Gameplay Recap: Week of 5/30/24

Bellwright by Donkey Crew (left)

33 Immortals by Thunder Lotus Games (top right)

Animal Well by Shared Memory (bottom right)

Summer Game Fest is right around the corner, and since I will be attending, I have had a lot of planning and research to do. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t had the chance to try out a few new games here and there. Here’s a few things I’ve been playing lately.

Animal Well

I was so thankful to be able to download Animal Well onto my Nintendo Switch the morning before a long flight. For me, sleeping on a plane is impossible. Sitting in a cramped chair in a crowded metal tube is not ideal, but I take out the Switch, throw on some headphones and whoooom. I’m not flying through the sky in a metal tube anymore, I’m exploring a dark, dank well full of animals.

Animal Well’s atmosphere immediately drew me in. The sound effects echoing through the rooms, the bioluminescent flora, and how interactive it all is. That’s not even talking about how simultaneously fun and challenging the platforming and puzzles are. But perhaps the most fascinating thing of all is that this was all created by one person, Billy Basso of Shared Memory.

One last thing I want to mention is how Animal Well does not hold your hand. There are no long winded text-boxes explaining how to move and jump. The player is allowed to figure things out on their own. This might be why I figured out there was an inventory several hours into the game, but that sense of discovery is magical, and I’ve only experienced it in a handful of other games.

I am only a few hours into Animal Well (I still need to figure out how to stop the ghost dog from chasing me with the frisbee), but I’m looking forward to playing more. Eventually I’ll have a full review, but it’s safe to say that this game comes highly recommended from me.

33 Immortals

Thunder Lotus Games’ 33 Immortals, which as the name suggests does allow for thirty-three players, caught my eye last summer at the Xbox Showcase just after Summer Game Fest. This month, they finally began their closed beta, which I was lucky enough to be invited to. I think having this game on my radar for nearly a year helped a lot with that.

In order to escape eternal damnation, players must cooperate to fight their way through several levels of hell and ultimately come face to face with God himself. Fighting this “rebellion” (as the game calls it) alone is futile, which is why each run consists of thirty-three players. Not all of them will make it through. In my first game, I was one of sixteen that made it to the first level’s boss: Lucifer.

Players are encouraged to try again and again, as with each rebellion there are opportunities to gain new abilities and upgrades that will make you more powerful next time. In the closed beta there are four weapon types to choose from, two melee and two ranged, that each have their own attack style and special abilities.

33 Immortals’ multiplayer rogue-like concept is very well executed, and though I’ve only played about an hour so far, it ended up being a lot of fun. I imagine it would be even better to gather a couple friends together, but there was something truly special about forming a sort of temporary comradery with strangers that I haven’t felt in an online video game in a long time. Everyone knows they can’t do it alone, so even if they are forced to, they will team up with whoever they can find.

I’m looking forward to playing more of 33 Immortals, and I’m excited to see what else it will contain with a full launch. If you’re reading this and you want to jump online with me, leave a comment and sign up via Thunder Lotus’ website for a chance to get into the beta.

Bellwright

After getting an early look at Bellwright last month leading up to the Early Access launch, the developer Donkey Crew was kind enough to give me access to the game. I am still working on my review, but I already know this is a game that will take some time to fully experience, so why not share some brief impressions.

If you’re not familiar with Bellwright, I recommend reading about my preview experience. Bellwright combines elements from RPGs, survival crafting games, and real-time strategy for a very unique experience. These are not many elements that usually grab me, and I’ll save most of my thoughts for the review, but I do respect the in-depth experience that the team is going for.

I did have to spend most of the first hour of this game searching for plants to finish building a shack and reading pages of text that filled me in on the lore. But, like many of these kinds of games, every progressive hour becomes more interesting and engaging. Look out for a future review!

So that’s what I’ve been playing lately. Plus a few free demos that I’ll talk about soon, and of course I’ve been allegedly playing some great games on my phone with the Delta app. What have you been playing? What do you recommend? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!