Creature in the Well – PAX East Preview

I never knew how much I wanted a pinball inspired hack and slash dungeon crawler until today and now I can’t imagine a world where this concept doesn’t exist. Flight School Studios is thinking completely outside the box with their new title, Creature in the Well. First revealed during the Nintendo Direct on March 20^th, PAX East gave us our first opportunity to play the game.

A mysterious creature has taken root deep inside a haunted mountain and it’s up to you to destroy it and restore power to an ancient facility long abandoned.

Gameplay consists of charging up power orbs with various weapons and sending them ricocheting into the machinery as you attempt to restore power and prevent a sand storm from destroying the village.

Our demo started off with a basic weapon that allows you to hit the orb in a general direction which requires lining up your shots like you would a golf swing. Pointing your character in the direction that the machine you’re trying to power will be key early on as you send the orbs sailing into their target. As you progress and receive more powerful weapons, hitting your mark becomes that much easier. You’ll be able to line up and charge your shots, enhancing your chances of taking out your target. Thankfully the pinball mechanics will have your back – picking up some extra power for you as the bounce around the room.

Collecting power enables you to move on to the next room in the dungeon so you’ll want to make sure your collecting as much as you can along the way. Walking up to the door will prompt you to insert your valuable power, once the necessary allotment is in place the door will open and you are free to proceed.

There are puzzles littered throughout the mountain’s innards as well, leaving you with multiple choices when it comes to completing an area and moving on to the next. Those looking for a little extra challenge can complete the puzzles before moving on. However, if you are stumped or are just looking for a more linear experience you can skip the puzzles once you’ve collected enough power to open the next door and continue your quest.

The demo ended with a mini boss you’ll discover after plummeting even farther into the cave. These encounters will test your mettle and you’ll need all your weapons and abilities working together to move on. Charge shots are key as you’ll need to take out waves of machines that are sending force beams at you in unison. As you move around, avoiding their beams, charge your own shot and direct it to your target, sending a powerful shot that will shut down the beam. Once taking them all out you’re free to restore power to the area which and the demo ends.

Creature in the Well is a unique experience that will be a perfect fit on the Switch when it releases this summer. In a sea of imitators, Flight School’s new game stands out as an original take on various genres. If the rest of the game lives up to the potential of the demo, they should have another hit on their hands. Creature in the Well is expecting a summer release on both Switch and Steam.

Philip Neyman

Philip is better at buying video games than he is at playing them. He was once told “it must suck to love something so much and be so terrible at it.” As a boy he would write terrible poems about himself and Ross Perot. He enjoys the best and worst of all forms of media, but nothing in the middle. Puyo Puyo Tetris has almost caused unreconcilable differences between him and his wife. He’s never had a hangover, but not from lack of trying.