Anima Gate of Memories: I&II Remaster Review

There’s something to be said about being thrust into a shadowy world with only a slightly sexist book as your companion. Okay, that’s a little specific, but that’s where you’ll find yourself in Anima Project’s latest title: Anima Gate of Memories: I&II Remaster. The question is whether this double threat is a book worth reading, or should you wait for the movie?

Now, as you can tell, there are two games here, but both narratives are connected, with the second having you take the role of a character from the first. Importantly, a lot of plot points from the first title are expanded upon in the second, so you’ll have the best time if you play them in order.

The actual story follows a young woman known only as The Bearer, who travels with her talking book known as Ego. Meanwhile, the sequel has you take on the role of the mysterious Swordsman, who can be described as taciturn at best. All of these characters find themselves trapped in a shadow war that will change everything they know about the world they live in and their place in it. 

The plot, which is based on the Spanish tabletop named Anima: Beyond Fantasy, can be pretty confusing at times, especially as there’s a lot of lore and dialogue. You’ll also need to play both to really get a handle on what is going on. However, you can pretty comfortably ignore most of it if you just want to spend your time fighting things, plus solving puzzles. 

Speaking of the gameplay, Anima Gate of Memories: I&II Remaster offers two real-time RPGs that have you fighting through enemies and bosses. You have different attacks, including physical close combat and ranged magical attacks, that you can upgrade as you progress. With that being said, the two games do have their own unique features to help them stand out.

The first game allows you to switch between the Bearer and Ego with the press of a button. Each has its own health bar, with the idea being that Bearer is more about ranged attacks, while Ego is more melee-focused. The issue is that it falls a bit flat as they both have remarkably similar attacks.

Meanwhile, the Swordsman can empower himself, adding more strength to his attacks to help break through blocks. I prefer this version, if only because it actually feels like it has an influence. 

With that being said, this is still an RPG and all the characters can be levelled up through the course of the story. The upgrades themselves are nothing amazing, but there’s enough that you’ll want to try and unlock them all. Unfortunately, I was sad to see that finding new weapons doesn’t change your character's model or attack pattern, so they’re just minor stat buffs.

Even with all that, the combat becomes quite dull after a while, as the fights tend to follow a similar pattern, including the boss battles. You’ll focus on dodging around, flinging ranged attacks, then dashing in to stun lock your opponents. While this isn’t an issue initially, it’s worth noting that the games are roughly 40 hours long all told, which is a long time to spend doing the same thing over and over again. 

The puzzles are a bit better, with some real headscratchers in there. However, it creates a bit of an issue as Anima Gate of Memories: I&II Remaster does not hold your hand… like, at all. There are no quests you can select, and the map only offers the bare minimum. Considering how long these games are, expect to come back after taking a break with no real idea of what you were doing or need to do. If you happen to like writing down your own notes, then you’ll be in your element here. 

On the plus side, the graphical upgrade introduced in Anima Gate of Memories: I&II Remaster is impressive, although still lacking compared to other titles. The character models look great, although long hair can often look a bit odd. The attacks also look beautiful, with bright colours contrasting with the dark and dreary world. I also really like the music, which is that mix of gritty operatic notes that feature on some of the best anime playlists. 

The voice acting is a bit of a mixed bag, especially in the second game. Mostly because hearing an aura-farming edgelord act disinterested is more tedious than endearing. With that said, Ego is a bit more fun, offering bad jokes and even the odd song… although his constant flirting does get a bit cringey. 

So, is Anima Gate of Memories: I&II Remaster worth your time? It’s hard to say for certain, as there are some noticeable issues. The problem is that it honestly feels more like a handheld title rather than one for consoles. Despite both games coming out on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, they don’t feel like they were made to play on consoles. However, if you like deep sprawling RPGs that offer a choice-based narrative, then this could be one for you, but otherwise, I would say give it a miss.