{"id":95308,"date":"2019-06-18T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2019\/06\/hands_on_creature_in_the_well_is_the_most_beautiful_game_we_played_at_e3"},"modified":"2019-06-18T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-18T19:00:00","slug":"hands-on-creature-in-the-well-is-the-most-beautiful-game-we-played-at-e3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/06\/18\/hands-on-creature-in-the-well-is-the-most-beautiful-game-we-played-at-e3\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands On: Creature In The Well Is The Most Beautiful Game We Played At E3"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/af0225810568a\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/af0225810568a\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<figure class=\"picture strip\"><a title=\"Creature In The Well\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/af0225810568a\/creature-in-the-well.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/af0225810568a\/creature-in-the-well.900x.jpg\" alt=\"Creature In The Well\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>You read that title right. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/creature_in_the_well\">Creature In The Well<\/a><\/strong> is indeed the most <em>beautiful<\/em> game we played at E3.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, we&#8217;re aware of the shiny, toy-box wonderland that is the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/legend_of_zelda_links_awakening\">Link\u2019s Awakening<\/a><\/strong> remake. We all know <strong><a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.pushsquare.com\/games\/ps4\/cyberpunk_2077\">Cyberpunk 2077<\/a><\/strong> is next level. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/mosaic\">Mosaic<\/a><\/strong>, the upcoming, multi-platform indie game that transforms pure banality into hypnotizing symmetry still ain\u2019t as pretty. Even <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/luigis_mansion_3\">Luigi\u2019s Mansion 3<\/a><\/strong>, the cartoonish ghost game that is ironically alive with detail, isn\u2019t as <em>downright fun<\/em> to gawk at as Creature In The Well.<\/p>\n<p>Led by two developers from <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/flightschoolstudio.com\">Flight School Studio<\/a>, Creature In The Well is an isometric adventure game that somewhat defies genre. Sure, it\u2019s an action-adventure title at heart, but is it actually a little bit of a Metroidvania? There are multiple paths with secrets to be had, after all. Is it a dungeon-crawler? The dev told us that, in fact, there are eight dungeons to explore. But how do you ignore the fact that <em>everyone<\/em> who plays this game immediately remarks that it\u2019s a pinball title? Yet you combine that pinballing with all the ducking and dodging you\u2019ll be doing and what you\u2019re left with is a bullet-hell, \u201cshmup\u201d sort of experience.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever. Here\u2019s what we <em>do<\/em> know: this game is <em>super freaking cool.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"Creature In The Well\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/203200a7cce9b\/creature-in-the-well.original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/static.nintendolife.com\/blank.gif\" width=\"445\" height=\"245\" data-original=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/203200a7cce9b\/creature-in-the-well.445x245.jpg\" alt=\"Creature In The Well\"><\/a><a title=\"Creature In The Well\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/9ec0adb896521\/creature-in-the-well.original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/static.nintendolife.com\/blank.gif\" width=\"445\" height=\"245\" data-original=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/9ec0adb896521\/creature-in-the-well.445x245.jpg\" alt=\"Creature In The Well\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col\"><a title=\"Creature In The Well\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/bcdcfc67ab311\/creature-in-the-well.original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/static.nintendolife.com\/blank.gif\" width=\"445\" height=\"245\" data-original=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/bcdcfc67ab311\/creature-in-the-well.445x245.jpg\" alt=\"Creature In The Well\"><\/a><a title=\"Creature In The Well\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/c57010613ee7d\/creature-in-the-well.original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/static.nintendolife.com\/blank.gif\" width=\"445\" height=\"245\" data-original=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/c57010613ee7d\/creature-in-the-well.445x245.jpg\" alt=\"Creature In The Well\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>In Creature In The Well, you play as \u201cthe last remaining BOT-C unit\u201d that\u2019s spelunking into an ancient, unpowered facility. You\u2019re swinging \u2013 <em>literally<\/em> \u2013 to restore power to this left-for-dead place, all the while a massive, shadowy creature the size of half your television screen sneaks ominous peaks at you. It will also occasionally reach down and grab at you or the ground you walk on. Watch out, by the way.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a story in there somewhere. What we could play at E3 instead focused on the gameplay. Let\u2019s elaborate on the graphics to start because they\u2019re worth talking about; we asked Adam Volker, the title\u2019s art director, who or what his inspiration was. It turns out to be heavily inspired by Mike Mignola, iconic illustrator of the <strong>Hellboy<\/strong> comics, and that comparison makes sense. Every part of this game is drawn with thick, black lines and alternating colour palettes stacked around or on top of each other, producing this sort of flat-but-deep, comic book effect. Take a look at the screenshots if you don\u2019t get it. It\u2019s going to look gorgeous on the Switch\u2019s handheld mode, but do yourself a favour and play this game <em>at least once<\/em> on the nicest, largest TV screen you\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n<p>What exactly do you do in this game, though? Well, you\u2019ve got a sword, and it sucks up projectiles from enemies and turns them into little orbs of white \u2013 or \u2013 you walk into a room and find the white orbs where you can get them and shoot them towards objects in the room that need triggering. The gameplay lies in the interplay between the energy your weapon charges and your ability to bounce it back and forth towards enemies, bumpers, or stuff needing hit in the correct order. With every successful enemy and bumper flattened, you gain (electrical?) energy, which allows you to open doors. Hold down \u201cR\u201d until at every doorway and a bar fills up. Collect enough energy to open it, and on you go.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<div class=\"youtube\">[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4LlyGN9XEZ4?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1&#038;w=900&#038;h=507]<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>It sounds a little bit confusing. It <em>plays<\/em> a little bit confusing, at first. \u201c<em>Why not just let me hack-and-slash pinballs everywhere without all this charging stuff<\/em>?\u201d, we thought, to which the developers keenly explained that in that scenario, the levels would play themselves with you sitting in the corner.<\/p>\n<p>But once you sharpen your skills a little bit, you begin to morph into a running-and-gunning conductor, your symphony the pinball mayhem you reign down on the world. Every room is just a little bit different than the last, and the camera often shifts enough to give new perspectives on similar layouts. The sound effects are also neat, growling, clanking, and reverbing along with the buzz of your sword. The game is still a touch unpolished yet, but the overall experience is very fresh and satisfying. <em>Did we mention it\u2019s fun to look at?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>No word on how long (or short) this game is. Again, by the numbers: there are eight dungeons with 20 weapons and various secret paths. In the demo, dying just meant you tried again from where you stood, but we were told the final version will force you to use your in-game currency to maintain your hard-earned progression, which is probably where the pinball analogy is most apt; you\u2019ll probably spend the most time just trying to survive, then starting over and over again.<\/p>\n<p>Creature In The Well comes out on Nintendo Switch, PC, and XBox One this summer. Keep an eye on Nintendo Life for our final review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You read that title right. Creature In The Well is indeed the most beautiful game we played at E3. Yes, we&#8217;re aware of the shiny, toy-box wonderland that is the Link\u2019s Awakening remake. We all know Cyberpunk 2077 is next level. Mosaic, the upcoming, multi-platform indie game that transforms pure banality into hypnotizing symmetry still [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}