Anodyne

Anodyne mixes solid old-school dungeon crawling with a delightfully weird and warped narrative set in a fever dreamscape full of bizarre secrets and surprises.

Just, maybe play this game on anything that isn’t the Switch for the sake of not having a bad framerate or godawful scrolling, since after finally giving it an honest marathon session, I easily can see that being a dealbreaker for some like it was for me, and no matter how many times I tried to throw myself at this game in hopes the performance would be something I could get around, it just came back like a recurring nightmare.

If you are a fan of the genre, it may be worth picking up on the cheap, but overall it never rises to the same heights as other 2D adventures available on the Switch.

Anodyne is definitely a strange game. On one hand, the surrealism it provided definitely made for a cool game world, but it did not feel properly executed on the story side of things. On top of that, the lackluster game map and limited aspect ratio did not do the game any favors either.

While Anodyne has its share of shortcomings, it more than makes up for it through beautiful dreamscapes and a compelling narrative about a serious and worthwhile topic.

Set in the hero Young’s subsconscious, the world of Anodyne can be quite unusual, unless you consider it normal to be doing things like talking to a lobster, for instance...

A clunky jump mechanic meant to be used in poorly designed platforming sections; a crowded HUD made so simply for the sake of looking more “16-bit;” enemies that are either easier to fight standing still or are designed purposely to be annoying, unkillable obstacles; and a map made entirely of dead ends and corridors all come together to make a boring and fractured slog largely not worth playing. If the final mechanic had been the core mechanic the entire way through, perhaps Anodyne would be worth the time investment it asks of you. Hopefully some of the lessons learned making it will be applied for its upcoming sequel, and the small bits of potential it does have can shine.

Anodyne is a fun minimalist bite-sized 16-bit infused action-adventure that pays homage to the beloved The Legend of Zelda series while doing its own thing. You can probably finish this one in a handful of hours, and you'll be back for more if you want to get all trophies to add a new Platinum trophy to your collection.

Anodyne is a great throwback to the adventure games we used to play back in the day on our Game Boy, and I liked the way we could explore as we played, and that the game doesn't take itself too seriously. I definitively recommend this game to players looking for adventure games on PlayStation 4!

Anodyne is indeed reminiscent of 2D Zelda titles, but it manages to not be bound by comparisons as it offers a fresh and welcome take on this style of game.