The story of how a loser detective becomes the leader of a team of the same losers, called upon to save their native Galaxy
¤ YUMMY ¤
• Staged life of the Galaxy •
Directing in “Anachronox” is simply something incredible! Such first-class camera work, acting and generally high-quality artistic material would be worth looking hard for in other projects! Humor, plot twists, as well as a pinch of pathos, epic drama and philosophy. If you cut out and put together all the cutscenes, you will get a very interesting and exciting “game film”, with an emphasis on the word “MOVIE”
• Gameplay sandbox of the early 2000s •
As you progress, the game constantly tries to surprise you with something! Steadily adding another “zest” to an already filled bowl of sweet dried fruits. You play like this in “sci-fi_rpg”, and then suddenly - an “arcade transport level”, where you need to dodge falling meteorites on a shuttle, or unexpectedly plunge into the realities of a detective quest-runner, or start solving simple puzzles. Add here the constantly replenished and very unusual composition of the hero party, where each participant has a unique “peaceful ability” in the form of a funny mini-game
• “It already happened in The Simpsons” •
Over time, you begin to involuntarily notice that “Anachronox” contains references to various famous people, events, cinema, pop culture. Here you can meet, for example, the musical quartet "The MITTLES" ... or Dr. Einbert Alstein ... the local taxi looks like something out of the movie "The Fifth Element" ... in general, a little bit of everything. And the developers also tried to break the fourth wall by putting an NPC into the game who, like a mad prophet, shouts that they say: “we are all just puppets in the wrong hands, who should only repeat phrases prepared in advance... blah blah blah.” But the most important thing is that such little things are woven together very harmoniously
¤ WTF!? ¤
• “F” is also an RPG •
The game has a rather controversial combat system, “ala jRPG”. Perhaps it would leave a neutral feeling, but everything is spoiled by the most terrible “wild camera” in the fights, which constantly spins, spins, jumps, makes mind-blowing circus pirouettes... And at the same time, everything that happens on the screen is drawn out to an indecent time frame. From which, after the second battle, you can easily pass the vestibular test for an astronaut.
Plus, in the heat of battle, it is absolutely not clear: what negative effects the enemy imposes on the heroes, or how much damage the player will inflict by “using” his special skill, and whether he will inflict it at all. And because of such unfinished components, the impression of the “combat” becomes sharply negative. I'm not against "jRPG", but in "Anachronox" such screwed-on elements look somehow completely alien
• "Life cursor" is (not-)helpful to you •
The second controversial point, and more significant, is... basically everything else in the game. There are practically no secondary quests (let me remind you, this is an RPG), the tasks themselves are sometimes not recorded at all in the journal (Life Cursor), or remain in the form of a small note from which nothing is clear. There are no maps of the area, not even a mini one. The controls are unusual, but in fairness, you can quickly get used to it. And in general the game interface is quite ugly and inconvenient.
All characters are voiced to a minimum - only in cutscenes. The overall design of cities/stations is gorgeous, but the fly in the ointment is the numerous monotonous basements/sewers and the meager set of textures for individual elements (sometimes even key ones). The last quarter of the game is pure empty running around, flying from “point A” to “point B”. And of course, not the best technical side (although this will not scare anyone, especially nowadays)
¤ PS ¤
“Anachronox” is a unique project. This kind of RPG (so that it contains such a generally successful compilation of completely different things) probably won’t be found anymore. I’ve heard many people say: this is the forefather of “Mass Effect”, don’t believe it - it’s all a blatant lie. The similarity is so distant that there is nothing in common. "Anachronox" is more "live" and less heroically clichéd. In addition, here you are much more willing to believe in what is happening and better get used to the everyday life of detective Sylvester “Sly” Boots and “Co.”
This is one of those games that deserves a remaster. Definitely.