Anachronox - what's the appeal?

[Lord_Potato]

But, I have to ask: why do you play games? To enjoy rich combat? To push your hardware to the limits? To cross something off a list?

That's a very good question. I am first and foremost a storyfag (as proven by my admiration for Planescape: Torment and Disco Elysium) so, a solid plot and interesting characters are important to me. I also enjoy gameplay elements like good tactical combat (greatly enjoyed Underrail, but also Baldur's Gates and Icewind Dales) and the reactivity of the gameworld to my build and decisions (which is why I place Fallouts among the best RPGs ever). However, if the story is good, I can ignore tedious gameplay. I'm just not seeing it here.

Not trying to be a jerk, but Anachronox is a good game to play. I've played it a couple times, and it has a lot of very funny and charming parts. I personally dread getting to Democratus and that Hive thing - but once I'm done, Haphaestus kind of redeems it, so I know I got that waiting. Its a good game to relax to, like Arcanum. It has major flaws... like Arcanum. Also, they add more stuff later on that just prolongs the game but doesn't contribute much (*cough* superhero *cough*). Wish they didn't do that.

Arcanum is in my top 5 RPGs ever. It has everything this game lacks. World I actually care about that reacts to my character and gives me actual choices. Engaging story that has an actual ending (or rather, several ones). A bit of humor that makes me smile or even laugh. Tons of character and style. Sure, the combat is bad, but with so many great elements, I can ignore a single flaw. Anachronox to me is just a countless series of flaws.

I guess it simply is not a game for me. Time to search for another, then.

 

[Daemongar]

I guess it simply is not a game for me. Time to search for another, then.

Well, hell, I tried. The game can be a slog in parts, is too long, is linear, and can also be frustrating with cryptic quests. But, eh, well hell - it's not everyone's cup of tea. For character arc and depth, it's really not bad.

 

[Maxie]

what's with the constant loading screens despite the maps being so tiny

 

[Wunderbar]

Maps are tiny, but highly detailed.

 

[Don Peste]

 

[Ol' Willy]

Every Lord Potato's post is shitrated by Lilura. Since when he/she cares about JRPGs?

 

[Lord_Potato]

Every Lord Potato's post is shitrated by Lilura. Since when he/she cares about JRPGs?

I think Lilura was just butthurt because I do not pray at the altar of Temple of Elemental Evil and consider it the worst of Troika's games (but a good game engine nevertheless, a pity it was not filled with quality content).

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

I tried playing this a few years back based on reputation. While I did find it somewhat charming, I couldn't get around the JRPG mechanics. It feel like a Final Fantasy game. I occasionally think about trying it out again, but it's gone very low on the backlog priority.

 

[Lord_Potato]

I tried playing this a few years back based on reputation. While I did find it somewhat charming, I couldn't get around the JRPG mechanics. It feel like a Final Fantasy game. I occasionally think about trying it out again, but it's gone very low on the backlog priority.

Final Fantasy VII was a much better game. More interesting plot (with actual ending), more diverse and challenging combat, more atmospheric locations.

 

[DraQ]

I tried playing this a few years back based on reputation. While I did find it somewhat charming, I couldn't get around the JRPG mechanics. It feel like a Final Fantasy game. I occasionally think about trying it out again, but it's gone very low on the backlog priority.

It's a JPG.
Just treat it as movie where you occasionally have to click shit.
Jeez.

 

[Lord_Potato]

I tried playing this a few years back based on reputation. While I did find it somewhat charming, I couldn't get around the JRPG mechanics. It feel like a Final Fantasy game. I occasionally think about trying it out again, but it's gone very low on the backlog priority.

It's a JPG.
Just treat it as movie where you occasionally have to click shit.
Jeez.

But then it's simply a movie with bad script, acting and direction.

 

[deama]

A few years ago I gave this a go, after about 6 hours or so, I couldn't really understand what all the fuss was about, and especially why this was even on the codex list, so I went ahead and just watched the rest on youtube cause I thought the gameplay was pretty crap. The story was... idk, ok I guess, I'm just not sure at all why you guys like this, it's just a decent 7/10 story with some neat things here and there, but overall nothing special.

I think I now understand why people like it so much, it's because of that planet companion isn't it? When I first saw him I thought it was pretty cool, but putting a game on the "list" just because of that? Were you guys drunk or something? Or were you hoping the developer would see it and get on kickstarter?

Anyway, before you downvote me to hell, I tried to like this game, I even had a personal connection to it as I played the demo several times over as a kid, so I had the nostalgia factor going for me, and I still only lasted 6 hours.

 

[Zombra]

I believe this was the first JRPG created in the West that made it onto store shelves. However by 2001 I was already done with crappy, repetitive JRPG mechanics. It was always a B-list contender for my attention and I never bothered. Everything I'm reading here makes me think I was not wrong to do so.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

I'd never played it until around 2017 due to the Codex recommendations, and for me it was just to dated to get to grips with as a newbie to the game in 2017.

I find there's a lot of 3-D games from the 2000-2005 era, which carry that awkward feeling of transition from the 2-D era with them, and this is one.

Didn't find it awful, but I'd had enough after around 6 hours

It's just those blocky Quake 2 Engine people, and some character (and stage) design choices they made. That awkward transition from 2D to 3D was more a '90s thing. This thing came out alongside Metal Gear Soild 2, Final Fantasy X, Devil May Cry, Silent Hill 2, and Max Payne.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

I believe this was the first JRPG created in the West that made it onto store shelves. However by 2001 I was already done with crappy, repetitive JRPG mechanics. It was always a B-list contender for my attention and I never bothered. Everything I'm reading here makes me think I was not wrong to do so.

Septerra Core was even more JRPG than this game and that was '99...I remember seeing that at Walmart too, so it made it into the biggest chain store in America. Return to Krondor felt pretty JRPG for the time in comparison to what other western RPGs were doing; it felt like a JRPG that had your armor armor visibility change like a western RPG would. Not a RPG, but Disciples: Sacred Lands felt like a JRPG version of Heroes of Might and Magic. Odium/Gorky 17 seemed more like Tactics system you'd expect from a Japanese game than one from a western developer.

 

[Zombra]

Maybe I was thinking of Septerra Core. I always got those two mixed up.

 

[Baron Dupek]

The story was... idk, ok I guess, I'm just not sure at all why you guys like this, it's just a decent 7/10 story with some neat things here and there, but overall nothing special.

And that's already enough to be better than most games there in that regard.
They tried to make some actual character, not some checklist positions, who have weird adventures in the galaxy and made it work.

 

[yes plz]

wow, three pages and nobody's made the usual 'planetescape tournament is a jrpg' joke yet

 

[Martyr]

so I went into this game blind, only knowing it's made by some of the Deus Ex devs and that it's similar to Star Wars: KotOR and the first Mass Effect (read that multiple times) but with supposedly awful JRPG-combat.

given the age of Anachronox I assumed that it was a more complex game than both KotOR and Mass Effect, which shouldn't be that hard, since they are pretty simple RPGs. I was absolutely shocked how extremely linear and overtly simple Anachronox is.

I keep reading that people get tired of the combat in Anachronox - my thought is that I wish there would be more combat, even in its simple "just click attack" state, to break up the endless walking and one-sided conversations. especially the section on Democratus with the council votes was only talking, talking, talking.

I do admit that the story can be entertaining at times and that the humor can be good.
but the immense amount of backtracking, the linearity, the complete lack of active leveling and almost complete lack of dialogue choices make me dread pushing onward.

 

[Lacrymas]

Yeap, Anachronox is a tough one. I didn't manage to get to the end either and quit a bit after Democratus iirc.

 

[Spukrian]

I played it once and liked it a lot! Tried to play it again some years after and got incredibly bored and dropped it.

That said, the game did have a fantastic moment. There was this cutscene where the scientist lady is explaining what's actually going on and I think to myself "hold on, this doesn't make sense, if the villains are trying to accomplish [outcome], why are they doing [method], it seems counterproductive, like they're working against themselves..." and 2 seconds later one of the other characters in scene expresses doubts similar to what I was thinking. And later in the end of the game, when everything's revealed it all actually makes sense.

EDIT: Looking at the Anachronox movie now, and the cutscene isn't exactly as I remembered. I actually conflated two different cutscenes in my mind. Oh well.

 

[Old Hans]

I remember playing this years ago and thought it was pretty cool and I always liked that blocky quake engine look. Although the combat was a complete snorefest

 

[jagged-jimmy]

I played it during the great RPG drought. Its more of an cozy, fun adventure. Combat is total shit.
But i made it to the end and remember it fondly. Tracked it down on ebay, because so many people recommended it at that time.
Maybe that's why it is remembered? If you played all the good classics, there was nothing good up until like 2013/2015. So you start digging deeper into old releases.

 

[Deadyawn]

I've also just finished it today. I played it on hard, and that was definitely a mistake. It just made the boring combat more of a slog. Some of the point and click adventure moments can also be tedious, but the humor carried them. Even with all of that, the story and characters charmed me. It's a very soulful game.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

This is one I couldn't get into either. The characters were colorful and I actually liked the humor (to an extent), but the combat was terrible, the plot didn't compel me, and exploration was lightweight.

I considered for a long time to try it again, but it's so low on my list that I will likely never play it. It's also diet-Weeb of the RPG world, so it does not work for me on a conceptual level anyway. I have enjoyed perhaps 2 traditional JRPGs in my life