‘Mato Anomalies’ is a perfect analogy of itself. The game’s framework is structurally strong matching Mato City. The mechanics of the game match too, just like Mato City there is more going on below the surface. This turn-based RPG developed by Arrowiz and produced by Plaion and Prime Matter has clearly aimed at broad appeal. This has created a situation of being a Jack of all trades and master of none.

You begin playing as Doe a private investigator. Doe is employed to investigate anomalies around a futuristic city called Mato. During these investigations he discovers a realm where demons reside. It is through such an encounter Doe meets Gram. Gram who you also get to play as, is a demon-hunting exorcist. Gram saves Doe and they team up to rid the demons’ influence on the city. Throughout their adventure, they will meet many more charters that will not only expand on the intrigue, history, and current state of Mato, but expand on the roster of combat characters Gram gets to team up with.

Playing as Doe you will move about the city talking with its inhabitants. A large portion of these interactions is told through a visual novel. All other story points are presented through motion comics and cut scenes. All three mediums are beautiful to look at and are met perfectly with either music to set the mood or voice acting that is crisp and clear. Information gathered through your investigation via the visual novel are recorded in a journal.

This feature allows terms, items, places, history, and alike to have a description available for you to reflect back. This way anything a character speaks about that you’ve forgotten, you can refresh your memory. This will have you reading A LOT! This is the structurally sound part of Doe’s gameplay. It’s the parts below this surface where we begin to find problems.

What characters have to say is interesting enough, but conversations can get bogged down in exposition rather than staying on point. Furthermore, as you converse with them the only way to know who is speaking, is to read their name. A visual cue of movement or shading is missing, making conversations at times difficult to follow. Cut scenes have bad lip syncing which can be off-putting at times. Lastly, as you question some people you are put into an interrogation game that has you hacking the person’s mind.

The interrogation game is a card battler where you have pre-built decks to use. The interrogation mostly comes down to luck. Picking the correct deck then hoping the right cards turn up. These things but particularly the interrogation game lean heavily into the Jack of all trades. Focusing on a stronger story presentation through the motion comics and cut scenes would have been more appreciated.

When entering a demon’s lair discovered by Doe’s investigations, you will play as Gram. In these lairs, Gram will move along a relatively linear path using the turn-based battle system to fight demons. The game pools three things for the team, experience, health, and ultimate bar. The experience you earn goes into a team pool and once enough is earned all team members level up. The teams’ health is pooled, which allows all members to continue battling regardless of how often one person is attacked. Finally, the ultimate bar which builds with each turn and once full allows one team member to use their ultimate ability.

You will fight varying demons based on the point you’re at in the story. The animations are beautiful and the environment is consistent with what is happening in the story and is pleasant to look at. Even though the audio is just as nice as it is with Doe in the city. During combat, the characters continuously spout the same handful of lines on their turn. This constant stream of nattering is highly annoying. Again the structure here for Gram‘s part of gameplay is strong but also like Doe’s, below-the-surface problems are found.

Some of your attacks are based on the weapon you wield while others are set. Each character has two weapon choices. Your weapons are subject to level and rarity, with higher levels and rarity boosting stats and giving additional effects. When leveling up each character will receive a skill point. Skill points can be spent in any of the three skill trees for that character further augmenting stats and abilities. Lastly, you find loot called gears. Gears are used on a 3×3 grid that starts with limited available slots but opens up more as you level up. Gears also improve stats and effects based on what you place down and linking similar gear types. Unfortunately, all these stats and effects are impossible to know how much change is occurring to your team.

The character screen is devoid of extensive information reducing any sort of meaningful choice to a shrug of indifference. Again all these features lean heavily into being a Jack of all trades. Instead of focusing on one solid character advancement model and providing a meaningful character stat screen.

With shooting for broad appeal Mato Anomalies missed being a great game due to its lack of focus. Mato Anomalies instead is a good game and yet with all its foibles is worth your time if you are prepared for what’s on offer.

Written by: Ashley Barnett-Cosgrove