Emuurom is absolutely exceptional
I was very excited for this game as soon as I heard about it, I loved animal well, and this game looked do be doing something similar, So far it has exceeded what I expected, and currently I'd say it's a better game for me than animal well.
I have about 10.5 hours played, I beat the core game with about 6.5 hours, and I greatly enjoyed it, I would say if the game was just that experience I'd still recommend it. Although that initial playthrough felt quite linear and guided. But it's hard to really judge that without replaying. I think one mechanic means it will always be that way though.
But just that first 6.5 hours, the discovering of the world, the animals and plants that live there, the mechanics of scanning, how they all work together and how you can use them to explore and proceed, is really great. I just kept wanting to play and progress and see more. The boss encounters are really fun little puzzles, and the game is very forgiving throughout the story, you aren't dying, you aren't fighting, you're just learning and exploring. I would say the main story is easy enough anyone could beat it with enough time.
But that main story is absolutely just the tip of the iceberg, I have only played 4 or so hours of the 'endgame' and I am certain I have no idea how deep this is really going to go, but unlike animal well no part of me currently feels like I need a guide. With animal well, endgame puzzles felt like they got very obtuse very quickly. I am sure there are some of those here, without a doubt, but right now it doesn't feel that way. I will try as much as possible to not go into spoilers, I will not spoil anything you don't learn within the first 15 minutes.
The map is a 64 square grid and you will, by the time you beat the game, have of course been to most of the screens on that map. This is where the game really becomes a metroidbrainia, rather than a fairly linear puzzle game. Your explicit guide is gone, you have your full map, puzzle stones, 'dialogue' and creature profiles, and you are on your own to figure out what to do. And it's amazing. It's hard to discuss it without spoiling but you are throughout the game finding hidden animals and such, all clearly building to their own unique payoffs, you get cryptic clues about some special things in this world and then you start to find them and get holy shit moments. The map looks small, the game at a glance would seem to be pretty short, but there are things hidden in every fucking corner of every other screen that you have run past dozens of times without noticing.
I think this game might be similar, in structure, to blue prince. In that you have layer 1, the story and just beating the game, but then you unlock another layer of puzzles, and after getting through that layer you reach another deeper layer of puzzles. There are currently 9 achievements that have 0.0% completion on steam, of 20. I personally have a mere 2 after 10 hours (although 1 of them it seems 17% of people have, far more than who obtained the second achievement I have) with every other achievement I don't own having less than 2.5% completion.
I am thrilled to keep exploring this game and learning more, I want to see just how deep this game goes. how many layers are packed into this tiny 64 square grid with an install size of less than 4MB, just how many holy shit moments await me. If those first 10 hours are any indication of what is to come, I am very confident that I will not be disappointed one bit.
I am aware this post reads badly, I think it's a side effect of wanting to avoid discussing absolutely any spoilers, but the point of it all is one thing. If you're on this subreddit,
Buy this game.