Anno: Mutationem is an overly ambitious love letter with one too many recipients. While the game has an interesting gumbo of ideas, its story buckles under the weight of living up to the very properties it attempts to pay tribute to. Ultimately, Mutationems ending fails to deliver a satisfying or cohesive pursuit of this monumental undertaking.
The game is a pixel art side-scrolling action game with RPG elements, developed by ThinkingStars. You play as Ann Flores, a highly skilled combat-trained lone wolf as she hunts down the cyberpunk gangs and corrupt mega-corporations that kidnapped her brother. Anno: Mutationem, not to be confused with the long-running Anno real-time strategy series, is ThinkingStars first video game. While Mutationem does a serviceable job of constructing an intriguing world, its preoccupation with paying homage to the media that inspired it distracts from the story its trying to tell.
Mutationem makes overt references to popular sci-fi anime and video games, including Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner, NieR:Automata, a smidge of Drakengard 3, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. In the game, this feels more spread out over 18 hours, but in its two-hour demo, it felt like rapid-fire callbacks. While on paper, drawing from these iconic properties is a no-brainer for a developers first video game, Mutationem boldly goes beyond just mirroring aesthetics and injects their varying high-concept ideas on what it means to be human into its plot as well.
Id liken this phenomenon to using all your favorite seasonings into a dish youve never made for the first time. Although those spices pleased your palate in their own dishes, if combined haphazardly, theyll only clash and overwhelm. The same circumstance comes about when Mutationem transforms its aesthetic references into plot points.
Ghost in the Shell, NieR:Automata, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and the other media Mutationem draws from have heavy, esoteric lore of their own. Mutationem ties itself down by ceaselessly drawing comparisons to these other media. Plot points like GitS introspective meditation on the human condition, Blade Runners commentary on transhumanism through cybernetics, and NGEseverything (most notably End of Evangelions third impact) take root within Mutationems story as well. While the argument that every piece of media is a remix of elements a creator liked isnt lost on me, Mutationem becomes a poorly adapted cover to its inspirations rather than rocking to the rhythm of its own story beats.
Youre telling me. Screenshot: ThinkingStars / Kotaku
This is a shame, because buried under all these references is Mutationems own unique premise. Interesting story elementslike the games poverty-stricken populace suffering from the Mechanika Virus, a disease that slowly turns people into robo-zombiesend up jettisoned to give the game more time to retread ideas from other media. Because Mutationem seems afraid to veer far from its inspirations, which are imperfect themselves, ThinkingStars fails at telling its own story.
Just when you expect the game to pay off your detective work and hard-fought battles against mecha and hordes of cybernetically enhanced militia with some attempt to connect its disparate ideas, it shortchanges you with a lackluster ending. Similarly to NGE, Mutationem builds up to armageddon, but its final boss comes out of left field. Basically, the government organization in Mutationem is SEELE from NGEwith all the convoluted reasoning and imagery that impliesand theyre using alternate-dimension tech to do something and must harness Anns power to pull it off. While the games been hyping you to fight Anns alt. dimension self, Amok, you merely fight a dragon. I felt robbed of an epic battle with the rival character I assumed the game was preparing me for, and insulted by the blatant sequel bait.
The gameplay ultimately disappoints, too. Being the unapologetic Devil May Cry devotee I am, games rewarding skill-based combat with gratifying feedback is a must. While Mutationems combat hints at being DMCs pixel-art equivalent, it proves to be a mixed bag of hype visuals and underwhelming grind. The games combat systems promise a depth that never plays out in gameplay. While Mutationem allows you to customize, deconstruct, and forge more powerful weapons with elemental mods and unlockable weapon skills, many of these cool bits only materialize near the games finale. While you can access some of these abilities earlier through side-quests, the game doesnt do a good job of letting you know, seemingly railroading you into its convoluted main plot.
Never go full-End of Evangelion. Screenshot: ThinkingStars / Kotaku
After a couple hours, fights dont really feel rewarding. Simply put, enemies are damage sponges. Once you finally break an enemys shield, which works as their second health bar, you have a matter of seconds to wail on them to do some actual damage before their shields recover. The rest is wash and repeat.
One simple answer to this conundrum would be to parry enemies more frequently, resulting in big damage boosts. But the rewards for doing so are negligible, and your foes have confusing hitboxes; if you miss a parry, thats a chunk of your health gone for the attempt. I had to go out of my way to parry bosses by lining up with their hits instead of letting them come organically. Instead of trusting the game to make my parries count, I developed the instinct to dodge roll constantly because it was the only safe and assured method for maintaining Anns health and dealing damage.
While early boss fights are unique, Mutationems latter half pulls a Halo 5 by throwing multiple versions of the same boss at you, sometimes fielding two more directly after you prime the first for a finishing blow. Boss fights increasingly felt like wars of attrition, rather than the fast-paced battles of skill the game advertises.
"Have neko car, will travel"
Side-Scrolling Action-RPG
PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC
Gorgeous pixel art, wacky NPCs, and the endearing dynamic between the games main character and sidekick
March 16, 2022
Convoluted story, underdeveloped villains, lore dumping and lackluster finale
18-ish hours, many of which were fighting frustrating boss battles
Outside of combat, Mutationem suffers from the same cognitive dissonance as the Yakuza series, with its side-quests and main missions feeling like two separate games. While Mutationems main quest comes off like an AI-generated anime sci-fi plot, its side-quests unabashedly tell wacky and heartfelt stories that characterize the people who inhabit its world. Much of my enjoyment with Mutationem came from straying from its main quest. Avoiding paths or hallways that looked like progress led me to discover bizarre NPCs who all had written dialogue and receive snippets of their experiences in Mutationems dystopian cyberpunk society.
My favorite interactions came from running into a sewer-dwelling man with a manhole cover for a face, discovering the secret identity of a virtual pop idol, and witnessing the final moments of a robot reaching enlightenment in the sewers. These brief encounters left long-lasting impressions, making its underutilization of these fresher concepts within its larger story all the more frustrating. Instead of reveling in rich storytelling, I was collecting a tally of how many plot elements from other media with which Mutationem garnished its story.
To make matters worse, the game introduces cookie-cutter villains who suffer from the annoying trope of being vague about their intentions. Instead of simply telling you just what the fuck is happening and what they want out of Ann, they simply say theyll see her again in the worst archetypical anime villain style. These guys even look identical aesthetically, sometimes even mirroring allies. While the games latter half attempts to curb this by introducing villains with bizarre new looks, these intricately designed double-crossers writing is just as flat as that of their predecessors. Aside from the two leads, the main cast is boring and unimaginative, leaving the incidental environmental NPCs to breathe life into Mutationems world.
Corn-Man rules. Screenshot: ThinkingStars / Kotaku
Storytelling and combat aside, two high points come in the games impressive art direction and the winning dynamic between its main characters. The stunning visuals of Mutationems setpieces almost supersede the imagery of the media its homaging. Ann and Ayane are also really cute. Their banter in between main quest and side-quest content was worth the many brutal deaths and consequent eruptions of Cmon man! I yelled when barely photo-finishing enemies.
As ThinkingStars first game, Anno: Mutationem boldly swings for the fences by throwing every cool concept it has at players. Mutationems unbalanced focus in its story is its critical failure. At one moment, its an anime-infused cyberpunk open-world RPG, in the next its a rigid story-driven metroidvania. But when it tries to meet in the middle, its pacing screeches to a halt, depriving its latter half of the charm of its wacky, worldbuilding NPCs and replacing it with long stretches of exposition conveyed through dry codexes and vague anime archetypes sporting unclear motivations.
With the games ending hinting at a possible sequel, Mutationem stands as a messy first draft. If a follow-up does come, I hope ThinkingStars will have the confidence to boldly stand and tell its own unique story rather than remain so shackled to its inspirations.
See more here:
Anno: Mutationem: The Kotaku Review - Kotaku
- Transhuman's Amanda Johnstone on the future of AI and emotions - The Examiner - January 27th, 2024 [January 27th, 2024]
- Transhumanism: billionaires want to use tech to enhance our abilities the outcomes could change what it means to ... - The Conversation - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- The Nazis and Their Transhumanist Delusion - Discovery Institute - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Conspiracy Theories, Some with Antisemitic Roots, Crop Up in 2023 ... - ADL - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- 10 of The Wildest Fictional Drugs from Transmetropolitan - Screen Rant - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- Sam Altman's Second Coming Sparks New Fears of the AI Apocalypse - WIRED - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- The New Progressive Nihilism - Compact Mag - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- Is Laughter All Weve Got? On David Baddiels The God Desire - lareviewofbooks - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- Luxury industry set to reach $1.6 trillion in sales this year - Glossy - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- SKILLET's JOHN COOPER Explains Why He Believes 'Queer ... - BLABBERMOUTH.NET - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- DC This Week Roundup - Superheroes Across Space and Time - GeekDad - November 28th, 2023 [November 28th, 2023]
- Transcending Time. The Transhumanist Challenge To | by ... - Medium - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- From Trans Healthcare to Transhumanism: Reality vs. Conspiracy at ... - Colorado Times Recorder - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Opinion | The Reactionary Futurism of Marc Andreessen - The New York Times - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Pursuing the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - Cedars-Sinai - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Curse God and Die, They Said. It Will Be Fun, They Said - The Stream - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Cardinal Hollerich: The openness of the Synod on Synodality 'will ... - Catholic World Report - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Virtual insanity Winnipeg Free Press - Winnipeg Free Press - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Interview In praise of failure - Morning Star Online - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- I used Grimes' AI vocals to make a hit here's how I did it - NME - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- ric Sadin and the Challenges of Artificial Intelligence - Exploring your Mind - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Crazy Town: Episode 73. How Longtermism Became the Most ... - Resilience - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Why Warhammer 40K fans keep arguing about the Emperors terrible sons - Polygon - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Are We Co-Creators with God? - Answers In Genesis - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Why Is Everything 'Punk' Now? - TheGamer - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Let 3 from Croatia: "We want to heal the world from hate and stupidity" - Eurovisionworld - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Prominent Dutch Philosopher and Convert Charts Her Path to the Catholic Church - National Catholic Register - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Is There a Best Way to Think About the Future of Earth? - Inverse - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- 'Infinity Pool' Review: Skarsgrd and Goth Star in Disgusting and Hypnotic Horror - The Indiependent - March 24th, 2023 [March 24th, 2023]
- What is transhumanism? | GotQuestions.org - February 18th, 2023 [February 18th, 2023]
- Elon Musk & Neuralink to start human trials of his computer chip brain ... - January 4th, 2023 [January 4th, 2023]
- Transhuman Space - Wikipedia - January 4th, 2023 [January 4th, 2023]
- Dr. Carrie Madej: why vaccines alter the human DNA - Stop World Control - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- Transhuman online - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Transhumanist Bill of Rights Version 3.0 - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Transhuman Aliens - TV Tropes - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- DARPA's New Biotech Division Wants To Create A Transhuman Future - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Transhuman Space | GURPS Wiki | Fandom - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Transhuman Overhaul [Half-Life 2] [Mods] - GameBanana - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Transhumanism: The Final Frontier? - Evening Standard - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Former GOP candidates push baseless QAnon conspiracy theory that Hurricane Ian was created to punish DeSantis - The Independent - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Is the body key to understanding consciousness? - The Guardian - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Cyborg Sapiens Book Opening Window on Future Presented in Athens - The National Herald - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- America embraces the fourth industrial revolution - The Post - UnHerd - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- You need to watch 2022's best video game adaptation ASAP - Inverse - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Top 10 Magic Churches Through Which To Work Out My Real World Feelings About Religion - Hipsters of the Coast - Hipsters of the Coast - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Dr. Carrie Madej Out of Georgia | American Media Periscope - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Not Applicable Website for Not Applicable label and artists ... - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Review: BBC PROMS AND THE ENO at Printworks London - Broadway World - September 7th, 2022 [September 7th, 2022]
- The fruit of the transhumanist project will not be a better human being - TVP World - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- WEF agenda envisions an augmented society ruled by Internet of Bodies, digital ID - The Sociable - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- Prebunking Disinformation | prebunking disinformation - Patheos - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- What Is A Human? - The American Conservative - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Stray - A simple and focused game in a world of games that go astray - Flayrah - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- McDermott: Pinner may have been crackers, but in today's GOP, she was practically normal - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Axiom Verge 2 The Games Sole Creator, Thomas Happ, Discusses How Science Fiction Impacted Bot... - Happy Gamer - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- From Silk Road to NFTs: Why Musician and Artist Tycho Sees Web3 as the Endgame - Decrypt - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- The Three-City Problem of Modern Life - WIRED - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Transhumanists want to upload their minds to a computer. They really won't like the result - Big Think - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- A fake salsa band ignites the rebirth of an old New York record label - EL PAS USA - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- WISeKey Strengthens its Technology Portfolio Across Cybersecurity, IoT, NFT and the Metaverse - MarTech Series - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- Artist Stelarcs creature comes to life at Science Gallery - The Age - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- The Wearable Cyberpunk Future on the Horizon - Hackster.io - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- This Boulder art exhibit is beautiful and ugly all at once - The Denver Post - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- WISeKey Announces the Launch of "The Code to The Metaverse" an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event - GuruFocus.com - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- The 10 best games of 2022 (so far) - The A.V. Club - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Transhuman Elon Musk: Your Brain Will Get Its Own USB-C Port - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- SRMs Road to The US Open Seattle Part 6: Transhuman in the Box - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Elon Musk unveils Optimus: A humanoid robot where you will ... - Marca - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- WISeKey Announces the Launch of The Code to The Metaverse an Interactive Multi-Media Platform at Davos Event - GlobeNewswire - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Secrets and Lies Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ghosts of Illyria - Tor.com - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- The Cyberpunk Genre Is Broken, And The Creator Of Citizen Sleeper Agrees - Kotaku - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- 4 Lessons the Era of Technology Has Taught Us - Sprout Wired - April 27th, 2022 [April 27th, 2022]
- danish pavilion unveils transhuman installation 'we walked the earth' at venice art biennale - Designboom - April 25th, 2022 [April 25th, 2022]
- There Is No New Normal - Caffeinated Thoughts - April 25th, 2022 [April 25th, 2022]
- Watch: First Trailer for Body Horror movie 'Crimes of the Future' - We Got This Covered - April 15th, 2022 [April 15th, 2022]
- 4 Female Digital Artists on the Future of NFTs and the Metaverse - HYPEBAE - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- Marcel the Shell With Shoes On Returns in New Trailer - The Daily Beast - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- 'The Flight Attendant' Season 2 Trailer Introduces a Kaley Cuoco Multiverse - The Daily Beast - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- Re-Open the Floodgates of American Energy to Prevent an Oil-pocalypse - California Globe - April 4th, 2022 [April 4th, 2022]