Anodyne 2: Return to Dust is an immensely holistic experience. Every factor of this game compliments another. The gameplay, story, art direction and music come together so well to make a powerful statement in video game form.

The atmosphere is dreamlike but not in a way that is totally pleasant. No, there’s a pervasive eeriness across the game, like somebody is watching you. Par for the course when it comes to Analgesic Games but this version of that tone is easily their most potent. There’s a disconnected quality to the world that is unnerving. Many NPCs have a “possessed” quality like their dialogue is being given to them by some outside force. There’s a lot of strange namedropping and alien humour.

NPC movement is minimal– likely a product of this being the studio’s first 3D game but it has the side effect of making the world feel appropriately lifeless. The world’s also very sparse, too. In fact, this game does a good job of emulating the N64 era of video games where the hardware wasn’t very powerful so there’s a lot of empty space and a lack of people in it. You spend a lot of time alone in this strange environment.

There’s a blatant metatextual quality about Anodyne 2. It lets the player see its wiring in a way that few games allow. The dev commentary and debug rooms are unlocked halfway through the game. That’s a weird dev decision but it fits in with everything else in the game for how detached it is. The fourth wall breaking is part of the game’s theme, and that’s not even touching onto the desertnpc section of the game, which is something that has stuck with me hard since I first played this title.

I’m talking a lot about the story and overall experience and maybe that’s because the gameplay mechanics aren’t super deep. They’re functional, but not terribly interesting. They’re not challenging either. I never died in this game and it took until the final dungeon for me to fall below 50% health. I kinda get it though because this is a game, even moreso than the first Anodyne where the gameplay and mechanics are conduits for concepts. The game is very snappy at least. It’s a game that’s very easy to play.

The story is mystifying, though. It’s something I really like about it. The dialogue is very unique. Poetic in an offbeat way. It’s a screenplay that hints at a lot of different metaphors and layers. The problem is the script can be overbearing and occasionally long-winded. It’s so specific, though, that it works for me. I don’t know where the metaphors begin but it is an abundant text.

The music, of course, is amazing. The dev team’s previous works had a particular style of hypnagogic video game music, but this is the team’s best stuff yet. It adds to the strange atmosphere but there’s a lot of beautiful melodies in there. The graphics are good, too, although I think some NPCs look a little too “doodly”. The weirdness is the point but some of these designs were too simple for my tastes.

This game is like Mulholland Drive to me. This is my second time playing through it and I’m still not sure what it’s about. I think it’s about the nature of being alive and growing as time passes, and I also think it’s about how nobody owes anything to their elders. I’m not sure, but that unending pondering is a quality in its favour, though. I re-played this game thinking this would be my last time but I’m not sure I’m done with it. Mysteries still linger.

Anodyne 2: Return to Dust is an immensely holistic experience. Every factor of this game compliments another. The gameplay, story, art direction and music come together so well to make a powerful statement in video game form.

The atmosphere is dreamlike but not in a way that is totally pleasant. No, there’s a pervasive eeriness across the game, like somebody is watching you. Par for the course when it comes to Analgesic Games but this version of that tone is easily their most potent. There’s a disconnected quality to the world that is unnerving. Many NPCs have a “possessed” quality like their dialogue is being given to them by some outside force. There’s a lot of strange namedropping and alien humour.

NPC movement is minimal– likely a product of this being the studio’s first 3D game but it has the side effect of making the world feel appropriately lifeless. The world’s also very sparse, too. In fact, this game does a good job of emulating the N64 era of video games where the hardware wasn’t very powerful so there’s a lot of empty space and a lack of people in it. You spend a lot of time alone in this strange environment.

There’s a blatant metatextual quality about Anodyne 2. It lets the player see its wiring in a way that few games allow. The dev commentary and debug rooms are unlocked halfway through the game. That’s a weird dev decision but it fits in with everything else in the game for how detached it is. The fourth wall breaking is part of the game’s theme, and that’s not even touching onto the desertnpc section of the game, which is something that has stuck with me hard since I first played this title.

I’m talking a lot about the story and overall experience and maybe that’s because the gameplay mechanics aren’t super deep. They’re functional, but not terribly interesting. They’re not challenging either. I never died in this game and it took until the final dungeon for me to fall below 50% health. I kinda get it though because this is a game, even moreso than the first Anodyne where the gameplay and mechanics are conduits for concepts. The game is very snappy at least. It’s a game that’s very easy to play.

The story is mystifying, though. It’s something I really like about it. The dialogue is very unique. Poetic in an offbeat way. It’s a screenplay that hints at a lot of different metaphors and layers. The problem is the script can be overbearing and occasionally long-winded. It’s so specific, though, that it works for me. I don’t know where the metaphors begin but it is an abundant text.

The music, of course, is amazing. The dev team’s previous works had a particular style of hypnagogic video game music, but this is the team’s best stuff yet. It adds to the strange atmosphere but there’s a lot of beautiful melodies in there. The graphics are good, too, although I think some NPCs look a little too “doodly”. The weirdness is the point but some of these designs were too simple for my tastes.

This game is like Mulholland Drive to me. This is my second time playing through it and I’m still not sure what it’s about. I think it’s about the nature of being alive and growing as time passes, and I also think it’s about how nobody owes anything to their elders. I’m not sure, but that unending pondering is a quality in its favour, though. I re-played this game thinking this would be my last time but I’m not sure I’m done with it. Mysteries still linger.