Anathema

Back in the day, most video games were designed to put players through hell, so it felt like quite the achievement to reach the end. That is still true for some games, but most titles out there feature an easy mode that allows basically anyone to enjoy the story and not worry about the challenges along the way. Hence, it’s not all bad, even if many people complain about casual gameplay mechanics.

Anathema is a retro action-platformer with hardcore gameplay mechanics and 2D graphics, in which you have to defeat hundreds of enemies and survive trap-infested levels. Everything is designed to come as close to classics like Castlevania or Metroid, so expect fast-paced combat, double jumps and a variety of other genre-specific elements that help you remember the good-old days.

The story is quite dark and interesting as well, even if it’s mostly eclipsed by continuous fighting and it doesn’t have too much of an impact on the gameplay. Hence, you play the role of a woman by the name of Aurora Delacroix, who is actually an Angel of Death. She is on a mission to take revenge on Azrael, an evil angel who killed her father back in the day and is still causing havoc.

The combat is not very complex, but you can use a few power-ups and combos to take down enemies with ease. Aurora has a melee weapon that she relies on for most of the time, but it’s also possible to shoot down enemies from afar using a ranged attack. Some power-ups modify your attacks and increase your damage, but it’s still important to approach each encounter with self-preservation in mind.

Lastly, the graphics are not particularly impressive, but the retro style is very well executed, especially since some of the techniques are quite modern. Hence, the backgrounds and the character animations look very nice, even if the textures are not exactly high-resolution. The music keeps you engaged as well, especially during difficult sections with lots of enemies.

Anathema has all the right elements to please the old-school fans of the genre, even if it’s maybe not as difficult as you might hope. The graphics are very nicely made, and the story has enough interesting elements to keep you invested.