity of “how do I get there?”. Traversal puzzles can be incredibly rewarding if done right, and most of the time, Animal Well understands that perfectly. The puzzle’s existence is telegraphed to those looking for a challenge but is not distracting to people solving the door puzzles. The act of reaching the point often requires a series of fun platforming tricks. Most importantly, the reward at the end of the puzzle is varied, but always relevant, ranging from keys to eggs to entirely new areas. Half the time, you won’t even know the traversal puzzle exists, which would be frustrating if the map screen wasn’t absolutely perfect. Maps that chart every nook and cranny turn secret finding from a tedious nightmare into a problem solving paradise. All you have to do is look for a gap, and you’ll find another secret. My own peak enjoyment came from finding all the map gaps and filling them in, because it’s constant dopamine of finding secrets without the tedium of hide and seek. Even if it takes a few minutes to reach a spot on the map, you know you’re going to find something when you get there, so the anticipation makes the journey worth it. Animal Well claims to be about secrets, but the secrets are only worth it if the journey to find them is fun. Finding secrets by using the top is not fun. The toppable tiles are not distinct enough to mark on the map as a point of curiosity, and there is no way to guarantee you find a toppable section without entering the room itself. The only choice is to tediously go from room to room to room, scanning each individual piece of floor. It is not at all challenging, but merely time consuming. By the time I had found all 64 eggs, I was relieved that it was over, instead of being excited for more. Lastly, I’m happy to stop before the bunny puzzles, because the time spent to reward ratio is just not there. It’s a shame because without hide and seek, the puzzles in a vacuum seem like the game’s best by far. Unfortunately, the hide and seek waters the puzzles down to such an extent that you may go hours without finding a single clue. Other puzzle games like TUNIC and Supraland (base game and Six Inches Under DLC) have proven that if you speed up the rate of finding clues, this type of puzzle is the peak of gaming enjoyment, but Animal Well caters to a different audience. Billy Basso obviously enjoys ARG puzzles and wanted the community to come together to solve the game’s hardest mysteries. Personally, I prefer when puzzles are self-contained and solvable by a single person. I envy those who enjoy ARG-styled treasure hunts, because Animal Well must feel like heaven to them. Overall Rating: 3/3.75 (Great)
since your saying your done ill demistify 2 things for you. 1. the 2 clocks are speed run challenges, get to that room before the number marked on the door (in minutes) 2. the chest behind the skull pile is a reward for getting to that room in a run without dieing.
@@A_Name136 there are already speedruns of the game. i go by the philosophy that not all parts of the game have to be for you. i agree ill never speed run it, but im ok with the awards being there for people who want to
@@danielbricker7204 I think those kinds of things should have foreshadowing but at the same time a lot of games assume parts of the game you need to discover by searching for resources outside of the game, I have mixed feelings about it
I remember getting to the skull room and being just as confused about the blocked chest. I got there with enough deaths to block the chest but not so many that it finished the staircase to the second one.
What you've finished is what people call "layer 2" Layer 3 is also solvable by yourself except for one puzzle (the mural one), I've personally done so with only 2/3 minor hints Layer 4 is the truly unhinged stuff that you really can't expect to do by yourself
@@mloxard You people always just say "He knows" like he's some sort of omniscient god, I'm not saying that Tyler knowing things is a statement requiring evidence, but could you could add just a couple more words to clarify WHERE he stated that he knows. "He knows, he said on Twitter that he probably isn't going to do a video on it" "He knows, he replied to another comment that told him about Layer 2 and 3."
I really want to praise the editors and Tyler for this series. I understand that the game has its tedium, but honestly just watching the series I was so hooked into everything, coming up with my own theories on how to use mechanics, seeing the solutions and puzzles blend together into a beautiful synchronistic design that I didn't have to worry about finding every toppable spot, every blacklight mural, nothing. I saw Tyler pose the question, adventure, and then come to a solution in a brilliant evolution of scenes. My personal feeling of this is right up there with Can of Wormholes in terms of enjoyment, but I completely see and understand why the game is frustrating to play and is potentially not up there for others.
Now that youre done, im gonna ow your mind. Theres an ability youve had since the startbof the game that you never used. You can manipulate the game world with your mouse. You can move lanterns, animals, grass ect. by swiping your cursor over them. You can also shake the actual game window to shake the environment in the game too.
Just wanted to say: the Donut shave of the portal is probably there since if you treat the surface of a donut like a 2D plane, it wraps around. That means the donut you see is the entire other universe you travel to :)
11:55 What?! I completed that room by using weird wheel tech! I had no idea you could do that with the frisbee. Basically, I found that you can get a full jump in the wheel by disabling it while jumping, then I found that enabling it just slightly above spikes launches you up and to the right a little. The frisbee method seems way easier.
Yeah. Every time you die, another skull gets added. So after the first death the path is blocked. Basically it's only for people who want to do no-death runs and is a clever way of proving that you did it deathless.
@@RogueCarrot So what you're saying is there is a collectible that is locked at the very end that if you were to go for completion... and you didn't know.. game is like "fuck you, guess you gotta do everything all over" But now I wonder if there is an opposite effect.. if a skull is added for each death.. is there a limit? If so.. is there something that stairways up from it?
It's not that hard to reach actually, because the ability to save scum. Even time you die, you force close the game (it might work exiting to the title screen). Once you beat the game the first time, it's a lot easier to not die because you know what you are doing.
@@BaconNuke From what I heard, the collectables from the clocks and the 0 death chest are independent of your save file, so if you get it once, you have it on all your games. That's what I've heard at least.
Animal well was great but once I got a majority of the eggs I threw in the towel and looked up a guide. I also found a really good bunny guide that just told me where to look for the simpler bunnies. I actually had gotten two bunnies and didn’t even know I did anything lol. In my opinion the later half of animal well is not really worth the tedium of doing it your own and I don’t really regret just looking it up. The arg like stuff is really cool to watch get discovered online so ultimately I think the game really achieved what Billy wanted.
I think games like these really need some kind of a scanning system. And a better one that what the remote is. Not from the start, but once you're expected to have passed nearish every egg, then something leads you to where the remaining eggs are. And then do the same when you reach the bunny collection place. Revisiting everywhere you've been to find something you missed because you didn't realize it was even a thing is just tedious. No game should ever do that. If everything that's "a thing" is really obvious, then it can be excused. At least then you knew to make a note on your map for it and if the player didn't that's on them. But "different dirt you can dig" isn't obvious when you don't know digging is even an option.
@@KuroroSama42 Apparently that one chest Tyler saw with a bunch of skulls is only obtainable if no deaths.. so pretty much his own trial and error on a bunch of puzzles locked him out of something before he was aware it existed.. which is worse to me than "backtrack with new ability"
@@lifetake3103 I never played Hollow Knight, don't know what that is but it still would urk me I was well on my way to completing a game and learned I would forever have an unopened chest unless I redid everything from scratch all because I didn't have the precognition to just restart the whole game every time I died
@@BaconNuke my guy its a singular cosmetic that under no circumstances you should you be going for on your first run. It exists to display the dedication and skill of the player who achieves it. It is absolutely against the design of the game to play the game where you restart everytime you die your first playthrough. It nueters your creativity and experimentation because you’re too scared of dying. That doesn’t mean the achievement shouldn’t exist as it can be challenge for those who have mastered the game. And by existing with a new player not knowing about it. You don’t have people like you who would for some god forsaken reason restart the game every time they die on their first playthrough
I'm honestly impressed by how far Alien has gone to reach the game's second true ending There's still a bit of a handful of stuff to discover but as far as the main stuff goes (in terms of hints INSIDE the game) he pretty much got it all For those wondering what he missed: (spoilers) The egg collection is actually related to a big code you can input with the flute and get an item for a new room, this room is related to the bunnies that are ALSO a type of collectible to be used in order to get even more stuff: a new passive ability for the character The clocks at the home and space are actually Speedrun locations, you have to complete the game and get to those locations as fast as possible by reaching under the number times The chest with a bunch of skulls is the reward for a no-deaths challenge, pretty much complete the game without dying a single time
@@wolfVFV No, not even close. If you jump, remove the wheel then respawn the wheel, the bottom of the wheel will be spawned in the spikes (Unless you respawn the wheel to early.). This causes the wheel to fly upwards. Jumping and immediatly removing the wheel after it has reached the apex of its flight will get you comfortably over the ledge. You have to then quickly respawn the wheel again for the second ledge. It was still difficult, but I become somewhat consistent with it at the end. 20-30 minutes is a conservative estimate, it may have taken as little as 10-15.
Animal well is a special game. Your first playthrough you mostly play normally while collecting everything you can but on later playthroughs you understand and know the puzzles which lets you do what i consider the meta puzzles, that really make you go above and beyond.
Commenting this late but just in case anyones wondering what would be left (SPOILERS) Layer 1 was the flames into freeing the manticore Layer 2 is the eggs into leaving the well Layer 3 is the bunnies, some are pretty doable, some are crazy and 1 requires community effort (at least 50+ people for the mural which you can draw on). Remember how the eggs had a code in UV, the room where you get the flute explains that code on UV, which turns into a 64 note song which give you access to the extra room upstairs your house. In that room there is a pc (which if you have a printer connect lets you print an actual origami bunny which also unlocks a bunny in game with the song it has) and a chalkboard which hints that there is a code in the bunny ears. In the bunny island there is all bunnies you have gotten and when they get idle their ears point in 2 directions then another 2. The first directions are turned into binary separate and then all 4 numbers into normal base 10 (lets say ears point up and right suppose that is 3 and 0 which is 11 and 01 and 1101 is 13, this means that this bunny is number 13) and the second ear directions are literally directions. with all the directions in order you got to the flag right in bunny island and using the manticore traverse the sky in the order set by those directions (kinda like a lost woods puzzle in zelda) this takes you to a giant bunny which eats you and after you get the permanent ability to fly. Layer 4 is the "Unicode" layer, this is TRULY UNHINGED, there are multiple very specific things you can do in the game that would result in getting a unicode code, some are: sneaking up on 5 squirrels, eating every single berry on the map on on life without taking dmg, set ur date to groundhog day 3 times and go to the ground hog 3 times to get +3 max hp, get 8 max hp and let yourself be eaten by the chameleon (he does 8 dmg you can get 9 hp), there is on the top part of the well a tamagochi step counter, enter it with the counter resetting to 0 (after 10000 steps) and some more. On your house top left of the tv (18:51) there is a painting, you can arrange all the unicode in that shape which forms a map with directions, which you do "the same as in layer 4", return to where you get the flying ability in layer 3 and follow the directions on the map. You get to an island which contains a chest with a literal recorded audio of the dev, the producer? and videogamedunkey talking and thanking you and how they dont expect this to be found in a long time POSSIBLE layer 5: you can actually perform wrongwarp type glitches in the game, You can use this to get to a unreachable chest that has a "cheaters ring" which allows you to no clip. Using this you can talk to extra animals which change dialogue with the flute and 3 extra bunnies, collecting all this extra bunnies actually semi corrupts your file returning a lot of things to their spawn point (like eggs) and as far as I know is currently unknown if there is anything to do with this.
Glad to see you finish this! It's been a ride, waiting to see what you do, and do not find, and I think this has been a very satisfying conclusion to the series.
Appreciate you always giving your review after playing! I got a lot out of the game and stopped at the same part you did. Being able to solve stuff myself was very enjoyable, but once it got to the point where I needed to physically print things out or swap notes with other players it took me out of it. I like how the open-world nature of this allows it to be fun to watch multiple people play it, as they will approach it in entirely different ways! Between playing it myself, watching your series and one other UA-camr play it, that distinction felt very unique to this type of game.
Finding the bunnies aren't too bad with hints except for the mural bunny. Honestly a bit disappointed when I looked up the bunnies to find out I could have solved them with a little direction
I've been loving this series, sad to see it end. The game is super cute and the puzzles look amazing, with new paths seemingly opening up from nowhere with every item you got.
this has been by far the most interesting playthrough for me that you’ve done. the editors did a great job the game was so interesting and as always you made this series very fun
Absolutely adored this series! The editing and all was great. I love watching this kind of game, but don't have the patience to play them so experience it with the lovely commentary by Tyler is the best for me!
This series is what made me subscribe to your channel. Your commentary along with the clean editing and the mysterious game was so fun to watch! Can't wait to see what you play next!
IMO tunic did this far better having three different “layers” than animal well. While animal well (henceforth referred to by AW to keep my sanity) has this idea of layers with increasingly complicated puzzle solving, it becomes less puzzle solving and more like trying everything possible to see a solution. The eggs are okay in that there is a clearly defined ending to them and you know what to look for when to find them. However, by late game the map explodes and trying to find the two pixels that you didn’t rub your face up against to find the solution is no longer a puzzle and just tedium. The rabbits and unicode layers are even worse at this, with some of them being literally impossible to do alone, get lucky, require insane platforming skill, or just insist on wasting your time. Tunic, on the other hand, does no such thing. The manual pages are clearly defined into how many you need and are never in a tiny nook that you overlooked. The first ending takes little puzzle solving to achieve, but by the time you get there, the manual is incomplete, so it leaves you wondering. AW does the same thing. But as mentioned earlier, because the pages are less hidden and the things that lead to them beget curiosity, they don’t fall into the issue of the top. By Tunics second layer, finding all the manual pages, a new mechanic, (that I won’t spoil), redefines the game space and what puzzles are available. The ending of this layer is not unlike AW’s in that you make peace instead of ending the antagonist. Tunics third layer is a masterclass in open world puzzle design because it doesn’t waste your time. It gives you subtle hints to where the puzzles are but doesn’t give you the solution. (It also gives you a method to locate a specific collectable and tells you something’s there). AW’s third layer does none of this, but insists that just being in the game is enough of a hint. By the end of Tunic’s third layer you would have translated the game’s language, (which is much less complicated than it seems), discovered a new game mechanic, and had your time respected.
4:57 I actually managed to complete this room without having the wheel. I managed to top the exit for the bottom left button, getting in early, and you can cross the gap in the right room by bubbling under the first set of vines and jumping through the second (There is toppable ground in the area of the top right button, allowing you to get back.)
On that bunny parkour room with the telephone, I did it a completely different way. Whenever I see vines, I just assume that's Basso's way of saying "don't use the frisbee here" so I was trying to do it with the wheel like you did initially. I found out that if you jump just before closing the wheel, you can do a full jump, instead of getting stopped by the top of the wheel. I also accidentally found out that if you open the wheel close to a floor or ceiling, it boosts you away from it. So I rolled to the first ledge, jumped out of the wheel, fell until I was close to the spikes, then opened the wheel again so it would boost me into the air, and then I jumped out of that wheel to get sort of a double jump and land. It was tough to pull off, but then I had to do it again for the second ledge, as well as remembering press X an extra time to open the wheel when I got to the top. Then for the last bit, the wheel had just enough space to come out but not to roll forward, so I had to hold left and double tap X a few times to move forward then catch myself before hitting the spikes. It's really interesting that there's multiple ways to do it that are all really tricky and weird.
@@chaninakosovske6567 (mild spoilers for anyone else) If you set your system clock to 2nd February (Groundhog Day), the bear will give you an extra yellow permanent heart, which can be repeated up to 4 times (12 max hearts (4 red, 4 yellow, 4 blue) total)
Fast travel was always an option and you never found it haha: the room with the 6 animal heads? In the bottom room, there's a fish that pops up after ~10 seconds and shows you the code to teleport to that room from anywhere at any time. Unfortunate lol
No, he stops just before the puzzles get very involved and in depth, but yeah, while layer three is mostly solvable on your own, with thw exception of the mural, layer four is the most convoluted sh*t I have ever seen in a puzzle game
Question, does the 'bunnery math' count as Layer 4, or is that still part of Layer 3? Further clarification: The one you get the hint to in the office of the home?
the only major things you missed from a "normal" playthrough was a ton of stuff with the flute. there are a ton of flute combos like the fast travel warp, that room full of skulls, and the final egg puzzle combo, that are all flute songs/combinations
62 eggs was my limit before I looked stuff up. So glad I did because it was the same two eggs you had left. And they were freakin EVIL. I do like some of the bunny puzzles tho ^^. It’s maybe not worth the effort, but boy was it satisfying to finally get some of those.
If you have/ever plan on completing Layer 3 in your own time (the bunny puzzles), then yes, every puzzle apart from one is possible on your own. Why? Every copy of Animal Well is personalized. Anyways, small jokes aside, Animal Well definitely joins my all time favorite games alongside TUNIC, Celeste and Outer WIlds. Despite my playthrough being guided by the hands of a couple wiki gremlins (my friends in a VC), it was still a blast, and I'd absolutely love to play it for the first time again.
It's an office with a computer and a blackboard. if you have a printer connected to your PC you can interact with it in game and it will print something in real life. The blackboard gives you they key to decyphering information that is encoded somewhere in the 2nd ending area :)
The stripes on the eggs look like binary code. I don't believe it's text because each egg has only 3 bits, while ASCII would be 7. 3 bits gives out 8 possibilities per egg, but I don't know what to do with that information.
nah bunny layer is mostly fair to do solo... other than [REDACTED] bunny but you can just grab the 50 pieces that need the community to solve them the layer after bunny layer is MUCH less fair
Alienrock you haven’t even got close to *”* finishing it *”* if you manage to glitch or hack the game and teleport to that wall it’s a secret area if you glitch under the platform in that room you can get a “cheater ring” it allows you to basically noclip through walls
When he first picked up the stopwatch he got it right. It's a speedrunning thing - you have to get to each of the two clocks in a certain number of minutes/hours
**VIDEO SPOILERS BELOW**
Animal Well review:
How deep are you willing to go down a rabbit hole? Animal Well would let you spend hundreds of hours if you wish, but I know where my limits of enjoyment are. The freedom to play for the duration you want is extremely refreshing in the sea of easy games that only cater to novice puzzle solvers. Even if you don’t reach the final ending, Animal Well offers so many new and exciting experiences in the first two endings for it to feel like a complete game.
Animal Well’s greatest strengths are its novel mechanics and world design. Every single item is fresh and evokes a profound feeling of childlike wonder. Metroidvanias endlessly reuse the same four abilities, and Animal Well has none of those. Instead, you’re given a kid’s toy and have to figure out how it works. The game plants the seeds for curiosity and discovery without saying a single word, and you never stop learning new uses for your items. The major four items, disk (my beloved), yo-yo, bubble wand, and slinky, are all incredibly rich and flexible. These four fit the game so well that removing or replacing any one would be a direct downgrade, and that’s heavily due to the expertly crafted world design.
Like the mechanics, the world design stands head and shoulders above other 2d side view games. Animal Well offers a small but dense world with several layers, rather than a large sprawling world with long dead ends. Every room has a distinct visual appeal and a unique purpose, even if that purpose doesn’t stand out at first. Every corridor’s shape fits its thematic intention. If the goal is to learn something, then the room will be open and undistracting, while hinting you towards a solution. If the goal is to execute precision platforming, then the room feels more arcade-like. If the goal is to unsettle, then it will use darkness and claustrophobia to perfection. The horror in this game is impeccable, thanks in part to the unparalleled sound design. Memory is tied to emotion, and this game forces enough emotions for you to memorize the world’s layout whether you want to or not. That memory will come in handy once you learn how open this game truly is.
One of Animal Well’s greatest strengths can be a weakness if not planned for. Each of the four major areas was designed to be played in any order, which makes the world feel much more organic. It’s truly an adventure rather than a series of puzzles on rails. However, because an area can be beaten without first collecting other items, there is an abundance of trivial rooms that only get easier the more items you have. The puzzle difficulty suits a player that has been playing for 15 minutes, but you could easily encounter the same puzzle after 5 hours instead. This would condemn many games to swift staleness, but Animal Well provides a much needed secondary challenge in the form of finding eggs.
2 types of puzzles present themselves in most early rooms. First, the obvious puzzle of hitting buttons to open a door, and second, the burning curiosity of “how do I get there?”. Traversal puzzles can be incredibly rewarding if done right, and most of the time, Animal Well understands that perfectly. The puzzle’s existence is telegraphed to those looking for a challenge but is not distracting to people solving the door puzzles. The act of reaching the point often requires a series of fun platforming tricks. Most importantly, the reward at the end of the puzzle is varied, but always relevant, ranging from keys to eggs to entirely new areas.
Half the time, you won’t even know the traversal puzzle exists, which would be frustrating if the map screen wasn’t absolutely perfect. Maps that chart every nook and cranny turn secret finding from a tedious nightmare into a problem solving paradise. All you have to do is look for a gap, and you’ll find another secret. My own peak enjoyment came from finding all the map gaps and filling them in, because it’s constant dopamine of finding secrets without the tedium of hide and seek. Even if it takes a few minutes to reach a spot on the map, you know you’re going to find something when you get there, so the anticipation makes the journey worth it.
Animal Well claims to be about secrets, but the secrets are only worth it if the journey to find them is fun. Finding secrets by using the top is not fun. The toppable tiles are not distinct enough to mark on the map as a point of curiosity, and there is no way to guarantee you find a toppable section without entering the room itself. The only choice is to tediously go from room to room to room, scanning each individual piece of floor. It is not at all challenging, but merely time consuming. By the time I had found all 64 eggs, I was relieved that it was over, instead of being excited for more.
Lastly, I’m happy to stop before the bunny puzzles, because the time spent to reward ratio is just not there. It’s a shame because without hide and seek, the puzzles in a vacuum seem like the game’s best by far. Unfortunately, the hide and seek waters the puzzles down to such an extent that you may go hours without finding a single clue. Other puzzle games like TUNIC and Supraland (base game and Six Inches Under DLC) have proven that if you speed up the rate of finding clues, this type of puzzle is the peak of gaming enjoyment, but Animal Well caters to a different audience. Billy Basso obviously enjoys ARG puzzles and wanted the community to come together to solve the game’s hardest mysteries. Personally, I prefer when puzzles are self-contained and solvable by a single person. I envy those who enjoy ARG-styled treasure hunts, because Animal Well must feel like heaven to them.
Overall Rating:
3/3.75 (Great)
Best game ever
why 3.75 max
why is it out of 3.75 thats so cursed
Aliensrock get some of ya friends to help ya
@@Professional_Amikisser 3/3,75 =
8/10
since your saying your done ill demistify 2 things for you.
1. the 2 clocks are speed run challenges, get to that room before the number marked on the door (in minutes)
2. the chest behind the skull pile is a reward for getting to that room in a run without dieing.
Even for a game about crypticness, I don't think people would try to do a speedrun but especially not deathless run just to see if it works.
@@A_Name136 there are already speedruns of the game. i go by the philosophy that not all parts of the game have to be for you. i agree ill never speed run it, but im ok with the awards being there for people who want to
@A_Name136 There is a stopwatch item that seems purpose built for speedruns, which is kind of a hint
@@danielbricker7204 I think those kinds of things should have foreshadowing but at the same time a lot of games assume parts of the game you need to discover by searching for resources outside of the game, I have mixed feelings about it
I remember getting to the skull room and being just as confused about the blocked chest. I got there with enough deaths to block the chest but not so many that it finished the staircase to the second one.
Aliensrock looks at a stray cat: "wow,such a majestic dragon!"
Actually is a lynx, not a domestic cat
@@scottbryant6349 I know,its a joke,you know what jokes are?
@@addmakerhd480 awfully hostile I see
@@addmakerhd480Schrodinger's Douchebag
@@dwarian5252 sorry
Tyler when he sees an egg hint Symbol: "another tear"
What you've finished is what people call "layer 2"
Layer 3 is also solvable by yourself except for one puzzle (the mural one), I've personally done so with only 2/3 minor hints
Layer 4 is the truly unhinged stuff that you really can't expect to do by yourself
I just looked up the solution because I was not losing my sanity for it, still did first three levels with only a few hints
i hope he sees this
@@kashifraja8451 He knows, maybe he does it in his free time... but don't expect a video unfortunately :(((
@@mloxard You people always just say "He knows" like he's some sort of omniscient god, I'm not saying that Tyler knowing things is a statement requiring evidence, but could you could add just a couple more words to clarify WHERE he stated that he knows. "He knows, he said on Twitter that he probably isn't going to do a video on it" "He knows, he replied to another comment that told him about Layer 2 and 3."
@@Digihart123Pretty obvious he knows if you read his review.
15:28 The facecam getting blown up by the fan to move it out of the way was brilliant
I really want to praise the editors and Tyler for this series. I understand that the game has its tedium, but honestly just watching the series I was so hooked into everything, coming up with my own theories on how to use mechanics, seeing the solutions and puzzles blend together into a beautiful synchronistic design that I didn't have to worry about finding every toppable spot, every blacklight mural, nothing. I saw Tyler pose the question, adventure, and then come to a solution in a brilliant evolution of scenes. My personal feeling of this is right up there with Can of Wormholes in terms of enjoyment, but I completely see and understand why the game is frustrating to play and is potentially not up there for others.
Now that youre done, im gonna ow your mind. Theres an ability youve had since the startbof the game that you never used. You can manipulate the game world with your mouse. You can move lanterns, animals, grass ect. by swiping your cursor over them. You can also shake the actual game window to shake the environment in the game too.
guys he ow'd my mind
Just wanted to say: the Donut shave of the portal is probably there since if you treat the surface of a donut like a 2D plane, it wraps around. That means the donut you see is the entire other universe you travel to :)
Yes, the world is a torus
11:55 What?! I completed that room by using weird wheel tech! I had no idea you could do that with the frisbee.
Basically, I found that you can get a full jump in the wheel by disabling it while jumping, then I found that enabling it just slightly above spikes launches you up and to the right a little. The frisbee method seems way easier.
Turns out the meatball's ultimate goal was to get eaten.
(This game is strange to say the least)
"Hey Billy, what's your game's win condition?"
"Vore."
@@Kimtroverted WHY WOULD YOU EXPLAIN IT AS *THAT*
@@Kimtroverted”I’m sorry.”
don't worry, the bottom chest in the skull room isn't anything important for puzzles.
Yeah. Every time you die, another skull gets added. So after the first death the path is blocked. Basically it's only for people who want to do no-death runs and is a clever way of proving that you did it deathless.
@@RogueCarrot So what you're saying is there is a collectible that is locked at the very end that if you were to go for completion... and you didn't know.. game is like "fuck you, guess you gotta do everything all over"
But now I wonder if there is an opposite effect.. if a skull is added for each death.. is there a limit? If so.. is there something that stairways up from it?
It's not that hard to reach actually, because the ability to save scum. Even time you die, you force close the game (it might work exiting to the title screen). Once you beat the game the first time, it's a lot easier to not die because you know what you are doing.
@@BaconNuke From what I heard, the collectables from the clocks and the 0 death chest are independent of your save file, so if you get it once, you have it on all your games. That's what I've heard at least.
@@Lagoon4296 That sounds.. reasonable.. totally means they had forethought for people like me who would feel cheated for not knowing lol
Animal well was great but once I got a majority of the eggs I threw in the towel and looked up a guide. I also found a really good bunny guide that just told me where to look for the simpler bunnies. I actually had gotten two bunnies and didn’t even know I did anything lol. In my opinion the later half of animal well is not really worth the tedium of doing it your own and I don’t really regret just looking it up. The arg like stuff is really cool to watch get discovered online so ultimately I think the game really achieved what Billy wanted.
I think games like these really need some kind of a scanning system. And a better one that what the remote is.
Not from the start, but once you're expected to have passed nearish every egg, then something leads you to where the remaining eggs are. And then do the same when you reach the bunny collection place.
Revisiting everywhere you've been to find something you missed because you didn't realize it was even a thing is just tedious. No game should ever do that. If everything that's "a thing" is really obvious, then it can be excused. At least then you knew to make a note on your map for it and if the player didn't that's on them. But "different dirt you can dig" isn't obvious when you don't know digging is even an option.
@@KuroroSama42 Apparently that one chest Tyler saw with a bunch of skulls is only obtainable if no deaths.. so pretty much his own trial and error on a bunch of puzzles locked him out of something before he was aware it existed.. which is worse to me than "backtrack with new ability"
@@BaconNukethe item in the chest is a purely cosmetic item. It is literally only for achievement purposes. Similar to a steel soul run in hollowknight
@@lifetake3103 I never played Hollow Knight, don't know what that is but it still would urk me I was well on my way to completing a game and learned I would forever have an unopened chest unless I redid everything from scratch all because I didn't have the precognition to just restart the whole game every time I died
@@BaconNuke my guy its a singular cosmetic that under no circumstances you should you be going for on your first run. It exists to display the dedication and skill of the player who achieves it. It is absolutely against the design of the game to play the game where you restart everytime you die your first playthrough. It nueters your creativity and experimentation because you’re too scared of dying. That doesn’t mean the achievement shouldn’t exist as it can be challenge for those who have mastered the game. And by existing with a new player not knowing about it. You don’t have people like you who would for some god forsaken reason restart the game every time they die on their first playthrough
I'm honestly impressed by how far Alien has gone to reach the game's second true ending
There's still a bit of a handful of stuff to discover but as far as the main stuff goes (in terms of hints INSIDE the game) he pretty much got it all
For those wondering what he missed: (spoilers)
The egg collection is actually related to a big code you can input with the flute and get an item for a new room, this room is related to the bunnies that are ALSO a type of collectible to be used in order to get even more stuff: a new passive ability for the character
The clocks at the home and space are actually Speedrun locations, you have to complete the game and get to those locations as fast as possible by reaching under the number times
The chest with a bunch of skulls is the reward for a no-deaths challenge, pretty much complete the game without dying a single time
deathless not no-hit
and there is a save counter in with the deathless chest
@@durandle9226 Whoops, my bad,
just corrected that :v
Allow me to make a low-hanging fruit joke:
Ahem. *Topsoil.*
Thank you.
The editor actually cooked with this video
Really like when Tyler turned the fan on and his face cam floated to the top
@@jjrneptune That was what made me make this comment NGL.
13:00 thats absolutly insane that you got this so fast
Ikr, I came back for the bunny hunt and spent a solid 30-40 mins on that
I also spent a solid 20-30 minutes on it, though, I did not know it was a bunny at the time. I did it with the wheel, though, not the disc.
@@LeDoctorBones thats somehow crazier i thinkXD isnt that like 10 perfekt frame inputs in a row per ledge?
@@wolfVFV No, not even close. If you jump, remove the wheel then respawn the wheel, the bottom of the wheel will be spawned in the spikes (Unless you respawn the wheel to early.).
This causes the wheel to fly upwards. Jumping and immediatly removing the wheel after it has reached the apex of its flight will get you comfortably over the ledge. You have to then quickly respawn the wheel again for the second ledge. It was still difficult, but I become somewhat consistent with it at the end. 20-30 minutes is a conservative estimate, it may have taken as little as 10-15.
@@LeDoctorBones oh interesting disdnt knew thatXD
Animal well is a special game.
Your first playthrough you mostly play normally while collecting everything you can but on later playthroughs you understand and know the puzzles which lets you do what i consider the meta puzzles, that really make you go above and beyond.
Commenting this late but just in case anyones wondering what would be left (SPOILERS)
Layer 1 was the flames into freeing the manticore
Layer 2 is the eggs into leaving the well
Layer 3 is the bunnies, some are pretty doable, some are crazy and 1 requires community effort (at least 50+ people for the mural which you can draw on). Remember how the eggs had a code in UV, the room where you get the flute explains that code on UV, which turns into a 64 note song which give you access to the extra room upstairs your house. In that room there is a pc (which if you have a printer connect lets you print an actual origami bunny which also unlocks a bunny in game with the song it has) and a chalkboard which hints that there is a code in the bunny ears. In the bunny island there is all bunnies you have gotten and when they get idle their ears point in 2 directions then another 2. The first directions are turned into binary separate and then all 4 numbers into normal base 10 (lets say ears point up and right suppose that is 3 and 0 which is 11 and 01 and 1101 is 13, this means that this bunny is number 13) and the second ear directions are literally directions. with all the directions in order you got to the flag right in bunny island and using the manticore traverse the sky in the order set by those directions (kinda like a lost woods puzzle in zelda) this takes you to a giant bunny which eats you and after you get the permanent ability to fly.
Layer 4 is the "Unicode" layer, this is TRULY UNHINGED, there are multiple very specific things you can do in the game that would result in getting a unicode code, some are: sneaking up on 5 squirrels, eating every single berry on the map on on life without taking dmg, set ur date to groundhog day 3 times and go to the ground hog 3 times to get +3 max hp, get 8 max hp and let yourself be eaten by the chameleon (he does 8 dmg you can get 9 hp), there is on the top part of the well a tamagochi step counter, enter it with the counter resetting to 0 (after 10000 steps) and some more. On your house top left of the tv (18:51) there is a painting, you can arrange all the unicode in that shape which forms a map with directions, which you do "the same as in layer 4", return to where you get the flying ability in layer 3 and follow the directions on the map. You get to an island which contains a chest with a literal recorded audio of the dev, the producer? and videogamedunkey talking and thanking you and how they dont expect this to be found in a long time
POSSIBLE layer 5: you can actually perform wrongwarp type glitches in the game, You can use this to get to a unreachable chest that has a "cheaters ring" which allows you to no clip. Using this you can talk to extra animals which change dialogue with the flute and 3 extra bunnies, collecting all this extra bunnies actually semi corrupts your file returning a lot of things to their spawn point (like eggs) and as far as I know is currently unknown if there is anything to do with this.
6:03 thats not a dragon! Thats a Lynx.
Lynx is ancient Greek for "Dragon of Light", so close enough!
Glad to see you finish this! It's been a ride, waiting to see what you do, and do not find, and I think this has been a very satisfying conclusion to the series.
Appreciate you always giving your review after playing! I got a lot out of the game and stopped at the same part you did. Being able to solve stuff myself was very enjoyable, but once it got to the point where I needed to physically print things out or swap notes with other players it took me out of it.
I like how the open-world nature of this allows it to be fun to watch multiple people play it, as they will approach it in entirely different ways! Between playing it myself, watching your series and one other UA-camr play it, that distinction felt very unique to this type of game.
Finding the bunnies aren't too bad with hints except for the mural bunny. Honestly a bit disappointed when I looked up the bunnies to find out I could have solved them with a little direction
That’s what I heard too, just one more clue per puzzle to eliminate the hide and seek would make finding the bunnies a ton of fun.
Now that your done, there is a quality of life flute song that would've speed things up. You just need to talk to a fish to find out.
This needs to be featured on the video end screen from now on! This game was so good!
I have come just in time to see the finale.
I am so addicted to these videos.
At the top of the well you can dig and find a step counter
I've been loving this series, sad to see it end. The game is super cute and the puzzles look amazing, with new paths seemingly opening up from nowhere with every item you got.
The way this game shapes up I wouldn't be surprised to learn there's a whole 12 set of new items Tyler hasn't even heard of
this has been by far the most interesting playthrough for me that you’ve done. the editors did a great job the game was so interesting and as always you made this series very fun
Absolutely adored this series! The editing and all was great. I love watching this kind of game, but don't have the patience to play them so experience it with the lovely commentary by Tyler is the best for me!
I love watching people play games that i can't play.
This series is what made me subscribe to your channel. Your commentary along with the clean editing and the mysterious game was so fun to watch! Can't wait to see what you play next!
Amazing playthrough, Thank you :)
11:31 you can climb a flat wall with the wheel by mash jumping really easily. its not really useful ever afaik but its neat!
IMO tunic did this far better having three different “layers” than animal well. While animal well (henceforth referred to by AW to keep my sanity) has this idea of layers with increasingly complicated puzzle solving, it becomes less puzzle solving and more like trying everything possible to see a solution. The eggs are okay in that there is a clearly defined ending to them and you know what to look for when to find them. However, by late game the map explodes and trying to find the two pixels that you didn’t rub your face up against to find the solution is no longer a puzzle and just tedium. The rabbits and unicode layers are even worse at this, with some of them being literally impossible to do alone, get lucky, require insane platforming skill, or just insist on wasting your time.
Tunic, on the other hand, does no such thing. The manual pages are clearly defined into how many you need and are never in a tiny nook that you overlooked. The first ending takes little puzzle solving to achieve, but by the time you get there, the manual is incomplete, so it leaves you wondering. AW does the same thing. But as mentioned earlier, because the pages are less hidden and the things that lead to them beget curiosity, they don’t fall into the issue of the top. By Tunics second layer, finding all the manual pages, a new mechanic, (that I won’t spoil), redefines the game space and what puzzles are available. The ending of this layer is not unlike AW’s in that you make peace instead of ending the antagonist.
Tunics third layer is a masterclass in open world puzzle design because it doesn’t waste your time. It gives you subtle hints to where the puzzles are but doesn’t give you the solution. (It also gives you a method to locate a specific collectable and tells you something’s there). AW’s third layer does none of this, but insists that just being in the game is enough of a hint. By the end of Tunic’s third layer you would have translated the game’s language, (which is much less complicated than it seems), discovered a new game mechanic, and had your time respected.
*THE CATS, THERE WAS A MURAL WITH THE CATS AROUND THE MANTACORE!*
Loved watching you play this series! Can't wait for another game like this one
This video in a nutshell: this looks toppable
Absolutely loved watching this series. Thanks Tyler
Congrats on your well escape!
Theres more it gets deeper I NEED TO KNOW
EVIL EGG WAS THE FINAL ONE I FOUND TOO, I THINK IT'S VERY DUMB
I really really like the game, just that one stood out to me as very odd -.-
i guess it is in a pretty evil spot
i absolutely hate the evil egg
Yes, the video I have been saving my dinner for
This was very nice, looking forward to the Sea and Sky playthrough
4:57 I actually managed to complete this room without having the wheel. I managed to top the exit for the bottom left button, getting in early, and you can cross the gap in the right room by bubbling under the first set of vines and jumping through the second (There is toppable ground in the area of the top right button, allowing you to get back.)
On that bunny parkour room with the telephone, I did it a completely different way. Whenever I see vines, I just assume that's Basso's way of saying "don't use the frisbee here" so I was trying to do it with the wheel like you did initially. I found out that if you jump just before closing the wheel, you can do a full jump, instead of getting stopped by the top of the wheel. I also accidentally found out that if you open the wheel close to a floor or ceiling, it boosts you away from it. So I rolled to the first ledge, jumped out of the wheel, fell until I was close to the spikes, then opened the wheel again so it would boost me into the air, and then I jumped out of that wheel to get sort of a double jump and land. It was tough to pull off, but then I had to do it again for the second ledge, as well as remembering press X an extra time to open the wheel when I got to the top. Then for the last bit, the wheel had just enough space to come out but not to roll forward, so I had to hold left and double tap X a few times to move forward then catch myself before hitting the spikes. It's really interesting that there's multiple ways to do it that are all really tricky and weird.
Loved this series, hope you return when more puzzles are revealed
Also I’m still curious about the bear
@@chaninakosovske6567 (mild spoilers for anyone else)
If you set your system clock to 2nd February (Groundhog Day), the bear will give you an extra yellow permanent heart, which can be repeated up to 4 times (12 max hearts (4 red, 4 yellow, 4 blue) total)
Really enjoyed your play through of this series and it had excellent pacing by the editors. gg!
The editing in these is *sooo gooood*
Epic. Thank you from those of us too old for our hands to still platform.
The chest at 16:25 is death less run
Should’ve called this video: “Animal Wheel”
lets goooo i loved this series so much... tysm for playing it!!
Fast travel was always an option and you never found it haha: the room with the 6 animal heads? In the bottom room, there's a fish that pops up after ~10 seconds and shows you the code to teleport to that room from anywhere at any time. Unfortunate lol
The clock thing is most likely related to speedrunning
Ball and Top's eggcellent adventure
No, he stops just before the puzzles get very involved and in depth, but yeah, while layer three is mostly solvable on your own, with thw exception of the mural, layer four is the most convoluted sh*t I have ever seen in a puzzle game
Question, does the 'bunnery math' count as Layer 4, or is that still part of Layer 3?
Further clarification: The one you get the hint to in the office of the home?
@@AlexisCheynas If you're talking about the bunny ears giving you the path forward and the unicode messages, then yes, that is layer four
Great video
the only major things you missed from a "normal" playthrough was a ton of stuff with the flute. there are a ton of flute combos like the fast travel warp, that room full of skulls, and the final egg puzzle combo, that are all flute songs/combinations
62 eggs was my limit before I looked stuff up. So glad I did because it was the same two eggs you had left. And they were freakin EVIL.
I do like some of the bunny puzzles tho ^^. It’s maybe not worth the effort, but boy was it satisfying to finally get some of those.
hey tyler you should try to do the uv egg puzzle in your free time its really cool
The skulls are your deaths
The clock puzzle is a single person puzzle, but it does require ciphers!!!
If you have/ever plan on completing Layer 3 in your own time (the bunny puzzles), then yes, every puzzle apart from one is possible on your own.
Why?
Every copy of Animal Well is personalized.
Anyways, small jokes aside, Animal Well definitely joins my all time favorite games alongside TUNIC, Celeste and Outer WIlds.
Despite my playthrough being guided by the hands of a couple wiki gremlins (my friends in a VC), it was still a blast, and I'd absolutely love to play it for the first time again.
Day 1330 of telling Tyler that he never finished his minecraft series and that he should finish it.
The conclusion of a lovely game
bring the manticore to the cat hideout bc of the uv lantern hint
Im sad to see this series go, but glad to see it has a good end.
Please do more on the animal well!
Nice game serie loved every video on it
I have to know what was behind the locked door in the room with the tv!!
It's an office with a computer and a blackboard. if you have a printer connected to your PC you can interact with it in game and it will print something in real life. The blackboard gives you they key to decyphering information that is encoded somewhere in the 2nd ending area :)
23:07 aww so no cheating to see the last of it?!
I love this game so much.
Tyler saying "toppable" this often during pride month still feels funny
he is finding the secrets
Nooo! It can’t be over.
I wonder if the evil egg is a reference to evil Otto (an enemy from an old Atari game who was just a smiley face).
Best UA-camr ever
the well piece is real
You should give the bunnies a try! You did quite well.
I watched a video of the big ending after this and holly hell! How the heck did people figured that shit out???!?!
The clock thing might be angle, idk tho just a guess from 3 videos before
Yay more animal well
But what about the room above the house with the locked door? Or the eggs with the UV light?
Could the manticore laser that pile of skulls that blocks a chest?
The stripes on the eggs look like binary code.
I don't believe it's text because each egg has only 3 bits, while ASCII would be 7.
3 bits gives out 8 possibilities per egg, but I don't know what to do with that information.
giant animal flute sequence
8 directions
Flute?
1:00 toppable wall?
BLOOD STAINS IN YOUR BASEMENT YOU TRYNA CLEAN THEM WTF
Finally animal well!!
Damn, I wanted to see you reach the full ending :/
nah bunny layer is mostly fair to do solo... other than [REDACTED] bunny but you can just grab the 50 pieces that need the community to solve them
the layer after bunny layer is MUCH less fair
Are you going to do the unicode?
Alienrock you haven’t even got close to *”* finishing it *”* if you manage to glitch or hack the game and teleport to that wall it’s a secret area if you glitch under the platform in that room you can get a “cheater ring” it allows you to basically noclip through walls
why does the 65th egg look like john egbert
Tyler wheel mode
90, 120, and 240 have a very interesting mathematical property to do with them not just being usual composite numbers, they're more than that.
What is up with this clock? Tyler End the Series and never told us what was the Secret about it.
When he first picked up the stopwatch he got it right. It's a speedrunning thing - you have to get to each of the two clocks in a certain number of minutes/hours
speedrunning thing if you want to brag with a cool skin
Hey man are you going to play frostpunk 2?
There is a secret ending