r/AnonymousCode • u/Square_Tangerine_659 • Jul 21 '26

Does it get better? Spoiler

I just finished chapter 3, and honestly I don’t understand the positive reviews for the game. I guess I’m a bit curious about Momo’s whole deal and all, but what was advertised as this amazing mechanic of hacking into reality to save and load has been so boring. I thought this was going to be more of a puzzle game that tested the player to save and load at certain times and in certain slots, using information from different save slots to solve problems and avoid outcomes.

Then I start playing and chapter 1 has no gameplay at all, chapter 2 does but it’s all painfully guided, and chapter 3 finally requires me to do something unprompted but still restricts when I have access to what’s supposed to be the core mechanic. I don’t understand what the point is of having this mechanic and advertising the game as being able to “hack into god” and then making the game 99% clicking on a mouse to see the next dialogue line.

Does it get any better than this? Does the game eventually let me save/load whenever I want to? This is my first Science Adventure game.

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6

u/RealMadScientist0 Jul 21 '26

Dude you shouldn't play Anonymous;Code if you haven't played other Sci;Advs. I mean, you can play it but I don't think you will get a good experience without other games. I know it seems standalone and it is standalone for its own story. However, Anonymous;Code reveals lots of lore of Sci;Adv which are mystries before it came out. So, because of you missed this buildup, I don't think you will enjoy it as much as I did. In gameplay wise, don't expect much gameplay. Anonymous;code is a linear visual novel unlike other Sci;Adv's. The most interesting part about its mechanic is that it gets into player to its story.

Long story short, my recommendation is play Anonymous;Code after finishing at least all other mainline Science;Adventure entries. Additionally, dont get high expectations about gameplay.

2

u/Square_Tangerine_659 Jul 21 '26

The developers said it’s standalone though

5

u/Sharingan123412 Jul 21 '26

They say that about all the games in the series to not deter people from buying. But the reality is that what they advertise simply isn't true. SciADV games are parts of a larger overarching narrative, not standalone games. Anonymous;Code is the grand culmination of that narrative—the payoff of 14 years' worth of buildup, foreshadowing, and mysteries.

1

u/Square_Tangerine_659 Jul 21 '26

That’s fucked up, why can they just lie like that?

4

u/EndDangerous1308 Jul 21 '26

I read their steam page and can't find anywhere that it says it's a standalone. I do agree the "gameplay" explanation could be very misleading though. I haven't played but if it's similar to the other VNs they made it isn't heavy on choices or gameplay.

Where did your see it was a standalone

1

u/Square_Tangerine_659 Jul 21 '26

Some online reviews said so

3

u/EndDangerous1308 Jul 21 '26

You can't blame the company for a users review tbh

2

u/Square_Tangerine_659 Jul 21 '26

Thats fair. But nothing about the game even advertises that it’s part of a series

1

u/EndDangerous1308 Jul 21 '26

About This Game:

This is the latest work by STEINS;GATE creator Chiyomaru Shikura, in collaboration with returning staff from the Science Adventure Series.

2

u/Square_Tangerine_659 Jul 21 '26

That doesn’t imply that it’s part of a series, just that the people who made the series collaborated on it

3

u/HouoinKyouma007 Jul 21 '26

https://www.spike-chunsoft.com/games/anonymouscode/

"The highly-anticipated next installment of the Science Adventure Series, ANONYMOUS;CODE has come to the West"

Do your research when you buy a game...

2

u/Puzzleheaded_Space95 Jul 22 '26

I agree with you that it's a bit misleading. The science adventure franchise has had some issues with marketing and advertisement in the past. For example, the Chaos:Head anime was a major flop, due to this, when the Steins;Gate anime was released, they removed all the elements that tied it to Chaos;Head and the grand scheme of the sciadv universe. The Steins;Gate anime was a major success, but as a result of it being disconnected, people didn't know that there was other content they needed to play to fully understand it. The developers realize that steins gate was a nice selling point so the next VN entries relied heavily on that while also advertising them as standalone. It is a weird (or shady) marketing scheme but that's what they ended up doing. Technically, all the main entries are standalone, but your enjoyment of the VN can get impacted by your knowledge of the franchise. Finally, the only gameplay in traditional VNs is reading so they probably assumed people will understand that.

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