The frenzied madness of pinball machines, with constant lights, sounds and score increase is an almost non-existent reality nowadays mainly due to the evolution of the video game itself, which has taken it out of the arcades in favor of a home use . While the genres reserved for cabinets have seen evolutions and transformations that have found a new relevance, the electronic pinball game has been relegated to a mini game internal to titles such as Yakuza or Final Fantasy XV, or to a lesser spin off as in the case of Senran Kagura .
Yet in its simplicity, pinball offers a lot of fun, which is why Creature in the well's idea of integrating pinball mechanics into a Hack n 'Slash caught us right away. Developed by Flight School Studios, the game presents itself as an absolutely valid indie, but with various limitations, of different nature, which limit the potential it can draw from at certain times.
Creature in the Well is a title that at the narrative level arrives several years late. Like many other games, indie and otherwise, before him, it uses the narrative style made famous by Dark Souls in which we will explore a destroyed and forgotten factory, understanding the events that led to our journey only through descriptions found after the boss fights and some dialogue with the very few NPCs present in the game.
Although the value of the narrative does not weigh so much on the judgment of Creature in the Well, given its mainly gameplay oriented nature, having again a title that exploits the silent narrative with very little inventiveness in the contents made us regret; a different approach would have guaranteed the game to leave a better memory of the experience. Fortunately, storytelling is the only totally rejected section of the game.
The gameplay of Creature in the Well is quite simple, we will have two weapons, one that will allow you to block the balls and charge them with energy, and one that will allow you to repel them. It will not be possible to damage anything with these weapons, but they will allow you to manipulate the magnetic balls with which you will have to undertake any attack or defense action. During the adventure, the game offers many challenges in which we will have to hit obstacles and charge them with energy, accumulating points to be used to access the next room, as if it were a mini-pinball machine.
Thanks to some tricks and obstacles, such as turrets capable of firing different types of bullets, electrified arenas and more, the challenges are not limited to being a simple pinball game in which you cannot lose, but become a test of reflexes or brain. We found this formula simple, but very efficient. The map offers both mandatory challenges and optional challenges, of high difficulty, which however reward with new equipment, thus also giving value to the completeness of each area.
Where the gameplay wobbles however is in the variety. Many rooms are simply copy and paste of others already addressed, and the frequency of these copies, especially in the case of rooms without danger, is too high. We managed to find 4 copies of the same room in 20 minutes of play, while exploring an advanced game zone. Another problem lies in a particular type of obstacle, which if hit creates a huge explosion, which can sometimes cover almost the entire room faced, taking away large quantities of life. These obstacles are not designed to be avoided, as it is also comfortable to hit them in some cases, but their hitbox is outrageously large, and it feels more like a developer forgetfulness than a challenge to overcome.
In general, however, the gameplay of Creature in the Well remains very interesting, perfectly capturing the fun of pinball machines, while integrating it into something profoundly different.
There are also some boss fights, all quite varied and quite funny. From a graphic point of view, Creature in the Well offers a minimalist style that we cannot help but adore. Although the variety of settings is minimal, they are the same places with different color palettes for a good 80% of the game, the game has its own aesthetic and we very much appreciated the choice of style.
The integration of 3D models into a mostly two-dimensional environment is also worthy of praise. It all integrates very well, without creating the awful visual effects still very common in titles that use both styles. Short mention also for the soundtrack, with synthwave tracks that accompany the atmosphere of the title well.
Creature in the Well is pure indie; born from an unconventional but well realized idea, but very approximate in the
► Creature in the Well is a scrolling indie-fighting game developed and published by Flight School Studios for Nintendo Switch, PC and Xbox One, the video game was released on 06/09/2019 The version for PC came out on 30/09/2019 The version for Xbox One came out on 30/09/2019
Creature in the Well is a nice game that we recommend: we decided to rate it with a 71%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Review of Creature in the Well
