Anodyne 2: Return to the Dust Review

Since 1996, I have never seen such a sunset again. Based on the appearance of 3D PS1 and N64 games, the island environment of Anodyne 2 is like a version of Hyrule Field, swallowed by the coral reef of Chrono of Square Enix. cross. From the aliasing of waterfalls to the dirty paintings of distant surroundings, this is a subtle reproduction of the lost period of beautification of video games. However, despite its original historical particularity, it is constantly declining-nano-dust, a mysterious force that invades the mind and body of the inhabitants of the New World, causing (or at least revealing) strange anxieties and desires. .

20190803132956_1 "data-uri =" 2019 / articles / 2019-08-08-17-27 / 20190803132956_1.jpg "/>

<figcaption data-lazy-src=

You will enter there. You play the role of Nova, the silver-clad, rehabilitation agent on the tip of the leg, an egg that the invisible creator and supervisor on the island hatched from the center. Using the ability to shrink to microscopic dimensions (this involves a mysterious and pleasing rhythm-matching mini-game), you must teleport to the soul of each New Rand and use a vacuum gun to clear the withering from the inner work, Eliminate strange fantasies by accumulating dust. You will then unload this dust in a containment facility in Cenote, a city in the game, where it can be used as an energy source to drive sand storms on the island and expose new areas. Anodyne 2 plays the role of the trump card: shrinking in each character's mind is another older game, carefully crafted 2D mosaic dungeon in the spirit of linking the past.

This is not industry history, it is not defined as the pace of technological progress, but rather a big tree-hardware constraints, design practices and aesthetic traditions are intertwined. Except that this metaphor is too static: Anodyne 2's achievement lies in how it transcends the brilliance of its generational transformation concept, thus covering the short experimental world. In the process, when Nova learned to look at dust with less fear, it also doubted the symmetry and authority control represented by the center. The overall fable of the game is very simple and clear, because of all the daunting theoretical talents and self-reflection in its creation. This is an adult story about learning to live with the ugliness and uncertainty of life for the beauty and wonder of life.