Being part of the Science Adventure series (or the Semicolon series, if you prefer), Anonymous;Code is a title that should make fans of visual novels at least a little bit curious. The franchise might not have ever matched again the mainstream appeal of Steins;Gate, which definitely felt like a stroke of luck for the companies behind it, but this latest entry brings a fresh setting, new characters and a lot of novel ideas to the table, while also it’s trying to address some plot points from past entries. I’m only familiar with the plot of Steins;Gate and Steins;Gate 0, so it’s a bit hard to see how successful that last bit is, but I’ll still try to partially offer my take on it.
The setting of the game is Tokyo of the not-so-distant 2037, with a lot of elements of the present era mixed with hypothetical advances of the technology. AR and VR are commonplace everywhere, cyber crimes seem frequent and machines are more than a simple helping hand in everybody’s daily life. And while technology has certainly been an integral part of Science Adventure, as the name implies, I feel it is the first time you get to explore a futuristic world like this one. Furthermore, as a result of those technological advances, in a similar role to time traveling in Steins;Gate, a core aspect of Anonymous;Code and a big part of its plot is simulation and how people are able to simulate everything to such a degree that they can essentially predict the future.
I don’t really want to go into full details over the plot, but there’s another core theme in the story that I didn’t expect, and comes in contrast to this setting. Stories like this one often delve into actual historical events, conspiracy theories, the occult and (pseudo)science, mixing fiction and reality to create a believable fantastical world. In Anonymous;Code’s case, I felt they actually managed to deliver a very interesting approach to all that, because of precisely that contrast a lot of these otherworldly or anachronistic elements have with the game’s futuristic and technology leaning setting. Suffice it to say, I feel if you’re into that kind of stuff, there’s really no way the game will disappoint you.
Anonymous;Code makes use of an interesting mechanic, taking advantage of the save system in a very meta way and incorporating it to the story. This allows it to explore a lot of the concepts that you usually see in time traveling or parallel dimensions stories with a kind of different approach. That said, despite the novelty of this idea, I felt it’s very underused for the most part. The game is largely linear, and a lot of this “saving and loading” is done automatically. There is player input from time to time, but I don’t really think it’s used in any clever ways, usually you’ll just try to avert a bad ending conclusion.
As for the characters, the protagonists are Pollon Takaoka, a young hacker and a delinquent with a heart of gold, joined by a mysterious girl named Momo Aozaki. Both of them are facing a herculean task though, as the protagonists of Steins;Gate are, if nothing else, immensely popular and have a lot of depth, which, sadly, they fall short of in both aspects. Throughout the game I never felt invested in them and their struggles, and honestly, the best praise I can give them is that they’re not dislikeable, as they seemed very bland to me. I have similar feelings towards most of the supporting cast as well, which while it has a lot of characters with colorful personalities or secrets, the game really does nothing interesting with them, and pretty much all of them end up just serving their part for the plot.
The narrative of the game is certainly something I have very mixed feelings about. Largely, it feels like it has the perfect pacing to keep you engaged, it moves very fast and it’s full of constant plot developments that are both interesting and unexpected. However, this comes at the expense of character development or more slow paced, slice of life moments, as the game feels like it only has a handful of such scenes, but I actually really enjoyed everything that happened until roughly Chapter 8. Unfortunately, the last fourth or so of Anonymous;Code really disappointed me. The climax of the game feels like it jumps the shark in a way that renders most of the characters and plot points up to that moment completely irrelevant. Eventually, you reach a finale that definitely feels rushed, and the true ending doesn't fare any better.
On a similar note, my feelings are very mixed about the art of the game. It adopted models similar to Live 2D, which while they offer smoother reactions or poses, their overall quality is honestly subpar. This varies from character to character, but a lot of them feel like they’re missing facial details or, plainly, just look wrong. I also have similar complaints regarding the background art style, but also the game’s attempt to create comic strip-like visuals, with both of those really just looking a bit underwhelming. Despite being a full price title, the game just looks and feels really cheap, and the visuals are the main offender for me.
Lastly, I think its connection to the rest of the Science Adventure series is worth mentioning. While it’s certainly a title that can be enjoyed on its own, there are a lot of deep connections to concepts and characters from previous titles, which might provide a lot of merit to some. Still, I feel some of those connections, even if they make sense in the game’s world, feel very shoehorned in, and end up feeling as nothing more than cool references. On another note though, Kanako Ito returns once more, offering her talent to the game, because I’m sure I’m not the only fan of hers, and I was really glad to hear her here too.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed Anonymous;Code for the first few hours, and while it’s certainly not a bad visual novel, I feel it ends up being a rather unremarkable one by the end of its 20-hour-long story. The production values leave much to be desired, and the fact that it's fully voiced is perhaps the only positive aspect I can highlight. All this makes it quite difficult to recommend, though I’m sure some people will definitely find more value in a game like this, as it certainly explores very interesting ideas and themes.
The setting of the game is Tokyo of the not-so-distant 2037, with a lot of elements of the present era mixed with hypothetical advances of the technology. AR and VR are commonplace everywhere, cyber crimes seem frequent and machines are more than a simple helping hand in everybody’s daily life. And while technology has certainly been an integral part of Science Adventure, as the name implies, I feel it is the first time you get to explore a futuristic world like this one. Furthermore, as a result of those technological advances, in a similar role to time traveling in Steins;Gate, a core aspect of Anonymous;Code and a big part of its plot is simulation and how people are able to simulate everything to such a degree that they can essentially predict the future.
I don’t really want to go into full details over the plot, but there’s another core theme in the story that I didn’t expect, and comes in contrast to this setting. Stories like this one often delve into actual historical events, conspiracy theories, the occult and (pseudo)science, mixing fiction and reality to create a believable fantastical world. In Anonymous;Code’s case, I felt they actually managed to deliver a very interesting approach to all that, because of precisely that contrast a lot of these otherworldly or anachronistic elements have with the game’s futuristic and technology leaning setting. Suffice it to say, I feel if you’re into that kind of stuff, there’s really no way the game will disappoint you.
Anonymous;Code makes use of an interesting mechanic, taking advantage of the save system in a very meta way and incorporating it to the story. This allows it to explore a lot of the concepts that you usually see in time traveling or parallel dimensions stories with a kind of different approach. That said, despite the novelty of this idea, I felt it’s very underused for the most part. The game is largely linear, and a lot of this “saving and loading” is done automatically. There is player input from time to time, but I don’t really think it’s used in any clever ways, usually you’ll just try to avert a bad ending conclusion.
As for the characters, the protagonists are Pollon Takaoka, a young hacker and a delinquent with a heart of gold, joined by a mysterious girl named Momo Aozaki. Both of them are facing a herculean task though, as the protagonists of Steins;Gate are, if nothing else, immensely popular and have a lot of depth, which, sadly, they fall short of in both aspects. Throughout the game I never felt invested in them and their struggles, and honestly, the best praise I can give them is that they’re not dislikeable, as they seemed very bland to me. I have similar feelings towards most of the supporting cast as well, which while it has a lot of characters with colorful personalities or secrets, the game really does nothing interesting with them, and pretty much all of them end up just serving their part for the plot.
The narrative of the game is certainly something I have very mixed feelings about. Largely, it feels like it has the perfect pacing to keep you engaged, it moves very fast and it’s full of constant plot developments that are both interesting and unexpected. However, this comes at the expense of character development or more slow paced, slice of life moments, as the game feels like it only has a handful of such scenes, but I actually really enjoyed everything that happened until roughly Chapter 8. Unfortunately, the last fourth or so of Anonymous;Code really disappointed me. The climax of the game feels like it jumps the shark in a way that renders most of the characters and plot points up to that moment completely irrelevant. Eventually, you reach a finale that definitely feels rushed, and the true ending doesn't fare any better.
On a similar note, my feelings are very mixed about the art of the game. It adopted models similar to Live 2D, which while they offer smoother reactions or poses, their overall quality is honestly subpar. This varies from character to character, but a lot of them feel like they’re missing facial details or, plainly, just look wrong. I also have similar complaints regarding the background art style, but also the game’s attempt to create comic strip-like visuals, with both of those really just looking a bit underwhelming. Despite being a full price title, the game just looks and feels really cheap, and the visuals are the main offender for me.
Lastly, I think its connection to the rest of the Science Adventure series is worth mentioning. While it’s certainly a title that can be enjoyed on its own, there are a lot of deep connections to concepts and characters from previous titles, which might provide a lot of merit to some. Still, I feel some of those connections, even if they make sense in the game’s world, feel very shoehorned in, and end up feeling as nothing more than cool references. On another note though, Kanako Ito returns once more, offering her talent to the game, because I’m sure I’m not the only fan of hers, and I was really glad to hear her here too.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed Anonymous;Code for the first few hours, and while it’s certainly not a bad visual novel, I feel it ends up being a rather unremarkable one by the end of its 20-hour-long story. The production values leave much to be desired, and the fact that it's fully voiced is perhaps the only positive aspect I can highlight. All this makes it quite difficult to recommend, though I’m sure some people will definitely find more value in a game like this, as it certainly explores very interesting ideas and themes.