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Anodyne

In Anodyne, the character Young wakes up in a mysterious void filled with geometric white platforms, guided only by the voice of the mysterious character, Sage. Take the role of Young as you explore and fight your way through over twenty nature, urban and abstract themed areas in the human Young's subconscious, ranging from diverse, monster and trap filled dungeons, to passive and friendly pastoral landscapes. Anodyne's aesthetics are presented with a 16-bit-era visual style and a moody, dream-like soundtrack. Are you ready for a nostalgic adventure in the land of classic pixelated action-RPGs? Are you up for some deep and moving storytelling? All this and more awaits you in Anodyne.

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Very Positive

1,586 Steam reviews

Review History

Reviews

1,586 total

≥h

Steam User 6583STEAMRecommended

Yes.

Mar 29, 2026·10h·Verified

Steam User 6851STEAMRecommended

I Recommend

Mar 25, 2026·6h·Verified

Steam User 2182STEAMRecommended

[b]A weird dream adventure with Yume Nikki feel, in pocket Zelda format . . . and probably some metaphors too[/b]

While I'm not the most ardent fan of bluntly metaphoric storytelling, oneiric weirdness and cucumber-cool atmosphere [i]get me[/i] with some frequency. So it is here!

Instead of a sword, Young early on equips a broom for his [i]subconsciousness quest[/i] -- he can load it up with clots of dust he can deposit to block projectiles or even power machines, which is not something I've seen in [i]any[/i] game, quite. Also, it functions as an ordinary stabby [i]Zelda[/i] sword (because it would be kind of inconvenient to kill everything with some roundabout sweeping mechanic).

The overworld is a smorgasboard of gently odd discovery and funny, silly characters. The dungeons are short, sweet, and plentiful -- built simply enough to solve quickly, but open-ended enough that you have some active pleasure in their completion. They're nicely addictive! Once I started on one, I had to whip right through and get everything inside. I whistled all the dungeon themes and most of the music constantly [i]while[/i] I was playing the game -- all the neat little ghost tunes of the digital ghost world -- and though I don't remember any of them [i]now[/i], they must have been pretty invasive at the time. (It's like you remember the ghost, but not the ghost's face.)

The general roving is pleasant, but the small, square, GBA-style "screen" is a bit cramped for the design of the bosses -- for the frantic bloody [b]goop[/b] monster, for the nightmare hobo of the hotel-top, especially -- which means that trying to move around [i]strategically[/i] will just get you flustered and killed, so it's better to wail on them in a few select spots till they're dead. The last two encounters, with lots of hopping to avoid things, are the exceptions. A concentration on that third pseudo-dimension makes the difference!

So what does it all mean? What [i]is[/i] the metaphor matrix, here? That Young spends too much time in worlds of cultural creation, tapping at vidya, hoarding cards? Some indications point to this, while others seem to poke fun [i]at[/i] this very criticism: the boss called the Wall, for instance, who mispronounces Young's name [i]on purpose[/i], and denigrates his love of "Nintandos" and card collection. (I love this encounter!) Or maybe not, after all. There are a bunch of things in there about "waking up" and "dealing with people."

Whatever the case, it's just a fact that human beings tend to get "trapped" in sub-worlds anyway, and it's [i]not[/i] something to get torn up about -- not unless hallucinations are involved. All around us, people are completely and [i]willingly[/i] hypnotized, for instance, by the news media of their choice. Whose fault is it when the missiles fly and things come apart? Probably the "demonrats" or "cuckservatives," or even the people getting bombed -- never the obvious culprits they'd rather not consider.

Sports fans live with one foot (at least) in [b]Ball World[/b] until the day they die. Movie fans traverse the [b]Cinemascape[/b] for untold kalpas of subjective time. (Don't I know it! Don't I love it!) Have you considered how much [i]in-gazing[/i] it takes to just read a novel, much less write one? (And it doesn't even have to be a very good one!) Ever fold an origami figure? While you do it, you are [i]out[/i] of it, brother. I guess we humans just don't find bare, Rex Mundi reality very satisfying. So pick yer poison, matey! Pick your [i]haze[/i]! You're gonna have one, regardless!

(That thing the Wall does to Young I always call [b]DVPM[/b]: Dismissal Via Purposeful Mispronunciation. As in, "That ol' [i]sashi[/i], that raw fish or somethin'? Not for me, no sir!" You know [b]damned well[/b] how to say it, you [i]salt of the earth[/i] idiot!)

Mar 21, 2026·6h·4·Verified

Steam User 5270STEAMRecommended

Of course everyone has already talked about how this is like an awesome 2D Zelda game but hey. It does a dang good job of it. Thoroughly engaging the whole way through.

Mar 20, 2026·11h·Verified

Steam User 7628STEAMRecommended

zelda & chill

Mar 5, 2026·8h·Verified

Steam User 5300STEAMRecommended

Great game and soundtrack.

Feb 21, 2026·18h·Verified

Steam User 7902STEAMRecommended

クリア日: 2017/04/27
👍️👍️👍️👍️👍️🎵

Feb 17, 2026·11h·Verified

Steam User 8311STEAMRecommended

Sometimes a game sears into your brain. but you don't understand why. I mean it's really good, but there is something unsettling that doesn't make sense the same way the world doesn't make any sense. A decade later you replay it on a whim and the confusion is no more. You've changed so much.

Feb 16, 2026·22h

Steam User 8515STEAMRecommended

I got this along with Angeline Era, and had never played it before. This is a really good surreal Zelda-style game, and I can tell the story is building up to something memorable. 👍👍👍

Feb 7, 2026·1h·Verified

Steam User 8601STEAMRecommended

There's something uniquely intriguing about seeing games made by bold creative voices that heavily lean on pastiches of existing properties. A designer's sensibilities become especially clear when you can see what bits and pieces were especially emphasised, comparing them to pre-existing titles to reveal all the ways that the game is able to extend beyond the idea of "being just a clone". Anodyne is inspired by the 2D Legend of Zelda games, this is undeniable, and yet, there's sooooo much here that sets it apart from that series, both in terms of its priorities and how it presents itself.

The biggest way this shines through immediately is in the game's total lack of interest in item progression, only really having a couple of very specific moments that directly add onto the verbs that you're utilising in your playthrough, After having Angeline Era is seems that this might just be a common trait amongst Analgesic games, focused more on a very small number of tight mechanics at the player's disposal with the escalation coming far more from the outside elements forcing you to use those limited capabilities in completely novel ways. Despite the lack of tangible escalation in terms of what the player can do for the most part, there's this constant feeling of progression through the complexity of the dungeons themselves, never interested with making you do the same thing more than in that one location, always finding new mechanics for you to interact with. This ultimately lends itself to a powerful feeling of individuality from each location, each instilled with their own ways of disturbing the formula to make it never feel like you're retreading concepts you're already intimately familiar with.

The atmospheric focus of Anodyne also serves to strengthen this a lot, with it seeming less like it's ever trying to be much of a single, linear plot and more an abstract exploration of the mind of protagonist Young. The way which it's all presented feels downright cryptic more often than not, but with enough grounding to get the general idea across, with each action and piece of imagery further reinforcing itself and bolstering certain themes and ideas. Constant violent streaks, the sense of isolation that pervades everything, in part due to the fact that those moments of violence shine through and push away, the entire suburbs portion of the game being so thoroughly offputting both from the perspectives of those that surround you, and the actions that you yourself have to take within the zone. The NPCs you largely come across feeling so basic in embodying little more than a singular trait further add to this, with that somewhat surreal, deadpan humour that pervades the dialogue further putting you off from any real connection from most of these denizens of the fields, making those genuine moments of heart feel all the more profound as a result.

One of the most specifically interesting things I also take away from Anodyne is that it's one of the only times I'd describe as agoraphobic. Sure, many games have this sense of openness and grandiosity to them, especially those that have an exploratory focus, but the way this game uses its wider spaces and labyrinthine design to instil this constant sense of discomfort is really, really impressive. This especially shines through in the sections that ground themselves in the aesthetics of the interiors of buildings, both apartments and hotels. Despite being in what ought to be such an enclosed space, it feels genuinely unnerving to see these dungeons sprawl so wide, getting you lost in places that ought to have a little more of a grasp on, and yet, it feels impossible. At the same time, the game has no shortage of gorgeous spectacle to also cement the fact that there is beauty in the world, there is so much out there that's wonderful, moments of comfort even amongst the unending anxieties.

And despite all this, the game still has the audacity to hit you with one of the most insane late game mechanical switchups I've seen, and doing it so flagrantly as well!!! I'm in awe about the boldness of the swap mechanic, not just for how it entirely recontextualises how you look at the world design, but for how it's completely unafraid to softlock you and force you to hit the return to nexus button constantly. This shaky foundation does wonders for the vibe of the game, as if you're breaking apart the very fabric of the carefully constructed experience up to this point only to find that even doing so just leads to a set of entirely new challenges, ones often buried amongst layers of increasingly lateral and esoteric problem solving that can feel downright impenetrable at times. The game has it all! Such compelling atmosphere combined with a wonderful lateral move on one's preconceived notions of what a Zelda game could be. Sure, it's simplistic in a lot of regards, but it ends up contributing to those profound moments as a result, and mixing this in with some of the most fascinating mechanical decisions towards the end of the game really cements the entire experience in my mind as something that's truly one of a kind, despite what surface level observations might lead you to expecting.

9/10

Feb 4, 2026·7h·1·Verified

Steam User 6584STEAMRecommended

Good game.. Not sure I understand it, but that’s fine, the tone was nice. There is one tile puzzle in the game, near the end, that didn’t fit and didn’t make sense to me. Disappointed to have to use a guide for one thing.

Feb 1, 2026·5h·Verified

Steam User 0335STEAMRecommended

Ca parle beaucoup d'Angeline Era ces jours-ci donc j'ai décidé de faire les 2 jeux Anodyne, faits par les mêmes personnes, d'abord.
A l'époque je m'étais perdu et j'étais passé à autre chose assez vite.
Ca fait un peu penser à Zelda 1, jeu vu de haut avec un mélange de puzzle (dans l'ensemble rien de trop dur mais suffisamment pour se sentir malin) et de combat (basique). Pas mal de secrets à trouver et la map est plutôt grande, mais y a suffisamment d'indices pour savoir où aller (donc avec le recul je sais pas trop pourquoi j'avais abandonné la première fois). Quelques donjons avec chacun leur boss attendent.
L'écriture est très typique des jeux indés d'une certaine époque mais pas au sens péjoratif.
J'ai essayé le post-game parce qu'il donne accès à un pouvoir qui semble broken et je me suis immédiatement perdu dans Glitch Land donc on va passer au 2.
Très sympa dans l'ensemble et à essayer si vous aimez un peu les jeux à la Zelda 1.

Jan 31, 2026·8h·1·Verified

Steam User 9499STEAMNot recommended

This review was originally me ripping the game apart for being "not as good as Undertale" and "feels like it came out of the early 2010s and has all the marks of a bad creepypasta"... until I realized it released before Undertale. In 2013. Oops.
But, that goes to show how impossible it is to appreciate this game when other similar projects have so far superannuated it. Anodyne is still its own game, it still has its own quirks- but this is something like Tower of Druaga or Pac Land. A very influential game to a small handful of people who went on to make stuff even cooler than it, so most people have heard way more about its progeny than the ancestor. If you try to play this game after having played Undertale, Oneshot, Miside, Doki Doki Literature Club, or Everhood, please try to keep the time period in mind. This game takes inspiration not from those, but from the true OGs like OFF and the MOTHER games/EarthBound. It WAS a good game, but you'd find it difficult to play now for the first time.

Jan 27, 2026·1h·Verified

Steam User 6382STEAMRecommended

pretty good

Jan 27, 2026·8h·Verified

Steam User 9126STEAMRecommended

A fun shorter Zelda like with a focus on exploration and discovery. You won't be collecting many items on your quest, but you will be learning how to do more with the ones you already have in fun yet simple ways. The variety in it's environments is a particular treat, as each one is absolutely dripping with unique atmosphere. The whole game game is very dream like and ethereal, leaving much up to interpretation. If you don't enjoy the act of interpretation the story of this game may not be for you (though I still think the gameplay stands as good on its own), but if you do find meaning in searching for questions in the cracks between then you will be richly rewarded.

Jan 22, 2026·10h·Verified

Steam User 8798STEAMNot recommended

Anodyne is perhaps the best title to give this game because that's how I felt playing this.

It almost lands in terms of gameplay. The main issue is that enemies rarely pose much threat to you on virtue that none of them can hurt you more than one health piece, including the bosses. The only exceptions are two enemy types that you can't hurt and are designed for the purpose of avoiding. The ghosts are placed in wide open spaces so avoiding them is trivial. Some of the houses cluster them a bit, but it's too easy to escape the house entirely and reset their ai if they're becoming too dangerous. The other is a mummy in the 8-bit level and considering that level is designed to waste your time 75% of the encounters with these enemies don't serve as a barrier and are usually ignored. The scenarios you do have to avoid them in are a very obvious "hide in a corner and wait for them to walk past you" setpiece that's so rudimentary that these sections are boring.

Since enemies do low damage, it's way too easy to mindlessly brute force everything. Often times I'd be ramming myself into enemies since their layouts rarely cover for each others space nor do nearby hazards threaten you enough to care. Hell, you don't even get damaged if you fall down a pit. This wouldn't be so bad if health pickups weren't so generous and there weren't so many savepoints that healed your entire life bar. Or that your lifebar wasn't so big. Or the enemies didn't die so quickly. I wager the intent of this design is to make the every room its own compact challenge without leaning too much on the overall attrition of dungeon crawling, especially since the screen resets upon leaving and reentering, but I think that just makes the game boring when the moment to moment is so rudimentary.

It's a shame because I do think there are some creative ideas in the enemy design. I like the enemy that sprays gas to mess up your controls which could have been cool if hazards and other enemies posed more of a threat since stuff that can mess with your flow is neat. I like the big lion enemies that shoot fire, those could control space in cool ways but they just put them alone in a room and usually you can just walk past them unless the game forces you to fight them. Hell, I think the template for most of the bosses is solid but they all run into the issue of not hurting you hard enough and dying too quickly. I felt like I was being blue balled in every boss fight given how quickly all of them end up dying so quickly, especially since some like the circus fight have a strong setpiece but I ended up being able to brute force it too easily because they barely did damage to me.

Aside from combat, a lot of the level design is puzzle based but I think the issue with them is that they're too easily solved. In virtually every case, the first solution you come up with is going to solve it. The only time it gets a bit creative is with the centipede enemies but I feel they put the scope of them too low to be interesting. Any time you encounter them, there are only 1-3 of them in the room at most and they typically section them off to a small section of the room, which makes the scope of their puzzles too simple to be interesting.

Mechanically, it's intentionally limited. The main weapon has an arc like NES Zelda but movement is more akin to the GBC games. Nothing wrong with this, but it feels kinda meaningless when enemies don't take advantage of your vertical range and come at you at differing angles to force you to reposition properly. You also get a jump which is fine when you're using it for the intended purpose but it's very funny how many cases there are where you use the jump to skip sections of the gameplay. The dust mechanic is novel but you're not able to take it with you beyond the screen you're in and that limits its utility drastically, and it's only used for two things: blocking wall projectiles and as a raft. The former is always conveniently laid out to you making it trivial whereas the latter is mostly just gating, since nothing really changes mechanically while you're on the dust raft other than there being occasional currents that affect movement speed. These *could* be cool but the only thing these currents affect is pacing since they're never used for any setpiece to challenge you or provide obstacles in fighting enemies.

Narratively It's a subtext heavy game that inspires a lot of different interpretations. But I think the main conceit is about social anxiety and isolation with the pains the come with that. Everyone is looking to find ways to escape pain or danger, and the abstractions point to the difficulties of social acceptance. But the issue with this is that any interpretation of this is superficial about how social interactions are played into and its shock value doesn't exactly make it more biting when the direction it's taking is simply pointing to the existence of social anxiety and how this can exist. Okay, what are the ideals your family embrace that put you at odds with them? What's the social environment and how does your identity tie into this? What does the social anxiety turn you into? What exactly is the "dark side" that represents your negatives? What makes you, YOU? The symbolism seems to only want to address the existence of anxiety and social isolation without any real context that these things exist in. The "just accept yourself :D" conclusion it reaches with all this is also painfully bland in a way I find eyerolling.

But to give it credit; for as superficial as it is, the way these ideas are communicated are very cool. The normal people being harmless obstacles that seem threatening at first but easy to run past is a really cool way to represent generic social interactions and how self-imposed these fears are. The "Youngtown" segment is a great way of communicating complacency in the face of catastrophe underlaying in society. I take little issue with the way its symbolism is represented.

But I feel what doesn't deliver to me is that as a game that comes from the heart and from someone's personal experiences, I feel like I have no idea who this person is. It asserts high value in human connections but doesn't feel it wants us to connect to anyone beyond a superficial representation of what they are. It's overly broad to the point of feeling indistinct and there's thousands of stories that more directly deal with the same superficial themes, it's just this one coats this in heavier symbolism than most. I can get the reasons people resonate with this because such broad framing is easy to self-insert relatability into but I find surface level relatability boring and shallow. I want something more meaty if you're going to do an abstract representation of your life experiences and the only meat here is abstraction. It's far less biting about social interactions than it thinks it is, and honestly if I can find similar conclusions and themes in something like Legally Blonde and Little Miss Sunshine then I don't think what Anodyne boasts is all that impressive in actuality. At least those films had people in them that are more tangibly defined.

Jan 20, 2026·6h·6·Verified

Steam User 5283STEAMRecommended

Admittedly, I didn't beaten the final boss and watched the ending on YouTube. I am recommending it because I think a lot of games should be this surreal.

Jan 19, 2026·8h·3·Verified

Steam User 3771STEAMRecommended

it took me a good while to finally get to playing this game, and i can safely say that im not disappointed. i first stumbled upon anodyne in this melancholic ost mix of similar stylized games (omori, eastward, yume nikki, etc.), so i had a feeling of what to expect before i started playing. and for the most part, my expectations were met. but each time i got further into the game, i was continuously taken aback by the sincerity in some of the dialogue. while the overall vibe of the game can feel stifling, confusing, and even sometimes hostile (♥♥♥♥ you rock i do have friends), the transitory moments that allow you to sit back and gaze at the beautiful pixel environments, accompanied by solemn and comforting tunes… it really made the journey through this strange and fragmented world all the more special and personal. thank you. part of me wishes i played this sooner but im glad i did at all.

[spoiler]also, the post game secret hunting was pretty enjoyable. love when a game lets me go out of bounds hells yeah!!!![/spoiler]

Jan 14, 2026·12h·Verified

Steam User 6619STEAMRecommended

I go back and play this game every few years. It's one of the few that has stuck with me long-term. So melancholic and cerebral. Can't recommend enough.

Jan 12, 2026·16h·Verified

Steam User 1010STEAMRecommended

Loved it, and i don't even like games

Jan 7, 2026·7h·Verified

Steam User 1226STEAMRecommended

Great game. A brief adventure in a surreal Zelda-like world. The soundtrack is amazing. Highly recommended for secret-hunters, there are things hiding all over this game.

Dec 30, 2025·8h·Verified

Steam User 5666STEAMRecommended

zelda but you bludgeon people with janitorial equipment

Dec 30, 2025·5h·Verified

Steam User 4863STEAMRecommended

i just cannot stop coming back to this game. i kept playing the original version from itch.io over and over. i kept playing the switch version over, and over. and now i've got it on my steam, to play over and over until the end of time. Anodyne strikes every last chord with me. the irreverent humor poking fun at classic zelda tropes, over a winding, ethereal Land that often makes you feel uneasy. the soothingly haunting soundtrack lulling you into a trance, as an inexplicable narrative of aimlessness, perseverance and futility is subtly woven. i can't get over it. you can push this game hard, and it always finds a way to push back, yet at the same time it's perfectly content with just existing alongside you. it feels like every question has an answer, but any answer is as likely to be denied as they are given. it can all be frustrating at first, but you eventually find a way to simply drift along for the ride. Anodyne is still as beautiful as the first time i laid eyes on it.

Dec 28, 2025·6h·4·Verified

Steam User 1699STEAMRecommended

Dec 22, 2025·4h·3·Verified

Steam User 3246STEAMRecommended

charming zeldalike that scratches the itch without the slog

Dec 20, 2025·5h·Verified

Steam User 0235STEAMRecommended

Anodyne foi uma grata surpresa. Não são apresentadas muitas inovações além do uso da poeira da vassoura em alguns puzzles, mas o jogo cativa o jogador através da sua execução perfeita da simplicidade que, aliada de vários elementos que trazem carisma e frescor à narrativa, como a sacada de ter cards colecionáveis, a ambientação interessante e a pixel art bem-feita, pavimenta um caminho sólido, em que se observa facilmente como os desenvolvedores se esforçaram para entregar uma boa experiência.
Ainda, preciso ressaltar como achei interessante algumas das escolhas de game design, como o sistema de progressão, que achei inteligente ao optar pelo simples, com poucos upgrades de personagem, e a opção por uma campanha enxuta, mas divertida, em que não se observa excessos ou áreas repetitivas. Tudo que está no jogo agrega, nada sobra.

Dec 19, 2025·12h·Verified

Steam User 3864STEAMRecommended

This is a review I probably should have written over 10 years ago when the game was first released and I played it for the first time. I cannot recommend this game enough. In fact, it's pretty much the one game I do recommend to all of my friends, and I've gotten a lot of my friends to play it! It is without a doubt my favourite indie game, full stop. It's even marked as my favourite game on my Steam profile for the last decade. I own a copy on pretty much every platform it's available on!

This is definitely a spiritual successor to [i] Link's Awakening [/i] (and the GBC [i] Zelda [/i] games), and even throws out some references to LA in the game! If you're a fan of [i] Link's Awakening, [/i] or really any of the 2D [i] Zelda [/i] games, [i] Anodyne [/i] is absolutely for you. I personally don't think it could have been done any better in capturing that original Zelda-style adventure with puzzles, dungeons, items, combat, and story. It's a fairly short adventure, but that doesn't take away from the fun you get out of it!

For some reason, I never see this game recommended when others ask for game recommendations, and that makes me sad. This is the game I always have and always recommend to everyone looking to play something new. If you're reading this, and you haven't played Anodyne yet, let this be your sign! I really hope you enjoy it as much as I have over the years!

TL;DR: [b] Play Anodyne! [/b] Especially if you like classic Zelda games!
(Side note: All of Analgesic Productions games have been excellent!)

Dec 18, 2025·16h·8·Verified

Steam User 1445STEAMRecommended

Exceeded my expectations in every way. Great game, with an amazing soundtrack. Weird and unwelcoming, cute but strange and a bit unsettling. Lots of surreal fun

Dec 15, 2025·9h·Verified

Steam User 4996STEAMRecommended

This game is...fine. It feels of its time in a way that isn't helping it. I wouldn't recommend it to a modern player unless you're a big classic zelda fan.

I'm very hopeful for the sequel.

Dec 13, 2025·5h·Verified

Steam User 0077STEAMRecommended

Me ha gustado mucho, es un Zelda clásico con elementos interesantes y una ambientación algo turbia. Eso sí, de la misma manera que me pasó con Anodyne 2, el juego me ha dejado con un sabor agridulce. Es decir, hay una parte de la lectura que se me escapa (no es un elemento negativo, simplemente no acaba de encajar conmigo).

Dec 5, 2025·5h·1·Verified

Steam User 1335STEAMRecommended

Great.

Dec 4, 2025·9h·Verified

Steam User 9542STEAMRecommended

Very unique. The term ‘zelda-lite’ led me to believe this would be a rather standard fantasy affair, and I was okay with that, just wanted to explore a cool world and fight things. What a got was much stranger: incredibly varied levels, cryptic dialogue, and a cerebral exploration of the protagonist’s mind, with some great atmosphere and music to boot. The combat and platforming were quite unambitious by contrast, though some of the boss designs were interesting none were really ‘fun’. So I was having fun but getting a little tired of it by the end, until I beat the game and was promptly given one of the coolest abilities in any game ever to motivate a post-game exploration of the world. Even that wore out its welcome by the end but I definitely feel like I got my money’s worth, for the fact alone that nothing I’ve ever played is really like this game.

Nov 28, 2025·8h·1·Verified

Steam User 5405STEAMRecommended

The pianist virtuoso Frédéric Chopin said, "I wish I could throw off the thoughts which poison my happiness, and yet I take a kind of pleasure in indulging them".

This game felt bad for me. Bad for my mind. I couldn't stop playing. The soundtrack crept into my cerebral cortex and lives there now. By the end of the night, I didn't feel the world was real anymore. Take that as a warning...or an invitation.

Nov 18, 2025·25h·2·Verified

Steam User 8917STEAMRecommended

Dark but fun action adventure with nice puzzles and interesting mechanics. With great art style in vain of (S)NES and GBA and a quite mature narrative.

More short reviews for hidden gems at my curator page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44819215-Lesser-Known-Hidden-Gems/

Oct 28, 2025·10h·1

Steam User 0370STEAMRecommended

Anodyne is good until it ends, but it's great once it did. Let me explain. At first I had a decent amount of fun with it, but after a while I got bored and was just trying to get the game to end. Then it ended, and the game left me with a power that let me explore the game in a way that you're only able to do via cheating in other games. And not only that, poking around a bit here and there, I discovered that there were almost as many secrets hidden away everywhere as the actual game had regular content up to this point. The atmosphere also thickens as you begin to feel like you are discovering parts of the game that shouldn't even be there. I finished the game with 4, maybe 5 good hours playtime. Now I'm at 10, and I'm still not done exploring. I've never seen a postgame quite like Anodyne's.

Oct 28, 2025·12h·17·Verified

Steam User 2597STEAMRecommended

This game is surreal and I love that. Even after you beat the game, there's more things to explore.

Oct 16, 2025·5h·Verified

Steam User 5228STEAMRecommended

zelda antigo na onda do cogumelo

Oct 15, 2025·10h

Steam User 4022STEAMRecommended

Fun little game, if there is any downside it would be that there is a timed achievement which not everyone enjoys getting such achievements.

Oct 15, 2025·7h·Verified

Steam User 9842STEAMRecommended

an incredible game for fans of 2D zelda.

Oct 2, 2025·7h

Steam User 8993STEAMNot recommended

Zelda-esque action adventure game with Earthbound influences. Some interesting ideas and a brooding, esoteric atmosphere cannot save this one from its bland combat and frustrating platforming.

Sep 30, 2025·6h·3·Verified

Steam User 5535STEAMRecommended

Anodyne has this sort of hypnotic loop in its exploration. Eventually, you're allowed to "break" the game world and see behind the curtain. It's, at times, surreal and horrific, but there's always a sense of calm as you play. The music is phenomenal, and if you can get into the idea of getting lost at times (á la Yume Nikki in a way), then it's a fun, cerebral treat.

Sep 7, 2025·9h·Verified

Steam User 2227STEAMNot recommended

[h3]I wrote this review back when i played the game in December 2024. I forgot to post it, but I saw it in my notes, and my feelings towards Anodyne are still rather tepid, so I'm posting it now.[/h3]

Anodyne is.. interesting. I don't really know if I like it. There's so many pieces that all fit together to form a really wonderful, dream-like vibe inside of Young's mind. The atmosphere is great and I personally really enjoyed the meandering around the world. The black and white city and the mothers hell really stand out to me. There's so much to unpack and theorize about Young's life and what happened between Young and Briar, but I feel like it's so disjointed and it's hard for me to get a full grasp on everything. I think that formlessness and uncertainty is the point, since the game takes place in Young's subconscious (I think), but it doesn't quite hit for me as nicely as I'd like.

The jumping is the part of this game I can really say I don't like. Failing at diagonal jumps definitely added way more to my playtime than any combat could've, lol

Sep 6, 2025·6h·1·Verified

Steam User 7137STEAMNot recommended

I played Anodyne awhile ago but struggle to remember much of it other than it being slightly frustrating and unenjoyable for me. It's a mild 'not recommended' mostly because I don't remember the game well enough, and if I ever revisit it, I'll be sure to update my review to reflect my opinion on it.

Sep 1, 2025·2h·1

Steam User 6162STEAMRecommended

Absolutely fantastic game! I just love the weird dialogues and mystic elements of it.

Aug 31, 2025·7h·Verified

Steam User 9229STEAMRecommended

Pleasant RPG.

Aug 30, 2025·2h·Verified

Steam User 5915STEAMRecommended

I expected a charming Zelda knock-off. Instead I got existential dread delivered via a broom and pixel art nightmares

Aug 24, 2025·29h·3

Steam User 9895STEAMRecommended

ドットの感じとダークだけどホラーではないような不思議な雰囲気がとても好みです。
自分のPCゲーム歴では珍しくクリアできるまで連日プレイしました。

Aug 21, 2025·9h·Verified

Steam User 1059STEAMRecommended

beautiful and resonant

Aug 20, 2025·19h·Verified

Steam User 4929STEAMRecommended

Great little short game! Had a lot of fun playing it, and the art is really good.

Aug 16, 2025·5h·Verified

Steam User 0456STEAMRecommended

dusty

Aug 13, 2025·4h·1·Verified

Steam User 7382STEAMRecommended

even compared to even the ocean, analgesic's very next game, anodyne is a young artist's project in many ways...split between a nostalgic impression of its influences while also approaching them with an almost mischievous iconoclasm, every creative decision wrapped around a clear and readable goal (despite their ostensibly cryptic delivery), and a raw emotional reality delivered with very little self-consciousness. it is in many ways analgesic's most alienating game, which makes the set of circumstances that lead to it being likely still their most popular kind of amusing...some of those circumstances could be looked at with cynicism (perhaps a links awakening-like is just an easier pitch than anything theyve made since) but i believe part of it was also a greater patience and interest at the time for even more alienating and amorphous masterpieces like yume nikki. and much like yume nikki, anodyne is best played simply for the sensation of Playing Anodyne...a lonely, absurd, morbid, raw experience.

having gone back to play this game as many times as i have, ive formed a very steady and endlessly expanding mental map of all the symbolism and emotional evocations (this playthrough i was particularly interested in the ways areas on the same progression path are grouped together), to the point where ive long wanted to do some kind of commentary video or annotated longplay. but i always feel like im missing Something, and i think i always will, and that maddening gnawing is ultimately what has brought me back to it so many times. not to undersell the richness of analgesic's other games, but they have remained much easier to feel like i have Fully Conceptualized Them to a degree that satisfies me,,,but despite the overall easy-to-understand thematic/narrative big picture, the smaller details of anodyne have spent years sitting in my stomach, sometimes genuinely uncomfortable to play and think about, yet always so rewarding.

anodyne is, strangely enough, the duo's coldest, least inviting game by some distance, which almost makes it feel chronologically wrong. and yet it also makes perfect sense as the seed from which the rest of their partnership sprouted...the precise, minimalist-leaning design emphasizing long-form texture over short-term dopamine, a living world shaped by the subconscious emotions of a sentient being, the desire to re-explore highly specific crevices of game history, and the thoughtful integration of video game artifice into the larger aesthetic. that last one particularly defines analgesic for me...while the willingness to jar their players is occasionally clearly meant to rip you out of the art-induced haze and remember the Real World you live in with a semi-brechtian effect (the endings of even the ocean and sephonie, No Such Scene from anodyne 2), more often than not the effect can be even more world-swallowing, as potentially jarring elements are treated with casual artfulness. the very first Analgesic Moment might be one of the easiest to miss...sage telling you that you Will use the keys to move.

Aug 10, 2025·4h·3·Verified

Steam User 9902STEAMRecommended

Amazing game. If you like zelda-like games I definitely recommend it. I still think about it months after finishing it, not sure what happened but I enjoyed the journey lol

Aug 8, 2025·9h·Verified

Steam User 9045STEAMRecommended

Cool top down Zelda like with relaxing and creepy vibes at the same time. Scratches the Weird RPG Maker itch, if you like Yume Nikki, Off, Omori and OneShot you might like this.

Jul 29, 2025·9h·Verified

Steam User 0088STEAMRecommended

I played Anodyne 2 around two years ago so while I was familiar with the Anodyne games I really wanted to try out where this hidden gem of a series has started and damn was I surprised. A five and a half hour trip (time it took me to beat the game) that makes you feel as if you are unwelcomed with its uncanny levels and even weirder soundtrack that will immerse you instantly all while losing perception of time. What I love about the series is that it doesn't shy away from telling you that it's not a perfect game and that it's flawed, won't spoil it for you but reach the end of the game you will see what I am talking about. You will feel at home if you are a fan of Link's Awakening DX.

Jul 26, 2025·9h·3·Verified

Steam User 0818STEAMRecommended

One of my favorite games of all time. Wish the second one wasn't so different and that there was more like this.

Jul 26, 2025·5h·Verified

Steam User 2275STEAMRecommended

Ich habe Anodyne in 11 Stunden durchgespielt. Vermutlich war ich davon 3 Stunden bewusstlos. Ich kann es nicht genau sagen.
Es handelt sich um ein 2D-Abenteuerspiel, das sich wie ein verträumter Cousin von Zelda anfühlt – wenn Zelda mit Fieber im Bett liegt und zu viele Fragen stellt.
Anodyne hat Räume. Viele Räume. Einige davon existieren. Andere sind Metaphern. Wieder andere existieren nur, wenn man sich nicht zu sehr an sie erinnert.
Ich hatte 3 von 6 Achievements am Ende. Ich glaube, das ist okay. Ich erinnere mich an einen Sumpf. An eine leere Stadt. An irgendetwas, das wichtig war.
Nach Anodyne 2 ist dieses Spiel wie das Echo, das man vorher gehört hat. Rückwärts.
Auch hier: Technisch einwandfrei. Großartiger, dezenter Soundtrack. Sehr gut geeignet zum Einschlafen. Oder zum Nachdenken. Oder beides gleichzeitig.
Ich wollte etwas erleben. Ich habe stattdessen vergessen, was ich erlebt habe.
Empfehlung: Ja.
Nicht weil ich weiß warum – sondern weil ich glaube, das Spiel hat es gewusst.
10/10.
(Wobei ich nicht sicher bin, ob ich es wirklich gespielt habe.)

Jul 26, 2025·11h·Verified

Steam User 1349STEAMRecommended

A wonderful game with an amazing surrealist tone. It's the game that got me interested in Melos Han-Tani's other works, which I continue to enjoy greatly.

Jul 21, 2025·8h·Verified

Steam User 6770STEAMRecommended

This game is basically "quirky" retro Zelda.
If you like retro Zelda you'll most likely enjoy this.

The writing overall is charming. Had me chuckling a few times... I feel like it went for that "cryptic" "deep" ♥♥♥♥ a little too hard sometimes but in general I enjoyed it. The world was always changing to keep things fresh. This isn't your typical fantasy setting and there's very little sense to it so you never know what you'll see or where you'll be next which was fun.

If I had to fault the game for something the controls could be a bit sharper and you barely unlock anything combat-wise. Just sayin expect to shwack away for the whole run. Level design/puzzles are pretty well designed though and I had a good time finding everything.

At the end of the day it's a good Zelda-like with a quirky world. All you need to know.

Jul 19, 2025·10h·Verified

Steam User 7013STEAMRecommended

Anodyne is a game that was clearly inspired by classic top-down Zelda games. If you like how those games play mechanically, I would highly recommend this without any consideration.

But there's a lot more to say about this hidden gem. The pixel art is pretty amazing despite being simple. And the music in the game ranges from good to amazing. I first played this game years ago and I still listen to several of the tracks from it occasionally! As someone who believes that good music can bring a game up a notch, Anodyne certainly isn't lacking in that aspect.

The story of the game is extremely vague to the point where it's almost nonexistent; a lot of elements are going to be up to your own interpretation. But it doesn't feel like a lazy excuse to not write a tangible story, and instead I think it blends in with the nature of the game quite well. By the end, you might have some idea of what's going on, but it doesn't entirely matter if you understand it or not because the story isn't the driving force of this game. The environments and puzzles are what I think make this game great. Still, there are lots of narratives explored, so even without a clear plot to follow, there will be parts of the game that make you want to form your own thoughts on what's going on.

Also, after "beating" the game, there is a LOT of optional content which could potentially double your playtime. I thought this was pretty cool. You could argue that some of this post-game content isn't entirely optional (you'll need to do it for achievements), but there are quite a few collectibles in the game that don't even grant achievements and instead are just there for fun. I like this approach because some of the stuff you need to do for these collectibles is pretty insane, so it's nice that they left it to post-game content that you can choose not to do if you don't want to.

Anodyne was a pretty unique top-down experience for me. As someone who loves games with good pixel art, great music, and neat puzzles, this game was super enjoyable!

Jul 19, 2025·35h·1·Verified

Steam User 9082STEAMRecommended

süper oyun. çok rüyamsı ve rahatlatıcı bir havası var ama arada ürkütücü olmaktan da çekinmiyor. fields bölgesinin müziği ve o güneşli havası zihni rahatlatıcı bile diyebilirim, daha önce hiç bi oyunda bi yerleri keşfedip bir şeylerle savaşırken bu kadar rahatlamamıştım heralde. bir de red sea var tabi acayip ürkütücü bi yer; her yer kanlı, etten mağaralar dolaşıyorsunuz vs.

acayip mekanikleri var, zıplamak gibi veya (spoiler sayılır o yüzden söylemem ama anlayan anladı) gibi. silahınız bir süpürgedir. farklı dünyaları keşfedip oyundaki karakterleri (veya bazen nesneleri) gösteren kartlar toplar, bu kartlarla yeni kapılar açar ve daha fazla dünyalar keşfedersiniz.

karakteri kontrol etmenin tuhaf hissettirmesi dışında süper oyun. anodyne 2 ile beraber almanızı öneririm; henüz onu oynamadım ama ilk oyuna kıyasla daha büyük bir oyunmuş.

eski zelda oyunlarını seviyorsanız veya yume nikki yi seviyorsanız kesinlikle ama kesinlikle denemelisiniz.

Jul 6, 2025·9h·Verified

Steam User 1427STEAMRecommended

Jun 30, 2025·12h·Verified

Steam User 0742STEAMRecommended

The game is a Zelda-like with some very quirky dialogue and meta humor that directly pokes fun at/makes commentary on games and gaming as escapism.

For a long time while playing this I kept asking myself... "what is going on?" lol. It's a game that straddles the line of humor and seriousness pretty well. By the end you feel a little more at home in "The Land" but never feel comfortable or that it's a real breathing world, and that may be intentional. The people in "the land" feel hollow, you just feel very alone the entire time. It's art. Is art always fun?. Not always. But, you will remember the experience.

I do want to add that the post game is unique and interesting but ultimately not worth the effort. The ability you get in the newgame+ is cool but I think it could have been woven into the game in a more meaningful way to be honest.

Give it a play if you like meta humor and Zelda-like games.

Jun 30, 2025·9h·Verified

Steam User 4188STEAMRecommended

A wonderful ode to classic gameboy Zelda. Plays 'out the box' on Steam Deck 60fps @ 720 on 3 watts.

More Steam Deck Reviews here: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43052238-Ideal-for-Deck/

Jun 30, 2025·2h·1·Verified

Steam User 3336STEAMRecommended

Game is so good I regularly gift it to people.

Jun 27, 2025·6h·3·Verified

Steam User 4028STEAMRecommended

An amazing TLOZ inspired game about facing fears. Each dungeon represents some type of fear or insecurity Young has. The purpose of conquering each seems to be for self improvement to help with some type of relationship Young has.

May 26, 2025·14h·Verified

Steam User 1669STEAMRecommended

Parfois la seule chose dont on a besoin pour se libérer l'esprit, c'est de passer un bon coup de balai. Une fois terminé, on se pose devant Anodyne, et on se dit entre autre, que ce coup de balai était peut être finalement loin d'être anodin.

Une chouette expérience qui en plus d'être un jeu très agréable à parcourir, raconte bien plus que ces quelques lignes de dialogue.

May 19, 2025·7h·1

Steam User 1073STEAMNot recommended

第一个boss劝退了

Apr 25, 2025

Steam User 2915STEAMRecommended

11/10

Apr 24, 2025·6h·Verified

Steam User 4127STEAMNot recommended

Nice atmosphere and Zelda playstyle, but a large hit detection on the main character combined with a very short attack range and janky movement made it unengaging. Combat and puzzle placement revolves too much about specific placement to overlook this.

Apr 20, 2025·1·Verified

Steam User 8742STEAMRecommended

Imagine Link's Awakening, but you're in a fever dream. That's the quickest way I could sum up Anodyne. I like the fact the puzzles are quite intuitive, but later on in the game you may find yourself getting lost, and probably frustrated, but stick with it. A few times I've had to take a break and come back to it with fresh eyes.
The mechanics with the broom are really interesting, where you move dust around to complete certain puzzles, or use them as rafts to ride on water.
Also, thanks to the remake I can play it natively on Linux, which I'm so appreciative of.

If you're a fan of the top down zelda-like genre and feel like trying something different, definitely give this one a go.

Apr 8, 2025·9h·Verified

Steam User 7363STEAMRecommended

Kind of a dreamy, atmospheric take on Zelda, with obvious inspiration taken from the general mood of "Link's Awakening". This isn't quite as poignant, and the themes of self-doubt and self-denial come across a little hamfisted, but there are still some nice moments.

Combat is a bit loose, and puzzles tend to not be quite as engaging until later in the game, although the bosses never feel trivial. It's a slight experience, but definitely not a bad one. A bit too self-aware at times as well, and also veers into juvenile edginess ocassionally. Likely only for Zelda fans or people who want a quick romp through some retro-inspired dreamscapes.

Apr 2, 2025·5h·Verified

Steam User 9447STEAMRecommended

Ever wanted to solve puzzles and defeat enemies using a broom? Anodyne features a number of different themed areas, each with their own creatures, dungeons and soundtrack. Inspired by early Zelda, this is a comforting and familiar feeling experience while still being distinctly its own game. I did enjoy playing Anodyne, and if you're into this style of game definitely give it a go. The down side for me is that the maps quickly become a labyrinth that is very annoying to navigate. Along with not being particularly story driven, I lost interest after a few hours of play.

Mar 31, 2025·2h

Steam User 4999STEAMRecommended

Play this game if you are looking for a very very fun top down Zelda like experience, I definitely recommend it!

Mar 28, 2025·6h·Verified

Steam User 7945STEAMNot recommended

ドット得のゲーム食傷気味
もうゲームにあきた
いきているのがつらい
このげーむはぼくをすくうことができませんでした

Mar 22, 2025·1

Steam User 9316STEAMRecommended

单从游玩体验上讲，是很优秀的Zelda-like解谜游戏，音乐与独特的像素美术，以及大量的关卡设计都是恰到火候，我很喜欢屋顶、山脉和风车的场景音乐，是一种独特的宁静与自由感，作者很会通过视听传达感性；剧情只能说是建立在玩法和作者电波之上的点缀，更像是作者时不时心血来潮的产物。通关一次后游戏算是进入到了另一篇章，（[strike]作者电波发散之章 [/strike]），唯一的缺点是新的玩法很容易把自己卡死在地图某个角落里…或许少一点功利心理（比如本人急着全收集）慢慢在世界里漫步游索能感受到更多乐趣吧…
[spoiler]玩之前曾经有被剧透meta元素，所以在开启二周目后新鲜感反而没有期待的强。本篇的meta元素和市面上常见的游戏角色自我觉醒不太一样，要说奇妙比喻的话更像是作者和玩家两个人之间默默心照不宣而把游戏主角踢出游戏的meta，有一种游戏主角是作为作者和玩家之间聊天电话一般的存在（Young：？在说我？） [/spoiler]
整部作品几乎没有任何商业因子，游玩的感受更像是单纯的对来自作者的一份礼物的欣赏，处处席卷着无拘无束的气息。真的真的是很好的游戏TT

Mar 21, 2025·12h·Verified

Steam User 1244STEAMRecommended

This is a great game! It gave me heavy Yume Nikki vibes.

The gameplay is a lot more satisfying than I initially had thought it would be and the exploration of the maps was fun with the crypticness of the game. The whole game is fairly cryptic even with it's story. I didn't even really understand the story immediately after beating it (if you play it in one session it's probably easier to put together). I think it goes to show to the overall theming that I still felt all of the proper emotional beats during the game, so even while I didn't really understand the story at the end of the game I was still moved.

Mar 21, 2025·7h·3·Verified

Steam User 0065STEAMRecommended

if you do play this game then whether you love it or hate it at least try and get to the rooftop area no matter what, the moment there is unforgettably beautiful and even though this game is pretty take it or leave it i feel like that moment alone makes this game worth playing

Mar 14, 2025·16h·6·Verified

Steam User 5773STEAMRecommended

The game starts as an inferior imitation of Link's Awakening; but it slowly mutates into this bizarre, puzzling, horrifying, yet beautiful psychological art piece.

This was an experience I will never forget, and I will gladly continue to explore the rest of these developers' catalog!

Please give it a whirl if it interests you!

Mar 12, 2025·8h·4·Verified

Steam User 9574STEAMRecommended

Anodyne feels like a mix of playing a game and being into someone else's mind. In the outside, it's just your typical indie old-school action-adventure game. You know, your budget Zelda from the SNES era. While its true that the gameplay resembles a watered-down version of those games, having only one weapon (the broom) with underwhelming upgrades and very few mechanics, rating this game based on mechanics alone would be a huge disservice. The soul of this game is very unique, the atmosphere, dialogs, sounds, music and art style all fit together incredibly well. This is one of those games where the whole represents way more than the sum of its parts.

The game tries to pass an image of not taking itself seriously, as shown by the silly dialogues and the main weapon choice - a broom - while at the same time being very introspective. It feels like the game was an outlet for the author(s) to try processing their own life - fears, troubles, connections, anxieties, regrets...all of that represented by the protagonist Young and his quest to save "The Briar", which ends up being another person. It's heavily implied that Briar was once close friends with Young, and they apparently had their friendship estranged but seem reconcile at the end.

You need a minimum of 36 cards to open the last gate and face the final boss. After you beat him, you're given a broom upgrade that can quite literally "break" the game and give you access to areas that you're normally not supposed to reach. The feeling of basically cheating your way through the game while collecting all kinds of weird items and cards, and even finding completely new areas, is extremely fun. There is even a semi-secret debug area, which is my favorite in the game, where you can get a glimpse of the development process and the authors decision-making. The entire game feels like a tiny window into someone else's mind, and that particular area feels like opening a big curtain.

There are 49 cards, 14 ??? items, 10 health increases and 3 broom upgrades to collect. You can gain access to a very challenging boss gauntlet if you manage to open the 47 gate, in which you're supposed to defeat all the bosses in the game in one go. In this same area, there is a 49 gate, and behind it a portal teasing the player. You're only supposed to get 48 cards, since that is the amount of space the card binder has - however, the 49th card is actually hidden on the platform to the left of this same gate, but you can't reach it using normal means. If you can somehow get it (and trust me: it is possible), you can go inside that portal and get to see the true ending of the game!!! .. or maybe instead get to experience a mix of amusement and disappointment: another gate!

Your reward for all that dedication and hard work of collecting every single card, even the one you're not "supposed" to get, is the 50 gate. This one can't be opened, and the devs plan keeping it that way. The reason is simple: the whole game is just an escape, a dream world, a canvas for Young to process his feelings. The only true rewards are in the real world, and one need to "wake up" and act to finally earn them. And the best part is that you can do that as Young, by dying and choosing not to continue. He will wake up at his apartment, and when you walk through the exit you'll go straight to the title screen. That's it: now Young is fully awaken, ready to apply everything he learned into real-life actions - just let him do it by leaving the game.

Overall, I think this game is an underrated masterpiece in terms of atmosphere. It definitely left a mark on myself the first time I played. Since it was remastered with some QoL, the addition of boss gauntlet and support for 60 fps, it felt like the perfect excuse to play it again after all those years and leave a review. If you're just looking for an action-adventure game packed with different items, mechanics and dynamic combat, there are better alternatives out there. But if you're the kind of player that sees games as capable of being more than just that, you're in for a memorable experience.

[h1]The Good[/h1]
+ Introspective game with a fitting atmosphere, clearly touching into some real life problems and insecurities of the protagonist
+ Art, music, sound effects, VFX and the dialogues that goes with it work very well together, forming a cohesive and memorable whole
+ A lot of content packed into a brief game - took me about 5 hours of playtime to beat the game and 11 hours to fully complete it
+ The controls are responsive and the physics felt good, which is important for a game where you have to dodge a lot and perform some precise jumps
+ Difficulty felt just right for this type of game, especially considering you have infinite lives
+ Most boss fights were interesting, and the boss gauntlet was particularly fun and challenging
+ I was able to get most things in the game without a walkthrough (missed red, blue and green cubes and the 49th card)
+ The use of a "MissingNo" glitch effect to signalize the player is "out of bonds" instead of limiting the map size is genius

[h1]The Neutral[/h1]
* 2 hours of waiting a rabbit cross the screen for a green cube, really?? Guess it was memorable cause I still remembered it from the first time I played LOL

[h1]The Bad[/h1]
- Broom upgrades felt very unimpactful, those should probably be explored more
- The combat felt plain most of the time when killing normal enemies
- "Woof Woof": whyyyy, don't let me ramble about that fking dog for long, I swear that thing killed me more times than all the bosses combined and left me with PTSD

[h2]9.5 / 10 - IGN[/h2]

Mar 8, 2025·27h·2

Steam User 7941STEAMRecommended

Generally, I enjoy this game but it becomes increasingly frustrating as the puzzles get harder and harder. The whole game is also quite like a labyrinth, with a lot of dead ends and doubling back to advance.

Mar 7, 2025·12h·Verified

Steam User 8491STEAMNot recommended

Without a clear narrative to guide it, this mostly feels like an exercise in frustration, especially the post-game stuff. There's no 'reason' to slog through enemies, solve the puzzles, and then endlessly hunt for post-game cards, which makes the game fall flat. I see a lot of potential, so I'm hoping for more from Anodyne 2. However, I don't recommend this one.

Mar 1, 2025·6h·1·Verified

Steam User 5171STEAMRecommended

Weird 2D Zelda-like

Feb 20, 2025·5h·Verified

Steam User 9866STEAMRecommended

might be one of my favourite games ever made

Feb 20, 2025·18h·Verified

Steam User 1676STEAMRecommended

Pretty fun, I really love the vibes this game gives off, almost like Yume Nikki crossed with a Zelda game. The game is pretty simple with its control scheme, but the environments get increasingly complex.

Feb 18, 2025·9h·Verified

Steam User 4304STEAMNot recommended

I had a fine time playing the game, but this is one of those cases I wish the Steam review had a "maybe" option for recommendation.

This game is inspired by classical Zelda, and the environments and enemy designs are done well. I didn't feel that the dungeons were particularly interesting though, which is important for this kind of game.

Feb 16, 2025·6h·3·Verified

Steam User 5456STEAMRecommended

Really good game. Think along the lines of 2D Zelda/Undertale/Omori. If you like any of those games, you'll probably like this.

Feb 7, 2025·14h·1·Verified

Steam User 8085STEAMNot recommended

La realidad es que la atmósfera del juego está muy bien, y ese es su principal fuerte, pero el combate es horrendo y hay poca variación de enemigos. Tiene potencial, pero no es divertido sacando momentos muy puntuales. La historia no se entiende una verga pero creo que es la gracia.

Feb 4, 2025·7h·Verified

Steam User 1184STEAMRecommended

性感塞尔达式地牢探索加上OOB玩法的隐藏。神！

Feb 3, 2025·6h·1·Verified

Steam User 2591STEAMRecommended

Short and sweet.
A bit like Zelda + Yume Nikki, but also itself.

Jan 27, 2025·7h·Verified

Steam User 3321STEAMRecommended

镇痛。遗珠之憾。
类塞尔达的2D解谜，区域地图完成度极高，每一个区域都有其独特之处，无论是谜题设计或者是美术风格。
一周目完成后有自由度极高（但也容易导致无目的/破坏空间）的区块调换功能，也是最神的部分（可惜作者并没有很用心完善这里的指引，我只打完一周目全收集，4/6成就） SUPER META

btw 剧情带有强烈心理暗示，包括但不仅限于自杀/谋杀/幻觉，在黑白小镇部分引人极度不适，这里不太推荐。

Jan 25, 2025·12h·2·Verified

Steam User 8949STEAMRecommended

Jan 19, 2025·16h

Steam User 7082STEAMRecommended

one of a kind a true gem there is literally nothing quite like Anodyne

Jan 17, 2025·11h·1·Verified

Steam User 3993STEAMNot recommended

AFAIK, this is the first game by the two designers. You can't deny that it ticks all the boxes and that they succeeded in making a complete game by themselves. However, I feel like Anodyne lacks a clear direction. It has many mixed and matched parts that don't seem to go well together. The devil is in the details here.

The somber atmosphere doesn't mix naturally with the action and adventure components of the gameplay. The story failed to intrigue me. The dark themes are immediately discarded by the self-referential and 4th wall breaking parts. In many ways the story doesn't seem to take itself seriously and I consider it to be ultimately meaningless.

Unfortunately, the gameplay also suffers by what I consider to be very clear design flaws:
The game often expects you to kill enemies to unlock doors. But killing them is just not fun. Your weapon is not just a joke in-game, but also feels miserable to actually use. Hitboxes are very unforgiving and the broom upgrades are useless except for select occasions. Besides the potential heal drop, there is nothing to gain from killing enemies.

Map design seems to have the goal of annoying the player as much as possible. Single screens often have multiple exits, but your area map doesn't show individual exits, so you have to keep track in your head anyway. Many screens are designed to produce as much walking distance and time wasted as possible, there is barely anything interesting going on. Very often a screen transition will immediately move you into the hitbox of an enemy or similar obstacle.

The jumping puzzles were frustratingly hard to me. The later ones with speed-pads also got me stuck in walls, so I had to use no-clip in the hotel.

Ultimately, I would only recommend this game to you, if you like brutally hard rom-hacks of SNES games. In that case, Anodyne should be right up your alley! Otherwise, maybe check out the more recent games by the designers and just skip this one.

Jan 5, 2025·6h

Steam User 9563STEAMRecommended

Me surpreendeu bastante, principalmente pela atmosfera do jogo e a variedade dos mundos que tu explora. tem uns momentos creepy que agregam demais pro jogo, além da constante estranheza.

Jan 4, 2025·12h·Verified

Steam User 6078STEAMRecommended

Masterpiece

Jan 3, 2025·40h·Verified

Steam User 6851STEAMRecommended

Classic

Jan 3, 2025·Verified

Steam User 1605STEAMRecommended

Si os gustó el zelda the minish cap este también os va a encantar.

Dec 31, 2024·8h·Verified

Steam User 2702STEAMRecommended

[h1]簡介[/h1]
一周目通關約6~7小時，EndGame後仍可繼續探索蒐集完剩下隱藏區域的卡片。是一款劇情後設隱晦、系統樸實的類2D薩爾達作品。主角「揚」將手持一根「掃把」，在這無序的異世界跟尋指示拯救「荊棘」。

需要注意的是，[u]遊戲中帶有部分帶有恐怖氛圍的關卡，不過不會有Jump Scare或過於嚇人的事物[/u]，而是源自文本對話不直觀，以及風格衝突的世界造成的詭譎氛圍。若仍有顧慮的玩家就請斟酌遊玩了！

[h1]解謎/探索/成長[/h1]
核心的操作玩法就只有普通的跳躍與攻擊；解謎的部分則呼應了主要武器「掃把」，需吸附地圖上的「灰塵」來在水面上行走或阻擋投射機關。

探索的部分也很明顯如《薩爾達》式得區分出各區域的地圖及迷宮，並有一個傳送門轉運點(Nexus)可快速移動到各地。通關的條件便是在各區域蒐集齊「卡片」，開啟拯救「荊棘」的門。
另外，[u]小地圖自帶寶箱標註功能[/u]，會自動顯示你抵達過卻未開啟的寶箱位置，但要找路回到該地仍考驗玩家自身的導航能力(迷路苦手需注意！)。

而關於角色的能力成長，遊戲中也只設計了「加寬」、「加長」攻擊範圍兩種能力，直到前往「荊棘」的最後一段路，才會取得最後一項，也是關乎End Game內容的技能--「調換器」。

[h1]調換器 -- 探索好奇心的具體表現[/h1]
「調換器」(Swap)的能力顧名思義就是將兩塊選定的地面方格互換，藉此便能實現抵達之前到不了的隱藏區域，甚至是地圖邊界之外。
當我們通關結局後，便能帶著「調換器」到地圖各處[u]蒐集完主線外的另外11張卡片，達成蒐集48張卡片的成就(成就黨玩家福音！)[/u]。

這些隱藏的卡片真的都藏在非常隱密的地圖邊界外，若不跟著攻略探索，我也沒自信能自己找完。但也是尋找這些隱藏祕密，讓遊玩體驗又有了另一層的驚喜，同時也深刻的體會到作者那[h3]"對遊戲地圖邊界探索的好奇欲"[/h3]「這條潺潺溪水會通往哪？從這面牆穿過後就是倉庫吧？」，過去那些被遊戲架構限制住、早已習慣忽略的嘗試和突破，作者在這支遊戲中用「調換器」實現了這一點！

[h1]劇情推測[/h1]
關於劇情的討論，就只有找到討論區中的幾則討論串。大致能推測出這是反應主角「揚」受遊戲影響的現實所創造的奇幻世界，所以便有[u]許多不符合這世界、帶有後設的對話文本[/u]。而從各地區的場景與卡片敘述，就逐漸拼湊出了「揚」不擅與人交流、封閉自我的性格。(調換器的技能或許也反應了代表了活在自我世界的自由自在)

Dec 24, 2024·9h·Verified

Steam User 0183STEAMRecommended

what am i playing

Dec 24, 2024·2h·Verified

Steam User 8441STEAMRecommended

Big fan of the game just giving you the void rod for the post game

Dec 23, 2024·6h·Verified

LANGUAGE	AUDIO	SUBTITLES	INTERFACE
English	—	—	Y
Chinese (Simplified)	—	—	Y
Italian	—	—	Y
Japanese	—	—	Y
Korean	—	—	Y
Portuguese (Brazil)	—	—	Y
Spanish (Spain)	—	—	Y

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Keywords

exploration retro action-adventure steam steam trading cards pixel art surreal surreal horror digital distribution pax prime 2013 gamersgate over 100% completion zelda-like

Anodyne

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