Posted on: December 4, 2022
Hanglyman
Games: 444 Reviews: 141
Clunky and Creative
I'd heard that Anachronox was an absolutely amazing game. What it actually is is very unique and special, but poorly aged and with a lot of flaws that bog it down. The game world is very well thought out and the characters are great and have loads of personality. By the end, your party will include a cranky old archaeologist, a cute toy robot, an assassin/exotic dancer, a brilliant scientist, a depressed comic book superhero, and even an entire planet that has voted by committee to shrink itself down and travel with you. Even Fatima, the cursor you use to navigate the game's menus and pick up items, is a fully developed character with her own tragic backstory and inner life. You'll travel from world to world, never quite knowing what the game will throw at you next. Despite all of those positives, the game is, as someone said below, TEDIOUS. I started the game 4 years ago and only finished it tonight because I kept taking long breaks, unable to stay engaged due to the muddy graphics, constant backtracking, glacial combat, obscure secrets and somewhat dull and repetitive environments. Thank god the game has a dedicated fast-forward button to speed things up in some places. The game's humor is very hit or miss, and can be a little tiresome, as well as at odds with the few parts of the story that try to be serious. The magic system is very poorly explained in the game and hard to figure out- how do these bugs work, what does leveling them up do? Some of the spells like fire or freeze are pretty self-explanatory, but what the hell is a spell called, for example, "WinkyTornado Harmonic" supposed to be? It's also riddled with bugs (not the magic ones)- randomly deleting photos you take to complete a sidequest, respawning items that are supposed to be one-time only, and a few crash-to-desktops. This is a game that would benefit immensely from a sequel or remake to bring it up to modern standards while providing more of the story and characters that make it worthwhile.
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