Anonymous;Code

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 09 September 2023