izigame.me

ANNO: Mutationem is a game that I stumbled upon by a completely accident and I'm so clad that I did.
Firstly, as you can already tell from the preview images, the game looks gorgeous. Visuals are easily the strongest point here, and if nothing else the developers should be proud of their work in this field. The soundtrack also deserves praise, as it provides some good bangers, especially during boss fights or when visiting bars. If I had to complain about something here, I would've maybe liked to have a one or two more outdoorsy/city levels as a break from all the underground levels, but that isn't a big complaint.
When it come to gameplay, it's quite simple: you explore in 3D and then fight & platform in 2D. Fighting is quite simple and easy to pick up, which admittedly some can find little disappointing. There are equipment and talents to spice things up and to do some cool situational stuff with, but everything still dies to default light/heavy attacks, dodges and healing items. While I genuinely had fun from start to finish picking up on attack patterns, dodging and slashing away, some might wish that the game had little something more in this field. Platforming is solid and gets some variety added to it over time. There are couple more challenging sections in late game, but they aren't anything impossible as long as you take it easy and pay attention.
Difficulty wise, I found it very enjoyable on Normal. While at the start things felt quite easy, I managed to die couple of times in the later sections. But these deaths were down to my own recklessness, and were then overcome by learning from my mistakes and taking the fights seriously. I could see some fights being harder if you don't keep up with your numerical upgrades or healing items, but that is given in a game like this and I don't really see it as a big problem in the long run.
As for the story, it is nothing groundbreaking but gets the job done, has some small genuinely cute moments here and there, and Ann & Ayane are a quite charming duo. My main issue is that it's quite "back-loaded": many developments and reveals happen near the end, which leaves the middle part little thin. Also, the developers have done a lot of world-building that doesn't doesn't really impact the story and can require some extended reading, which some might find frustrating. Personally, I have no issue with this as I liked the feeling of the world being bigger that this one specific adventure.
Finally, if you've read any launch reviews that complain about the ending, it has been since been revised. While I'm sure that there are people who prefer the original, I'm willing to bet that most (including me) find the new ending a vast improvement and a great point to end the game.

TL;DR: If I had to give the game a numerical score, I would probably go with an 8/10: this a good, solid and entertaining game that mainly lacks a little bit of depth and a little better paced story. But if the developers ever plan to make a sequel, they have set a great foundation for themselves.