Anamorphine

49%
Game Brain Score Based on 40 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • music
Anamorphine Game Cover
The indie video game scene has made huge strides and seen so many successes in representing issues of mental health lately that it hurts that much more when a game falls this far short.
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"Anamorphine" is an emotional exploration game with no dialogue or action button, where players delve into the protagonist Tyler's mind to resolve his past and present. The surreal environment represents Tyler's changing feelings and mental state, with the narrative focusing on an evolving relationship. This story-rich game with exploration gameplay aims to resonate with both hardcore and new gamers.

  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Virtual Reality
  • Windows
  • Oculus Rift
  • Play​Station
  • Play​Station VR
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

49%
Audience ScoreBased on 40 reviews
story11 positive mentions
optimization3 negative mentions
  • Anamorphine features a unique and artistic way of storytelling that effectively explores deep themes of loss, depression, and mental health.
  • The visuals are striking and beautifully crafted, creating a surreal atmosphere that enhances the emotional impact of the narrative.
  • The game successfully conveys its story without dialogue, relying on visual metaphors and a powerful soundtrack to engage players emotionally.
  • The game suffers from numerous technical issues, including long loading times, frame rate drops, and bugs that disrupt the gameplay experience.
  • Repetitive environments and mechanics, particularly the bike sections, detract from the overall immersion and can lead to player frustration.
  • Despite its interesting themes, the narrative execution feels disjointed and lacks the depth needed to fully engage players throughout the experience.
  • story42 mentions

    The story of Anamorphine is a surreal and emotionally charged narrative centered around themes of loss, mental illness, and the impact of trauma, conveyed primarily through visual storytelling rather than dialogue. While some players appreciate its unique approach and poignant moments, many criticize the execution due to repetitive themes, technical issues, and a lack of clarity in progression, which detracts from the overall emotional engagement. Despite its artistic ambition, the game's performance problems hinder its ability to fully immerse players in the story.

    • “Great original game with a creative and emotional way of storytelling.”
    • “Anamorphine successfully tells a story without words.”
    • “Anamorphine is a very unique walking simulator which explores very mature themes and has a very well presented intriguing story that successfully raises awareness of depression and the impact it can have on people’s lives.”
    • “While there are certain poignant moments in this game, dealing with serious subjects such as mental illness, depression, drug and alcohol abuse, relationship problems, and not being able to play the cello after a serious accident, the story is purposely vague.”
    • “The title tries to hint at despair and pain but does so fleetingly and without a more cohesive way of linking events, or support from other means of telling a story; its environmental storytelling falls flat on its face.”
    • “Anamorphine is a narrative adventure that fails to deliver its story with enough competence to offer the player any emotionally engaging content.”
  • graphics12 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players criticizing them as outdated and poorly executed, reminiscent of the Xbox 360 era, and plagued by frame rate issues. Conversely, others praise the visuals for their beauty and surrealistic qualities, highlighting the effective use of lighting and color that enhances the overall experience, particularly in VR. Overall, while some find the graphics to be a significant drawback, others appreciate their artistic merit and contribution to the game's atmosphere.

    • “The whole story is told through the visuals and mood of the game.”
    • “Anamorphine has incredible visuals, with impressive shaders reinforcing the surrealistic experience.”
    • “The art style especially is beautiful, using lighting and different colors to their advantage in situations that fit them being there.”
    • “Unfortunately, however, the continuous level loadings and graphics that can make some players nauseated make everything less than pleasant.”
    • “To add insult to injury, the game's graphics look bad, like Xbox 360 era bad, and there are several frame rate issues.”
    • “The game is cumbersome, buggy, controls awkwardly, reuses the same handful of ugly environments ad nauseum... the visual aesthetic is almost aggressively bland, and the sole animated character is lifeless and unexpressive (even when surrounded by literal statues)... the camera occasionally turns into a bouncing, juddering mess...”
  • music10 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and emotional depth, serving as a key element that enhances the storytelling and overall experience. Reviewers highlight its fitting nature, exquisite quality, and ability to create a powerful atmosphere without being intrusive, making it a standout feature of the game.

    • “The music is beautiful and fits the mood of the game very well.”
    • “There is no dialogue, but the music is superb and one of the main focal points of the game.”
    • “The music was very fitting.”
    • “Music is exquisite without being intrusive.”
    • “The emotional and powerful soundtrack is a unique way of interacting with the world.”
  • gameplay8 mentions

    The gameplay is characterized by extensive walking and object interaction to advance the story, with a bicycle mechanic that becomes repetitive and lacks fluidity. While the game features innovative storytelling and engaging visuals, it suffers from technical issues and a lack of variety, making it more suitable for players who appreciate narrative-driven experiences over traditional gameplay mechanics. Overall, it offers a unique emotional journey despite its gameplay shortcomings.

    • “The story was pretty good (and told well for not having words); I liked the interaction mechanic, and the music was very fitting.”
    • “Regardless, Anamorphine is a giant leap forward in conveying meaning and emotion through mechanics, and I hope we'll see more of those mind-bending adventures from Artifact 5 in the future.”
    • “Some visual/gameplay metaphors, scene transitions, and images are great; the story itself, while not being the most new and original, is quite good and presented with respect to its themes.”
    • “The gameplay involved a lot of walking from point A to point B and also gazing at certain objects, or getting close enough to them, to progress the story.”
    • “The game then goes on to use the bicycle mechanic around five times, through increasingly bland and repetitive landscapes, which eventually lose any sense of flow and leave you wondering where to go, but will still punish you with a janky camera and failing geometry if you veer off path.”
    • “The biking mechanics are extremely poor.”
  • emotional7 mentions

    Anamorphine is praised for its creative storytelling and emotional depth, with a powerful soundtrack that enhances the experience. However, some players feel it falls short in fully engaging them emotionally, with only a few moments resonating deeply. Overall, while it offers a unique narrative adventure, its emotional impact may not be consistently felt by all players.

    • “Great original game with a creative and emotional way of storytelling.”
    • “I'd like to go further, but it'd ruin the experience if I did, and I think that seeing the trailers takes away from the kick and emotional tug of the events that happen, especially for how long the game is, which for me was barely over an hour.”
    • “I understood that and felt that emotional impact.”
  • optimization4 mentions

    Anamorphine suffers from significant technical and performance issues, including stutters, freezes, and long load times, which detract from the overall experience. While the narrative offers a poignant exploration of loss and depression, the game's optimization problems hinder its entertainment value. Despite recent patches addressing some launch crashes, the performance issues remain a notable concern for players.

    • “The game's performance issues can't be ignored, but Elena's story will stick with you for a long, long time.”
    • “Although Anamorphine’s story is interesting, it ultimately fails to be a truly entertaining and fun experience due to the overwhelming amount of performance issues throughout.”
    • “Horrible performance issues, stutters, freezes, long load times, game-breaking crash at launch (now patched).”
  • stability3 mentions

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs, choppy framerates, and long load times that disrupt gameplay. Users report awkward controls and a confusing level design, compounded by technical problems that can lead to crashes and stuttering. Overall, these performance issues detract heavily from the gaming experience.

    • “The game is cumbersome, buggy, controls awkwardly, reuses the same handful of ugly environments ad nauseum... the level design is bland, confusing, and has no sense of direction... the visual aesthetic is almost aggressively bland, and the sole animated character is lifeless and unexpressive (even when surrounded by literal statues)... the story is almost comically melodramatic, and did not earn its shocking, morbid ending... the camera occasionally turns into a bouncing, juddering mess.”
    • “Choppy framerate, constantly stutters and temporarily freezes, extremely long load times, technical issues drag down the pacing.”
    • “Horrible performance issues, stutters, freezes, long load times, game-breaking crash at launch (now patched).”
  • replayability1 mentions

    The game is criticized for its low replayability, being described as a brief experience that does not justify its high price tag.

    • “What you're left with is a low-budget, brief experience with no replay value and a high asking price.”
    • “Once you've completed the game, there's little incentive to go back and play it again.”
    • “The lack of meaningful choices and consequences makes replaying the game feel pointless.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

56% average critic score

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