Games that take the match-3 mechanic and twist it to create a new and fun experience seem to be on the comeback right now. With last year’s Spirit Swap and the upcoming Titanium Court, developers are really exploring how to get the most from the formula. Anthem#9 is the latest with a gem match-3 rogue-lite that promises an absurd amount of combos wrapped in Japanese anime aesthetics.
Published by Asian specialists Shueisha Games and the debut game from developer koeda, Anthem#9 promises a thrilling ride as special agents take down the bad guys and make the world slightly safer. The battling mechanic is the highlight of the game, rewarding the player with some thoughtful, deep gameplay and sometimes thrilling moments, especially when you’ve managed a 20-plus combo, but there are some issues, mainly to do with a lack of narrative that holds the game back a little too much.
The battles consist of matching three different coloured gems with the corresponding ones attached to specific attacks. You start each battle with three attacks that can be upgraded or replaced with stronger ones over the course of your run. The game flirts with the gems in that placement is key, and if you get it right, it can lead to some incredible chains of damage to your opponent. It gets deeper; there’s a lot here to sink your teeth into, and when you factor in the other mechanics at play, it can get quite tactical, which leads to some rewarding moments.
The more combos you produce, the more damage you do, and you can also cancel out your opponent’s moves. Plus, the game will let you move the order of their moves, meaning you could switch the most powerful move to the top and hope that you can chain enough combos to cancel it out completely for that turn. A sometimes lifesaver when I was on the last boss and inches away from death myself.
Skills are also available to help you along, with the option to choose one on every turn. Depicted as cards, they are the usual you’d expect: gain a 5% attack boost, or here’s a 15% health upgrade. I make it sound like there’s nothing original here, and for the most part that’s true, but koeda has included a couple that did raise my eyebrows slightly. You’ll be able to pick up new cards in the shop and special ones on the games map screen.
Another way the game attempts to mix up the gameplay is through the three agents you can choose from. Each brings new elements to the battles with different abilities. Rubin can change the colour of a particular gem, Phannie brings double gems, and Beni can turn unwanted gems into extra buffs. The agents also freshen up the skill cards too, bringing their own unique options to the table. With four missions each, and each mission also unveiling a new or different gameplay mechanic, there has been some thought put into keeping the game fresh and appealing to players, especially as the game asks for repeated runs.
Also on offer are difficulty levels, which also pump a little more variation into the gameplay. The game starts you on Normal, which gives you two decks of three moves each. These decks alternate from move to move, giving you more options to really customise your battle options. Easy takes away one deck, so if you are finding two decks slightly too much to manage, then you have that option. Hard mode promises a more challenging mode for the most experienced of roguelite players.
This is all let down, though, by the lack of much narrative glueing everything together. You receive some text at the start of the game giving you some backstory about agents who work for a secret agency called Anthem#9, and because the missions are so top secret, they battle it out in spiritual worlds. But that’s all. I never felt like I knew the reasons why I was battling these enemies, what their motives were, or what the implications were if I failed. There were no backstories to the agents either, about what they did before becoming agents or why they are doing what they are doing.
It’s never explained either how we enter these spiritual worlds or how the agency came to be and who runs it. Who assigns their missions, and we never see the base of headquarters. The world never felt alive or real, and it made the experience feel flat. There was no incentive to carry on for too long, as there was nothing to strive for apart from completing a mission and receiving a ‘well done’ screen at the end. There’s no scoring system or leaderboards, so you can’t even strive for higher scores. It’s a shame, as with the addition of even some basic storyline, it could have elevated the game and given it a much bigger purpose.
With that said, the game is presented in a visual style matching its roots. Very anime with bright, over-the-top graphics, creative and emotive characters and loud, sharp wording in the battles. It all matches other anime-inspired games, and if you like that style, you will feel right at home. There is a satisfaction to the visuals when your combos fly, as each attack is depicted as a sharp object that’s thrust at your enemy, and when thirty of them pop quickly one after another, it is a treat to your eyes.
The same can’t be said about the music or sound design, though, as mostly generic, unforgettable tracks play in the background. Most are jolly and match the same vibe as the graphics, but none got me wanting to listen to them outside the game or got my foot tapping. The sparse Japanese vocals that appear throughout the battles are a fun addition, but they do start to become slightly annoying after a while.
