Well Dweller Review

We talk about PAX East and new games we discover quite often. For me, games that are already a known entity end up low on the totem pole, not because I am not interested, but because it already made the wish list, so I want to make sure I have time to catch all of the unknown. The thing is, at PAX East, and the same probably goes for any show, it is nearly impossible to see everything. Case in point: a certain game (points to title) was there, but I did not see it until Day 3. Did you just not get to that area? Nope. In fact, I walked past the booth no less than a dozen times. I cannot explain the phenomenon, but if you ask anyone who has gone, games just appear. Anyway, I digress. We are huge Kyle Thompson fans at Dear Gamers. Between Sheepo, Islets, and Crypt Custodian, you have three high-quality indie games that should be experienced by all. We KNEW of Well Dweller but neither of us had any hands-on experience. While just a tease at PAX, we both knew this would be a Day 1 buy. Well, Day 1 is here, so this is what we think.

Developed by Kyle Thompson, Well Dweller is a dark fairy-tale Metroidvania about a bird on a quest to save his fairy. The evil queen has wiped out most of the avian population to create herself a magnificent cloak made from birds’ feathers. You play as Glimmer, a small bird surviving with his mom and 4 siblings. A hunter has kidnapped your family. Armed with a matchstick, can you save them before they get plucked?

Leaving the well where you dwell (listen…), Glimmer must explore the wretched kingdom that has fallen apart under the rule of the evil queen. As with most Metroidvanias, Glimmer begins with a basic arsenal and toolset. He can attack by swinging his matchstick, he can jump, and he can evade attacks via a slide (that also provides a brief window of invincibility). As the story progresses, Glimmer learns a host of new abilities, including shooting the matchstick with a slingshot, throwing a flaming vessel (essentially a Molotov cocktail), and wall climbing. The matchstick can be used as a springboard when shot into surfaces, which can lead to some clever, outside-the-box thinking and platforming. Many puzzles will call for this as the solution but, at times, it can even be used as a safety net of sorts. Once shot, it does not return unless recalled or if you leave the area (any forced transition between rooms constitutes leaving). There are quite a few jumping puzzles that can result in sudden death upon failure (actually, you just respawn at the last location you were on solid ground, provided you have health remaining). I learned early (and accidentally) that you could shoot the matchstick across said gap, and if it sticks to a wall, you can safely land on that instead of deadly spikes below for a second chance.

You cannot see them but a ledge covered in deadly spikes is just off-screen. A well-placed matchstick shot provided a much needed save.

Being a Metroidvania, you have to get a bit creative when exploring, as there are secrets everywhere. I love Metroidvanias that subtly tease that just-out-of-reach area that will definitely be revisited at some point. Luckily, in Well Dweller, you can freely mark the map to give yourself reminders. Of course, if you are stubborn like me, you'll fail a dozen times before realizing you actually need an ability you haven't unlocked yet to reach that ledge or cross that chasm.

In addition to what Glimmer can do natively, trinkets can be equipped that provide additional benefits. These range from increasing your attack distance and/or damage to providing a barrier when you heal or automatically healing at low health. As Glimmer is just a small bird in a human world, the trinkets found are random items like a paperclip with a string attached, a rusted fork, a bottlecap, or a melted candle. Trinkets require trinket slots to equip (they can be freely changed out while inside the save tent), and they vary in how many slots they occupy. There is no limit on trinkets, though. As long as you have slots, you can keep equipping trinkets. In the early goings-on of the game, I found myself swapping trinkets as needed depending on if it was a boss fight that tripped me up or I was just progressing the story.

Combat throughout Well Dweller was very basic, but I am not pointing out this out as a negative. Enemies, outside of bosses, do not have health bars. Most die in 2-5 hits. Glimmer does not learn any new tricks outside of just swinging the sturdiest matchstick ever. The trinkets, however, can increase his attack prowess by a large amount. What changes as you advance is their attack patterns. No longer can you just run up and whack an enemy in the skull. Enemies will fire projectiles from above, throw projectiles at you that return to the sender, requiring two dodges, or even use their own bodies as projectiles. Combat does not become more difficult, per se. You just need to adjust as your power grows. It truly felt like a natural progression as I reached the game.

Shortly into his quest, Glimmer meets Looter, the kingdom’s resident thief/fence/pawnshop. He is one of many helpful NPCs who will aid in your adventure. Amongst the many things that Looter sells are trinket slots. There are actually trinket slot collectibles to be found, but Looter is the quickest way to equip more trinkets, provided you can afford it. Looter can be found in every save tent. Save tents also contain the option to purchase a map that pinpoints your next goal and map markers that identify the various collectibles. All this is completely optional. You can easily figure out where to go by looking at what you have and have not revealed on the map. Regarding the collectible markers, you can only purchase those for areas you have already discovered. For example, if you have already collected all trinket slot upgrades halfway through the game, there will be no option to make that purchase. I do have to say that the revealing of the map is quite generous in Well Dweller. If you reach a door but the lever to open it is on the other side, the fog of war is slightly lifted beyond the area of the door, allowing you to get an idea of how to approach.

Aesthetically speaking, Well Dweller is a treat to watch as you play. Even though Glimmer is just a tiny bird in this human kingdom, Kyle Thompson did a fantastic job of conveying the kingdom within the kingdom. You easily could have had a “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” style of environment where there are massive obstacles created from tiny human objects. Instead, the human world is in the background, and the human “items” are the trinkets that can be equipped. I think this makes the moments where the two worlds do interact even more impressive to experience. The art style does not just stop at the environments. No two enemies are alike. As I encountered more and more, the best way to describe them would be a cross between A Nightmare Before Christmas and those toys that Buzz from Toy Story creates (yes, that creepy doll head with the spider legs), but if they belonged in Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

In what has become almost a staple of a Dear Gamers review, we like to take a look at what is offered around accessibility. Well Dweller’s options cover Controls, Graphics, Audio, and Gameplay. Controls allows for total remapping of all the game’s inputs. Movement can be done with both directional buttons and the left stick - interestingly enough, there is a section of the game where the stick felt better, to me at least, than the directional buttons. Graphics include Quality (low or normal - I played on Normal on a base PS5; this might impact the PC release more), Photosensitive Mode, Screen Shake, Text Effects, Camera Zoom, and Vsync. Audio options allow adjusting Master, Sound Effects, Music, and Ambient volumes, and turning character voices on or off. Gameplay options include Minimap (on or off), vibration, difficulty, and Assist options. Assist options include increasing Glimmer’s attack strength, reducing damage received, making the healing mechanic a hold (the default is a meter that requires releasing at the correct time), and increasing the time provided on time trials (you can add up to 30 seconds to the timers).

For you trophy/achievement hunters out there, this is a pretty easy one to 100%. You need to complete the game, find all collectibles, and upgrade everything. The only trophy I missed (pre-release PS5 games do not show up in your trophy list) took about 10 seconds to do once I was provided with the description. I estimate it will take approximately 11-13 hours on Normal difficulty for the Platinum. If you use any of the gameplay assists, it will be significantly less (no indication that using them voids trophies, but we will update this if it turns out they do).

As stated in the beginning, Dear Gamers are big fans of Kyle Thompson. You can add Well Dweller to that list of games now. We really should not be surprised at this point, but the game excels in every way. There is top-notch art and a matching soundtrack, fun and engaging gameplay from beginning to end (which is sometimes difficult to pull off in Metroidvanias), and the Metroidvania aspects tease enough to keep you wanting more as you progress further into the story. This was one of our most anticipated games for the fall, and it absolutely delivers. We are very excited for everyone to get their hands on this game.