On the tip of a friend, I've been making my way through Anachronox over the last two weeks, getting in a little playtime here and there and following a completionist FAQ that thankfully doesn't spoil much. It's a game by Ion Storm/Eidos, developed around the same time as Daikatana and released in 2001. That game's bad press overshadowed Anachronox, which never got the attention it deserves. I've just finished it, and I can honestly say that if this had gotten to me first, I might have made the Anachronox Compendium instead. It's such a dark horse of a great game. Its creator and producer, Tom Hall, is a massive Chrono Trigger fan, and sought to do a PC J-RPG with this (while making fun of the genre in a few ways).
I'm compelled to list off some of the strengths and favorite things about it. So this is a
spoiler warning.
- Protagonist Sylvester Bucelli - Oh, how truly more believable and connectible an RPG protagonist is when they're a down-on-their-luck loser. Sly's fallen a long way from prestige and seems to barely care anymore, mired in his own regret (which hasn't dulled his wit or sharp intellect). It's so easy to really feel like you're in his shoes given his reactions and thoughts to things in the game. Anachronox has really shown me the power of a protagonist with whom one can empathize.
- The mapping - Jeez, the mapping in this game is first-rate. It uses the Quake 2 engine, but heavily modified to allow more colors and a battle system. You visit a few planets and settlements in this game, and all of them are exquisitely done. You know, hotels in games are usually kind of monotonous; it's exactly what you expect. But in Anachronox, hotels are full-service facilities with different-looking rooms, paintings on the walls, different beds, showers and bathrooms...it's so obvious that the mappers poured themselves to tweak this to perfection. Even though the textures are dated, they're still immersive.
- The writing/humor - Anachronox will make you want to talk to every NPC you again in an RPG, like some of us did in younger days when we had infinite time to spend roaming around game worlds. The writing here is fucking amazing. The jokes range from sci-fi to romance to self-parody. There were a couple times I died laughing, like when someone from Democratus gives you the speech option of "we unanimously vote to laugh in your face!" to a little kid who lost his toy. And one of them was because of...seriously don't read on if you plan on playing the game
- Democratus - In a brilliant stroke, Tom Hall has a planet join your party in this game. Yes, a planet. A fucking entire planet, which uses technology to shrink itself down to a player character with a couple outer rings and satellite dishes that resemble eyes. The planet debuts alongside other comedy right after a strenuous part of the game, giving Sylvester a "oh fucking hell, really?" reaction and killing me. I just...a fucking planet joined the party. And it's a great character, too.
- Votowne and other cities - Back up to the mapping and design, Votowne and the other cities in the game are such a joy to go to. Votowne is the chief city of Democratus, housed in one of the outer rings; it's such a pleasure to go there and speak with the democracy-obsessed inhabitants and enjoy their culture. Haphaestus's Entertainment District is another joy; it's such an intricate set of buildings, planes, ramps, sections of the city, etc. that you realize ungodly amounts of work must have gone into mapping it. And it's a blazing success. The textures, music, denizens...they all give it a feeling of old world charm, unleashed in the future on a fiery planet where people come for vacation. Wh...Whitendom (I think that's the name) is a true 1700-1800s Russian village and deserves to be experienced all on its own.
- The dramatic writing - Specifically, the subplot between Sylvester, Fatima, and Sera. Sylvester has a real history behind him, and you're surprised to see that he was once at the top of his game in North Anachronox (the rich part of town) as a swank private investigator. What happens to them inspires nothing short of emotional turbulence and sympathy. I've grown completely attached to the character Fatima; she and Sylvester both suffered from unrequited love, but Fatima paid for it in an dramatically ironic way. Ugh, my heart feels heavy even now. The scene with Paco flying again after finding the little girl is also one of the game's greatest writing feats. You can tell people were paying attention when you notice that Krapto the Wonderdog survived the ship explosion before the Whitendom part.
- Setting out on Democratus with Paco - Kind of a minor one here, but at one point, you're in control of Paco and must set out across an arid area. The engine gives the impression of distance well for its age, and when that Democratus music filters in... It's the springtime of youth.
- The music - I've heard the music was contracted out to another development house, who didn't play the game when writing it. Nonetheless, they got something right, as the music's been extremely well received and fits the areas perfectly. The music is sufficiently futuristic and melodic without distracting, and changes throughout the areas you visit. The music of Votowne is especially great. The citizens of Democratus just suffered a terrible period in their history in which an Emperor committed atrocities; they're now obsessed with democracy and civilization-building, even if their political system still leaves much to be desired. You get this...sense of how badly they want to succeed this time with their civilization—and this is a very technologically advanced society that prizes intelligence already, so it has this extra kind of intensity to it. The music perfectly echoes this. It shuffles into the future with a feeling of advancement, punctuated by bells that remind me of Zeal's. What a beautiful feeling. Democratus...
- The outfits - The characters had good design. I'm in love with Sylvester's pre-game PI outfit, which was probably done as a futuristic homage to Harrison Ford's in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (in the beginning nightclub scene).
- The voice acting - Spot on. PAL is adorable, and Sylvester's voice truly shows his life's fatigue. Fatima's is ten kinds of pleasant, yet sharp thanks to its filtering through a holographic projector. The others are well done and realistic. You can kind of tell Grumpos's voice actor is not actually an old man, but hey, it's Grumpos.
Whew. That about covers all the low-hanging fruit. This is a great game, and it deserves more attention and playthroughs. Step into his world:
And listen to the music of Democratus (well, one example):
http://chronofan.com/Zeality/DemocNormal1.mp3
