Anonymous;Code
Release Date: September 8, 2023
Adventure, cyberpunk, science fiction, visual novel, singleplayer
OpenCritic
A visual novel adventure game by the creators of Steins;Gate. The game is set in a near future and stars a teenager capable of "hacking" and changing reality.
Videos and Screens
[2:42] Anonymous;Code launch trailer
[1:45] Anonymous;Code trailer #2
Nintendo Life: 8 / 10 by Ethan Zack
Just as the Science Adventure games posit that human perception affects reality, not every player will experience Anonymous;Code the same way. For those new to the franchise, this latest entry is an imaginative if conceptually dense sci-fi romp. For those who have played the other entries, it's something more - a gratifying culmination of thematic and narrative strands roughly 15 years in the making. Either way, Anonymous;Code has something special to say about the universe, the soul, and video games as a medium.
CGMagazine: 9 / 10 by Hayes Madsen
Anonymous;Code is a stellar addition to the Science Adventure that’s sure to please fans, but still holds enough for newcomers to jump into as well.
COGconnected: 75 / 100 by Nicola Kapron
All in all, ANONYMOUS;CODE is a fun science fiction adventure, a compelling mystery, and even a surprisingly sweet romance. It’s just also very short, very linear, and the mouths scare me.
Anonymous;Code Description
Anonymous;Code is a sci-fi visual novel adventure game set in the near future. It was created by 5pb. and Mages. Both these studios should be well known to enthusiasts of visual novels and Japanese pop culture, especially the part tied to the otaku subculture. They have made many console games, only a small percentage of which was officially released in the West. The semicolon in its title might suggest Anonymous;Code is tied to a different series by 5pb., its most popular installment being Steins;Gate. It's actually the second installment in an entire different series, sharing the main designer and writer (Chiyomaru Shikura), but otherwise unrelated. The first installment, Occultic;Nine, was released in 2017.
Plot
Anonymous;Code is set in 2030s Japan. On February 6, 2036, the world suffers a massive disaster, as global computer systems all go haywire. The event ends up destroying many of the world's largest cities. According to scientists' calculations, the disaster is likely to happen again in 2038. To find a way to stop it, the engineers use a powerful Gaia supercomputer to run a simulation of the entire planet, hoping to find answers. They soon discover the people in the simulation have created their own simulation and start suspecting their world is digital, controlled by mysterious higher beings. The game's protagonist is Takaoka Pollon, a 16-year old hacker able to influence reality and prevent tragedies.
Mechanics
Anonymous;Code is a typical 2D visual novel. Most of the game is spent reading and listening to dialogue, usually not having much influence over it. The game's key mechanic is recording the current state of the world, experiencing successive events to gain knowledge, then rewinding back to our previous save and using said knowledge to change the course of events. The game features many different endings, all of which depend on our actions.
Technical aspects
Like Occultic;Nine, the visuals mostly consist of 2D illustrations. The characters are voiced by professional actors.
Last updated on May 22, 2019
Anonymous;Code Summary
Platforms:
PC / Windows
Switch
PlayStation 4
Developer: 5pb.
Publisher: Spike Chunsoft
Age restrictions: 12+
Anonymous;Code System Requirements
PC / Windows
Minimum: AMD FX-8150 3.6 GHz, 4 GB RAM, graphic card 1 GB GeForce GTX 460 or better, 8 GB HDD, Windows 10 64-bit
Recommended: Intel Core i5-9300H 2.4 GHz, 8 GB RAM, graphic card 1 GB GeForce GTX 650 or better, 8 GB HDD, Windows 10/11 64-bit
Fans Fix Latest Game From Steins;Gate Devs
The Committee of Zero group has finally released a mod that fixes the most serious problems of Anonymous;Code, the latest game from the creators of Steins;Gate.
Files and Mods
Adrian Werner
January 9, 2024