Square’s Final Fantasy is the undisputed poster child for the JRPG.  Even if the series is considered by many to be flagging of late, Final Fantasy is the RPG series that’s arguably made the genre what it is today, certainly in the west.  Without Final Fantasy VII‘s monumental arrival, would we have a fraction of the RPGs we have today?  Maybe not.  The turn-based behemoth shook the console-gaming world, and we’ve never looked back since. 

Back then, with PlayStation gamers getting their fill of the Final Fantasy series, amongst other JRPG arrivals, PC gamers looking for a similar fix were left out in the cold.  The turn-based RPG may not have been the traditional style of game to appeal to the PC gaming faithful, with many dismissing the genre as a childish waste of time, far from the titanic RPGs the PC was capable of, but many were a little envious. 

There was something to the formula made famous by Square, and it was that something that Ion Storm, riding high on the success of Deus Ex, saw.  There was a definite niche in the PC market for a console-style RPG, and Ion Storm set out to reproduce that winning mixture of ingredients, only with a western twist, ditching the usually bright and cheerful, happy-go-lucky Japanese aesthetic, for a darker and more cynical western approach.  The end result was Anachronox, one of the best RPGs you’ve likely never played. 

I hate this place

Anachronox is a veritable love letter to both the JRPG genre and sci-fi movie classics.  It stars main protagonist, Sylvester ‘Sly’ Boots, a down on his luck Private Investigator who’s in debt to a local crime boss.  In need of a job, he takes on what seems like an easy enough case, and quickly ends up involved in a plot that doesn’t simply threaten the world, or even the solar system, but the whole universe.  Yes, this is one epic, if irreverent quest.