Разработчик: Anvil Drop, LLC
Описание
Find your bearings in this strange new place by searching for a way to communicate with the omnipresent being known as Yuler, who appears to be the only other presence within Phiohm.
- Experiment with Ano’s ability to manipulate objects around you while trying to find your path through this unusual place.
- Rotate your world in order to solve mind-warping three-dimensional puzzles.
- Explore the depths of Phiohm to uncover the secrets of its past while you shape its future.
- Experience a uniquely dynamic soundtrack that builds upon itself as you explore your way through Phiohm.
- Feast your eyes on a strikingly abstract and colorful art style.
Поддерживаемые языки: english
Системные требования
Windows
- OS *: Windows Vista
- Processor: Dual-core Intel or AMD, 2.5 GHz
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: DirectX 10 Compatible card
- DirectX: Version 10
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- OS *: Windows 7/8/10
- Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD, 2.5 GHz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: DirectX 11 Compatible card
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 2 GB available space
Отзывы пользователей
=================TL;DR=================
This is a tough one. Anomaly is a bit of a hidden gem...but also my brain hurts. Also some of it is a bit clunky. Also the graphics and presentation aren't always on point.
So TL;DR of a TL;DR: Buy it if you are okay with a slight lack of polish in exchange for a fairly beautiful brain-busting 3D rotation-based puzzle solving platformer experience.
===============Pros n Cons===============
+ Graphics: In the second half of the game, where individual light sources are carefully placed, there's a real beauty and variety.
+ Audio: Simple satisfying sounds, some pretty decent music, and nothing bad to speak of.
+ Story: At what cost does one value freedom at? Is freedom the end goal?
+ Controls: Functional, rotation happening separate from the controls with 3D triggers in the world was a good call.
+ Dialogue: Ano's initial reactions and curiosity to everything is very cute.
+ Puzzles: There are multiple solutions, and the game really ups the difficulty by the end.
- Graphics: The first half of the game is primarily only blue and has more of a flat world lighting feel with fewer particle effects and other sources of different colors.
- Story: While the execution is decent, and the story is more of a reason/backdrop for Ano, the premise is fairly generic.
- Controls: Never before has rotating something 90 degrees the wrong way been so easy! (This isn't 100% the fault of the game)
- Dialogue: Stop or something bad will happen! Okay, wait, NOW something bad will happen...I'm warning you!
- Puzzles: The puzzles in much of the first half to 3/4th of the game are a bit too easy once you grasp the mechanics.
- The End: No, not the ending of the game. The part where you think it's the end...then you have to do more platforming through a long hallway for no reason at all.
- Tutorial: I like a game that doesn't hold your hand overly much, explains through show, not tell, and action. On the other hand, I thought my game was broken for a while because it doesn't indicate in any way that it is normal at first to not be able to understand the dialogue/language on the walls.
± Holes: Not necessarily plotholes, but after beating it I want more explanation...or more appropriately, exploration of the story's characters and lore.
================Overview===============
Hi everyone and welcome to this review of Anomaly 1729!
Gameplay:
So Anomaly 1729 is a hidden gem, albeit perhaps a slightly unpolished diamond. If there was ever a sequel or a reboot in the far off future, let's say it is a title with a lot going for it that could easily be capitalized on. In Anomaly you are a humanoid...robot(?) with a very natural curiosity to explore the world around you. You quickly find that the world, however, has other ideas. It wants to keep you where you are, with your freedom and curiosity intanct. Or maybe it only wants to keep you away from the truth?
Well, the world does this by changing all around you, at first against your will. Doors close as you clear areas, new passages open, and you're often maybe not quite sure where to go first or if it's possible to get there. This makes an interesting parallel with Ano, as you the player has to have a natural curiosity to see more to drive you forward as forward is often...not forward, but in any number of places, and in all places. So the question in Anomaly, is where do you go first to progress when you have to go everywhere anyway? It's nice, because you are often left free to explore the areas that seem most interesting first.
As you progress in the game, you slowly get more ability to control the world. You can stop or start moving platforms, rotate them, or make something push instead of pull. Eventually this results in you rotating whole rooms and floors to your brain's utmost dismay. It's absolutely beautiful, but hard to keep track of. What was just the ceiling is now the floor. What is now the floor is now again that wall to the right in the room. And all of it so that you can get through that door in the left side of the room that needs to be the floor. Welcome to Anomaly 1729. The game that asks: How badly you want to get to the end while challenging you, teasing you, and inviting you in for more with it's intriguing story, simple and effective graphics, good music, and openly oppressive world ready to be conquered.
Graphics:
The graphics in Anomaly 1729 are simple, and I would argue effective...just not at first. Blue, blue, and more blue, with perhaps a touch of gray. Eventually you get to darker blue. To be fair, in that stage of the game, things are simple and you are learning by doing and too much variety would detract from your ability to do so. It also works well with the story, as you are early on in a more innocuous area. I challenge you to bear with it, though, as once the game opens up the graphics really start to shine, literally. Textures that were repetitive get broken up by more individual feeling light sources, there's objects and particles everywhere, the level design becomes complicated, convoluted, and labyinthine resulting in a much more diverse and beautiful experience. Later on, it even becomes more obviously thematic. The visuals do a great job of representing the state of the world and its characters. Word around the block is that it makes for a gorgeous VR experience as well, although I wouldn't know personally.
Audio:
Okay, I'll come clean here: I absolutely love the sound the dialogue makes. I don't know why. It's just deeply satisfying for no other reason than some odd biological imperative or psychological effect/manipulation it was possibly designed to have. Moving on, though, there's not a whole lot to the audio of Anomaly 1729. The sounds are understated, concise, crisp, and then over. Again, this works well, as it leaves you free to think about the challenge and the world before you. That's not to say the audio feels empty or barren, although you may find yourself thinking that at a few points if you get stuck, as the music feels very dynamic and appropriately engaging if you pay attention but zen if you don't. The strength of the audio of Anomaly 1729 is that like the world, graphics, characters, etc. it all blends together to create a cohesive experience focused on solving the challenges and getting to the end of the world. So, how badly do you want to find out what's at the literal end of the world?
Conclusion:
I am hesitantly recommending Anomaly if you want something that challenges you at:
Half price if you want a fun 4-8 hour experience that may leave you scratching your head or:
Full price if you are a diehard puzzle game fan, like gravity/rotation puzzles, are addicted to games like Portal/The Talos Principle, etc.
But for either category you fall into, don't expect Anomaly 1729 to have quite the same level of polish or big budget value. Anomaly does, however, very much make up for it with it's raw and free design that clearly has some heart and soul poured in.
======================================
This endorsement approved by The Reviewers' Union,
providing better standards for reviews and reviewers.
======================================
Thanks to the developer at Anvil Drop, LLC and the publishing group of Black Shell Media for providing hours of puzzle goodness, entertainment and escape.
For weeks now on indie game sites, social media and such there seems to have been a bombardment of promotion for the game Anomaly 1729. Completing the game I understand why. I had not heard of it before and it was an easy purchase during the steam sale for $1 and its an easy recommendation to fans of puzzle platformers. Its has solid controls, platforming, story and unique mechanics that will keep you entertained for hours.
In Anomaly 1729 you play Ano a robot? Who is awakened? Created? Forced? Driven? To find meaning in the world of Phiohm and to find Yuler who is constantly warning you to stop. Why all the question ? Because completing the game it will be up to you to interpret the story. Could it be all a metaphorical interpretation or is it simply a journey of Ano? I felt very surprised by the story and it has a satisfying conclusion with player choice at the end. However the lack of voice work and even the minimal sound for when text messages were being presented minimized the impact of the story.
As you begin the game you find yourself staring at a wall of unreadable text. As you move forward you find a small station that unlocks the ability to translate some of the letters. These messages and stations are scattered throughout the world and there are also 10 unique stations holding the pages to the story of Anomaly. I only found 5 of the story pages as they can easily be missed but fortunately new game + allows you to carry those along with any of the found translations so some of the early messages will be readable. This whole aspect is unnecessary until you start new game + and understand that not being able to interpret those early messages leaves a sense a mystery to your journey.
Anomaly 1729 does not stray too far from the puzzle platform blueprint. You enter an (hub)area, learn some mechanics, enter a puzzle room and solve the puzzle in order exit. It's all straight forward and even if you are a novice or veteran of puzzle platformers nothing will be difficult to process. While Anomaly is linear for the most part there is not an actual "go here" next sign and I found myself on numerous occasions asking where am I supposed to go. As for the puzzles themselves again a lot of it will be familiar for vets with platform moving, jumping and a few switches to interact with but the uniqueness for Anomaly 1729 lies in the ability to rotate the room left, right, forward and backward. it's a cool effect done with motion blur and it makes for some interesting puzzle solving. The only problem I encountered with this ability were some of the larger rooms, due to the number of objects and shape of the room, as it rotates you could accidentally find yourself on the ledge of a platform and able to access the exit without really solving it correctly, if that make sense? One last thing I want to mention is the absolute fantastic controls. If there has been one mechanic for indie games that has continued to improve over the years it is the controls especially when it comes to platforming.
In terms of graphics the world of Phiohm could be viewed as a part of the Minecraft universe or Supermans fortress of solitude with its abstarct block shaped world and pitch black depths. That may be a turn off for some but has no impact for me personally. Anomaly also uses a a limited bright color scheme to bring some different aesthetic to areas with some cool lighting effects and that's fine but limited use of shadows is noticeable and it can make the world seem more lifeless. It still looks OK but some more attention to small details and effects would have improved the visual experience. This lack of attention also goes to the sound which is noticeably lacking. Though the soundtrack is pretty good with its use of sci-fi tones it's the lack of and minimal use of sound effects that is obvious and again impacts the experience.
Anomaly 1729 is the first puzzle game I didn'tt have to look up (Ill grind out wrong solutions for hours before caving) a walkthrough for any of the puzzles in a long time and that itself makes it worthy of a stress free recommendation. It's not without faults due to the exclusion of some better graphical effects and sound that would have made the experience more enjoyable but it does not overall impact the gameplay. I enjoy a good puzzle game and with its unique mechanic, solid platforming and story Anomaly 1729 is just that, a good puzzle game.
I played the game on a MSI Apach Pro 1080P max setting with m/kb
I experienced minor frame drops but nothing game breaking
Positives
Unique puzzle mechanics
Solid platforming and controls
Use of color breaks up empty world
Good story
NG+ carrys over translations earned
Negatives
Very Minimal environmental / action sounds
A few checkpoint problems near the end
Some puzzles felt like you could cheat to solve
Lack of achievements
No way to revisit areas to find all tanslation decodes
The main reason I write this review after only 30 minutes of playing is the fact that it's on sale at the moment.
I hope I can attract more potential buyers with my review and yes I payed for the game and bought it on Steam.
This game was on my wishlist and as I saw it on sale it was an instabuy.
The biggest anomaly besides the game's title is the low player count reflected by the lack of reviews.
Then again to gain visibility with 10000+ games on Steam is a hard thing indeed.
The games style is minimalistic and as a fan of cyberspace environments I like it.
The game's soundtrack is ideal to chill out. The idea of the game is deceivingly simple like a Rubik cube.
You navigate from entrance to level exit by rotating the environment and you'll soon notice that this is
easier said than done.
The game's engine is Unreal 4 enough said. Movement is responsive and precise as it should be for platforming.
The settings menue is as minimalistic as the game itself and I wish for a gamma setting.
How to play is pretty much self explanatory so the tutorial consists only of short in game hints.
I envy gamers having a VR set to play this gem.
I give this game my highest rating ever of 10/10.
I really would like to recommend this game. The visuals are amazing for an indie game at this price and I think with a little more polish it could be a really great Portal clone. Too many bugs spoiled it for me though. With a game where you need to be this precise to solve puzzles I would hope theyd do an extra thorough job of bug fixing it.
Love this game! I'm glad I gave it a try, I recommend that you do too! Challenging and makes you think, and fun! 10/10
Based on the 20 minutes or so I have played so far, this game seems very solid. It has a really neat mechanic similar to Fez but set in a full 3D world. If you're looking for a challenge and new type of puzzle to solve I would definitely take a chance on this game.
Дополнительная информация
| Разработчик | Anvil Drop, LLC |
| Платформы | Windows |
| Ограничение возраста | Нет |
| Дата релиза | 23.01.2025 |
| Metacritic | 49 |
| Отзывы пользователей | 83% положительных (6) |