A guy is playing fetch with his dog at the beach.  But this isn’t just any dog, this dog can instantly teleport a few feet in front of him.  When the guy throws the ball too far, the dog sets out on an adventure somehow.  Dimensional Animals is a 2D platformer where you play as animals with special powers and the game has “Metroidvania” elements.  It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

When you first start out, you can only play as the dog.  The dog can jump and when you press another button, you can warp a little bit in front of you.  You can do this to pass through walls and other dangerous objects.  This aspect reminded me of a game I reviewed a few years ago called Rift Racoon.  Turns out they were made by the same folks and you can even play as the raccoon in this game later on.

You’ll explore maze like areas similar to a Metroid game, and can view a handy map where you can view save points, bosses, and other areas of interest.  When you get to certain spots, usually after defeating a boss, you’ll come across another animal that’ll give you a new power for traversal. For instance, the first animal you get is a goose that lets you double jump.  You seamlessly transform into that other animal to perform special moves, similar to how it works in Shantae and the Seven Sirens.

My main problem with this game is that the controls feel a bit loose and unresponsive at times.  And when the game quickly gets into precision platforming, this becomes an issue.  Climbing up ledges felt especially persnickety.  Because of this, I lost interest in this one pretty quickly, and there are much better “Metroidvania” style games out there.

Kid Factor:

Dimensional Animals is rated E-10 with an ESRB descriptor of Fantasy Violence.  Defeated characters just disappear and that’s it.  Reading skill is helpful for the text but not necessary just to play, and younger gamers may need help with the trickier platforming.

Tags: Game Reviews