Playing A Game Anodyne PC

Mechanically, Anodyne certainly owes a lot to Link's Awakening, and isn't afraid to show it. The protagonist walks around and hits things from a top-down perspective, in screen-sized rooms that may have exits to the North, South, East, or West. A small mini-map shows the screens immediately surrounding you, and a larger map in the pause screen shows the entire area you're in. You'll defeat enemies to open gates, collect keys to unlock doors, and get a new health slot when you defeat a boss. Anodyne doesn't have all the complexity of a Zelda - there aren't that many pieces of collectible equipment, and as a result, the ways in which you can interact with the world are slightly limited - but as a subset of a solid formula, it works extremely well.

Aesthetically, it's a little different. Anodyne embraces its offbeat design from the very beginning, with environments in random, floating space, and under a blood-red sea; with NPCs that talk like they're in EarthBound; and, well, your weapon is a broom. Some level and enemy designs seem to invoke the touch of Edmund McMillen -- so, weird. The color palette and the overall tone of the soundtrack convey a general sense of unease, which is distinct, but also more than a little uncomfortable. Unfortunately, this feeling makes it difficult to stay with the game for extended sittings.

For an indie game - not to mention, for two developers - Anodyne has an impressively large game world, and a matching length; after two and a half hours, I seem to be about two-thirds of the way through it. And although a fair number of screens only serve as window dressing, the majority actually make up well-designed dungeons and overworld regions, frequently turning the act of exploration into a satisfying puzzle.

Anodyne is fun, but sometimes feels let down by technical issues. Certain mechanics, particularly those that involve precise movement or placement, are prone to errors which are awkward to recover from. And there are more than a few screens that have to be reset if you make certain mistakes, which becomes frustrating when you can't reset the room (e.g. get to an exit) without falling down a pit, or dying, or warping out of the dungeon. Anyway -- yeah, it is fun. Despite how unsettling it can be, I'm looking forward to unraveling the rest of its wacky story.

Progress: Finished four dungeons, 24 cards.

Rating: Good