I am not a JRPG fan. The only similar game I had played before this was the old "Septerra Core", so I may be wrong and unfairly lumping the whole genre together. In my limited view, these are party RPGs with linear stories and questionable combat systems that look turn-based without actually being turn-based. "Anachronox" turned out to be roughly that.
The protagonist gathers a fixed party as the story progresses. You cannot decide whether to recruit someone, and you move through locations in a strict order with no real branches or meaningful choices. The only decisions are whether to do side quests and which available companions to bring into most battles. There is little reason to skip the side quests, while party composition mostly affects convenience.
There is no proper character building. Battles give experience, levels increase automatically, and stats rise with them. Equipment offers little room for choice either. Each character uses a specific weapon type, and almost every new weapon is simply better than the previous one, so the old one can be sold immediately. Shields work the same way. Most of the remaining variation comes from choosing MysTech, the local equivalent of spells, and two accessory slots. That is too little to make the equipment system interesting.
Skills are slightly more complicated. Every character has a non-combat ability, such as the protagonist's lockpicking, which can be upgraded if you discover how. Improving lockpicking, for example, requires completing several jobs for another detective. Each character also has four combat abilities: one available by default and three that must be found. The problem is that many upgrades are discovered almost by accident. Some are easy to guess. Dr. Bowman likes reading, so books are obviously meant for her. Others require trying abilities on everything, such as looking for someone affected by Grumpos's chatter skill.
I admit that this held some interest for me because I like exploring games thoroughly. The system still lacks consistency. Suppose you find a book and know Dr. Bowman should read it, but she is not currently in the party and everyone else refuses to touch it. You have to leave the area, return to the hub, swap party members, and walk all the way back. That is not a clever puzzle, just irritating backtracking.
The best weapon for PAL-18 is an even better example. You cannot reasonably figure it out without the internet: you must leave him in the arcade for four real-time hours. Maybe the developers thought this was a funny gag, but in practice it feels like mockery. My advice is to use the console and speed time up by 100.
One of the few exploration elements I liked is searching for objects and characters that can be affected by non-combat abilities. It is not really a Metroidvania system because it rarely opens new routes, but the basic idea is similar. You explore, notice a relevant spot, write down that you should return with a specific party member and the required skill level, then come back later. The rewards are rarely substantial, but at least it gives you a reason to examine the environment.
Combat is boring and irritating. Every character has an initiative bar that empties after an action and refills in real time. Once full, that character can act. Several party members may become ready at once, and while you switch between them, open commands, and select targets, time keeps moving. Computer-controlled enemies lack this problem and attack immediately whenever they are ready. There is no pause, and you cannot even open the menu during combat, so you have to keep clicking commands like in a clicker game.
A character can attack normally, use MysTech if they have enough "mana," activate a combat ability using self-restoring stamina, or use an inventory item. Arenas have different layouts, and limited movement is sometimes possible. Melee characters need to get close, while obstacles can block ranged attacks. Moving also consumes an action. Boss fights occasionally add unique mechanics, such as pulling levers to deal extra damage, and there are status effects like freezing. None of this saved the system from repetition. Most of the time I was simply waiting for bars to fill and trying to click through commands as quickly as possible.
I prefer nonlinear RPGs, but I have no problem with linear games when the story is strong enough. I generally like Japanese stories that are often ridiculous but still engaging, so I suspect "Persona" or "Final Fantasy" might appeal to me in that respect. Unfortunately, "Anachronox" does not have a particularly compelling story. There is little intrigue, the events remain firmly on rails, and the twist before the final battle made me shrug rather than feel surprised. I accepted the new information and went to beat the boss.
There are occasional more inventive episodes, such as the assault on Detta's fortress, where the party splits into three teams and you switch between them so they can help one another progress. It is a shame there is not more of this.
The best parts are the atmosphere, the absurdity, and the peculiar sense of humor. Boots, the protagonist, is a failed private detective living on a space station that is also a planet. He starts at the bottom, although he once had his own success story. That mystery did not interest me much.
Some situations genuinely made me smile. There is a planet called Democratus whose citizens believe they live in a perfect democracy. Their idea of democracy is that nobody should have an opinion of their own and everyone should vote exactly like the members of the ruling council. Meanwhile, the council itself cannot decide what to do when the planet is facing destruction without holding a vote. "Anachronox" also has one of the strangest party members I have seen in a game: [spoiler]the planet Democratus itself. Advanced technology shrinks it to human size so it can travel with the party, while its inhabitants have no idea what is happening and think they are watching a new TV series.[/spoiler]
I also liked the game's "camera work." The developers often frame scene transitions from unusual angles, especially in elevators. The gravity shifts on Anachronox are another nice touch: the hero walks forward and then casually continues along a wall or ceiling as though nothing happened.
Unfortunately, the technical state can ruin even the better moments. There are serious bugs that can erase hours of progress or block the game entirely. Save slots are limited, so "save often" is not enough. Keep several saves far apart from one another, especially before points of no return.
The most basic problem is getting stuck in geometry. That is simple: reload an earlier save. Other issues are worse. The game has an undocumented limit on the number of occupied inventory slots. If you do not sell unnecessary items, saves may eventually stop loading and crash the game. The camera also has limited photo slots, and quest-related pictures sometimes simply disappear. You have to keep checking them and reload quickly when something vanishes.
During my first story visit to Limbus, I brought Stiletto. After one battle the game started breaking badly. I eventually found someone online describing the same issue and recommending replaying it without her. It worked, but I lost about two hours. Several locations also look as though quests were supposed to begin there, but the content was apparently cut or left unfinished.
"Anachronox" has a pleasant atmosphere, good absurd humor, and a few interesting ideas involving exploration and companion abilities. For me, none of that outweighs the weak technical execution, completely linear progression, underwhelming story, and tedious combat. I cannot recommend it.
