Mato Anomalies caught my eye almost instantly and after watching a handful of trailers it seems to have taken some inspiration from the Persona series. I was excited to get hands-on with this one as I have been ploughing through the Persona games on Xbox Game Pass and always love to see someone try something new to integrate into the genre. Developed by Arrowiz and published by Prime Matter, the game is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Playstation 4|5, Windows PC and even the trusty Nintendo Switch. With this deep and mysterious adventure on almost every platform, is it a journey worth venturing on? There is only one way to find out, keep reading.

Introduction

Mato Anomalies sets the scene in a futuristic bygone oriental city and you’ll be immediately plunged into some storytelling narrative. You take the role of Doe, a private investigator tasked with gaining information into a rare resource known as the HANDOUT. It is soon after that you hook up with Gram who has a knack for being able to slay the demonic enemies known as the Bane Tide. You’ll partner together in an effort to defeat anything in your path and find out more about the HANDOUT. The mystery of this is what reeled me in with the story and throughout the playthrough, you’ll grow ever closer to unravelling the truth.

Gameplay

The gameplay for me provided similar vibes to the Persona and Yakuza titles, where you can wander around the streets of the city yet choose how you want things to play out. Over time you’ll be able to fast travel to any section of the city you have explored previously which will give you the flexibility to speed things up should you choose. Side quests are available throughout the world which is indicated with a purple marker and easily visible on a compass at the top of the screen along with other activities available on your adventure. Shops and merchants are present giving you the option to stock up on potions and other items you may need in the heat of battle.

Through your protagonist friend Gram, you can visit different lairs to gain more experience, and gather gold and new gadgets and weapons. You’ll also stumble across a card-based strategy game with some really interesting ideas like the ability to change people’s minds with Doe. What I liked here was there were several decks of cards the further you progressed which made for different outcomes and didn’t become stale. The feature I had an adoration for here was the ability to skip an enemy entirely if they became too tough to beat. The number of times I have played a game only to be immediately turned off by one fight, this option gets rid of this bugbear.

Defeat The Bane Tide

When you enter the lairs you’ll encounter strange-looking demonic creatures that you’ll have to fight and defeat to complete your path. Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid these scraps and you have to get stuck in. There is also no alternative to get around some enemies and some obstruct the way in front of you with no option but to defeat them. Combat is turn-based which isn’t always my favourite thing in a video game, but done right it can be fun. For those who aren’t into this style, you can automate the entire fight which is sometimes a godsend when it does get slightly repetitive. The turn-based system is very simplistic and the animations for special attacks are really well executed and present a real sense of power.

Sadly I found a distinct lack in the variance of enemy types and more often than not, you’ll see the same ones time and time again. The different skill sets and abilities that the characters use make up for this lacking portion of the game and there are some skill trees to buff up your team members which is well laid out and fairly easy to understand.

Graphics & Audio

One of the strongest points of Mato Anomalies is definitely the art style which consistently shines in plenty of weird and wonderful ways. The oriental city is picturesque and well-illustrated across the board with plenty of points of interest. I certainly had fun traversing across the streets conversing with NPCs, stroking cats and absorbing the scenery. Diving into the dungeon aspects of the game is awash with bizarre yet intriguing backdrops that leave a lot to be discovered with puzzles and mazes to wander through. The use of lighting throughout all of the environments looked fantastic on my 55″ 4k screen and I feel this would be the best way to experience all the goodness of the aesthetics here.

By far the most impressive portion of the visuals for me was the unique loading screens filled with beautiful seemingly hand-drawn art. Alongside this, the comic-book-style cutscenes were really well accomplished to compliment the narrative of the story. There are some voice-acted scenes during the game which were extremely welcome as sometimes reading lines and lines of text can be quite tedious. Music has an almost Cyberpunk feel to it which suits the atmosphere the game is set in.

In Conclusion

Mato Anomalies scratched an itch for me and after almost 20 hours in two huge sittings, it’s safe to say I had a great time with it. This playtime could extend to more if you ticked every single side quest on offer. The narrative takes some real concentration and can be a little confusing but there is a decent story that had me curious throughout. Those who love games such as Persona will have a great time with this one with some similarities but plenty of elements that go off on their own tangent. Whilst I would love to have seen a little more life in the oriental city of Mato with some more NPCs and a sprinkling of slightly more enemy types in fights, the game fares well in the genre as a whole. If you’re after a linear approach in combat but with some light city exploration and love turn-based combat systems it is well worth your time.

Overall
  • 70%
    CX Score - 70%
70%

Summary

Pros

  • Beautifully illustrated for the most part
  • An interesting and intriguing storyline
  • The card-based strategy game brings some unique ideas
  • Turn-based combat works well

 

Cons

  • No way to avoid fights with enemies in the lairs
  • Lack of variance in enemy type
  • The oriental city can feel quite empty

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