2D People, 3D World: ANNO: Mutationem Review – Esports INQ

ANNO: Mutationem, designed by China-based video game development studio ThinkingStars, is a “2D-meets-3D” action-adventure game set in the dystopic future that follows the story of Ann Flores, a young woman afflicted by a mysterious illness. The nature of Ann’s occupation is rather ambiguous but the story takes off when she’s forced to use her combat abilities to full effect after her brother goes missing while searching for a cure to her illness.

!!! SPOILERS AHEAD !!!

Nothing screams dystopia more than a bartender in a maid-like outfit.

To be frank, it wasn’t the premise of ANNO: Mutationem’s dystopian mystery story that initially caught my attention, but its mix of cyberpunk and anime-inspired thematics. And yes, the game succeeded in pulling off the vibe with aplomb. From the bustling streets below Anns’s apartment in Skopp City to the nightlife district that is Noctis City, each future city in the game is well-designed and has a distinct atmosphere of its own. 

While ANNO: Mutationem has been marketed as a pixel game (characters and NPCs are indeed pixel-style), it’s worth noting that the game environment and world exploration are in 3D. A barrage of diverse NPCs are available to talk to and eavesdrop on, with some open to offering side quests should you fancy temporary deviation from the main storyline.

When you get caught between the Moon and Skopp City.

Additionally, the extent of immersion one can experience while playing a 2D character in a 3D world may vary from person to person, but there’s no denying that the game also owes a lot of its world depth to its stellar soundtrack. 

For all the extensive worldbuilding ANNO: Mutationem has to offer, our protagonist, unfortunately, falls on the blander side of characters in terms of personality. Sure, we get to learn more about Ann’s backstory as the game progresses (albeit slowly), but it’s made up for more by the colorful supporting cast alongside her. There’s Ann’s extremely energetic and affectionate best friend, Ayane Misuno, who accompanies her throughout her journey as a hologram of sorts, and Nakamura Flores, Ann’s older sister who regularly asks her to stop by their home for a bartending gig.

You get hella bank from bartending, by the way.

The environment you traverse in ANNO: Mutationem is much more than just commercial centers tinged with neon signs, too. Combat takes place in dungeon-esque locations such as off-limits, under-construction rooftops and mazes of underground structures. One of these underground dungeons, a settlement of people suffering from the Mechanika Virus that turns humans into machines, bears a lot of similarities to the Machine Village from Nier: Automata.

You’ve changed, Pascal.

Speaking of combat, ANNO: Mutationem is your typical hack and slash game in that regard. Combat strictly takes place on the 2D plane where you fight enemies by alternating between a ranged attack with a pistol, a light attack with a sword, and a heavy attack with a, well, bigger and heavier sword. 

While players can upgrade and modify weapons with chips, boost Ann’s stats, and unlock additional abilities through Ann’s skill tree, the possibilities for combat are ultimately hindered by its 2D nature. Given that you spend half the game taking on a flurry of underlings and a number of bosses with minor breaks in between, combat can feel stale quickly. Enemies tend to group up and overlap as well, impeding vision of their pre-attack animations. 

Combat, while rewarding, can get stale after a while.

Perhaps another point of concern is the disparity between the English subtitles and what the characters actually say. A couple of times is forgivable and would’ve been barely noticeable, but it happens regularly and can be quite off-putting to some players. 

Combat and localization shortcomings aside, the team over at ThinkingStars succeeded in combining 2D and 3D elements to create a world worthy of hours upon hours of exploration in ANNO: Mutationem. I’m not fond of giving numerical scores for game reviews so instead, I’ll just leave a few words to anyone interested in picking up the game: if you enjoy exploring cities of the future and don’t mind simplistic 2D combat, ANNO: Mutationem is worth a shot.

The crossover that nobody asked for, but everyone deserved.

Esports INQ reviewed ANNO: Mutationem on PC (Steam) via a review key provided by the ANNO: Mutationem publisher. The game is also available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

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