Anodyne 2: Return to Dust

 PlayStation 4
Anodyne 2: Return to Dust Image
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: Nano Dust infects the islanders of New Theland, distorting their emotions and desires. You play as Nova, a Nano Cleaner who must explore the island, seeking out the sick and shrinking inside their bodies to suction up the Dust.

    Anodyne 2: Return to Dust combines the thrilling scale and    Nano Dust infects the islanders of New Theland, distorting their emotions and desires. You play as Nova, a Nano Cleaner who must explore the island, seeking out the sick and shrinking inside their bodies to suction up the Dust.

    Anodyne 2: Return to Dust combines the thrilling scale and cinematic storytelling of 3D games with the tight design and easy-to-pick-up satisfaction of 2D Zelda-like adventures. With art that re-imagines the PS1 and N64 era, explore 3D cities, valleys, and wastelands then shrink into the varied 2D mindscapes of characters, from snowy, aurora-lit valleys to perilous volcanic construction sites!    … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. TheGamer
    Mar 7, 2021
    80
    Anodyne 2: Return to Dust is a surreal experience, simply put. I think that it has the ability to make its players try and find the deeper meaning of the game, even if there’s not necessarily one to be found. One other nice thing about the game is that you don’t have to have played the first Anodyne to know what’s going on in Anodyne 2, this note coming directly from the developer. The game certainly doesn’t appeal to everyone, especially with its grandiose nature. But if you’re looking for a unique gaming experience this weekend, look no further than Anodyne 2: Return to Dust.
  2. Pure Playstation
    Apr 27, 2021
    75
    Anodyne 2: Return to Dust is a weird game with a confusing story, but one I completely enjoyed. Nova and her dust-sucking vacuum may not be the heroes we wanted but they are probably the heroes we deserve. If you like retro-looking games and are tired of the big devs who are too afraid to take chances, this may be the game you’re looking for.
  3. DarkStation
    Mar 12, 2021
    70
    Anodyne 2: Return to Dust is a bit too long for its 12-ish hours running time, considering its simple gameplay both inside and out of dungeons. Reiterating the same ideas over and again works only for so far. Of course, all games can be called repetitive but it’s only highlighted by Anodyne 2’s pedestrian pace and too many dungeons. The game could have used tightening up its dramaturgy and gameplay to better hit home its heartfelt, timely message (of course, there’s a bad ending, too, that is really bleak). As it is now, the road towards the finale that is worth seeing goes on too long. However, for a two-person development team, Anodyne 2 is a true passion project of games of yesteryear. It’s targeted at people who experienced the exciting transition from 2D consoles to 3D games in the mid-90s and who long after those days when the new technology (that now looks charmingly aged) vowed an entire generation of gamers.
  4. Cubed3
    Aug 30, 2022
    60
    An experimental experience that feels like it tries too hard with its surrealism and strangeness, to the point it actually negatively affects what it was trying to do. There are some wonderful experiences in both the 2D and 3D worlds, and there's something of a coherent story lurking in the forced quirkiness, but the pacing, combined with the nonsensical aspects hold this back from being something a little more.

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  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
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  1. storageheater
    Nov 23, 2021
    9
    Anodyne 2 looks and feels like one of the most intentionally artificial things I've seen in a long while - the opposite of seamless, itsAnodyne 2 looks and feels like one of the most intentionally artificial things I've seen in a long while - the opposite of seamless, its boundaries are made extra-visible and its structures are playfully implausible. With abrupt changes in dimension and playstyle, and disturbingly designed characters presented in obscure ways, this game is almost demanding you stop looking at it, to accept what it's saying first and foremost, and then find a new way to look at it. And then it removes a new boundary, and another, and then it places more and more artificiality on top of itself. It's quite dazzlingly silly, sometimes.

    I think that the decision to make its central plot far clearer than Anodyne 1 was smart - it's still patched together from the things people worry about in dreams, but the choices they make about feeling, pain and forgetting were loud and clear, and the characters get to be a bit bolder and funnier. And what I give it most respect for is how deeply it argues for and against its options, and the people who choose one way or another are not lesser for it. And more respect still for - having argued both sides - not being ambiguous in its own ultimate choices.

    It is sometimes a little too retro in terms of gameplay, but never in an obnoxious way - it's a tiny team, rather than a team who is trying to make things less fun. I think if you're past the visuals and ready to give it a go you're barely going to notice. And the sound is always either lovely, or appropriate.

    All in all it feels like a really personal, thoughtful experience - is it weird to feel strangely proud on the behalf of the developers?    … Expand