I know it's an absolute classic, but playing it in the modern day is just a bit of a struggle. The controls don't feel tight enough for a platformer, and the way that they try to extend gameplay by making you restart games on gameovers in this era feels like too much of a time waster these days (luckily most modern releases of the game does have save states, but you may feel like that's cheating).

There's still some fun to be had here, and the music is always great.

Regardless of my low-ish score, the game is a 10/10 for history purposes.

Anodyne is happy to leave you with the impression that it's a quirky little trip (and deserving of appreciation/analysis on that front) but also very willing to reward observation; its mechanics are simple for a top-down action game, and it tells its story in bits and pieces with wide gaps for the audience to fill in on their own. Combined, these aspects result in a campaign that's practically free of filler material, assuming you like what's on the surface to begin with and are willing to trust that the game knows what it's doing. I personally did on both fronts, and I now consider it one of my favorite games of all time.