Creature in the Well Reviews
Though it doesn't always explain things well, Creature in the Well is a fun dungeon crawler that cleverly uses pinball-inspired mechanics in lieu of traditional hack-and-slash combat.
While Creature in the Well looks like a game that would test my might, instead it tests my wits. It’s dark, a little bit funny, and it delivers puzzles that are more satisfying to solve than defeating standard dungeon crawling monsters.
Flight School Studio has created an exceptional world to explore in Creature in the Well. Its prodigious art direction is enticing, wooing players into a unique puzzle game that very much feels like a history lesson on the medium itself. It combines ideas and concepts found throughout gaming into a single, dynamic experience with a memorable antagonist eerily watching your every move. I absolutely love it, but I recognize there is room for improvement. With a bit more variety in design and a fine-tuned difficulty curve, it could have been one for the ages.
Despite some of its flaws, the few hours you’ll spend with Creature of the Well will be some of the most satisfying you’ll spend in all of gaming in 2019.
You could reel off the array of influences you might see in Creature in the Well, but ultimately this is a unique, beautiful game that forges its own path amongst them. Simply put, it's astoundingly good.
The Creature in the Well is a harsh mistress, but one that's incredibly rewarding to those who push on
Overall, the art style, the esoteric story setup, the charming character work and genre mashup make it a worthwhile experience to at least dip into. If you love pinball games and dungeon monster beat ‘em ups, this will be in your wheelhouse and you may find yourself losing out to just “one more run” mentality.
The whole game feels fairly modest, but it punches above its weight to deliver something very different.
Not since Yoku's Island Express has another title managed to extrapolate addictive pinball gameplay into something quite so unique. Creature in the Well is a delight - I just wished it lasted longer and wasn't quite so repetitive as it turned out to be.
Creature in the Well is a unique game the likes of which I have never experienced before. Sure, it steals ideas from here and there, but glues them together in a new way. And while the game is fun for a while and has an interesting world, it cannot escape its repetitive nature and its decision to make every death a chore to walk back from.
The game is just as addictive as playing a real pinball machine, and the stages last just long enough to comfortably play in short bursts, but the challenge of “just one more run” is ever-present as you repair the giant construct to save the village and simply must know what happens next.
Creature in the Well is a hypnotic flipper 'n' slash with astonishing art design. A brilliant mix that explodes in pure arcade pleasure, despite its dungeon crawling being quite repetitive and little inspired.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Although frustrating at times, Creature in the Well blend hack and slash, dungeon crawling and pinball in a way that is fun and entertaining.
This game will not change your life, but it will fill many hours of fun.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Thanks to its fun and well-crafted gameplay mechanics, Creature in the Well manages to create its own space towards becoming one of the most original games to arrive in the Nintendo Switch catalogue, and its art style only adds to that impression.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Pinball-inspired dungeon crawler/hack-and-slash Creature in the Well is short, sweet, and satisfying, whatever that word means.
It can be highly challenging at times as you try to focus on multiple different threats, but the game’s focus on puzzle-solving is a welcome change of pace to the usual dungeon-crawler.
Overall, I had an amazing time with Creature in the Well. It’s one of the best dungeon crawlers on the Switch and most certainly deserves to be the pioneer in a new genre that Flight School is calling the “Pinbrawler.”
It’s tough at times, there no denying that, but figuring out how to use each sector’s layout to your advantage will soon make you appreciate the subtly implemented progression system and impeccably designed rooms, adding to the pinball hack and slash gameplay that feels fantastic in all its forms from the moment you step foot in the mountain.