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Solving mysteries and fighting monsters in a fantastic cyberpunk world - Mato Anomalies Quick Review

3K View2023-03-10

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Play it! Mato Anomalies is too great of a game to pass on. This visually stunning RPG explores a neo-futuristic world of crime and darkness, where two protagonists take down hooligans and slay creepy monsters appearing from rift anomalies. The well-written storyline and anime-inspired art style reminded me of the Persona franchise. Despite a few quality issues, Mato Anomalies is a must-try for anyone that enjoys a good adventure.

TIME PLAYED

I played Mato Anomalies for seven hours. I managed to get through the prologue and three chapters on normal difficulty, but I did switch to easy mode occasionally. Each chapter takes an hour or more to beat. The first chapter alone took me two hours to complete. I tried blasting through the main storyline at first but realized early on that it wasn’t possible without completing most of the side quests for experience and gear.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Narrative. Mato Anomalies’s narrative is filled to the brim with action, suspense, and humor that had me interested in the city of Mato and its secrets. The storyline is a major focus, with easily more than half of my playtime taken up by dialogue and cutscenes. This tale was worth all that time spent on it though. Experiencing the story is the single best reason to play Mato Anomalies.

• Combat. Like most RPGs, Mato Anomalies features a turn-based combat system that’s complex and fun. Each character has their own weapon and abilities which makes combat feel refreshing. Add in a handful of items to use and a few other things like status effects, and combat is easily one of the most enjoyable aspects in Mato Anomalies.

• Card minigame. Mind/Hacked is a card game in Mato Anomalies that functions as a way for the protagonist to interrogate a character by stepping into their mind. I got pulled into this minigame once or twice in each chapter and found it pretty easy to understand. It provided a relaxing change of pace from the more complicated combat scenarios and the tense story.

• Monsters. Every monster in Mato Anomalies looks disgusting and creepy, which is freakin’ awesome. The monsters are so unsettling and well-made that I can’t help but admire the work put into the designs, even if I’m grossed out at the same time.

• Visuals. Mato Anomalies’s neo-futuristic art style embellishes every structure and character in the game. The cel-shaded visuals mesmerized me every time I set foot in a new area.

• Voice acting. Mato Anomalies doesn’t feature a ton of voice acting outside of some of the cutscenes, but the voice-over work that’s here is excellent. The voice acting complements the characters’ personalities so well and really drives the story forward.

• Music. The music in Mato Anomalies is divine. Jazzy and upbeat techno tunes varied with each place I visited and kept me groovin’ and movin’ through the city.

• Auto-skipping. I have a significant amount of appreciation for Mato Anomalies’s auto-skip function. I was able to skip through dialogue, cutscenes, and combat, which was a lifesaver whenever I died and got sent back to the last saved point.

WHAT SUCKS

• Awkward controls. It took me some time to get used to the way Mato Anomalies’s controls differ from other RPGs, especially when playing on a mouse and keyboard. For example, I’m used to the space bar being used to advance dialogue, but in Mato Anomalies, it hides the text bar.

• Animation. Although Mato Anomalies's visuals are beautiful, the animation falls short. The voice acting and actions in cutscenes don’t naturally sync with characters’ animations, which makes it awkward to watch.

• Difficulty. I struggled to complete the first chapter. The prologue was a breeze to get through, but the last stage of the first chapter was on a whole different level. It took me over an hour to get past the final boss, who I found near-impossible to take down. I had to grind all the available sidequests to get stronger, and even that wasn’t enough on the first try. After around twenty-some agonizing attempts, I managed to eke out a victory. Thankfully, Mato Anomalies does allow for adjusting the difficulty level at any time in the settings, so I was able to swap to “easy” when needed later on.

• Interface size. The icons and buttons in the menu and quest trackers are too large. They obscure most of the environment, which made it hard to properly appreciate the hard work put into the game’s visuals and world design.

💬 Will you play Mato Anomalies or are you going to skip it? Tell us down below in the comments!

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