Anachronox

Want to preface my thoughts by saying this is a great game by classic standards. It's playable and professional and you get $5 out of this easy. It gives you lots of save points and isn't TOO random. But just as a game, its classic value and graphics aside, I'd give it four stars. This is because there're a couple points in the game where I think there's not enough direction. I know this is a linear game, but there were places where I lost my footing and wasted time on dead ends. Lastly, beware the last fight. I experienced a bug or something with it.

I feel the same way about the movie Blade Runner, and it is in no ways a bad thing really. If you're looking for a challenging *game* you're not really gonna find it here. If you're expecting a great story with clever writing, witty dialog, engaging characters and a well realized scifi with humor that seldom fails to amuse you've come to the right place. Anachronox is fetch-quest city with some pretty basic JRPG style combat you can practically coast through. Honestly, the fetching never got tedious to me. You can really unwind with Anachronox and enjoy a great adventure without much getting in your way.

Anachronox is a difficult game to rate. I really like the world, the characters, the music, the voice acting, and even the graphics. In terms of style and tone, there really isn't anything quite like Anachronox. Everything feels odd and otherwildly, yet still familiar at the same time. Most importantly, you can feel that the developers poured their heart and soul into this game. As a result, Anachronox is entirely devoid of the generic 'content' you tend to find in games these days. And yet, I stopped playing after roughly ten hours. The reason for this is simple: It's all so tedious. Essentially, the gameplay comes down to running around, randomly talking to people until you find the right one, then continue running around and talk more. To be fair, 'talking' may not even be the right word. Instead, you'll listen, as you only get to choose between replies very rarely. The writing itself tries a bit too hard to be witty and funny, which hurts immersion. I like quirkiness, but it shouldn't be forced. In Anachronox, everyone appears to be 'out there', which gets old after a while. The more pressing issue is the fact that beyond talking (listening) and running around, there is very little meat to this game. The combat is dreadfully slow and boring, only made bearable by pressing the fast forward button all the time. Progression comes down to finding the right objects and people, and then figuring out what to do with them. After ten hours, I've felt like I've seen it all, and found myself majorly bored. The only thing that kept enticing me is the world, but that's simply not enough. Overall, I think this game is worth trying regardless. It's an odd gem, and the version here on GOG worked flawlessly on my system. I've used a widescreen patch from PCGW, which too worked just fine.

Despite its limited engine, it manages to provide an excellent, compelling story with many hours of interesting gameplay. Very much looking forward to Anachronox 2.

If someone asked me what would be the top 3 games I've played with the best story, Anachronox would be one of it. Tom Hall has created one of the most underrated, underappreaciated RPG ever. Built on the framework of turn based JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Chrono series, Anachronox delivers a fresh take on the genre mixing cyberpunk, space adventure and even comic books with strong narrative and unique characters. If you're an fan of RPGs or just well written games you owe this yourself to get this.