Anodyne 2: Return to Dust embarks us on Nova’s mission to help others.
I started to play Anodyne 2: Return to Dust after watching a trailer that left me quite surprised by the peculiar aesthetics of the video game. What began in a short session to check what his playable proposal was, ended up extending about two hours and in increasingly long game sessions. If something does right Anodyne 2 it is engaging with both its narrative and mechanics. Sean Han Tani and Marina Kittaka, its developers, manage to constantly surprise the player and evoking a retro aesthetic, they provide us with a video game loaded with reflections and brilliant ideas at each level that is advanced.
De Ocarina of Time a 2021.
While the series has a pre-release, the first Anodyne 2013, is that from the beginning it is manifested that it is not necessary to have played this title to face the sequel that in 2019 arrived on PC and recently on Xbox consoles. Both, both the first and the second Anodyne they are connected under the premise of taking charge of a purification task. Of course, not having played the first one and in order not to be ignorant, I cannot speak too much about the connections that may exist between the two. In Anodyne 2: Return to Dust We are awakened by two strange voices, Palisade and Samister, who will become our guides through the surreal world with aesthetics of the era of PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64 that the video game has.
Our name is Nova and we are a creature capable of being reduced to microscopic sizes, an ability that a short time later we will be told that it is the key to defeating the evil that consumes the landscape and creatures of the world, the nanoparticles of dust. There are two ways of approaching this video game, one is fully complying with the more mechanical part of helping others and going from point A to B without paying much attention to what is said. Another option is to get caught up in what the video game has to say, its aesthetics or sometimes strange dialogues, all surrounded by an aura of mystery and fascination that surrounds each game.
The video game has points in which it leaves quite reflective comments and that I consider each player will be able to interpret in a different way, so assessing what they may mean for me would be to close the door to other interpretations. From the first minute a lot of information is thrown at us that it will be our task as players to spin everything. Beyond the reflections that are passing through, unusual characters and unrecognizable landscapes is that the most relevant connection between the first and second Anodyne It comes to the moment of entering the nanoscopic world.
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A video game on two scales.
To remove the corruption within beings, Nova will be reduced to a tiny size that the video game represents through 2D sequences. The 3D part is then relegated to the platform and exploration while the 2D part is for the more mechanical part and in which to put the protagonist’s skills into action. None of these parts is more relevant than another and the constant back and forth between perspectives is something that feels very comfortable. Both the 3D and 2D parts are continually reinvented so words like repetition or boredom don’t even come close.
The duality between duller colors between the world of life size and that of nanoscopic size present two very different aesthetics, on the one hand a world to see with fascination but also with some caution and on the other hand a world full of color and that each creature we enter shows different mechanics. The nanoscopic world is then the one that changes the most, surely due to the fact that they are different creatures, although it has common elements such as certain enemies, ways to overcome a certain obstacle and of course the main objective, to destroy the dust structure that is corrupting the creature.
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At the level of difficulty, I can say that the balance is perfectly achieved and it is almost always easy to think about how to overcome the situations that arise. In the 2D world we have a health meter and total collected particles, attributes that we can improve as we progress. This sequel could have been, like the first, a 2D-only video game but making the leap to 3D and in turn being faithful to the foundations of the first game is a work that has a lot of merit. This continuous change between ways of interacting with the video game is a mix that could have turned out very badly but luckily (or surely a lot of dedication in its development) has no flaw and the flow of the game manages to be maintained at all times.
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It’s worth it?
For the little time that I have had lately my gaming sessions have been reduced to many times to only go from battle royale x to battle royale and, play Anodyne 2: Return to DustIt was the perfect opportunity to get out of the routine and find my first big surprise of 2021. I liked playing this second half so much that I already have in mind to find a space to play the first Anodyne And it is that finding great ideas that are also executed with such mastery is worthy of applause. See for the first time Anodyne 2 It can be disconcerting but having experienced what it has to offer I know that my only task is to encourage you to play it, the rest will happen by itself.
“There will be times when the world of Anodyne 2 seems strange and confusing to you, but in it you will find a human story of struggle and relationships.”
Anodyne 2: Return to Dust
19,99 €
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Pros
- Aesthetics never cease to amaze
- Unpretentious the story catches from the first minute
- The minigames before entering the 2D world are entertaining
- Very good job of translating the texts into Spanish
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Cons
- Its aesthetics you can either love or hate.
- Less experienced players can get disoriented
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