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.
