Anodyne is an eerie adventure game that tells the story of a boy named Young who is brought to The Land by a man named Sage. He tells Young to save a fellow known as Briar from "the darkness", and sends him on his way. Young is watched by this mysterious Sage and his sarcastic statue as he goes along his quest, occasionally aided by Mitra and her bicycle, Wares.
The game plays very similarly to early Legend of Zelda titles, such as Link's Awakening and Oracle of Ages. There aren't many usable items to find, but no shortage of other collectibles, even after the game ends. Cards depicting the various characters and enemies are found in chests throughout the world and in dungeons and are used as keys in the form of gates that will only open if you have collected the necessary number of cards. You won't have to do a ton of backtracking or guesswork either: The Land is connected by dozens of portals via The Nexus, the tops of which light up if you've collected all the cards in that area. There are also a little over a dozen secrets to locate upon completing the game.
What Anodyne lacks in difficulty or story (or perhaps it's just too deep for me) it makes up for with music and atmosphere. I can't express how awesome the soundtrack is in this game. It's spooky when it needs to be, and peaceful when the game calls for it. Anodyne may seem like a cute and cheerful adventure game at a glance, but it gets very creepy and dark as you progress. Some areas that can only be accessed after completing the game are even stranger and more unsettling, with eerie messages and seemingly out-of-place scenery strewn about. As time goes on you'll undoubtedly be questioning what's going on around you...
I got around 5 hours of entertainment out of the game, and I could get more if I attempted the achievement to 100% the game in under 3 hours. After defeating the final boss you get the ability to swap any two tiles on the screen (granted you can walk to them), allowing you to go pretty much anywhere, even
outside the map. This means you can richard around with the game at your leisure, and reach many weird areas that you can't get to any other way. Overall it was a great experience, and I wanted to share it with as many people as possible.
