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Anodyne (video game)

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Anodyne
Developer(s)Analgesic Productions
Publisher(s)Analgesic Productions
Designer(s)Melos Han-Tani
Marina Kittaka
Programmer(s)Melos Han-Tani
Artist(s)Marina Kittaka
Composer(s)Melos Han-Tani
EngineFlixel
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
ReleaseWindows, macOS, Linux
February 4, 2013
iOS
June 16, 2013
Android
October 15, 2013
PlayStation 4
September 9, 2018
Xbox One
September 21, 2018
Nintendo Switch
February 28, 2019
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Anodyne is an action-adventure video game developed by Analgesic Productions. After a nearly year-long development through developers Melos Han-Tani and Marina Kittaka's last years in college,[1] the game was released on February 4, 2013, for Windows PC, Mac OS X and Linux. An Android version was released as part of a Humble Bundle on October 15, 2013. The PlayStation 4 version of the game was released on September 9, 2018, the Xbox One version was released on September 21, 2018, and the Nintendo Switch version was released on February 28, 2019. The Anodyne soundtrack was also made available for purchase at the game’s initial release, including all of the music in the game as well as a few bonus tracks.

Anodyne was heavily inspired by titles like The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and Yume Nikki. It features action-adventure gameplay revolving around using a broom to fight enemies and solve puzzles. Anodyne puts the player in the shoes of the protagonist Young, exploring a surreal dream world.

Reviews of the game were mostly positive, generally praising the game's mix of action-adventure gameplay with an immersive, dream-like atmosphere created by the game's soundtrack and use of pixel art. Critiques tended to center on the story's lack of clarity, as well as some of the jumping mechanics. The game placed as an honorable mention in the 2013 Student Independent Games Festival.

A sequel to the game, Anodyne 2: Return to Dust, was released on August 12, 2019.

Gameplay

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Anodyne is played by exploring a dream world of the game's protagonist, Young. The gameplay involves the use of two primary items, a broom and shoes for jumping. The game takes place in adjacent screen-sized rooms that make up the game's play areas. The player explores dungeons, which are sets of rooms with puzzles and enemies, as well as other areas that focus less on combat and puzzles, such as a red, swamp-like area, and a dimly-lit forest. The player is required to find a certain number of cards in order to progress to the end sections of the game.

Development

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Anodyne began as a solo project by Melos Han-Tani in March 2012. Through a mutual friend, in June 2012, Han-Tani met Marina Kittaka, who worked remotely on the game until its release in February 2013.[1] Through development, the two worked together on story themes and level design. Kittaka wrote most of the dialogue and created all of the game's artwork, while Han-Tani programmed the game and wrote its soundtrack.

Shortly after release, Anodyne was featured on the front page of The Pirate Bay[2] which garnered the game enough votes to be accepted onto Steam through its Greenlight system.

On April 4, 2020, Han-Tani released the source code of Anodyne under a custom permissive license.[3][4]

Music

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Anodyne's soundtrack was composed by Melos Han-Tani. At the time of Anodyne's release, the soundtrack was made available as a download-only on Han-Tani's online Bandcamp store, with the 40 tracks used in the game, as well as 14 bonus tracks, consisting of outtakes, and songs from Anodyne's trailers[5] The total runtime is 85 minutes and 32 seconds.

Anodyne track list

No.TitleLength
1."Anodyne"0:56
2."Blank"0:30
3."Nexus"1:07
4."Street"0:48
5."Woods"1:22
6."Temple"2:00
7."Seer"0:35
8."Friend"0:51
9."Fields"2:22
10."Windmill"1:53
11."Forest"2:28
12."Cliff"2:12
13."Beach"1:18
14."Sea"1:01
15."Grotto"1:31
16."Rogue"0:42
17."Cavern"2:36
18."Wall"0:25
19."Suburb"1:12
20."Soft"1:54
21."Space"1:51
22."Cell"2:02
23."Roof"2:41
24."Hotel"3:31
25."Manager"0:31
26."Apartment"3:05
27."Watcher"0:32
28."Circus"2:52
29."Servants"0:29
30."Again"0:31
31."Terminal"0:27
32."Challenge"2:49
33."Crossing"2:51
34."Go"3:03
35."Simmer"0:30
36."Red"1:42
37."Blue"2:33
38."Understanding"1:57
39."Stabilized"5:47
40."Alpha (Sep 2012 Trailer) (bonus)"1:11
41."Reminiscences (Nov 2012 Video)(bonus)"1:16
42."Old Temple (Extra) (bonus)"0:57
43."Older Temple (Extra) (bonus)"1:04
44."Oldest Temple Extra) (bonus)"0:44
45."Old Red (Extra) (bonus)"1:53
46."Old Terminal (Extra) (bonus)"0:38
47."Older Terminal (Extra) (bonus)"1:20
48."Generic Boss (Extra) (bonus)"1:19
49."Old Generic Boss "The Street" (Extra) (bonus)"0:45
50."Gladysesque (Extra) (bonus)"0:26
51."Bad Wall (Extra) (bonus)"0:21
52."Sound Test (bonus)"2:46
53."Sacrificial (Danny B Cover) (bonus)"0:58
54."Release Trailer song (bonus)"1:30
Total length:1:25:32

On August 27, 2013, a remix compilation album was released on Han Tani's Bandcamp page, featuring arrangements of Anodyne's music from a variety of composers.[6]

ANODYNE REMIX ALBUM track list

No.TitleArtistLength
1."friend"bo en2:53
2."Fabled Eyes"Lifeformed4:34
3."The Emerald Sea"aivi & surasshu4:05
4."Here We Are Again"Whitaker Trebella3:36
5."A Manager, a Servant and a Seer Walk into a Bar"Chris Christodoulou3:49
6."Crossing"Sam English3:12
7."Motel"Dan FitzGerald2:50
8."Dreamscapes"Josh Freund5:06
9."Roof"Arman Bohn3:34
10."Blue"sparsevector3:54
11."Cliff"mus.hiba2:13
12."Anodyne"mathbonus6:20
Total length:46:06

Reception

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Anodyne was met with mixed – though overall positive – reviews, in general comparing Anodyne's gameplay to that of Zelda games such as Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past, and praising the game's pixel art and music style. Critics often praised the game's unsettling and surreal nature. Polygon's Danielle Riendeau stated that, regarding Anodyne's world: "Fantasy and reality exist adjacent to one another, highlighting the central theme of disconnection nicely."[13]

Criticism of the game often centered around frustrating platforming sections, and the reception to Anodyne's narrative was very mixed. Regarding the story, Tom Sykes of PC Gamer stated "I doubt I’ll ever get to the root of its narrative mysteries."[11] Josh Mattingly of Indie Statik stated "it concerns musings on the state of humanity and other existential considerations"[15] whereas Vito of Destructoid stated "it becomes clear the developers have no interest in defining their world properly; whatever theories you might devise about the game’s hidden meaning given no real justification."[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b Ames, Adam (February 12, 2013). "Finish Your Game: Anodyne". Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  2. ^ enigmax (February 15, 2013). "Pirated Indie Game Devs Get Full Pirate Bay Support To Crack Steam". Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  3. ^ Han-Tani, Melos [@han_tani] (April 4, 2020). "I just open-sourced our surreal Zelda-like, Anodyne!! The code, art, and music are now free to be used for mods, fan games, sprite webcomics, AMVs, etc! I also included the level editor. Check it out here and make something cool!!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 9, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ Kerr, Chris (April 6, 2020). "Analgesic has open-sourced its 'Zelda-like' adventure game Anodyne". Gamasutra. UBM Technology Group. Archived from the original on April 9, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  5. ^ Han Tani, Sean (February 4, 2013). "Anodyne". Bandcamp. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  6. ^ Han Tani, Sean (August 27, 2013). "ANODYNE REMIX ALBUM". Bandcamp. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  7. ^ "Anodyne for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  8. ^ "Anodyne Mobile for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  9. ^ "Anodyne for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  10. ^ "Anodyne Edge review". Edge. February 13, 2013. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  11. ^ a b Sykes, Tom (March 13, 2013). "Anodyne review". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  12. ^ Johnson, Leif (February 13, 2013). "Anodyne Review". GameSpot. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  13. ^ a b Riendeau, Danielle (March 18, 2013). "ANODYNE REVIEW: PIXEL LOGIC". Polygon. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  14. ^ deMelo, Jeffrey (June 26, 2013). "'Anodyne Mobile' Review – Surreal Action-Adventure with Control Pains". TouchArcade. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  15. ^ Mattingly, Josh (March 3, 2013). "The Greenlight: Anodyne". Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  16. ^ Gesualdi, Vito (May 3, 2013). "Review: Anodyne". Retrieved May 7, 2013.
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