Retro Revival, Part #32 - Anachronox (2012, GOG.COM)
18Some people are *really* passionate about Ion Storm's Anachronox (2001). I played the game quite extensively when it came out in 2001 and liked a lot of what I saw, but ultimately didn't stick with it after I got stuck on an obscure fetch quest or something. What I like most about this highly unorthodox game is probably that it exists at all.
Anachronox is essentially a story-heavy Japanese-style RPG made by a team of Western developers. Apart from having a lot of dialogue and non-interactive cutscenes, the combat consists of that distinct JRPG version of turn-based encounters in which the characters are lined up on opposing sides of the battlefield and take turns to beat each other up in various complicated ways. What's probably most impressive about the game is the incredible amount of work that went into its cinematic presentation, with elaborate camera movements and some very slick editing for a 2001 release. The story itself is a funny, slightly noir-inspired and surprisingly heartwarming tale of anti-hero Sly Boots and his ragtag group of adventurers on an epic journey of discovery, and in hindsight it's hard for me not to draw parallells to Joss Whedon's near-contemporary TV-series Firefly. Suffice it to say that it's the storytelling and characters which most people remember from Anachronox, and while it may not be quite as ambitious as Ion Storm's other cult classic Deus Ex it's surely one of the most fascinating RPGs of the era and well worth $5,99 on GOG.
Buy the game here:
http://www.gog.com/en/news/new_release_anachronox