Together RPG - Anachronox - 10/01-12/01

[Ack]

I assume you have the GOG release; what shortcut are you using to launch and what are your settings in the config set at?

I'm playing via GOG Galaxy and admittedly have been using the base settings for the game. Beyond that, not sure. I'll have to check when I get home.

[MrPopo]

I've just got the craziest character in an RPG ever. I won't spoil it.

[Ack]

I figured out the issue. It was the resolution I was playing in apparently. I've updated it, and the game runs smoothly without issue. I only got to play a little bit last night, but this has considerably improved the experience.

Right now my characters are level 7, and I am sitting at the start of the MysTech tunnels, having just gotten around the Doorguard. This looks to be my first real dungeon in the game. I'm interested in seeing how this gets handled.

[MrPopo]

You're about to get your first taste of the minigames. Apparently the devs felt that certain transitions should be interactive in the form of a minigame. The first few are fairly simple, and there's even an option to skip them after you fail (with an amusing set of menu options, so I recommend you intentionally fail the first one to see it). The last one I did, though, was quite long and a bit unnecessary in its intricacy.

[Exhuminator]

A few years ago, I spent some time with Anachronox. (It was my second attempt to get into the game actually.) IIRC I made it to Sender Station (there and back again actually), which isn't that far into the game I suppose. I vaguely recall I was supposed to be finding parts for a shuttle or something like that.

There is a lot to appreciate in this game. Primarily its amazing sense of humor and zany environment, scenario, and character designs. The graphics were really nice for their time, and really pushed what the iD Tech 2 engine was meant to do. I actually thought the JRPG influenced battle system was pretty fun too.

Unfortunately I found a lot of the game design to not be nearly as nice as the rest of the game though. I remember one part of the game involved navigating a series of Simon Says styled color button locks that were in a timed sequence. ( http://lparchive.org/Anachronox/Update% ... x00208.jpg ) It was just dumb and not a fun thing for your player to deal with. I remember another tedious part of the game where you had to convince a bunch of aliens to fill in a voting card... just inane busy work padding. I found myself wandering around wondering where I was supposed to be a little too often as well. (Granted I wasn't playing with a walkthrough.) Anachronox loves to send the player on gopher quests and scavenger hunts from what I remember.

I can totally understand how if someone can look past the less than stellar portions of the game, there's a really unique and special adventure/RPG hybrid going on here. Certainly the game can be highly entertaining when it's just reveling in exposition. The dialogue in this game is on a whole other level for sure. I just wish the actual moment-to-moment game design had received as much detail and care as the story and characterizations. It will be interesting to read the community reviews of this one.

[MrPopo]

I actually didn't mind the Simon locks, since the second the first one popped up I knew I'd have to remember them. And the voter card was interesting, I thought. It gives you more exposure to the culture than you might otherwise get and helps focus on the "talk to everyone, trust us" gameplay.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I am probably going to jump in to the game, but it will have to wait until november before I start. This is a game that I own on both steam and GoG, for some reason. I remember being young and reading PC Gamer magazine cover this game back in 1998/99 and talking about how awesome it looked with the Quake 2 engine, which it later ditched. This was also during the time of Omikron the Nomad Soul, which was also very heavily covered. I remember being a young teenage kid and just in awe of the graphics and how awesome the game looked and also was awed at Omikron, because PC Gamer insisted on spending an entire story on being able to go to a peep show, which looked WAAAAAY different than the final version.

It seems game journalism hasn't changed much.

Anywho, hopefully I will finally knock this one off my list and take part in some conversation.

WESTERN RPG HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!

[Exhuminator]

talking about how awesome it looked with the Quake 2 engine, which it later ditched

Anachronox ditched the Quake engine, but it does use a modified version of the Quake II engine (id Tech 2).

[Ack]

Last night before hopping into Mercenary Kings with fastbilly, I made my way through the MysTech tunnels and beat the first boss of the game. That was a fun little fight with some nice use of the movement system, but I really loved that the boss' attack would smash whatever stone section he hit. It made for a nice collateral touch that I don't feel like I see enough of in RPGs. My guys are now around level 10. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm having a blast with it.

[MrPopo]

I just went through an awesome dungeon. The dungeon itself was nothing interesting, but the window dressing around it was fantastic. Now, if you've read the manual you'll know one of the eventual party members is a Super Hero. Apparently in this game there is a planet of real Super Heroes and Super Villains, and their exploits were documented in comic books. Well, the dungeon was inside the ship of a Super Villain, and the game plays up the comic book stuff.