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Anachronox

Anachronox

List Price: $19.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Quirky, Dramatic, Silly, Funny, Stylish, GREAT!
Review: I wish I could give this game another half star (this feels like a common occurance), since the only thing that really detracts from the overall experience are the horrendous graphics. Anachronox provides what is probably the first great console-style RPG on a PC.

Anachronox's storyline is fresh and entertaining. Some great twists throughout the game make it entertaining the whole way. But what really makes it great is the light-hearted presentation. Anachronox never takes itself too seriously; a nice change of pace from many recent console RPGs. I've never laughed out loud this many times while playing a game--it really is genuinely funny. I especially like the scenes that feature Boots, Grumpos, PAL, and Rho floating through space waiting to to be rescued. The dialouge is all well written and the voice acting is superb--a nice surprise considering according to the credits, much of the talent comes from the design staff.

Gameplay will be familiar to anyone who plays console RPGs. There really isn't much new here--if you've played Final Fantasy VI, you won't find any surprises. Fortunately, the battles aren't random and they aren't numerous. If you just progress through the game you'll gain enough levels with the few battles to comfortably continue until the end. The final battle needs special mention--it's original and fun, albeit easy--I really enjoyed it. Also, many of the puzzles reminded me of adventure games, but minus the pixel hunts. Most can be solved by talking to enough people and finding the correct items. I found them enjoyable and easy to solve--I never got stuck for so long that it became frustrating.

What keeps this game from getting its last star (or half star), is the graphics. They're horrendous. They're an excellent example of why, unless a design team is capable or willing to put the same amount of detail as Shenmue or Final Fantasy X, they should stick to sprite based characters for RPGs. As they are, these characters are incredibly blocky--they don't need weapons since they could just swing their cinder block hands (think Final Fantasy 7) at their opponents.

If you can get past graphics that look like they came from a first generation Playstation game, and like console, turn based RPGs, then pick this one up as soon as you can. I'm sure you can find it for a great price used (I got my copy for 8 bucks). You won't be dissapointed.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Fun, Quirky RPG
Review: I wish I could give this game another half star (this feels like a common occurance), since the only thing that really detracts from the overall experience are the horrendous graphics. Anachronox provides what is probably the first great console-style RPG on a PC.

Anachronox's storyline is fresh and entertaining. Some great twists throughout the game make it entertaining the whole way. But what really makes it great is the light-hearted presentation. Anachronox never takes itself too seriously; a nice change of pace from many recent console RPGs. I've never laughed out loud this many times while playing a game--it really is genuinely funny. I especially like the scenes that feature Boots, Grumpos, PAL, and Rho floating through space waiting to to be rescued. The dialouge is all well written and the voice acting is superb--a nice surprise considering according to the credits, much of the talent comes from the design staff.

Gameplay will be familiar to anyone who plays console RPGs. There really isn't much new here--if you've played Final Fantasy VI, you won't find any surprises. Fortunately, the battles aren't random and they aren't numerous. If you just progress through the game you'll gain enough levels with the few battles to comfortably continue until the end. The final battle needs special mention--it's original and fun, albeit easy--I really enjoyed it. Also, many of the puzzles reminded me of adventure games, but minus the pixel hunts. Most can be solved by talking to enough people and finding the correct items. I found them enjoyable and easy to solve--I never got stuck for so long that it became frustrating.

What keeps this game from getting its last star (or half star), is the graphics. They're horrendous. They're an excellent example of why, unless a design team is capable or willing to put the same amount of detail as Shenmue or Final Fantasy X, they should stick to sprite based characters for RPGs. As they are, these characters are incredibly blocky--they don't need weapons since they could just swing their cinder block hands (think Final Fantasy 7) at their opponents.

If you can get past graphics that look like they came from a first generation Playstation game, and like console, turn based RPGs, then pick this one up as soon as you can. I'm sure you can find it for a great price used (I got my copy for 8 bucks). You won't be dissapointed.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Wrong market
Review: If I wanted a console game I would have a console instead of a PC. This game based it's interface on console style games and suffers for it. If you're coming from console gaming and are new to the PC game market this would be a good crossover game for you. If you're a PC gamer, however, this will provide an entertaining game that you will often get very frustrated with.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Please Sir, I Want Some More!
Review: It has been a long time since I last played a game that has such an original story. The world is highly detailed, the characters are hysterical, and the plot kept me guessing till the very end. I know that the visuals are a bit "dated", but I consider eye-candy to be a VERY small contribution to a great game. The only real complaint that I have is that there is no sequel (yet...I hope). Anachronox is a game that can easily be continued without losing any of the qualities that makes it such a masterpiece. There are good games...then there are great games...then there are the elite. I don't need to tell you that Anachronox belongs in the last category.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Please Sir, I Want Some More!
Review: It has been a long time since I last played a game that has such an original story. The world is highly detailed, the characters are hysterical, and the plot kept me guessing till the very end. I know that the visuals are a bit "dated", but I consider eye-candy to be a VERY small contribution to a great game. The only real complaint that I have is that there is no sequel (yet...I hope). Anachronox is a game that can easily be continued without losing any of the qualities that makes it such a masterpiece. There are good games...then there are great games...then there are the elite. I don't need to tell you that Anachronox belongs in the last category.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sleeper hit of the year...
Review: This game couldn't have come from the same ION storm that created Daikatana could it? Truth be told, after playing this game for a couple of days now I can safely say that I have been sucked into the world that is Anachronox. From the begging it is evident that this game has been brushed with the paint of a masterpiece. This game has a story line, which meets, if not exceeds that of Deus Ex but it is also full of gorgeous environments (who would have thought this was the quakeII engine?!

I took a risk in buying this game as there has been very little press coverage, and zero reviews as of now, however if you are into deep story lines, and intriguing sci-fi role playing action you owe it to yourself to pick up this game.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sweet
Review: This game is one of my fav PC games. Sure it's reallly long and has a very complex story, but that's good. Most games are basic "walk, kill, win" stories or WAY overdone things like Metal Gear Solid 2. Mixed in with the story are funny cut-scenses and some minor fighting. This game had me laughing from the first opening movie. Basically if you like all fighting this isn't for you, but if you like story driven games that require some skill this is the best.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This game does not work and Eidos are no help.
Review: This game will not work and the Eidos helpline/ webpage is terrible. The game installs but when you try and play it just says could not load renderer! Any suggestions anyone? I've never had problems with Eidos games before.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An undiscovered treat that I missed early on.
Review: This is a game that I wished I had found when it first came out. It is long, sprawling, immersive, and addictive once you get into it. It has caused me to stay up late too many times.

PC Gamer also recently listed it as the 6th funniest game in history.

I bought a stratagy guide and another copy of the game to give to a friend.

The downside is the character models, which are admittedly dated, and some crash problems. Most of the stability problems have been fixed, however, though you have to hunt for all the patches -- to include at least three "unofficial" ones that came out after the team that created the game was disbanded.

Still, despite the graphics limitations, there are scenes of immense beauty. In fact, the cutscenes for the game were recently edited together into a movie!

This is a game that you can pick up for a song that will run on a lower-end system. It is well worth it. I wish the team that did it could be reassembled to do a sequal. in fact, there is an online petition circulating to try to get a sequal going, and I signed it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Way Overrated and Hyped
Review: This is a homage to Japanese console type RPG games. Its sharper than FF8, but its use of ingame cutscenes from the Quake2 engine can be lacking. It is heavily story driven and I found myself just fast clicking through scores of irrelevent dialogue. Every npc can be spoken to, but they all have just 2 or 3 useless lines, repeated forever. This is the glassy depth of Anachronox. Buildings you cant enter, static npcs stand around all day, linear path across 'worlds' that are nothing more than large unreal map. There is no expansive city feeling when your enclosed in a quake map like this. All the traffic in some places are cool to watch for about 20 seconds.

You are shuffled down these maps, albeit gorgeous ones, and enter a separate battle screen when you meet enemies. Enemies who stand in same place, even regenerating later after you wiped them out before. Even with addition of Mystech which is like simple magic attacks, it mostly boils down to clicking the same actions over and over when the timer is ready. Boring to say the least. Thankfully, there isn't too much combat. This leads to another problem.

With no fighting or heavy strategic planning goin on, you are following a complex adventure story. Its complex, but not good and you will probably give up before it really starts. It could make you laugh, it made me laugh with its awful minigames, arcades sequences, puzzles, and boring text. Its too mature of content for children, and too basic and repetitive for veteran pc gamers. I highly recommended avoiding this overrated flop. Not everyone thinks its the cat's meow.


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