In an era of 100GB games, breakout Metroidvania hit Animal Well is only 34MB - so small that its 4K PS5 background is "likely larger than the game"

[AngelOfThyNight]

In an era of 100GB games, breakout Metroidvania hit Animal Well is only 34MB - so small that its 4K PS5 background is "likely larger than the game"

That's just 37% of its Metacritic score
                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                               
                           
                           

                               

Animal Well is already the second best-rated game of 2024, second only to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. But where the middle entry in the remake trilogy is nearly 150GB in size, Animal Well packs all its goodness in a fraction of the space.

My Animal Well install clocks in at just 33.3MB, though the system requirements on Steam suggest you'll need 40MB of space - either way, this is a tiny game. Speaking to Stephen Totillo's Game File newsletter, developer Billy Basso says "I just tried to program it in a compact and straightforward way." He notes that "the game size can mostly be attributed to the fact that the game uses a custom engine, with no unnecessary features bundled in, and [my] use of low resolution pixel art assets."

The game's a fair bit bigger on consoles, particularly PS5, where it takes up 101MB. Basso attributes that to the 4K image that appears as the background in the console UI when you hover over the game icon. According to Basso, that background "is likely larger than the game."

Our Animal Well review calls it "an endlessly inventive Metroidvania with unfathomable depth," and it's quickly becoming clear that the game is much, much bigger than its tiny file size would suggest. The few days since launch have given many players enough time to reach the credits and find the normal collectables you'd expect from a game of this genre, but it's quickly becoming clear that the most esoterically hidden secrets are going to take much longer - and a whole lot of community collaboration - to find.? 

The best Metroidvania games have some serious competition.

                                                           

Source: In an era of 100GB games, breakout Metroidvania hit Animal Well is only 34MB - so small that its 4K PS5 background is "likely larger than the game"