Original Release: Mobile, 2006. Platform Used: Steam Deck, 2023.
Note: This review is based on the English Translation Patch by MKCAMK. If you purchase the Steam version, step-by-step patching instructions are linked from the game's Steam page.
THE PLOT:
The group from St. Hermelin High School (the Persona 1 cast) are in the midst of trying to stop evil businessman Kandori, when Kandori's DEVA System transports them to a parallel world. Cut off from reality, they are now scattered across the various floors of a giant tower. The only good news is that the Velvet Room is also linked to the tower, allowing them to continue fusing and strengthening Personas.
The group slowly reunites, at the same time rescuing Maria, a young girl who has also been ensnared by the tower. They learn that this structure is the prison of a demon known as The Destroyer. Their only hope to return to save their world is to climb all 100 floors, to face the demon and to unlock the gateway home!
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| The group meets Maria, a young girl trapped in the Tower. |
CHARACTERS:
Most characters speak only when you reach them during your ascent, when they either join your party or go to wait by the entrance. They are fully in character, though, more so than regulars in some of the later, more technically sophisticated spinoffs, which tended toward flanderization.
The introductions do much to re-establish basic personalities. Nanjo is encountered being threatened by a demon, something he clearly regards as a tedious inconvenience. The demon with occult-minded Ellie, by contrast, seems to be the one who's afraid of her. Yukino is spoiling for a fight, while Brown gets his demon to back down through charm and bluster. These moments are amusing, and they help to invest some personality into what's mostly a pure dungeon crawler.
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| Dungeon crawling. The graphics aren't bad for an old flip-phone game. |
GAMEPLAY:
Anomalous Tower Chronicle was a flip phone game from twenty years ago, so it's no surprise that this is an extremely stripped down experience. However, the combat system from the original Persona is fully intact.
Outside of bosses, battles are random encounters. You place your party members in a grid, and who (and how) your characters hit enemies depends on their weapon types and grid placement. One improvement over the original Persona is that experience is distributed evenly; party members with support skills no longer get shafted when it comes to leveling. Battles are otherwise identical, right down to the negotiation system (Mark bragging or "dancing crazy" has a very high success rate here, by the way).
Non-combat gameplay is mostly dungeon crawling. You map out each floor, searching for either a boss (about once very 20 floor sor so) or a portal up to the next floor. Every 10 - 20 floors, you're provided a rest area where you can upgrade weapons and equipment, buy and sell items, and fuse stronger personas thanks to the Velvet Room.
And... that's about it, really. There isn't any character interaction, there certainly aren't moments in which your party members reflect. This may be a Persona spinoff, but it reminds me most of the original, 1987 Megami Tensei - dungeon crawling with an excuse plot until you find and defeat the final boss. Graphics are decent for an old flip-phone game; but by Floor 20, you'll have seen all the game has to offer, with a good 80 floors still to climb.
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| Combat is functionally identical to the PS1 Persona. |
THOUGHTS:
I am very happy that G-Mode Corporation is re-releasing some of its old, Java-based mobile games. One of the frustrations about the digital, mobile era of gaming is how much is routinely lost, so I'm delighted at any official preservation.
Beyond that, Anomalous Tower Chronicle is decent for what it is. It is simple in presentation and interface; how could it not be? But it's also a complete Persona spinoff, one that manages to present a full gaming experience within the severe limits of the hardware for which it was made.
One of the first things I noticed was how many tropes of later Persona spinoffs already exist here. The main cast are transported outside reality, where they encounter a guest character who must be protected while they prepare to defeat a Powerful Enemy (TM) so they can return home. If this sounds familiar, then you might have played one of the Persona Q games. Or Persona 5 Tactica. Or the story campaign from Persona 4 Dancing. The series' standard spinoff formula is introduced here, albeit in barebones form.
Enjoyment will be very dependent on how much you like dungeon crawlers. Modern gamers might have an issue with the slim story and the repetitive mechanics. I'm very fond of the original Persona, so I had some fun returning to those characters and even to that combat and exploration system... for a while.
The problem is that, while it's not a very long game, it's still too long for what's there. It's sheer grinding, which means that the challenge disappears after about Floor 20 or 30. I found the first boss to be difficult, with it taking me a couple tries to beat it. The second boss was easier. By the third boss, I felt much like a steam roller might when confronted by a particularly belligerent squirrel.
For the first 50 floors, I mostly enjoyed myself in a nostalgic, old-school way. After that, however, I got rather bored. I stopped even bothering upgrading at Rest Areas and just bolted through the floors as quickly as possible, because by that point I was ready for it to be over - and I'm afraid that problem, one basically of overlength, impacts my final score.
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| Igor welcomes you to the Velvet Room. |
OVERALL:
Anomalous Tower Chronicle is well-made given the limits of its original platform. Beyond that, I'm happy to see it preserved. Usually, mobile spinoffs of even big name franchises tend to be shrugged off into the Graveyard of the Forgotten once they've run their course.
Individual interest is going to depend on your tolerance for dungeon crawling and your fondness for the original Persona. If this sounds like something you would enjoy checking out, then it's a decent example of its type. It's relatively inexpensive on Steam, and the English patch is easy to apply on that platform.
I can't give it a very high rating. It's twice as long as it should be, and it is subject to the limitations of its original hardware. But I'm still happy to have played it.
Overall Rating: 5/10.
Main Game: Shin Megami Tensei - Persona
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