ANOMALITH review – Tech-Gaming

FuRyu has a fondness for worlds where emotional distress becomes monstrous. CRYSTAR had us confronting grief as we journey through Purgatory, while MONARK showed how supernatural power can lead to madness. Co-developed by FuRyu and Winning Entertainment Group, ANOMALITH sends a vulnerable young heroine into spaces that threaten her health and humanity. As such, there’s a bit more at stake than in your average third-person shooter. It’s also a welcome change of genre for FuRyu, although some familiar shortcomings remain. ANOMALITH has an intriguing premise and plenty of atmosphere, but it also relies on repetition.

Missing Besties and Questionable Employers

In an alternate version of Japan, ANOMALITH envisions mysterious distortions consuming otherwise ordinary places. A flashback reveals how a trip to the mall ends in tragedy when seventeen-year-old Reona Minazuki is separated from her friend, Arisa Kato, when an Anomaly Zone materializes around them. Determined to find Arisa, Reona becomes a Diver for the government-backed Anomaly Zone Countermeasures Office, venturing into areas filled with dangerous creatures and other odd abnormalities.

Scenario writer Romeo Tanaka does a great job of fleshing out the personalities facing an existential crisis. Reona’s blunt, outlook makes her an engaging lead, with dialogue that finds interest in the tension between rescuing innocents and following orders. She also has an uneasy support network: chief Kyoka Sudo is a bit too practical, while researcher Imari Fushimi’s enthusiasm for dangerous objects is a bit worrisome. Their exchanges mix tension with the pulpy melodrama of a series like Yakuza, and the strong Japanese voice performances help the emotional scenes land. Explanations occasionally interrupt the momentum, but the personalities make the unfolding mystery interesting.

There’s also some tension surrounding Reona’s unique abilities. When her protective suit is damaged, exposure to the Zone causes her body to mutate, giving her powers that make her job a bit easier. Sedatives help suppress that transformation, but her survival depends on the same phenomenon that has made these places so dangerous. It’s a compelling predicament: the changes that improve her chances of finding Arisa also threaten her humanity. That helps root the action in a personal quandary, with each Zone trek balancing self-preservation with rescuing her friend. The script could explore the organization’s response to her condition more deeply. But the tension between Reona’s usefulness and her vulnerability gives the mystery an effective emotional hook. This is backed by some smart design decisions like allowing you to explore the agency’s vast hangar. Yes, you can navigate with a menu, but finding a vacant surveillance rooms filled with monitors undoubtedly adds to the intrigue.

A Room with a (Distorted) View

ANOMALITH’s Zones provide some compelling investigations. Expect to join Reona as she reconnoiters Showa-era hospitals, shopping areas, and residential spaces made all the more unsettling by warped architecture. An apartment complex with inverted gravity makes everyday surroundings feel alien, while the hospital stairwells can house floating monsters. These locations work best when they prompt a moment of hesitation before the next confrontation. Often, ANOMALITH had me switching weapons, checking ammunition, and venturing in cautiously.

Reona’s moveset helps to set a deliberate pace. She feels weighty, and you never feel as lithe as you do in many other shooters. Repositioning requires anticipation, especially when multiple enemies close the distance and leave little space to recover. Much like Resident Evil: Revelations, that pacing provides tension, particularly when you hold a firing position and hope your opponent falls before the next reload. Giving the sights time to settle improves accuracy and the chance of a critical hit, rewarding patience. The shooting feels satisfying, although slow movement and confined spaces can make crowded fights cumbersome.

Packing Heat and Packing Dilemmas

Expedition bolster a cycle of preparation and improvement. You’ll enter a Zone, collect useful objects and materials, and periodically send your haul back to base to develop and upgrade Reona’s equipment. Guns, ammunition, supplies, and salvage compete for limited inventory space, so a successful Dive can leave you juggling what to carry. Larger backpacks ease the squeeze, while firearm attachments and stat-boosting Artifacts give scavenging a purpose. Regularly placed portals keep the process manageable, although repeated trips to unload can interrupt the momentum. Progress feels tangible even if the survival pressure is fairly forgiving on the lower difficulty settings.

Reona’s twelve Anomalization Skills give combat a bit more nuance. Alongside firearms, she can use monstrous melee attacks, parries, and other defensive techniques. Landing shots replenishes the MP needed for many of these abilities, while certain powerful attacks recharge over time. She can also sacrifice health to recover MP, adding a risky way to keep her powers available. Switching between shooting and supernatural attacks offers some welcome variety, particularly when something gets too close for comfort. However, a dependable gun can handle many encounters comfortably, leaving some of her supernatural abilities easy to overlook.

Been There, Shot That

Level design has a few hiccups. Despite the evocative settings, revisiting areas to collect materials and fight the same enemies can make exploration feel repetitive. Lockdown encounters seal the exits and send Anomalies into confined spaces, turning an unnerving ambush into another room that needs clearing. These battles can be tense, but repetition gradually makes their surprises easier to anticipate. Bosses provide a welcome break: the hospital’s towering Guardian rewards you for shooting out the operating lights on its back, creating an opening for a powerful attack. More encounters with that kind of individual identity would have helped ANOMALITH sustain its impact.

ANOMALITH is good enough to make its rough edges tolerable. The game’s vision of empty spaces, a vulnerable heroine, and combination of firearms and mutation make it worth spending time with. Satisfying shooting and palpable equipment progression help support a story where character writing and punchy dialogue provide much of the appeal. FuRyu’s recurring interest in people finding the resolve to survive dangerous worlds translates well to an action game, even if heavy movement and repetitive encounters limit its potential. Just keep in mind that the storytelling supplies the strongest reason to keep shooting.

ANOMALITH was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.