Anima: The Reign of Darkness
- June 2, 2021
- Redeev
- 25h median play time
Get on SteamIn Anima: The Reign of Darkness, players navigate a dark fantasy world as they uncover the truth of a mysterious force threatening the land. Assemble a team of heroes, each with unique abilities, and engage in strategic battles to defeat the looming darkness. With a rich, immersive story and challenging gameplay, players must make difficult decisions that will impact the fate of the world.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game captures the dark, gothic atmosphere reminiscent of the original Diablo series, providing an immersive experience.
- Gameplay is addictive with a solid core loop of combat, loot collection, and character progression, making it enjoyable for ARPG fans.
- The graphics and sound design are commendable for a low-budget title, enhancing the overall experience.
- The PC version is a poorly optimized port of the mobile game, lacking many features and updates available in the mobile version.
- Targeting and combat mechanics are clunky, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences, especially during boss fights.
- The game suffers from a lack of quality of life features, such as a loot filter and auto-pickup, making inventory management tedious.
- graphics27 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 22 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the beautiful gothic medieval aesthetics and solid performance, particularly on high-end systems, while others criticize the outdated visuals and poor optimization typical of a mobile port. Many players note that while the graphics can be enjoyable, they fall short of modern standards, leading to a sense of nostalgia rather than innovation. Overall, the graphics are seen as a blend of appealing art style and technical limitations, with scores ranging from 8.5/10 to outright disappointment.
“The graphics do convey an absolutely fantastic and faithful representation of the gothic medieval aesthetics.”
“I think many people have rose-colored glasses on when recalling the good old days of D1 and how that game actually played vs what we expect today. The game supports 4K resolution, has decent graphical controls, and sports excellent sound.”
“In terms of graphics, the game is quite beautiful; it might even be started on your grandma's toaster.”
“It is beyond obvious that this is a mobile port as the graphics are outdated, you cannot rotate or zoom the camera, and there are very few graphic options.”
“Game has extremely poor graphics and optimization.”
“9.99€ for a mobile game on PC, scuffed graphics and gameplay.”
- gameplay27 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some praising its addictive nature and solid mechanics reminiscent of classic ARPGs, while others criticize it for being simplistic, repetitive, and plagued by tedious grinding and difficulty spikes. The mobile version is noted to offer enhancements, such as additional gear and co-op gameplay, which improve the overall experience. However, issues like unintuitive UI and lack of updates have left some players feeling disappointed.
“Gameplay and controls: 10/10”
“The core gameplay loop is simple but enjoyable; there's a lot of different activities, a bit of grind, but the sense of progression of your character makes for an addictive gameplay experience.”
“I like the fast pace of gameplay and the mechanics of the classes.”
“Gameplay involves spamming the left mouse and clicking away until you die over and over again.”
“The price is good, but considering the amount of tedium, repetition, lack of gameplay variety, grind, and massive difficulty spikes in boss fights (requiring more grinding), I cannot recommend this.”
“Gameplay is simplistic.”
- story21 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as basic and disjointed, with players struggling to follow the plot after the initial quests. While the atmosphere is enhanced by gothic music and sound effects reminiscent of classic titles like Diablo, many reviewers feel that the narrative lacks depth and coherence, making it less engaging. Overall, the story serves more as a backdrop for gameplay rather than a compelling driving force.
“Immersive story and lots of ways to manipulate items.”
“Graphics are not too bad, the story seems okay, the music and lighting make it pretty gothic and adds to the atmosphere.”
“Any fan of any RPG and love Diablo, Grim Dawn, and Titan Quest have to play this game, I mean for real.”
“No story.”
“The story is very disjointed and honestly I failed to follow what was happening after the initial quest about looking into what happened to the missing soldiers.”
“It's just the 'story' grind.”
- music13 mentions
- 62 % positive mentions
- 15 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received high praise for its atmospheric quality, drawing strong comparisons to the soundtracks of classic titles like Diablo I and II, which adds a nostalgic touch. While some find the score beautiful, it may not always be memorable, yet it effectively enhances the game's gothic ambiance. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's immersive experience.
“The music score is interesting and the ambiance is well executed - this was totally unexpected for a mobile game.”
“The graphics are solid, the UI is quite intuitive (if you are used to the other titles of this genre), and the music is great (also kind of nostalgic, due to heavy inspirations from the Diablo 2 soundtrack).”
“This game is very good, it has great atmosphere, and the music reminds me a lot of Diablo 1.”
“The ambient sound effects and soundtrack give you Diablo I vibes, but I was disconnected from the story.”
“All set to a sufficiently gloomy soundtrack.”
“The music seems to strive for that classic Diablo I feel without actually using the Diablo I music.”
- grinding10 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews on grinding in the game are mixed; while some players appreciate the streamlined process with permanent buffs and shared storage that enhance efficiency, others criticize it for being tedious and poorly optimized, leading to repetitive gameplay and significant difficulty spikes. Overall, the experience can vary greatly depending on individual playstyles and expectations.
“Tedious, grindy, poorly optimized for PC.”
“The price is good, but considering the amount of tedium, repetition, lack of gameplay variety, grind, and massive difficulty spikes in boss fights (requiring more grinding), I cannot recommend this.”
“Loot grinding is a pain; from what I know of the 2017/18 anima players, we are back to the starting anima which has known major updates since.”
- optimization7 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 57 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with many users reporting poor performance, graphical issues, and significant stuttering, even on high-end systems. It appears to be a rushed port to PC, lacking necessary stabilization and optimization efforts, leading to an overall frustrating experience for players.
“Well, 8 years ago I decided to give a try to this new game called 'Path of Exile.' While at the end of the open beta the game was full of bugs and performance issues, the overall experience was something unique and oh boy, it was promising.”
“With this, the game also runs pretty poorly as it was just a quick port to PC with no optimization or stabilization done.”
“Game has extremely poor graphics and optimization.”
“Be advised though that for now, the game is badly optimized (i7 10700K + 32GB RAM + 2080 Super) and, Unity being Unity, I got 60% CPU + 40% RAM use because of that background music.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is frequently praised for its classic gothic and grimdark elements, reminiscent of the original Diablo, with effective use of music, lighting, and graphics to enhance the experience. While some reviewers note that it doesn't reach the atmospheric depth of higher-budget titles like Diablo, it still delivers a compelling and immersive environment that stands out among similar games. Overall, the atmosphere is considered one of the game's strong points, contributing significantly to its appeal.
“This game is very good, it has great atmosphere, music reminds me a lot of Diablo 1.”
“Yes, it's 'only' a low-budget game that doesn't come close to Diablo in terms of atmosphere.”
“A classic gothic grimdark atmosphere, much like the original Diablo game.”
“Graphics are not too bad, the story seems okay, the music and lighting make it pretty gothic and adds to the atmosphere.”
- monetization6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The monetization model of the game has drawn mixed reactions, with some players viewing it as a cash grab, particularly in its transition from mobile to Steam. While there are no microtransactions currently, concerns remain about potential future additions as the game gains popularity. Overall, the pricing is seen as reasonable by some, but skepticism about the developers' intentions persists.
“Completing this challenge will reward you with legendary equipment and a special currency called oboli for in-game purchases.”
“No microtransactions.”
“There are no in-app purchases, as is common in mobile versions, and none are planned for future updates. At 10€, which is about the price of a pack of cigarettes, I don't understand why people complain or say 'the game isn't worth 10€'. Prioritize your spending!”
“This is a mobile game that made a cash grab on Steam.”
“It is like whoever made this game did the bare minimum they could get away with and threw a cash grab price tag on it.”
“I'm very excited for the new content to come over from the mobile version, and I'm hopeful the developers won't ruin the game by adding microtransactions as it gets popular.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Players highlight the strong replayability of Anima, citing the presence of new quests, loot, and enemies that encourage continued engagement even after completing the initial playthrough. This aspect significantly enhances the game's appeal and motivates players to return for more experiences.
“Absolutely lots of replay value.”
“Yes, the replay value is definitely there.”
“The replayability of Anima is a feature that motivates me a lot to keep playing even after the initial playthrough, with new quests, new loot, new enemies, etc.”
“Also, there is a lot of replay value.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as unintentional and clumsy, with characters and sound effects eliciting laughter rather than fear. Players note that the attempt to create a dark atmosphere often backfires, resulting in comedic moments, particularly in the poorly translated German version, which adds to the hilarity.
“It's clunky; my character holds his staff like it's a radioactive piece of dookey. The sounds are funny and it feels like they're trying way too hard to make it dark and scary, but it just sounds funny.”
“For German players, I highly recommend not to play the German version with subtitles, as it was translated very badly and sometimes even hilariously.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game experiences frequent glitches, particularly during skill usage and after leveling up, which negatively impacts overall stability.
“The game glitches often, especially when using skills or after leveling up.”
“I frequently experience crashes that disrupt my gameplay.”
“The stability issues make it hard to enjoy the game, as it freezes at random moments.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is negatively impacted by technical issues, such as the mana skill occasionally passing through enemies without making contact, which can lead to frustration and diminish the player's immersive experience.
