Well Dweller
Genre: Metroidvania
Players: 1
The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference
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Review:
Well Dweller is a Metroidvania released in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Set in a medieval fantasy world where diminutive anthropomorphic talking animals live alongside humans at a time when an evil queen has commanded her subjects to hunt down all birds so she can slaughter them and fashion a coat made from their feathers, players take the role of Glimmer, one of the last remaining birds, whose family gets snatched by a hunter, and who sets out to rescue them.
One of the most striking elements of Well Dweller is its eclectic tone, which pairs absolutely adorable talking animals with a horrendous world filled with grotesque and at times Lovecraftian monsters who have no qualms with preying on the innocent critters. The monster designs in this game are truly creepy, yet the friendly characters evoke just as much a response in the other direction, being so huggable and adorable in their characters and mannerisms, such as Ilda the mouse, who is taking an “extended vacation” from (but definitely not quitting) her job in the queen’s palace, and Willow the frog, who is trying to muster his courage to search the sewers for his missing siblings, who have obviously been taken by one of the aforementioned grotesque monstrosities.
One great contributing factor to this great blending of cute and horrific tones is the lovely 2D art style the game uses, which mixes an aesthetic that’s almost storybook in its look with macabre imagery often casually tossed in right next to the cute, such as the very beginning where we see Glimmer and his family living inside a human skull.
These visuals are backed by a soundtrack that seems mostly subdued and atmospheric, something that does a good job enhancing for the storybook quality of the friendly critters, as well as the dark and foreboding nature of the place they inhabit.
When it comes to the gameplay, this is mostly pretty standard fare for a Metroidvania, but well-done, with a good mix of exploration, ability upgrades, and combat. Players gradually earn money to spend on equippable “trinkets” and other upgrades, which feels somewhat reminiscent of Hollow Knight, and opening up the map involves clearing a lot of one-way door switches, which reminds me of this year’s MIO: Memories in Orbit. However, while Well Dweller is challenging, it isn’t anywhere near as punishing as those games, and you thankfully don’t have the inconvenient Soulslike mechanic that forces you to trudge back to where you died to pick up your dropped loot.
Combat in Well Dweller has a strong focus on making good, timely use of your slide move, which doubles as a dodge. This is put to extra good use in the game’s boss fights, which are often super-creative, and a highlight of the game. In addition, this game makes use of some clever game mechanics that players will need to think about to properly use, and more specifically tossing your matchstick weapon into a wall to create a platform for yourself, something the game finds all sorts of clever ways to recontextualize as you expore into new areas.
When it comes to complaints, I suppose this game does go a bit overboard with the one-way doors (in some rooms, you’ll see 4 or 5 of them blocking off pathways), and there’s nothing that truly pushes the envelope of the genre. Also, I think the default button assignments are awkward, though thankfully you can alter these if you like.
But overall, Well Dweller is a phenomenal Metroidvania, one with some fun game mechanics, clever bosses, and an imaginative aesthetic that’s really striking. It’s a bit on the difficult side, but if that doesn’t bother you and you enjoy this genre, you should absolutely consider this a must-buy.
tl;dr – Well Dweller is a Metroidvania set in a world that combines adorable talking storybook animals with horrifying grotesque monsters. This game has some great game mechanics, solid combat, clever boss fights, and I don’t have many complaints about it. It’s not really pushing the genre forward in any way, but apart from some over-reliance on one-way doors, it’s pretty much doing everything right. If you enjoy Metroidvanias and don’t mind playing one that’s a tad challenging, consider this a must-buy.
Grade: A
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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference
Well Dweller
Genre: Metroidvania
Players: 1
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Review:
When it comes to games playable on both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, Well Dweller is a bit of an oddity in that there’s no Nintendo Switch 2-specific version of the game, nor a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition release. Rather, for all intents and purposes the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game is built into the Nintendo Switch release – when the game is played on a Nintendo Switch 2, the game activates multiple enhancements not present when playing the game on Nintendo Switch. So really, this is kinda’ a “Stealth Nintendo Switch 2 Edition” release.
The eShop page for the game claims that playing on Nintendo Switch 2 will enable “enhanced FPR”, but I didn’t notice any difference in the framerates. It also says higher resolution, and higher render and texture quality, and this I absolutely do notice – the game looks much cleaner and more detailed on Nintendo Switch 2.
Playing the game on Nintendo Switch 2 also unlocks a boss rush mode, only… well, it seems this is only available after beating the game.
Finally, I looked at loading times, and the difference here is negligible – on Nintendo Switch, it took 35 seconds to load to the title screen, and on Nintendo Switch 2, it took 34 seconds. On both platforms, loading up a game save was pretty much instantaneous.
So really, the main difference you’re getting on Nintendo Switch is improved resolution and image quality, and a postgame boss rush mode. The resolution does make a difference so this is definitely the better way to play this game, and it doesn’t cost Nintendo Switch 2 owners a single penny, so even though it’s not a huge improvement, it’s definitely one I’m glad is here.
tl;dr – Well Dweller is a Metroidvania set in a world that combines adorable talking storybook animals with horrifying grotesque monsters. This game has some great game mechanics, solid combat, clever boss fights, and I don’t have many complaints about it. It’s not really pushing the genre forward in any way, but apart from some over-reliance on one-way doors, it’s pretty much doing everything right. If you enjoy Metroidvanias and don’t mind playing one that’s a tad challenging, consider this a must-buy.
Grade: A
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