Anica: Euro-Pop Art

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Gizmog
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Anica: Euro-Pop Art

Post by Gizmog »

I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. No screenshots, quiet author. Could be anything! The title screen didn't narrow it down any, nor did the intro. The minimalist sci-fi graphics (Think Blade Runner as drawn by Willy Electrix) could be the mark of a genius, could be the work of a lazy man. The plot of the game focuses on the average, a kind of group-think ideology that's taking over the city the game takes place in. Are the graphics unusual as part of a thematic gestures or did the author just want to draw boxes with eye visors? Probably a little bit of both, but the city has a lot of touches beyond boxes with windows that make me lean towards a thematic approach. Your enjoyment will depend on just how much credit you can give the author for things like this.

I like the graphics personally, but they make it really hard to tell who you're talking to, where you're going, what you're looking for. This isn't your average battles RPG, it's more of a puzzler, a talk to the right people at the right time kind of game. It'd be nice if it were easier to tell who was who, what was what, where you can go just by looking, but it's a small enough game you can wander aimlessly and figure it out. Takes about an hour and is honestly pretty boring. Since we're dealing with themes of people being average and homogeny and all that rot, most of the NPCs say the same things and apparently they all bought thesauruses because their vocabulary is needlessly complex.

The music seems original and sets the tone splendidly, especially in the ending which is worth playing the game to see. The rest of the game is pretty ho-hum. Maybe that's the point, maybe it's not. Again, it all boils down to how much credit you want to give this guy. Looking at his website, which is advertised at the end of the game, he's some kind of Modern Art guy out of Europe, which fits with the intellectual approach and stylish minimalism. Like most Modern Art, it's an interesting experience but not always the most pleasant thing. Flip a coin, play it or don't. I think he'd want it that way.
Attachments
It's a game with a lot of things to say.
It's a game with a lot of things to say.
anica1.10006.png (7.9 KiB) Viewed 1795 times
Stylish, but hard to understand. Referring to both the graphics AND the text.
Stylish, but hard to understand. Referring to both the graphics AND the text.
anica1.10029.png (5.81 KiB) Viewed 1795 times
Something this game and I can agree on.
Something this game and I can agree on.
anica1.10010.png (3.42 KiB) Viewed 1795 times
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