Anachronox #5 - The Stinky Sock

The regular entrance to the Mystech tunnels are of course inaccessible so me and Grumpos need to find another way to get in there. Word on the street is that "Eddie knows", you'll get to hear this a lot in fact. There are some quests that need to be done to figure out where Eddie is and then you find out Eddie won't talk to you unless you give him an offering of something that is "stinky and chewy". He needs it to think. What follows will definitely be unforgettable in my mind at least.

We read on the interwebs that some guy severely hurt his foot in an industrial accident. Anachronox medical systems being what they are the guy hasn't gotten any help with it so the foot has been left to fester. Not only that, but he's been wearing the same sock the entire time. Great, a sock full of pus! Chewy and stinky! Don't read any further if you're easy queasy.

Fatima is quite helpful when she wants to be

The game is modern day levels of lenient and helpful when it comes to giving you suggestions and hints as to where to go next. Except for being an idiot at the beginning of the game I have yet to feel evenly remotely confused as to where to go and what to do next. The game is almost too helpful, but I think I prefer that over the option so I am not going to complain about it, yet.

We find the guy with the stinky sock and ask him if we can have it. Without a word he hands it to us, as we probably come off as rambling lunatics and he fears for his life. Poor guy. Off to the junkyard we go to talk to Eddie.

We could've at least given him a new sock.

There is apparently a procedure that needs to be followed when it comes to talking to Eddie, he's a very popular guy. But as soon as Eddie sees, and presumably smells, our sock he agrees to let us cut the line and bureaucratic bullsh*t. The image of Eddie munching on that horrid sock will never leave my mind. But we get our answer, the guy guarding the door to the Mystech tunnels has a family secret we can use to blackmail our way inside.

And so, we're finally here. I am curious how Deannamo made it in here considering all the trouble we had to go through, but never mind. Now I am actually more concerned about what kind of creatures dwell down here and how much they are going to hurt me. Turns out all that leveling in the junkyard has been really helpful, most enemies in the tunnels aren't much of a threat anymore.

Looks confusing, but really isn't.

It also helps that I've found new weapons for both Boots and Grumpos. It really pays off to closely inspect your surroundings, because both weapons we're just lying around on the ground like any old rock. In these graphics items stand out a bit fortunately so they weren't too difficult to find. They actually doubled my damage output on both characters and I think without them the tunnels would've actually proven to be quite a challenge.

At first I thought the game was a bit mean to leave weapons lying around like that. What if I had missed them?! But fortunately I find out later that the weapons are now also available in the gun shop, so if I had missed them I would've been none the wiser and not much worse off.

It's surprisingly easy to control.

The Mystech tunnels are straight forward. Literally. No worries about getting lost here. There is even a little mini game on a speeder in the middle, that some kind person has left lying around for us. How considerate. At first I didn't realize you were supposed to hit some of the boxes, so I actually replayed the section a few times to get it right. If you die you get the option to skip the section entirely, I guess that's pretty nice of them?

Honestly, I wish more games had this option...

As soon as I set my foot in the tunnels my first thought of the possibility of there being some boss in this game popped into my head. And as it turns out yes, at the end of the tunnel we have to fight a huge Stone Sentinel in a fight that is not particularly difficult. The Sentinel has a schtick that he sign posts well in advance, and as long as you just play along with the tactic you won't even take a hit (which might be the idea since it looks like he could one-shot you).

Big but stupid.

Unfortunately our Mystech find at the end of the tunnels gets robbed from us immediately. It's been hinted in the game that you'll be able to visit other planets too and it seems that's where were at now. I am going to a planet called "Saunder" (maybe?) to talk to some guy about something. It'll be cool to see if this planet looks completely different from Anachronox. As much as I genuinely enjoy the aesthetics of this place, I am looking forward to maybe some greenery or open space.