izigame.me

Evangelion x SCP
Soo... Do you like any of this: anime, secret science-occulti'sh societies or a dystopian electronically augmented future?
You'd better be into at least one of those categories if you want to play ANNO, because the game's devs are huge fans of all of them. I did not mention the Evangelion and the SCP Foundation for nothing - the whole story and the game's concept is build on a fusion of those 2, with a healthy dash of cyberpunk. Aside from that players will find references (some subtle, some very obvious and blunt) to a huge number of other animes, classic cyberpunk movies, pop-culture and some other stuff. Personally, I really appreciated meeting the VA11 HALL-A characters (i love this game and can't recommend it enough!). Despite the reference galore ANNO manages to stay wholesome and retain it's own unique face, without falling into the "gag-game" category.
I will be frank with you - it's a small indie game and it does have some problems. For example i think that the tempo of the game is quite uneven - battle and exploration segments ain't proportional in my opinion and personally i would have added more combat opportunities. Translation could be better. Random passerby's chatter doesn't lead to special quests or opportunities. Some quests and mysteries are left hanging (ffs what did happen to the landlord and what kind of entity does live in that elevator shaft?!).
On the bright side – the devs has fixed inventory and the clanky movement from the early builds. I'v played the first beta-build demo and belive me – the movement back then was terrible. Now it's responsive, snappy and generally pleasant. The inventory has been improved as well and now it's easy to navigate and you can sell all junk with one click. Also the technical state of the game is superb – I did not encounter a single glitch, bug, crash or anything of that nature.
But everything mentioned above doesn't matter tbh. The true strenght of ANNO: Mutationem lies in an entirely different aspect. This game has a magical cozyness to it. It fits like an old glove or a trusty pair of sneakers. You launch the game and simply fall into it. It's hard to explain what exactly is going on here – is it good music, colour palette or nice characters? I don't know, but the game from the very first minutes feels “right”. I've simply enjoyed my time with this game it's all I can say.
In conclusion I have only one advice for the potential players – try out the demo. It's free and it does demonstrate the game well enough. If you like it – then welcome, if you don't – its simply not for you. Personally I've liked this game a lot. Oh, and don't worry if in the beginning the story will seem confusing AF. That is intended. You will get all your answers in the end. (0_~)
PS: And one more thing - i strongly recommend playing this game with a controller! It's waaay more comfortable than a KB.