I am a die-hard fan of dystopian tales in the vein of 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451. That’s why I desperately want to like Anomie, a visual novel that takes some of the tropes that make this dark genre engaging and interesting. Unfortunately, as I’ve commented on before, the pitch leaves quite a lot to be desired. If left at that I would’ve passed on it and moved on. However, with a demo I decided to give it a second chance.
Unfortunately, while the Anomie demo did a lot to help me get to grips with the basic plot, it did little to sway my decision one way or the other. It was a bit longer than I had expected, and showed some promise, but it wasn’t enough to keep my attention after it ended. Sure it only covers the beginning chapter, but we really don’t get a strong feel for what’s going on. In short, the demo is only a couple steps above the pitch in giving me the details and answers I’ve sought.
I will admit that I hate it when a Kickstarter campaign seems to rely heavily on playing some slice of the game. Anomie hasn’t just failed in the written pitch, but the few screenshots we did get (not counting backgrounds and character art) are so small I practically had to use a magnifying glass to see them.
The insane lack of updates (two so far) also does little to assuage my increasing disinterest in the project. Which is quite a shame as I want to see more and with only a week left it has me wondering if they’re even taking this seriously.
Here’s the thing. The demo looks good and plays well. Even with the lack of exposition as to why the protagonist and other young men and women are being held in the facilities, I still got the sense that things are worse than they appear at first glance. Just what the government and military is up to would, obviously, be seen much later on in Anomie but maybe a little background in the beginning would have helped a lot as well.
I’m torn between giving Anomie a shot and putting in at least a few dollars to see how the game pans out and just walking away, hoping that it gets funding and released. Maybe then I’ll pick it up but based purely on principle alone and the above-mentioned “red flags.” I’m strongly leaning towards taking a “wait and see” approach.
When a poor pitch and a demo that does little to alleviate concerns makes me pass on an otherwise great sounding premise it makes me a bit sad, especially one telling a style of story that I’m heavily into. As I’ve mentioned, I really want to give Anomie a second chance but it might be a case of “too little too late” for me.
Still, even without my help a decent push at the end they still might make funding. Then I’ll probably give them the second chance I’d feel they deserve.
