Anamorphine

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.

52%Game Brain Score

story, graphics

gameplay, optimization

59% User Score Based on 32 reviews

Critic Score 56%Based on 8 reviews

Platforms

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About

Anamorphine is a single player action game with a drama theme. It was developed by Artifact 5 and was released on July 31, 2018. It received neutral reviews from both critics and players.

"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.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

59%

Audience ScoreBased on 32 reviews

story11 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

Anamorphine presents a unique and artistic way of storytelling, effectively conveying deep emotional themes related to loss and depression without the use of dialogue.
The visuals are stunning, with impressive shaders and a surreal aesthetic that enhances the emotional experience, making it feel like an animated experimental movie.
The game successfully explores difficult topics such as mental health and addiction, providing poignant moments that resonate with players.

The game suffers from numerous technical issues, including long loading times, frame rate drops, and awkward camera controls that can lead to motion sickness.
Repetitive environments and mechanics, particularly the biking segments, detract from the overall experience, making the short game feel longer and tedious.
Despite its interesting narrative, the execution is often disjointed and lacks clarity, leading to confusion and frustration during gameplay.

story
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
67%
7%
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 the game attempts to engage players with its unique approach and poignant moments, many reviewers found the execution hampered by technical issues, repetitive elements, and a lack of clarity in progression, ultimately detracting from the emotional depth it seeks to achieve. Despite these criticisms, some players appreciated the artistic presentation and the way the story unfolds, highlighting its potential to resonate with those who enjoy narrative-driven experiences.
- “Anamorphine successfully tells a story without words.”
- “Great original game with a creative and emotional way of storytelling.”
- “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.”
- “Anamorphine is a narrative adventure that fails to deliver its story with enough competence to offer the player any emotionally engaging content.”
- “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.”
graphics
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
42%
25%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the impressive visuals and beautiful art style that enhance the surreal experience, particularly in VR. However, others criticize the outdated graphics reminiscent of the Xbox 360 era, along with frame rate issues and bland environments that detract from the overall experience. The inconsistency in visual quality and design leaves players divided on its effectiveness in conveying the game's narrative.
- “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, the continuous level loading 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...”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
70%
30%
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and emotional depth, serving as a key element that enhances the storytelling and gameplay 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. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a significant focal point that complements the unique narrative and visuals effectively.
- “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.”
- “Music is exquisite without being intrusive.”
gameplay
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
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 meaningful gameplay depth, making it more suitable for players who appreciate narrative experiences over traditional gameplay mechanics.
- “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.”
- “The story was pretty good (and told well for not having words); I liked the interaction mechanic; and the music was very fitting.”
- “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.”
emotional
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Anamorphine is praised for its creative storytelling and emotional depth, with some players experiencing a strong emotional impact during key moments. However, others feel that the game falls short in fully engaging players emotionally, despite its deep subject matter and powerful soundtrack. Overall, it offers a unique narrative experience that resonates differently with each player.
- “Great original game with a creative and emotional way of storytelling.”
- “I understood that and felt that emotional impact.”
- “Even though I understood their distress, I came just a bit shy of truly identifying and empathizing with them, except for one or two brief but truly touching moments.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
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 issues, the performance challenges remain a notable concern for players.
- “Anamorphine has a lot of technical and performance problems, but the outlying narrative finds its way through, delivering a poignant, deep exploration into loss and depression.”
- “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).”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is severely compromised by numerous technical issues, including frequent stutters, long load times, and occasional crashes, which detract from the overall experience. Players report awkward controls and a poorly designed camera that can become erratic, further contributing to a frustrating gameplay environment. Overall, the combination of these performance problems and lackluster visuals leads to a cumbersome and unpolished 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 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).”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is criticized for its low replayability, being described as a brief experience that does not offer enough content to justify its high price.
- “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.”