Mato Anomalies is the latest game from the relatively young studio Arrowiz; this story adventure is ambitious, bold, and risky and clearly has felt a lot of love during its development cycle. However, in a similar vein, right from the start Mato Anomalies suffers from a very unfortunate fact. The game is under an identity crisis.

While the RPG roots are there, that very genre has so many variations of its own. From the visual novel cutscenes to the Final Fantasy-style combat connected by the sinews of a dungeon crawler, a deck builder is in the background. The game lacks any focus on any of these areas, and instead of excelling in a single one (which the developers are clearly capable of doing), they spread themselves too thin, "like butter scraped over too much bread" is a quote that highlights this game.

Mato Anomalies, PC, Review, JRPG, Deckbuilder, Adventure, Anime, Gameplay, Screenshots, NoobFeed

Mato Anomalies casts you as Doe, a private investigator who is sent by a spy called Nightshade to investigate some cargo, during which he is sucked into some sort of rift and transported to a horrifying another dimension where he is saved by some sort of exorcist ninja, Gram, as you face against the Bane Tide, the primary enemies of this title.

This happens within the first 15 minutes of the title. The story continues to grow more and more insane as others join your party. Resurrection, time travel and all sorts affect you and your group as you traipse through the pseudo 1920's Parisian style city or through the endless void. The narrative is ambitious; if you couldn't tell, and the game relies heavily on dialogue, unfortunately, it is not broken up well, and you will be treated to walls of text covering world lore and information that you will have to quickly understand.

The writing is like this for the most part, with Doe often following the wisecracking, Han Solo-esque archetype. Doe is generally quite a bland protagonist; we never learn of the history he has with Nightshade and other characters, certainly not at the beginning of Mato Anomalies, and yet regardless, you are thrown into the fray. This lack of patience at the start of the game does not pay off, and quite often, you will feel like you are playing catch-up with the narrative, almost chasing the main story.

Mato Anomalies, PC, Review, JRPG, Deckbuilder, Adventure, Anime, Gameplay, Screenshots

There is also something bizarre that I should mention. Loading screens containing tips is quite a common thing, but during play for this title, I received the tip "Play through main missions to progress the Main Story". I don't know about you… But this seems self-evident and almost seems like the developers ran out of ideas for tips, it's not a big deal, but it seems to quantify the lack of focus this game possesses.

The voice acting is decent for the most part, and the visual novel cutscenes can be stunning. However, once again, it seems as though indecisiveness is to blame here. Mato Anomalies darts back and forth between the visual comic-book-style cutscenes and the 3D cutscenes. It's a strange choice, particularly when the comic book style ultimately fits so well. The 3D cutscenes, by comparison, were janky and lacked any flavor that meshed with the narrative. I would have much preferred the developers focus purely on the comic book-style cutscenes and ditch the 3D ones.

Ultimately, the narrative is overly ambitious and expects too much of you too soon, which often leaves you lost and confused. Luckily the game does have the option to replay chapters of the game because, without that, I would have been lost on numerous occasions trying to come to grips with the story.

Mato Anomalies, PC, Review, JRPG, Deckbuilder, Adventure, Anime, Gameplay, Screenshots

With regards to the gameplay, Mato Anomalies is better but still struggles. The combat can be some of the most fun in the title, particularly with regards to the lair dungeons; however, I should mention that the game's difficulty does seem to spike quite sharply, which can detract from the overall experience. The animations in combat are exceptional, the best part of combat by far, and the reason it managed to be as fun as it was. Every attack feels frenetic and detailed, and slashing your enemies apart was consistently entertaining.

Mato Anomalies does encourage teamwork, and rather than having one 'main' character in your party, you are encouraged to utilise everyone to the best of their abilities. Each character has variety, connecting to some element to take advantage of enemy weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

This links well with the Random lair's that you will encounter. These are much more about grinding than anything else and are much more down to personal preference. Personally, I have never enjoyed grinding in games as it often detracts from other aspects of the title. For those that enjoy that, however, the random lairs would most definitely be for you.

Mato Anomalies, PC, Review, JRPG, Deckbuilder, Adventure, Anime, Gameplay, Screenshots

In addition to this, you are also expected to participate in the Mind/Hack game which involves you customizing a deck. It is easily the worst aspect of the game and often left me more frustrated than it needed to be and felt lackluster, all the while detracting from the rest of the game.

You are also treated to explore this neo-futuristic Shanghai as Doe, completing side quests. The side quests are more palatable than the main story, and some of the best writing is actually found in these shorter quests with a more simple plot. Though again, some of these side quests can be just as, if not more, confusing than the main plot.

The map towards the end of the game grows to be quite large, which is another overwhelming aspect of the game, though this time, it is much more appreciated with all of the different facets of the city.

Mato Anomalies, PC, Review, JRPG, Deckbuilder, Adventure, Anime, Gameplay, Screenshots

Exploring is also where you are treated to the best aspect of Mato Anomalies. It's art style. Mato Anomalies is breathtakingly gorgeous, with every aspect of the city having a distinct feeling and atmosphere. Even the first area with the theatre is stunning; this game is a treat for your eyes.

In addition to this, the creature design is unique and fun, it doesn't take many references from real-life creatures as far as I could tell and because of this, the lairs did feel otherworldly and bizarre, not to mention the intense splash of color that the game throws at you during those segments.

Moreover, the game's music is excellent; the jazzy tunes that play while exploring the city ground you in the inner workings of this somewhat dystopian future, while the more bombastic music occurs during those moments in the lairs where you are faced with the otherworldly creatures.

Overall, Mato Anomalies can be described as a game with a lack of focus. While the ideas for an excellent game are there, and the art style is superb, it is unfortunately submerged beneath the cavalcade of unfinished ideas and a confusing plot. Mato Anomalies does not know where its focus lies, and because of this, every aspect of the game suffers.

While I do not doubt that an excellent and well-crafted game is located somewhere within Mato Anomalies, it is not the game itself. I hope that the clearly talented developers at Arrowiz take what works in this title and create a tighter and more focused game.

Mato Anomalies

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