Anima Flux

The game is hurt a little by having local only co-op and not online coop, but with some third party programs and one person buying the game, you can sort of get around that. Outside of that, there are some decisions that are a little questionable, and the melee character seemed mostly useless or at least at a significant disadvantage in almost every combat situation which is a shame.

There are a lot of things that this game could benefit from, some small examples being destructible objects dropping currency, having less rewardless paths and platforms, and having some more unique upgrades. The objectives are also a little off, it's hard to know what is required and what's not until you hit a hard stopping point and realize the random side quest you accepted and did not complete is actually the reason why the game is disproportionately hard and confusing (Story was rough).

There's also one room in particular with three power switches which may have been the most miserable back tracking experience I've ever had in any game ever.

Game is very close to being incredible, just needs a few minor tweaks honestly, but will have to give it just an above average rating. I think I'd still recommend it, but I might recommend it as a single player experience instead of coop if you're looking for a general metroidvania itch.

I'm not even sure how to start this review. Sure I've only got 30 mins into the game and beat the second boss on the roof tops. But here goes.

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I can't even begin to remember a time where I needed to rebind almost all the controls of a game just to start. It's baffling to look at the default layout and think anything feels sorted out correctly.
Then going on to the movement/animation/fluidity of the game, there just something so jank with it all.

Sure you can tell the character are like these animated cut-outs, but the issue is things feel... off. Like everything is a recorded cut-scene?? It's like Thief 2016 where everything isn't actually something you're doing, but a cut-scene that you've activated. I don't know how to put it. And because you have to finish out the animation there's a hurkey-jerky-ness to things.
Climbing, attacking, elevators, lifts.

These were my instant opening impressions on starting the game, and...it does not improve.

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Gameplay/Combat: As mentioned there's a jank to combat that just doesn't feel right. Your character locked in place with this bizarre built in dodge/dash. Like you have to attack and <> to activate it. Just a really weird DEV decision, like why not just have it on a dedicated button, but keep it's cool-down.

I'm not certain on the number, but I'm pretty certain the sword does 30-50% less damage than the bow.
"Huh...? We're really going the the inverse of the risk reward system? More danger close up = less damage?"
I nearly died to 2-3 scorpions because his 3 hit combo isn't A) fast enough B) do enough damage to kill them.

I saw this in someone else's review but ill repeat it. Why the fakk are we buying health pots IN THE HOME BASE?
It's reasonable to think, okay sure you have to scavenge when you're in the field, but at home? Really?? You're the tyrannical overlords with an Iron Fist over the world and were struggling to afford band-aids and neosporin in the command center?
Buying the map function? Paying to open doors, or elevators? I'm so confused... do I have to pay to lock the door in the bathroom?
Are there children who will be asking for an allowance?

Already I can smell there's an "economy" in here that isn't well though out.


Story/Characters: Wow.... it's been a while since Ive had a cold water splash like this, in the rude awakening of (unexplained at the outset) unlikable characters. Maybe this is explained later, but damm, there was an instant thought of
"Why are YOU so fakking rude?" and "Why are YOU just such a lone wolf stereotype?"
>>Ugh...just when you think you're out...they pull you back in. *hacks a loogie into a spittoon*<<

It opens with a the classic Research Monsters have escaped the facility premise, but there's no prelude/preamble.
No gentle nudge of what's happening. It's just
"GOGOGO! MONSTERS HAVE ESCAPED! DONT ASK QUESTIONS! JUST KEEP MOVING AND KILL THEM, AND WE HOPE YOU DONT NOTICE WERE NOT SAYING ANYTHING"

Un-Engaging and uninviting.


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I dunno mate there's something that really ain't clicking with me. I'm fairly certain it's this game as a whole, but I did just come off playing Hollow Knight. And maybe this is just such a step down I can't give this game a fair shake, but damn this game just isn't it.

I really wanted to love this game. And that’s what makes this review so frustrating.

TL;DR version: Great concept but way too many bad design choices.

PROS:
- Co-op Metroid game!
- Easy controls and responsive platforming.
- Sound and music fits the environment and is snappy and well done.
- Unique art style with animated cut scenes.

CONS:
- Fast travel system is terrible. Why can’t I jump between Animachine locations?
- Way too much pointless running for no reason.
- Ammo is way too scarce.
- It costs money to unlock objectives for no good reason.
- It costs money to refill ammo at stations.
- I can’t swap between secondary weapons without a stupid machine.
- Melee character is useless 75% of the time.
- Shields make no sense.
- No mini-map.
- Bottomless pits.
- Ridiculously random drop ratios from enemies.
- Samey enemies with little variety in form and attacks.

As a concept, this game is amazing. Even the setting is a great place for an explorative Metroid platformer. I’m curious about the characters and interested to see the next animated sequence. The idea of exploring this in local co-op (we did remote play too, works great) is fantastic. One character durable and melee focused and the other an archer. Upgrades are progressive, for (for the most part) work as intended.

The musical queues are good and keep up the ambience of this infested colony or space station. And the characters constantly quipping each other is enjoyable.

That’s where the good parts end.

Where do I start? The fast travel system might as well not exist. There is so much back tracking that exists for no reason. Why can’t I teleport between Animamachines? You should be able to fully heal and teleport between “machine tubes” - PERIOD. Making us walk to “fast travel” for no reason other than to pad the run time is ridiculous.

And WHY even “load me” into the machine just to heal? 30 seconds of loading time on my RTX 4090 with 64 GB of RAM is madness. So I can push the X button once and leave again?

And why for the love of God do your shields not restore in the Animachine? Why are they even in the game if you can’t get them to restore normally? The enemies have incredibly random drops and purchasing shields is basically a waste of time.

And don’t be me started on drops. Enemies hardly ever drop ammo, shields, and never drop health. But the money they drop, I must use to restore my health packs, ammo, open doors, and buy stuff from NPCs that do nothing. Why? So I have to do more useless grinding against similar enemies? PAD THE RUN TIME.

Also what business does a co-op Metroid game have with pits and traps that kill you instantly and make your partner sit around for 20 minutes while I find a machine? Whoops my nose touched this slow moving piston so I burst into a pile of guts.

There are just too many bad decisions made for no apparent reason. The difficulty and combat is FUN when I’m not grinding for no reason or standing in the corner waiting for the archer to kill everything because 75% of the enemies fly or you can’t get close to them. And this takes even longer because the archer does a stupid 3 shot burst with random spread 100% of the time. How about right stick aims and RB fires one arrow? And I can spam if I want to?

All in all, I will play to completion. But only because I have come this far.

I hope my review saves someone from wasting their time.

Meh...

I was really excited about trying the game with my friend on the steam deck since it says that it supports Remote Play. Big disspointement ! When we tried to play it together the game kept freezing once my friend accepted the remote play invitation, the home page of the game would froze and push us out of the game and sometimes would only show us a black screen making us restart the steam deck. Waiting for an urgent fix

Sorry, but I don't have time to press as many buttons as the game demands.
No! I don't have 10 hands, but I still managed to unite some BOSSes :D

will there be a sequel?

It's a decent metroidvania.
I found the story decent, though some of those cutscenes were a bit hard to watch action wise, but that's just me being picky about the art style used for the cutscenes and not really getting into it.
Combat is decent, but I will question why the main attack button is set to right bumper on a gamepad. For a combat type game, I would have preferred the basic attack to have been one of the main buttons instead of a bumper. You get the option to play either an archer or sword user and you can switch between them anytime, but I mainly played as the archer as I found the melee combat pretty bad (sluggish and hard to really deal with multiple enemies until you get the dash upgrade). An issue that annoyed me for a bit with 2 person switching system is that when you die with your controlled character, it auto switches to the other character where it was when you died so you easily end up walking right into attacks or off edges due to the sudden location switch.
As for exploration, its pretty good but the biggest flaw is the map system. You don't start off with the map and have to find the map vendor to buy a map mod. The second map mod you can buy gives you icons to your map. However, the map does not mark collectibles, which is fine but it also does not give you markers to mark the map which is not very user friendly for a modern metroidvania. As for moving around the map, It takes a bit to get used to due to lots of elevators leading to relatively "long" load times for just moving between areas compared with other metroidvanias.
Overall, I find this a good buy for the price point.

Unlike many games, which wear out their welcome after a while, this one kept getting better and better. Which is to say that the beginning was rough. My main problem was figuring out the map - once I got it it made perfect sense. Bosses are hard early on but later as you get power ups, quite easy.

The graphics are very pleasing, the soundtrack atmospheric and exploration fun.

not what I had envisioned before.
but, uh, not as bad as it could have been.
I can't give it a neutral rating, so I'm giving it a tentative like.
too easy for me <3

A frustrating experience I would not recommend.

The only good thing the game got going for it are the visuals which are arguably great but the rest is not good.

Movement during combat and the combat itself is clunky, sound effects barely exist and if they do they are either under-tuned or over-tuned. Navigating the world is super annoying thanks to the very un-metroidvania like usage of background doors. The dialogue is in places disjointed and overwhelms you with references to things you do not care about or matter, all in the name of haphazard world building to the detriment of the gameplay.

## Movement
There are mainly two decisions for the movement that make it feel unnecessarily sluggish:

Jumping causes you to slow down upon landing:
It just feels plain bad to be robbed of your speed when you hop around, each time you land your character slows down for a bit. Besides feeling weird and out of place compared to other metroidvanias where jumping around is a given, it can actively sabotage you. For example during the second boss fight (the first real boss after the tutorial boss) it sometimes does a lunge attack. You can avoid it by walking away from it once it jumps back to engage it, but if you yourself land from a jump at any time, you will be too slow to get out.

If the combat was designed around commit heavy actions then I would understand. But this game wants to be fast paced, so please let me bunny hop around in peace. Honestly, it feels more like bug than actually intended.

Slowdown while intersecting with enemies:
There is no contact damage in this game. But your character gets slowed while intersecting with an enemy sprite during normal walking. While jumping rids you from that slowdown, it has the downside as described before where the landing slows you down. So it's not a good option to preserve speed.

Basically no matter what you do, walk or jump, you get constant sources of slowdowns that make me feel like I'm wading through molasses.

## World navigation

Other 2d platformers just use a plain 2d layout for their world. You navigate to different parts by going into whatever screen direction the thing is you want to go towards which makes them fairly intuitive. Yet here rooms have background doors that warp you just wherever. They do not adhere to any spatial rules and the only way to know where they lead is by looking at the map. I never have a feeling of intuitively knowing where I am or which door I need to use to get to where I want to be. I have to constantly check the map and look up where that door in front of me is going to lead.

## Sound design
It doesn't feel like much care was given to it or it feels unfinished? It's hard to describe for me but I'll try to explain some of my impressions:

The game has some screens and moments where no BGM is playing. The only thing that occasionally tunes in is the very plain combat music but many encounters are so short that it barely has time to play a few notes before fading out again.
Some enemies like the swarms do not trigger the BGM at all and they themselves do not possess any SFX. Like those flying swarm balls enemies. So the only sound during that is the SFX of the sword swings and the constant loud SFX spam of your "passive" regenerating (the thing you can use to stun enemies with sword dood or dodge with range dudette).
The screams when you press L3 + R3 feel out of place? Fires are super silent while other SFX are loud.

## Writing
Not good. It's weird through how much superfluous text the game puts you through and how little gameplay is to be had. Maybe this changes later on but we were bored while navigating the start.

Right from the beginning the game tries to establish one character as a strict military no nonsense woman and the other as a more loose canon rebel kinda guy. They instantly barrage each other with their most extreme character traits, despite just meeting. Normal humans do not act like that at all to each other, it just feels rushed and very artificial.

Right after that the tutorial and upon reaching the initial hub the game has already introduced 5+ named characters with different goals, some rebel refuges side story, bio experiments, something something gladiators and military. How do they all relate to you? Who are you? Your characters themselves know it just the player doesn't and the game doesn't try to the basics for to even care.

Anima Flux was a pleasant suprise that had me hooked after a few hours right untill the very end. The game starts off with combat that feels rough initially, which unfortunately deters some players, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes very addictive. The reason for this is that you start out without a dodge so you can only jump over enemies to dodge them. But your adversaries are fast and numerous so it can often feel like you're getting rushed and that there isn't much counterplay. Once you get the dash though you can dodge attacks and also create much more space between yourself and the enemies. That is if you're playing the ranged character Eileen, who was my prefered playstyle.

That's because Anima flux's unique standout feature is the dual character nature that allows you to instantly swap from Eileen's bow to Roy's sword. Ofcourse you can also play the game coop which is probably even more fun. But that doesn't mean the single player experience is bad. Far from it, the companion's AI is quite capable enough to hold their ground in combat, although it must be noted that most of the time the enemy AI, specifically bosses, will focus you. This made the game both more challenging and more fun, as you didn't have to worry as much about your AI partner falling in battle. In fact the amount of times i died vastly outnumbers that of my AI companion, because of the game's relative difficulty.

Said difficulty started off rough as mentioned above but across the game felt very fair and rewarding, especially once acquiring a few upgrades. Said upgrades are purchasable after completing some intuitive sidequests which served as a good way to vary gameplay as well as incentize exploration more given the fact that upgrades were substantial and noteworthy. Without some of those i would have died a lot more to some of the later bosses and hordes, but if you're seeking a challenge you can skip out on the combat related ones. There's some related to mapping and exploration, like acid bombs to melt steel walls or electric arrows to kickstart a generator. This made their use as consumables in combat less likely as you would hold on to them for exploration purposes.

Exploration in Anima fllux was very good in my opinion. The level design was honestly great and each area had its own unique gameplay gimmick. Special mention here goes to the hydraulic presses level which was home to a several rooms wide puzzle that was inginiusly crafted. There's some levels that feel a bit samey in the city district but the sewer and industrial levels felt distinct, as did the infested areas. The way they're laid out on the map also makes sense, with sewers and waste processing at the bottom, city and barracks in the middle and the fancy city districts at the top. They're connected through a series of elevators which judging by some negative reviews confused some players.

Personally i found these elevators to be thematically fitting while making the level design feel different from most other metroidvania's. The unfortunate aspect in this is that moving around the map, especially from one biome to the other can take a while. They all lead you to the hub where you can take a different elevator to a central location in a different biome. The thing that made this a bit annoying was the slightly lenghty loading times of each room which is the area that needs the most improvement imo. I have to say though that i had it installed on a HDD so you will probably see better results on an SSD. Still though this was the only technical hurdle the game had.

Framerate was steady and i encountered no crashes or bugs. Well other than the infestations running rampart through the city. There's not that much enemy variety in these but i didn't find this to be an issue as each was fun to fight and like the zergs you just have large swarms of this brood which probably came from their respective matriarch. These serve as the game's bosses and are basically larger versions of their brood, but they have additional attacks to ramp up the challenge. I found these bosses to be very enjoyable after i acquired the dash and were the highlight of the game.

The other highlight was the beautiful art style. Anima flux is a joy to look at due its crisp visuals with high fidelity assets and great compositions. Each background is chock full of environmental storytelling, from bloody trails tappering off into a vent to piles of viscera scattered about. There was tons of attention to detail given to make this actually feel like an overrun space metropolis, which made for a very immersive experience paired with the great sound design. Unfortunately the music wasn't as present only picking up every now and then in combat and mostly lacking during exploration.

This did give the game a bit of an eerie vibe but proper music could have done this better. It didn't feel like deliberate silence as much as it did a lack of music composed for the game. Still though it worked well when it did which mostly applies to story beats to. The main story beats are delivered in beautifully animated cutscenes but were sometimes hard to follow along? I enjoyed watching them but the real narrative intrigue came, other than environmental storytelling, from well writen logs you can find. They form a dark narrative that plays in the background but did give me some slight chills when i pieced them together.

The dialogue between the two characters on the other hand was a bit akward or cringey at times but their development across the game was executed well enough to be left satisfied in the end. The whole game did through a combination of fun combat/bosses, great level design, environmental storytelling and visuals. Where the load times, dialogue and music could still be improved they were not enough of a hinderance to drag the experience down. In the end Anima flux was a highly enjoyable experience and one of my favorite Scifi metroidvania's i've played right after ultros and ghost song. I recommend it!

Well, it's just classic: Unprecedented vibe, epic battles, interesting mechanics. They know how to make games

++++ love STEALTH, but it seems not this time :DDDDDDDDD

he very case when absolutely nothing is clear, but you just want to enjoy the gameplay
bravo, developers

This was incredibly disappointing. First of all, the maze of elevators is just absurd. Honestly one of the most confusing and idiotic things I have ever seen in a video game. Second of all, there has been almost zero character progression in the form of upgrades or new items since I started playing, and I killed 2 bosses already. Whats the point of even playing? Third, no dash ability in the beginning, so you are left to jump through and around enemies that are smacking on you the whole time. Its so frustrating to play. I have no idea when I will get a dash, and I don't want to keep playing these 2 supposed super soldiers with no abilities or gear. As someone who plays solo the majority of the time, I loved the idea of being able to switch between ranged and melee, and thats the best thing I could say about this game. Do NOT buy this game right now, or maybe ever. I regret paying 17 dollars and I would not even pay 2 for it either. Epic fail.

Anima Flux

Gameplay:

I’ve been following this project for a long time, and now that I’ve purchased it, I can say that almost all expectations have been met. The game offers unique gameplay with the ability to explore the world and fight bosses alone or with a friend, which seems like an undeniable plus. It’s great to spend an evening with a friend relaxing to beautiful design and music.
The idea and plot of the game are certainly well thought out, but I would like the plot to be improved.
There is also a way to play through Steam Deck. The fighting system wasn’t very liked, and it would be nice to see it not like it is now.
Overall, the game clearly deserves 8/10.

Been looking for something similar for a while and I think I found it.
My 4 hours this evening went splendidly.
I killed several bosses, but often I had to try again. because of some peculiarities of their behavior (who understood, will understand)
I experienced some annoyance fighting Headgrabber Crusher (I won't spoiler)
I prefer to play with the XBOX controller and this time I experienced the best settings, I was comfortable.

P.S: It's a shame this game wasn't made by Koreans or we'd have 18+ characters.

Play. Kill enemies. Again.

Let's go through the pros and cons clearly.

Positive:
+ visual style of the game
+ the "bomb" scene of the event (I really liked the introductory "
+ there is training in the game
+ availability of achievements
+ global bundle of levels

Minuses:
- IT IS NECESSARY to COMPLETELY redesign the battle mode (as a minimum improvement in this aspect of the game will involve a new audience)
- bosses have too low IQ

7/10

I truly wanted to like this as I love metroidvanias and the fact it’s co op made it an instant buy. The controls are very clunky and when attempting to edit keybindings on controller it did not allow it, page just got stuck. The combat is bare bones not fleshed out at all and it makes it very easy on the ranged character and difficult for the melee. The enemies have poor design and no attack patterns as well as single attacks. I’ve only fought three bosses and they were designed terribly, just large variants of normal enemies with the same attacks. The map is awful and confusing. The first three zones all use the same color palette so it’s hard to tell when you’re even in a new one. The progression is incredibly lackluster and fulfilling.

I will say the positives are the art style, which in cinematic and cutscenes it looks incredible, and the fact that it’s co op.

I would say if you want to play it with a friend or spouse wait for a sale as it feels like a flash game on newgrounds.

Definitely not a bad game in the metroidvania genre.
The genre is not my thing, but it turned out to be very fun and interesting to play.
Good translation into languages. Great plot twist, interesting story.
Graphics at the proper level. No bugs during the game.
The game is quite complex, which makes it more interesting.

Extremely positive, corresponds to its value.

- >>>>>I have time to visit and drink tea while my opponent tries to swing for a punch.

At least here they don't ask you to buy paid DLC to get to the next boss.
I love indie games for their special and not fake atmosphere.
You don't find that in AAA projects
8\10 Eileen

animated intro like in Japanese comics <3
it's like a little cartoon movie.
Who is that? Why does he keep running behind me?
Oh, that's my teammate. Okay. I'll try to get used to him.
I like archery the best!
The last thing I like to do is take damage haha

I love rage mode

Anima Flux is a vivid representative of a unique idea turned into reality.
Metroidvania + platformer + co-op = Anima Flux
Despite this, the game supports single-player play. which allows you to be independent of the very eggplant, which you have to constantly wait for...
You can switch between the two heroes, control them. In the process, they exchange a few words, which adds to the atmosphere. However, they are of little use in terms of non-linear development of the storyline.
Each location\level is unique. Each level is like a new chapter of the comic book.
Need dexterity in battles. You have to think fast and react quickly. Opponents are often strong and will leave you with a low level of life.
Too bad there is no voice acting. i think it would be great. maybe someday you will add it?

long-awaited release / thanks for not being in early access.

possibly one of the best games of the week
and definitely the best metroidvania today ^^
+ co-op mode. it's always more fun to go to the finish line together overcoming an exciting but also not easy narrative
+ unique abilities and skills. it looks very spectacular!
+ animated scenes...wow! look at them.
+ dialog, irony and satire. It's uplifting.
+ some references to retro games of the late 90's *NOSTALGIA ATTACK*

- high cost. popular competitor games are cheaper, even though they are not worth mentioning, everyone already knows about them. so, before buying, make sure that there is a 20% or more discount.

sometimes there are too difficult opponents.... it would be too much...

AF - comic book game. at least the style is very cute to me. reminded me of comic books, now they are kinda alive.... unique experience.

A breathtaking dystopian metroidvania with cyberpunk vibes, which can be played both in solo and co-op modes. Fun battles and exploration of a giant spaceship with hidden areas and secrets. A good game to spend an evening or two together with your friend. Real old-school gamers will enjoy this experience!

After going through the tutorial, I realized the most important thing: - “Forget everything you've been taught before...”
hats off to whoever worked on the level design.
That's great, man.

No, it's not Dead Cells
but there is the option to play with a friend. That's an advantage, and not just any advantage.
I'll admit, I was expecting more from the battles with opponents. I CAME HERE TO FIGHT!!!!1
Why are the enemies so stupid? They just run at me, ignoring everything I do.
At this point I can only appreciate the single player mode.
***no, i can't help but highlight this visual style and dialogues. i think i'm ready to replay the game again and again to take part in this heartfelt conversation with so much humor lol

You should play for at least one hour before forming your evaluation. I have learned this from my own experience. The training may seem too easy and even boring, perhaps it could have been avoided?
I didn't see a direct connection between training and gameplay.
Not only do I not regret the time spent, but I consider the likelihood of playing it with someone in the lobby.
Man, that looks pretty sweet. If I were a maul blogger, I would love to use screen recording to make it a gameplay background video when I narrate something.
The eerie styling of some of the levels is impressive.
However, I would like to keep going through to confirm my hopes by the end of the game.
I'm satisfied for now. we'll see

I hate this. It reminds me of Ghost 1.0, where every room has 3+ elevators attached too it. The game has a terrible start too, because you don't have a map and are constantly going in circles in this elevator maze, where every room looks the same. You do get a map in the first hour (if you don't get lost too much), and it helps, but only to a limited extent, it could have better lables.

There doesn't appear to be much emphasis on platforming and the combat (where the emphasis appears to be) feels pretty bad and shallow. In the first hour your only defense is to run away from or through enemies (no dash) while hitting things. In a tight retro platformer that would be fine, but against enemies that you need to hit many times that move fast, it doesn't feel good. Your AI companion is mostly a hindrance that walks into trouble and takes damage, you can park him at the entrance of each area if you want though.

There's a fair bit of dialogue and some so-so cutscenes that I didn't care for at the start of the game too (I was able to skip though it though), not something I'm looking for in a 2D action/platformer.

I wasn't struggling to make progress in this game, but even putting the uncomfortable navigation aside, it was dull and unappealing in almost every way. It apparently only goes for 5 hours (making it overpriced for what it is), and this first hour has been enough for me to know that while this is playable, I'm just terribly bored with it and don't wish to see any more. The one thing I can say is that the visuals looked nice.

lovely MV that oozes with atmosphere. Looks and feels extremely polished and the co-op is a nice addition for those who'd like to play with a friend. The combat is more of a fast action/slasher type, pretty fun, though I'd like some more hit feedback.

If you're a MV, you should definitely give it a try.

Enjoying it so far, but any reason why i cant seem to bind map to my controller? But games gorgeous and runs smooth so far.