Anima: Gate of Memories

Anima: Gate of Memories certainly isn't a bad game, but there is much room for improvement. The gameplay and animations feel like they were lifted from a console a couple generations ago. The voice acting is often bland, and doesn't always match the written text exactly. Too many times the game takes away control of the camera, especially in fights against multiple oponents. Menus display contoller buttons even if you're using a mouse & keyboard. BUT, the story is very interesting. Or, stories, since you come across several along the way. The world of Anima is quite intriguing. Likewise, the environments are varied and often beautiful, making the most of the limited resources they used. The mix of puzzles, platforming and combat keeps things from getting stale. The game doesn't hold your hand, but lets you explore and put the pieces together yourself. Still, for something made by a small studio, they did quite well. With a bit more polish it could have been a classic. If they make a sequel hopefully they learned and fix a few things. I wouldn't mind another trip around Gaia.

I enjoyed it. Interesting world and story, but mediocre controlls and frustrating camera. Seems like they were learning how to make a game, but had a good story in mind, and a well developed world to play in. They did learn, and improved by the second game... That you can't get on GoG. When I asked about a GoG release the developer said he submittied it, but GoG wouldn't list the game. Curation, hard at work, giving you only the worst a series has to offer. May as well just buy it on Steam (never thought I'd say that...) and get them with a bundle discount since the better of the two games is only available there.

The game is a hack and slash platformer, that occasionally turns into a bullet hell during boss fights. The combat itself is fun. There aren't that many skills you'll end up using, mostly sticking with the few you unlocked at the beginning, and there isn't much enemy variety, but once you get the hang of things it can be quite enjoyable. As you'll soon mow down mooks without much trouble, this will mostly be noticeable during boss fights. The graphics and sounds are good, especially if you take into account how few people made this game. The art direction is up to scratch, there are several areas you'll end up visiting that are different from each other and the characters themselves are of good quality. So where's that major flaw I mentioned? The platforming. The awkward camera angle, mixed with floaty jumping mechanics and the need to make precise and timed jumps make the platforming a tortuous experience. This wouldn't the that bad in itself, had the devs not chosen to make platforming about 60% of the game. It isn't the worst platforming I've ever encountered, but it's definitely the worst of any game I've played that has such a major focus on it. TL;DR: If you can't stand some downright atrocious platforming, which form a sizable portion of the game, you'll find solid combat mixed with a decent story. Even then, pick up the game when it's on sale, certainly don't pay full price for it.

Anima:Gate -- Sets up and plays rock solid on ArchLinux right from the command line. I start the game from the command line as well. Play via the keyboard. I'm early into the game and story but I am enjoying the graphics and the story so far. I think the developers have produce a great gaming product and to be sure so long as they support quality Linux version games I will be back for more gaming purchases. I very was surprised. On another note related to reviews I always read them! I read before any game purchase. Some players like long plays with deep story depth. Others like tactical fights with deep strategies such xcom, homm3 with lots of replay-ability. Number hours play is a key tell all. I think this game deserves two thumbs up!

Based on a niche tabletop RPG, Anima: Gate of Memories is, uh, a lot of jank. Even accounting for its indie nature, it’s very flawed for a 2016 release. It markets itself as an “action RPG”, but plays more like a regular beat’em’up with upgrade systems – which are a bit weird and confusing in some regards. The combat is something out of the early 2000s, with controls that feel pretty stiff, while the levels have a number of sections that are a pain to go through: annoying spike traps, wonky platforming, dysfunctional stealth, dragged-out boss fights… It’s... not very competent, and it only gets more unpleasant as it goes on. Not to mention all the small bugs and technical missteps, like how requirements for buying skills make it so that you usually have leftover upgrade points after a level up, or how prompts in menus are show as Xbox buttons even if you play with the keyboard or rebind them... By every metric, A:GoM has massive flaws. And yet, in every aspect, in tries SO hard!... Behind the weird mechanics and unresponsive controls is a fairly complex and interesting combat system. Behind the mediocre voice acting and the occasionally cringy dialogue is a compelling story. Behind every unbearable segment is an ill-fated attempt at diversifying the gameplay. You also can’t deny that the OST is quite good, and that the Unity graphics do a genuinely great job of reproducing the gorgeous artwork of Wen Yu Li, Anima’s main illustrator. For all my gripes against the game, I found myself enjoying the combat a few times, and very often thought some areas looked cool or were fun to navigate. And it’s nice to see Anima getting VG adaptations! Yet overall this one is a textbook case of a development team having the motivation and ideas to make the epic game of their dreams, but clearly finding themselves in way over their heads (and maybe out of budget). It has a lot of soul, but it’s too amateurish to recommend to anyone but fans of the tabletop RPG that inspired it.