NEAR NIER.
Two years ago Ken reviewed a game called Anima: Gate of Memories, a game I had never heard of, and gave it a good score.. So I spent some money and imported a copy from Europe for PS4 (which came with a full soundtrack CD because the publisher Bad Land Games is just cool like that I suppose). If you haven’t played the first Anima game (and I’m not talking about the extremely obscure Wii Ware game) I suggest playing Gate of Memories before diving into The Nameless Chronicles.
Why? It is simply because The Nameless Chronicles is a parallel story going on during the events of The Gate of Memories, and a lot of lore is dished out early on. A lot of lore, too much lore in fact. To the point where I was questioning if I was supposed to have some knowledge of the tabletop game or the card game to understand what was going on (this series is based off of a series of physical board/card games). Shortly after, the game becomes its own story but it will have moments where the main character of this game, The Nameless, fights with the main character of Gate of Memories, The Bearer. Basically if players want the full experience, play both games.
PLATFORMS: XB1 (REVIEWED), PS4, PC, SWITCH
MSRP: $19.99
PRICE I’D PAY: $19.99
The Nameless Chronicles has The Nameless trying to stop an evil entity known as Baal from being resurrected. This involves fighting other immortals like himself and exploring their past as well as his own. The story is quite an interesting take on the amnesiac main protagonist. Some of the best story telling in this game comes from text only segments. The voice acting is pretty good, but it’s obvious the actors were recorded separately. The previously mentioned Baal is either pronounced like “ball” or “bale” depending on who is speaking. It’s kind of annoying.
The gameplay is an action, hack and slash with RPG elements like status effects, equipment, and leveling up. The Nameless has a varied move set that can be expanded after a couple level ups. There are times where fighting enemies becomes a pain due to camera controls or getting stuck in corners of non-geometric environments, making dodging extremely difficult. There was also a moment where I accidentally quit out of a boss battle because I hit the wrong button (inventory should always be on the right in my opinion, not the left like this game).
The world still feels Zelda inspired, with puzzles and hidden items to find. It’s still a pain knowing where to go as it was in The Gate of Memories, and I had a puzzle that seemingly wouldn’t activate even though I had solved it, but overall this game is fairly linear. There is also a pseudo fast travel system this time around through the area around the shop, which saves some time.
The world is a lot of visibly darker visuals, like a cathedral on fire, a fishing village in the rain at night, or a dark prison. Lots of earth tones and shadows. In a game with such unique visuals I wish they had some more color, however there is a tone they establish with it and it’s fine. That’s not to say visuals are not breathtaking at times.
The reason why I wrote “Near Nier” up above is because not only is gameplay similar, but at times The Nameless Chronicles plays with perspective and camera angles to really great effect. This is something Nier did extremely well, and I have to say there are moments in The Nameless Chronicles I think emulates that aesthetic very well.
Like the previous Anima title, I think this will go under most people’s radar which is a shame. They are a neat series, and with the low price point of $20 I really can’t suggest these game enough. It’s important to note that both Anima titles are available on Switch as well, so Switch players don’t miss any part of the series. Can’t wait to see what’s next from this series.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
