Anna’s Quest – Review (PC)

Anna’s Quest – Review (PC)

Anna’s Quest is the recently released point and click puzzle game from Deadalic Entertainment.

Deadalic have a well respected pedigree when it comes to creating puzzle games, examples of their previous efforts being the Dark Eye games and the Desponia trilogy. While the former is very high fantasy and the latter is post-apocalyptic sci-fi (think of Elysium with Guybrush Threepwood) Anna’s Quest sits somewhere in between, lifting notes from both settingss. A great example is in the very first scene which looked a lot like the probable outcome of George Orwell’s 1984 and Hansel and Gretel from the Brothers Grimm.

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The game is very kid friendly by design, however cleverly delivers some quite adult themes throughout the narrative. It’s rounded shapes and use of a bold colour pallet shrewdly mask quite difficult concepts, for example the camera state, death and paranoia. This is mainly achieved via the use of a suite of entertaining characters, each of whom have their own set of goals and motivations. The developers lay their intent out early on to build a full world and populate it properly with interesting content.

The eponymous Anna, herself, is a plucky and inquisitive girl who has been stuck on a farm for her entire life. Having left it to find a cure for her sick grandfather she quickly gets snatched up in the middle of the woods and locked in a witch’s tower. As openings go I don’t think you could get more fairytale if you tried. Anna, like the majority of point and click protagonists, is not without her hang ups; when the player tries to get her to do something that she does not want to do she will tell you why.

In terms of characterisation, a relatively important character is her sidekick Ben, an anthropomorphic teddy-bear. He comes across as soft-hearted and easily scared, conveniently leaving Anna to solve the majority of their issues. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it contrived, but his role in the story seems to be to act as the Yin to Anna’s Yang. While I do see what the developers were doing here, it would be nice if he had a more active role within the story rather than being so passive. Also his voice acting came across as a weak. Its a small thing, but it was clear to me that the writers went to great lengths to create his character and the player doesn’t get to see too much of it.

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So let’s get to brass tax, as a point and click game does Anna’s Quest hold up, and what separates it from other games within the genre? Good question, I believe the game holds up very well under the rigours of what is one of PC gaming’s most senior genres. Having grown up playing many of the classic Lucas Arts titles made by the likes of Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert, I have a particular soft spot for the well executed puzzlers that Deadalic makes.

The game borrows the tried and tested inventory and environment puzzle mechanics which are a staple of the genre. The character goes around the environment collecting items and interacting with the environment. Often the player will partake in labyrinthine puzzles that are designed to be built incrementally from the environment. A great example of this is in the first level where you are stuck in the aforementioned tower and you have to explore every nook and cranny of the house to find the individual components for a spell.

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One feature that sets Anna’s Quest apart from other games in the genre is that she has special abilities. All of these serve a very specific function, like an item or a tool that doesn’t go away. They don’t make the game any easier, while playing this for the review I got stuck on more than one occasion. You’ll find yourself wandering the environment looking for the final piece of a puzzle plenty of times, the game does not pull its punches. And while it does have a tutorial sequence it is purely functional to guide the player through the basic mechanics, past that point you are left to your own devices.

TLDR: Anna’s Quest is a worthy purchase for anyone looking to expand their collection of point and click titles. It combines fairytale textures, a well written story and complete set of proven game mechanics. While it won’t set the world on fire, it serves as a worthy addition to a genre which has been lacking in releases over the last few years.

Pros

– Highly realised quasi-fairytale-scifi world.

– Well written characters.

– Adapts well used genre mechanics.

Cons

– Some of the voice acting can be a bit annoying.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
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