Anachronox #2

This place is absolutely huge. And full of colorful people. And rejoice, I figured out a half-assed but successful way of taking screenshots so you too can see this game in all its graphical splendor.

I went to Whackmaster Jack's because I needed to learn how to combat. It's pretty straight-forward and quite similar to the combat in a game like Koudelka though I'm not sure how many people have played that RPG...

You've basically got an ATB timer and when it is full you can choose to do things like move, attack or use items. There are also special skills you can use. The enemies hit quite hard and I've already died once because of it. Also, even though your ATB gauge is full and it is your turn to choose action, the enemies ATB gauge don't pause. But since you can't see the enemies' gauge on screen I didn't realize this until I had already been pummeled into the floor.

Battles are rare so far. Some times you can see the enemy before you and some times they jump you from off screen. The few battles I've had so far have only occurred in the same spots so it seems entirely scripted where they're going to turn up. If you struggle with a certain encounter you can just choose not to go that way yet.

These M.I.B are mean.

The world, or planet-spaceship thingy, that is Anachronox is filled with aliens of all types.

There are really a lot of fun people to discover. I had a robot throw himself into a fountain (not a regular water fountain, but a deadly space-beam fountain). He claimed he would do it for a buck, but he did in fact do it for free.

Thanks dude...

So far I only have a few clues as to where to go and what to do next and when I seem to be where I need to be it still doesn't seem like I am getting anywhere. It is clear that I am supposed to explore the areas or at least that is pretty much all that is available for me to do at the moment. I don't mind though since there is a lot to explore and loads of fun characters around. Everyone I have spoken to so far, which is pretty much every creature I have come across, has a lot of dialogue as well. They've gone to lengths with the world building here.

The lighting (extremely dark and gloomy) and the setting (sort of a space-station thing) reminds me a lot of System Shock 2. The reason the place looks the way it does is kind of explained in the game and it's pretty interesting. If it is a bigger part of the story of the game I am sure I will talk about it again.

Depending on your settings you can only save at special "Time Minders" which are little fairy-monster looking creatures that apparently go through their entire life simultaneously. You can't tell by looking at them though (forgot to screenshot them this time). I was a bit worried about the prevalence of these save spots, but they're fairly common, at least so far.

Any reason to want to live is a good reason

Anachronox is supposed to be home to the scum (so what I am doing here?) of the galaxy but most people you meet seem pretty ordinary, at least on the outside.

This robot offered to take me anywhere in Anachronox for just a buck. I asked him to take me to Frank's Flophouse since I had a lead there, and the robot just took my buck and laughed at me. I hadn't realized I was standing right next to the place I needed to go...