ANONYMOUS;CODE review

The latest SciADV is the most fantastical and fast-paced entry. But that means we don’t really get to know some of the characters.

Long before science fiction habitually became a conduit for escapism, it provided imperative forewarnings. Before the release of 2012’s Prometheus, Ridley Scott noticed a mounting issue with the genre. “Everything is used up”, the director declared, “Every type of spacesuit, every type of spacecraft is vaguely familiar. The corridors are similar, the planets are similar.” His solution was to lean more heavily into the storyline and characters rather than focusing on the hardware.

And that’s precisely the strategy that Mages CEO Chiyomaru Shikura has used across each entry and spin-off in the Science Adventure series of visual novels. Yes, there’s some kind of futuristic device in each entry, whether it’s the ability to send emails into the past in Steins;Gate or a school club building a mecha to save civilization in Robotics;Notes. It also helps that any suspension of disbelief is supported by a multitude of references to actual, real-world science.

But if you’re able to peer past some of these fanciful elements, a meticulously designed array of personalities and their lively interplay is just as significant as the machinery. Ridley Scott knew the allure of Blade Runner wasn’t just the hypnotic shots of flying over a dystopian Los Angeles. It was the existential crisis that the protagonist character faced, as Deckard realized that he might be the same kind of machine that he had been ordered to kill.

Fantasy That’s Indistinguishable from Reality

While the grizzled detective archetype might have worked for 1982’s Blade Runner, film noir’s characteristics have been strip-mined by Hollywood for decades. Instead, Anonymous;Code’s lead character Pollon Takaoka is younger and decidedly less world-weary. Yes, the future is still shitty, with legitimate jobs seemly all siphoned up. But by starting a hacktivist group called Nakano Symphonies with his pal Cross Yumikawa, at least Pollon can muster up basic living expenses while sticking it to rival hackers creating AI porn.

Yes, Anonymous;Code is populated with online factions, AI girlfriends, and hostess clubs where mid-aged men catfish as cute, young girls. But we’re at a place in the world where these things are so imminent, that they’re just as close to science-fact as they are science-fiction. Anonymous;Code’s writers aren’t some folks who occasionally check their social media feeds. They’re neck-deep in what’s current and probably know just as many vtubers as you do.

And that’s important, as Anonymous;Code understands hacker culture. From the audacious displays of bravado by leaving your group’s name to the interpersonal loneliness that can affect folks who communicate almost exclusively online, Code views its cast objectively. A less savvy writing team would have portrayed them as little more than a group of social misfits. And unlike previous SciADV entries, it’s easy to identify with the novel’s principals, especially as they are propelled into in series of situations that escalate in intensity.

But given that the novel has a linear storyline, we aren’t given the luxury of truly getting inside the heads of the numerous secondaries in Code. And that’s a shame, given how the cast of Steins;Gate supplied much of the emotional resonance. But sacrificing the slice-of-life banter means that this is a leaner, faster novel that most readers should complete in about 18 hours.

Get a Load (and Save) of This

Compared with previous Science Adventure entries, there’s limited interactivity across Code’s storyline. Utilizing the same kind of interface that players use to record their progress, Pollon effectively save-scums his way through the adventure. Just like the player, knowledge is retained, permitting the protagonist to trial-and-error his way through a plotline filled with a steady process of surprises.

While it’s a rather cunning mechanic, building on a routine almost every gamer is familiar with, the novel doesn’t always signal when you should be taking advantage of the technique. As such, you’ll inevitably encounter a few game enders, which can disrupt the sense of immersion. Just know that occasionally, the way forward isn’t intuitive and might seem to contradict the game’s ‘rules’.

Nagano, Japan Circa 2037

When it comes to presentation, Anonymous;Code largely excels. Character portraits exhibit different facial expressions and gestures using 2DLive-style animation, while backdrops provide a gratifying amount of detail. Code’s futurism is represented by its high-tech interface, with frequent picture-in-picture effects.

Sporadically, the game will render full-screen animations or shift to manga-style panels, offering a dose of visual variety. I just wish there were more of these sequences. When it comes to voice acting, there’s Japanese and Mage’s first English dub. The latter is pretty good, especially Max Mittelman and Anairis Quiñones performances as Pollon and his ersatz girlfriend, Momo. But occasionally, it sounds like lines of dialog were recorded separately, rather than having the actors play off each other.

ANONYMOUS;CODE was played on Switch with review code provided by the publisher.