Revisiting Anachronox

During the late 90s and early 00s, it was a great time to be a fan of RPGs. It didn't matter if you were playing them on consoles or PC, there was a steady stream of quality titles coming to the platforms. Over the course of a half decade we got the likes of Final Fantasy VII, Dragon Quest VII, Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Wizardry 8, and Diablo to name a few. Among these games we had Anachronox, which was interesting as it took JRPG combat sensibilities and incorporated them into a Western game that was released on PC

However, to simply call it a JRPG developed by a Western studio doesn't really do the game justice. Yes, that was part of the game, but if that's all it was Anachronox would have fallen flat after a time and been a one trick pony. What makes the game so memorable is how it managed to successfully combine so many different things into one title and still work. It's like the game is an ensemble of ensembles: an ensemble cast, an ensemble of locations, and an ensemble of game modes. Going this route is extremely risky as a title runs the risk of being written off as a Jack of all trades and master of none, failing to have quite enough meat on its bones to hold players. Thankfully, Ion Storm did manage to pack on the protein with Anachronox, avoiding this pitfall.

One of the challenges that comes along when revisiting polygonal games of this era is that from a visual standpoint the games have not aged very well. The industry was still transitioning out of the 2D visuals that had been the standard for over a decade, and while at the time these clunky, chunky 3D renderings were pretty darn cutting edge, they can be pretty hard to look at now. I could give you a list as long as my arm of PS1 games that I have a really tough time getting into nowadays because they suffer from this. However, Anachronox is a game where I'm willing to overlook its incredibly dated visuals, and it's for one simple reason: atmosphere.

Rho and PAL look on as Gromps and Boots bicker.

Right from the start, the game hits players with a Blade Runner-esque noir world of aliens, flying cars, and dark cityscapes illuminated by an ocean of neon, all the while analogue synths gently hum a tune in the background. Wandering the metal-plated corridors, talking to its denizens, the gritty feel of a world where thuggery is the norm, and the rule of law a fantasy quickly takes form.

Then as one progresses further and further into the game, visiting new planets and meeting new people, we constantly see their surroundings change.  Each planet has its own personality, whether its the hyper capitalist denizens of Sender Station, Votowne and the satirical approach to democracy found there, Hephaestus' ability to whittle religion down to a business (I get "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode stuck in my head whenever I visit that place), or something as simple as a Star Wars parody while on the surface of Democratus. Each destination is a bit of a caricature, but an enjoyable one, and gets the player wondering what sort of wacky adventure they'll be up to next as their ship disembarks.

And silliness is a very important part of Anachronox. It came at the tail end of a time when humour was still far more front and center in gaming. Throughout the 90s and into the very early 2000s, there were a lot more games that went straight for the funny bone, or at least hung out there a fair bit. We had the Leisure Suit Larry series in full swing, two NOLF games, Tim Schafer was doing his thing at LucasArts, and several other games. Anachronox doesn't necessarily get mentioned in the same breath as these games when discussing more comedic outings of this period, but certainly deserves a nod.

A lot of the humour comes from the interplay of the characters themselves. The main protagonist, Boots, may be a fairly typical noir private eye, but he gets a lot of the punchlines going as he chats with everyone else, and overall the whole cast has a lot of chemistry. Watching the cut scenes often feels like something out of a 90s sitcom with its witty dialogue and excellent timing.

Satire also plays a large role. As mentioned earlier, Votowne and Hephaestus do this very well, poking fun at the state of religion and the democratic process. I've always been rather fond of the former, with the world's leadership constantly making their claims of doing things, "For the people!" Looking at the time when Anachronox came out, it was a period when the US was transitioning from the Clinton era to the Bush era, the UK had its first Labour government in a very long time, Germany was in the post-Kohl period, and countless other political goings ons were in motion, so it seemed rather apropos to poke a little fun at the relationship between government and its people given all that was going on in the world at the time. Satire is something that we just don't see enough of in games, and while it was adventure games leading the charge in this area at the time, it was still nice to see Anachronox pulling off such humour so well.

Paco, the strong, silent type.

What must have been really complicated in creating the game was implementing the sheer number of gameplay elements that it contained. Yes, a large part of it was the JRPG battle sequences. They had a bit of a Chrono Trigger feel to them, which was still a fairly hot commodity at the time, as folks had a high opinion of that game's combat. However, there was a lot more that players had to do. If anything, battles aren't really all that frequent while playing through Anachronox. Players can see enemies before engaging them, and they only inhabit areas that make sense for them to be. For example, gang members may be in an underground area, aggressive creatures stick to their natural habitat, and so forth. Much of one's time is actually spent sleuthing, uncovering clues to figure out what's happening with the galaxy's Mys Tech, and solving local problems. This actually feels like a light adventure game, going around, talking to people, gathering information, all while getting to the bottom of things.

On top of this, each player has their own special skill while wandering the cities and doing this, which results in a number of mini games. There's one for Boots when he picks locks, another has you shouting down Democratus' politicians during a council session so you can fire a tractor beam, Grumpos needs help filling his lungs with enough air so that he can weave such a long, boring "old person story" that NPCs will give up and give him what he wants, et cetera. They're fun little things to do, and often attached to such ridiculous actions that one starts looking forward to their next chance to use it. There's even the occasional "driving a thing" moment tossed in for good measure while playing. It can be tough adding so many mini games, or even a few, in a title because often they feel tacked on and poorly thought out, but on the whole the ones in Anachronox are pretty entertaining and add to the experience.

The people on the ring of Democratus are hilarious.

Really, Anachronox was a breath of fresh air when so many other RPGs coming out on PC were being so serious, and singularly focused in what kind of gameplay they wanted. Granted a lot of those games were great, but with Ion Storm's project it got people thinking, "Hey, this works too!" Unfortunately, we didn't see others trying to follow suit here. As such, Anachronox will go down as an unique and largely successful attempt at combining a large cast of characters and a vast array of gameplay elements that one might think would never work together, then actually succeeds in bringing them all together. It was a great game when it came out, still is now, and should be applauded for how ambitious it is.