Anodyne

Right. I finished Anodyne. From the get go this was An Interesting Experience. As a rule for this project I try to do as little research as possible prior to finishing the game, in order to avoid a) absorbing other people’s opinions in to my own and b) ruining surprises. I usually also hold off on checking my records to see when and how I bought the game because, well I don’t know why, but for some reason I was curious about this the whole time while playing it and didn’t think to check until the end. In this case I could neither remember reading about it nor consciously buying it, and it turned out to have come to me via Humble for PC & Android 7 in October 2013, go figure, which I probably bought mainly so I could play Ticket to Ride on my phone. It was a strange time in my life. Anyway, Anodyne. It’s self-described in Steam as a “surreal Zelda-like”, which is all I had to go on, and it turns out is a pretty damn accurate summary of the plot/narrative devices (which are surreal) and the gameplay (which is Zelda-like (as in 2D top-down Zelda, not 3D Ocarina etc Zelda)).

In terms of “Zelda-likeness”, Anodyne is comparatively more streamlined than a lot of the relevant titles. It still follows a similar plunder dungeons -> discover new items/skills -> access new areas discovery progression, but the aforementioned new skills are fewer. Likewise, there’s only one ongoing main collectible in the game - picture cards of all the enemies and NPCs, which both increase the player characters health and unlocks certain pathways (such as the route to the final boss). This makes the game feel nice and uncluttered, and it’s commendable that the designers didn’t get carried away adding the usual array of collectibles and upgrades.

This is a good thing, because the story and indeed whole purpose for playing remains enigmatic, which is to say the actual purpose of your quest, micromoments and npc interactions within the game and the variety of worlds/area themes that are explored all sit together very tenuously, or hardly at all. Sure, you navigate between worlds to a main central area. Yes, a broom is a handy weapon/utility item. Our name is Young. Is Young, Ying? Who is the Briar? Now we’re in the swamp. Now we’re in the cliffs. Oh, we have a knife and we’re killing people now. And now we’re in a circus fighting a stack of clowns. Now Taipei, in a…hotel? And there’s a cleaning lady? The fragmented settings mean the player has to rely heavily on inference in the style of a good magical realism novel, which is a somewhat refreshing mode of delivery for a classic game structure that has often been about limiting pathways from a to b and telling the propulsive heroes narrative to go along with it. Meanwhile though, you often get the sense that the creators are just trying to fuck with you or remind you of it’s game-ness, either by clunkily-placed meta-jokes or by tricking you into getting yourself killed, just because it can. It is so full of strange non-sequitors and loose ends that it often borders on parody, and constantly breaks any sense of immersion that might be building.

All this helps build a world which is often surprising, yes, and enigmatic, and strange, but it also seems strangely at odds with the way you go about exploring it - with a high degree of trial and error, methodically feeling the way through it even though hints and directions are generally sparse. The stages fall away but we remain out of the loop as to what this game is actually about. The resulting sensation that this induces is one of semi-satisfied self-aware numbness, which is hardly remarkable except that the game has in title alone pre-empted and advertised the perhaps undesirable feeling that playing the game produces, adding yet another perplexing layer to this odd activity. There is possibly a whole meta-story happening here, but I cannot be bothered unpicking it. Maybe someone else has? I look forward to doing some reading.

Having finished the game I’m still not sure what meaning to take away from the ending, but it’s given me a bit to think about. Not for the first time I’m also aware that this is a game I would not have seen through to the end had it not been for the focussing powers of this arbitrarily self-assigned project, as the potential attraction of all the other unplayed games in my steam library would have derailed me. Would I recommend it? If you’re a fan of the top-down 2D adventure games and magical realism, then yes. It took me about 7-8 hours. I died more than I’d care to admit.

Anodyne was made by a couple of peeps who are currently working on a game called Even the Ocean

Up next is Antichamber