“Cyberspace… Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding…”
Neuromancer
There’s a lot of hot takes that go around about the games industry these days. I tend to ignore them, honestly. I can’t imagine @Sephiroth_Boi_69 on Twitter has a whole lot to say to me about…let’s see, how does the list look at this point…economics, politics, religion, the gaming industry writ large and, in particular, personal hygiene. We’ll leave that list open to potential addition later. What I’m getting at is that regardless of what one thinks about the state of the industry, one complaint that’s hard to make is that there aren’t enough games to play. In fact, it can be a little tough to get around to delving into everything new. It’s a tough time for an up-and-coming studio to take a new IP and make some magic happen. That’s exactly what we’ve got with Mato Anomalies. It’s a sizable new RPG that’s not a sequel or a remake and isn’t from a heavy-hitting household name, so it’s already at a disadvantage. That doesn’t mean you should skip it, though!
Mato Anomalies chronicles the parallel stories of PI Doe and sword-slinging Gram as they investigate the encroaching Bane Tide, a species of multi-dimensional monstrosities that are causing trouble in the cyberpunk city of Mato. Gram handles the monster-extermination side of things by entering the Bane Tide’s home turf while Doe does his detectively duty in the real world. It’s an interesting setup that makes for a nice mix of both flavors.
From a gameplay perspective, Mato Anomalies wears its inspiration on its cyber-sleeve: this is a game that would very much like to be Persona. The aesthetics are similar, the gameplay’s got a bit in common. There’s no question what the designers had played the week or so before they got to work on this one. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, of course, but Persona’s anime shoes are big ones to fill. Just look at Kingdom Hearts’ Sora, after all, that guy’s shoes are massive.
Gram’s segments, then, are basically Persona’s Palaces through the eyes of a first-time game designer. There’s goodies to collect, doors to unlock and plenty of Bane Tide to fight. None of this is particularly offensive, though things certainly start to come off as a tad bland. Combat also borrows a lot from SMT with a focus on discovering and aiming for enemies’ weak points. While it’s not bad, the fact is that you’re probably not going to remember Mato Anomalies combat when all is said and done.
No, the really memorable bit of Mato Anomalies is Mato itself. It’s a very cool place, a Chinese take on the cyberpunk theme. You’ll spend more time engaging in gameplay as Gram, who runs around in the Bane Tide’s dimension, but the Doe segments feel great just because you get to run around this dreamlike technopolis.
Doe also gets the more unique half of Mato Anomalies’ gameplay, a card game where you’re trying to subconsciously influence a suspect. If you’ve played Griftlands you’ve experienced something similar with that game’s social combat system. It’s not terrible at all and makes for a nice break from the walls of text that Doe’s usually contending with.
Speaking of which, I wouldn’t say Mato Anomalies‘ dialogue is bad…it’s just flowery and prolific. Very, very prolific. Doe, the people he interrogates and even Bane Tide-hungry Gram and his monster-killing pals go on at length about, well, basically everything. Mato probably has more in common with visual novels than Persona, come to think of it. Your thoughts on that point will probably vary based on your taste but the voice acting’s pretty solid!
From a presentation perspective, Mato Anomalies once again runs into the obvious hurdle of being an early game from its developer. It’s stylish, sure, and the environment design of Mato itself looks great as mentioned. Even the Bane Tide’s Lairs are interesting enough assuming you’re not over the abstract dungeon concept by this point. On the other hand, character and monster designs outside of the main cast can feel a little bland, and combat can grow a little tedious as animations start to melt into one another over the hours.
None of this is the end of the world for Mato Anomalies, though. It’s clearly a early effort, but one that shows promise. This is a reasonably-priced RPG with enough content to keep you playing. Much older and better-funded studios can’t manage to turn out that kind of quality these days. Maybe check out some gameplay videos, then step into the world of Mato if you like what you see.
We would like to thank Arrowiz and Prime Matter for providing us with a copy of Mato Anomalies for this review.
PIXEL PERFECT
Recommended
Cory G. believes the pen is mightier than the sword…well, depending on how sharp the pen and sword are. A child of the ’90s and a prolific writer, he strews his work about like Legos made of words, just waiting for your brain to step on them. He enjoys a devilish challenge, so when it comes to talking about some of the more difficult games out there, you might just run into the Infernal Accountant Mage. Some advice: hold on to your soul around this guy, and don’t sign anything. Read more at popzara.com.
