PEGBRJE: Haque and Anodyne
Hello fellow humans, I too have a lack of understanding of my surroundings.
Haque is a rogue-like dungeon crawling glitch fest of a game by SuperTry Studios, another small indie dev team with more than a dozen other titles on itch.io. You play as a randomize character that you can choose from 2 others at the start of the game, and delve into the assorted dungeons produced by ascii-esque characters to destroy the cute monsters. All the while, an old narrater is the only one to keep you company and is suspiciously talkative about your objective but not the motive. And why does the screen keep breaking?
Gameplay is similar to other titles previously seen in the bundle, with a pseudo turn-based combat system that only restricts movement based on how fast you yourself move and act. Midboss and Loot Rascals come to mind that utilize a very similar combat system, and all of them are heavily influenced by rogue-like mechanics and design. If you die in Haque, a memorial to your stats appears beside a crest/tombstone signifying your defeat, and you start all over again. Areas are randomized and enemies are placed differently than before to keep you on your toes. So what sets Haque apart from the previous titles mentioned?
For starters, Haque gives out perks in between levels to augment your playstyle. Each perk relates to a class or race specific trait, such as giving you more boulder throws for the Jotunn or MP regeneration for the mage/sorcerer. Depending on your playstyle, the traits can drastically make or break your run to discover who the narrator is, and why everything keeps slowly breaking down as you play. Haque also gives the players a full UI that fills in all of the necessary information: the entire right side contains all of the previous actions and the numbers achieved by said actions so you can track how much damage was done and how much received. The hit chance is in a static location on the top left no matter the weapon or spell used for easy referencing. Turn order is displayed directly below the hit rate and updates after every turn in case a new enemy arrives or some stat changes. Nearly everything that one could need is on the main screen, for better and for worse.
Aesthetically, Haque achieves the atmosphere of a command console gone horribly wrong. It becomes apparent that the game is not in control of itself, nor that the narrator is explaining anything of usefulness. Having low health causes the screen to fractal, with parts of the UI overlapping the game at random times before quickly snapping back. Levels are enclosed by random objects that can sometimes be found in the level, as if thrown together to keep the player within certain confines. Things feel off. Yet to achieve this level of controlled instability, the game does sacrifice clarity of visuals. I found myself squinting constantly to read what certain text was saying, or downright being unable to read what was going on. Thankfully, the developers were aware of this flaw and gave complete customization of the pixel lines and ‘grime’, so I was able to scrub it clean to the point of legibility.
Haque is simple, yet the depth it offers within its simplicity is exciting and thrilling. Plus you can play as an eagle that is also somehow a werewolf. I’m not sure how but the fact that this is a combo is amazing nonetheless. I nearly forgot to mention that the soundtrack is bizarre, as I expected a simple chiptune score and instead was greeted with rock guitars, bass/cello sections, elevator keyboard synths and drumsets in combination with chiptune synthesizers. I’m not sure why, but this complete lack of expectation just made the soundtrack even more exciting.
If you are a fan of rogue-likes with an aesthetic known as ‘glitchcore’ and can process the command console text, Haque has a lot of heart built into it. It brings to life the setting of ‘broken, repurposed game’ without sacrificing the ability for it to be played with a transparent UI and changeable text options. Hopefully, you can fix the game by beating it, or maybe just beat up the narrator who keeps mentioning all the times you died by referencing the other heroes.
The existential train seemingly continues with Anodyne.
Anodyne is an action-adventure Zelda-lite game made by Melos Han-Tani and Marina Kittaka, two developers whom I hadn’t heard of before this game. You take control of a character simply known as ‘Young’ and are guided by the ‘Sage’ to save the ‘Briar’ from ‘The Darkness’. With only your trusty broom, ‘Young’ must save the realm in the only way they know how: utilizing dust to overcome laser puzzles and acquire keys to save the realm.
If this sounds obscenely vague, that’s because it intentionally is. Characters are intentionally left without names or with paper thin backstories and bizarre names for their bikes. The Sage, upon repeated questioning, becomes frustrated and loses composure that Young ‘won’t just get going’. Signs behind the Sage at key points almost direct the Sage on what to say, and make fun of them for doing so. The title, Anodyne, is a dual meaning word as either an adjective (not likely to provoke dissent or offense; inoffensive, often deliberately so) or as a noun (painkiller). Anodyne is intentionally attempting to come off as bland and non-committal as the abstract background contrasts with the numbing simplicity of the main quest and world building. In reality, this dissonance creates an uneasy feeling as Young ventures through the world, fighting against bosses who spout intentionally incoherent phrases or smug lines about knowing more than you. Everyone refuses to explain exactly what anything in the world is, only that you are chosen to save it.
It is this lack of world building that works so well at building the world, oddly enough. I found myself compelled to enter the next dungeon on the simple hopes that perhaps a sign would explain the current location, only for them to be ‘faded’ and unable to be read. I poured myself into solving the fairly basic Zelda-inspired puzzles just to see if they would give me any information on why I didn’t even have a name, or why I was in some bizarre white room science centre at the beginning of the game. Nothing is explained, and that’s precisely the driving force on why you keep going.
I cannot comment much on the actual gameplay, as Zelda isn’t really a game series I have much experience in. Most of the puzzles were simply utilizing the broom and dust to maneuver throughout the world. They weren’t the focus of Anodyne, however — it’s all in the existential dread of not knowing what exactly is going on, or why everything suddenly got red and the rivers look suspiciously like pixelated blood. I can easily recommend Anodyne to Zelda purists, but I believe it extends to anyone who enjoys stories that refuse to tell you anything and in fact seemingly discourage from finding out what is going on. Spite is a powerful motivator, after all.
Links to both games are below. Anodyne has a sequel as well, which isn’t included in the bundle, that you can check out if you enjoy the first installment.
