"Oh Baby"
Anima Gates of Memories is an anime inspired action RPG which throws you straight in at the deep end. You are known as The Bearer but you won't be on your travels alone. You have an unusually annoying sidekick called Ergo and together you are part of sect known only as Nathaniel and you have been tasked with obtaining a relic called the Byblos. When the game begins you and Ergo are transported to another land with no idea of how you got there.
After you have composed yourself and have taken in your new foreboding surroundings a quick tutorial guides you through the basic controls. This controls teach you the standard fare of jumping, rolling, attacking and combinations of all three for offensive and defensive manoeuvres. When you are attacking you can fire projectiles along the ground which is great for damaging and forcing enemies back to give you a little breathing space. You with need to master there moves very quickly and timing is key to executing combos perfectly so you cause the most damage possible and trust me you're gonna need to get there moves down as if they are second nature because Anima Gates of Memories is one tough game.
You only get two difficulty settings to choose from Easy or Normal. So without hesitation I chose Normal thinking how hard could that setting be. It's hard, damn hard and it kicked my arse all over the place. The only other game I can compare it to is Devil May Cry and I never got very far with that game. I really did have a hard time getting to grips with the game and wish I had started on Easy.
My advice is not to rush in when you see a group of enemies. Trust me it's not in your best interests. Dodging and rushing enemies should be your game plan otherwise your going to die over and over. The Devil May Cry comparison doesn't get any clearer than when you find yourself surrounded by a large group of enemies who are all firing lasers at at ridiculous speeds while your dodging each laser and trying to take down each enemy one at a time. If you do decide to go in all guns blazing choose your fights wisely. You can dispatch small groups but even that is difficult.
The boss fights are a whole different level altogether. If I thought simple minion fights were tough this was another level of anguish. You really do need to master all of your skills to progress. This is when you need to make the most of your recovery items to replenish any lost health. But be warned that there items are not an instant boost but they replenish your health over time so use them only when you know you will get the most use out of them and in this game that very rarely happens during battle. You pin each item to a direction on the D Pad so they are easily accessible at any time but for some baffling reason there is a short delay between the pad being pushed and the item being used which is maddening. Sometimes you die before the item has even been used and when you're so close to killing an enemy that delay just kills the game on the spot for me.
Everytime you kill something they/it drops EXP which let you level up and health which buffs you up. As you level up you can gain new skills by spending your skill points. This system is simple and very intuitive. If you develop two skills that are connected you unlock the skills for the entire line. It's watery simple system to use and understand so even an imbecile like me can use it.
One of the more cringe worthy aspects of the game is the voice acting. It's is diabolical. It's your typical over the top anime stuff which I can't stand. Special praise must be given to the voice actor being Ergo. How the hell anyone thought that grating tone and overuse of the phrase “Oh Baby” was a good idea offer stringing tp from a very tall tree. Within minutes I couldn't stand listening to him and constantly skipped important dialogue scenes whenever he spoke. It's been awhile since a character annoyed me this much but Ergo has that distinction.
Anima Gate of Memories is one tough bitch to conquer and there are some very strange gameplay decisions that have been made during development. The quick phlegm difficulty will put a lot of people off but if you're up for a challenge then you might find what you're looking for here.
Modes: Single Player
4.71 GB
03/06/2016
Anima Project
Badland Games
Action & Adventure, Role Playing
Anima: Gates of Memories is available now for £15.99
Review code supplied by XCN