Anonymous;Code |OT| Hack into God

Sumio Mondo · Sep 5, 2023

A Visual Novel first announced 8 years ago finally releases...

Anonymous;Code Is 5pb’s Next Sci-Fi Visual Novel

The game is a brand new title that is authored by Chiyomaru Shikura and stars a hacker named Poron Takaoka as its protagonist.

www.siliconera.com

Story

The highly-anticipated next installment of the Science Adventure Series, ANONYMOUS;CODE is coming to the West on September 8th, 2023. This is the latest work by STEINS;GATE creator Chiyomaru Shikura, in collaboration with returning staff from the Science Adventure Series. Experience the story of the hackers who will rewrite the future.

2037. Nakano, Tokyo.
Pollon Takaoka is caught up in a tangle of plots as a result of his encounter with the mysterious girl Momo and faces major events that shake the world. Live the experience with Pollon, help him hack the myriad branches of reality and "load" the ending that saves the world!

Release Date
9/8/2023

Platforms

Player(s)
1

Genre
Visual Novel
Adventure

Language
Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Voice: English, Japanese
Text: English

Steam
Voice: English, Japanese
Text: English, Japanese,
Traditional Chinese,
Simplified Chinese

Publisher/Developer:
Spike Chunsoft/MAGES.

System:

Advise Pollon on when to Save and Load. Your choices and Pollon's actions determine the outcome of the story.

An interactive, branching scenario system

Instead of a conventional story system, the Player uses their own judgment and the Hacking Trigger to guide Pollon's action, helping him through branching story routes.

Manga-style visuals

Key moments in the story, often resulting from your Hacking Trigger, are portrayed as unique, manga-style motion comics.

Screens:

Characters:

The main character of the game. Pollon helped form a two-man team named "Nakano Symphonies" that helps people in need in Nakano, Tokyo. His dream is to be a cool hero that everyone longs for. He works as a hacker just to earn a living. His hacking ability is not really the greatest, however, he is a fearless white hat hacker who sneaks into various places and gets information by playing mind games. He is 16.

The heroine of the game. Momo met Pollon by accident, as "a girl he eloped with but was not supposed to." Someone is chasing her, and Pollon is helping her evade them. She is a mysterious girl with an unknown identity and age. She had no digital gadgets when she first met Pollon, as she isn't very familiar with them.

Pollon's best friend and the other member of Nakano Symphonies. He is talented at gathering and analyzing information. He uses this skill to aid Pollon on jobs. He is also a skilled hacker. He is sort of like an older brother to Pollon. He is 17.

A 16-year-old high school student. As much as he likes Pollon and Cross, he hasn't joined their team because he wants to become Nakano's one and only info broker. Though overly friendly, he has a cheerful and pleasant personality, and always manages to see the best in people. He is madly in love with his AI character on an app.

A self-proclaimed jack of all trades who started a detective agency in Nakano several years ago. Though he looks like a tired old man, he possesses excellent research and negotiation skills. He is aware that he is old fashioned, and he doesn't want to wear a BMI. He is well versed in occultism, urban legends, and conspiracy theories. He is 37

Tengen Ozutani Detective Agency's genius hacker-slash-gadgeteer who is ten years old. Despite her looks, she is a cheeky girl who isn't scared of adults. She has utter confidence in her abilities. Because of her cheerful personality, she has many friends at school.

A 28-year-old associate of Viktor Chondria University Mathematics Institute. A self-proclaimed math evangelist, she loves analyzing phenomena mathematically. She is a media darling, not only as a mathematician but as a model and a singer as well.

A member of the Cyber Force Dolls, an idol group promoting the TMPD Cyber Security Division's Cyber Countermeasures Office. She became a police officer in April and has only been out in the field for a few months. An energetic 19-year-old who always gives it her all, but is a bit careless. On top of the daily police training, she practices being an idol.

A 19-year-old police officer assigned to the Cyber Security Division, and is one year senior to Bambi. She was forced to enter the audition for the Cyber Force Dolls and ended up becoming a member. However, it is part of her job, so she is putting her best effort into it.

The oldest member of the Cyber Force Dolls and the most senior police officer. She is a friendly person and has a managerial role. Even though she is calm and has a gentle demeanor, she has solid self-confidence and is not distracted by other people's opinions. She is 21.

Chief of the TMPD Cyber Security Division's Cyber Countermeasures Office who performs idol producer duties at the behest of the upper echelons of the TMPD. He handles any situation flexibly, despite his serious looks and mannerism. A brilliant hacker back when he was a student, he joined the Cyber Security Division and was immediately recognized for his ability and was promoted to chief. He is 27.

Gai Institution's head researcher of the Earth simulator GAIA who is only 14. He is not a public figure and his existence is kept hidden. Quirky and arrogant, he thinks highly of himself and cares not for incompetent individuals, whether they are enemies or allies.

Gai Institution's engineer and Asuma's assistant. He acknowledges Asuma's talent and diligently follows his orders, despite his sarcasms and ridicules. He is 32 years old.

A 42-year-old military officer assigned to the Special Forces Group of the JUSDF (in 2031, the US Army and the Japan Self-Defense Forces joined together in an effort to strengthen the alliance between two nations). He receives top-secret orders from Ministry of Defense officials, and commands the unit that protects the Gai Institution and Asuma.

Localization Interview:

https://screenrant.com/yu-namba-interview-anonymous-code/

Reviews:

MC (88)
OC (84)

Digital Store:

Nintendo eShop

Steam

PlayStation Store (NA)

Qikz · Sep 5, 2023

I'm so childish but the fact someone has the name Bill Butts made me chuckle.

Was super looking forward to this then it went on so long I forgot it existed, but all the science adventure stuff is gold so looking forward to it!

CrimsonDawn · Sep 5, 2023

As someone interested in the game who hasn't played the other Science Adventure games, is this more standalone or will I be confused and not follow if I jump right into this one?

Patitoloco · Sep 5, 2023

CrimsonDawn said:
As someone interested in the game who hasn't played the other Science Adventure games, is this more standalone or will I be confused and not follow if I jump right into this one?

Pretty much all of these games are standalone.

atomsk · Sep 5, 2023

for some reason my Amazon pre-order now says "Arriving Oct 18 - Oct 27"

laaaame

Syne · Sep 5, 2023

I am a simple man. I see Kenjiro Tsuda voicing a character, I'm there.

Gavalanche · Sep 5, 2023

CrimsonDawn said:
As someone interested in the game who hasn't played the other Science Adventure games, is this more standalone or will I be confused and not follow if I jump right into this one?

They are all stand alone really except for the direct sequels. You will be fine. They all deal with a different science based situation as well.

LordHuffnPuff · Sep 5, 2023

CrimsonDawn said:
As someone interested in the game who hasn't played the other Science Adventure games, is this more standalone or will I be confused and not follow if I jump right into this one?

You will be totally fine, but having played Chaos;Head NOAH, Steins;Gate and looked into Anonymous;Code will each greatly enhance your enjoyment of this one. It's working to tie a lot of the prior stuff together.

dodo667418 · Sep 5, 2023

Looking forward to this, great to see that it's finally being released. I remember getting several mails from Amazon about delays, wasn't this supposed to come out earlier? I had it pre-ordered for more than a year only to now cancel it from Amazon to order it from Coolshop where it's 18€ cheaper haha

Mocha Joe · Sep 5, 2023

CrimsonDawn said:
As someone interested in the game who hasn't played the other Science Adventure games, is this more standalone or will I be confused and not follow if I jump right into this one?

Gotta play Steins Gate and Steins Gate 0 at some point. Both are utterly fantastic VNs

deadfolk · Sep 5, 2023

Nice. Have the Switch version preordered from Amazon, but might eventually double-dip on Steam. Especially if it turns out to get (and need) a CoZ patch.

Dinoegg_96 · Sep 5, 2023

Qikz said:
I'm so childish but the fact someone has the name Bill Butts made me chuckle.

You should've seen spaniards reaction to the name Pollon lol

AHA-Lambda · Sep 5, 2023

Yay/nay on steam deck support?

Yasumi · Sep 7, 2023

Only a few hours until it's out. English VA in a VN of this size is going to be so nice.

construct · Sep 7, 2023

Looks good

Mocha Joe · Sep 7, 2023

Mocha Joe said:
Does anyone know what time this releases? Steam still does not have a release date listed and you still can't preorder it so it doesn't say when it is supposed to launch 😬

View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2291020/ANONYMOUSCODE/

Posting this in here too

AwShucks · Sep 7, 2023

Wtf this is out tomorrow? I had no idea, I thought it was still like a year away. Ordering now

Edit: ordered, but Amazon isn't 100% sure on the delivery. Seems like one of those "we didn't make enough copies" situations. If it doesn't ship in the next day or two, I'll try to find it locally.

NeonZ · Sep 7, 2023

I got into this VN series recently, but I've only finished Chaos Head and Steins Gate, still in the middle of Robotic Notes, so it will take a while before I get here. Yes, I know I could just skip stuff, but I like all the references (like when you get conversations in Steins Gate where

Okabe insists the popularity of the Gero Froggies must have been a conspiracy)

. On the other hand, I'm only in the third game and and I've already noticed the localization can be pretty inconsistent with some terms/names.

Korigama · Sep 7, 2023

NeonZ said:
I got into this VN series recently, but I've only finished Chaos Head and Steins Gate, still in the middle of Robotic Notes, so it will take a while before I get here. Yes, I know I could just skip stuff, but I like all the references (like when you get conversations in Steins Gate where

Okabe insists the popularity of the Gero Froggies must have been a conspiracy)

. On the other hand, I'm only in the third game and and I've already noticed the localization can be pretty inconsistent with some terms/names.

Robotics;Notes Elite's localization was very much lacking compared to the one for Steins;Gate, the patch that Committee of Zero made to clean it up having taken several thousand man hours to complete (their rewrite for Chaos;Head Noah having required double that since the original translation was unsalvageable).

Xils · Sep 7, 2023

NeonZ said:
On the other hand, I'm only in the third game and and I've already noticed the localization can be pretty inconsistent with some terms/names.

That's why we need Committee of Zero patch. This series needs consistency and it's a shame we have to rely on unofficial patch for that. Actually, I don't think I know any other series with extensive EN->EN patch like this lol.

Herr Starr · Sep 8, 2023

Mocha Joe said:
Posting this in here too

It most likely releases at the standard Steam time of 10AM PST. The reason they haven't put up preorders or anything else is because they plan to have a launch sale with 10% off instead on this specific platform.

NeonZ said:
On the other hand, I'm only in the third game and and I've already noticed the localization can be pretty inconsistent with some terms/names.

Please use the Committee of Zero patches if you can. You've already gone through C;H Noah without them, it sounds like, and that's bad enough (probably the worst of the bunch), but there are other games in this series that desperately need that patch. R;N Elite is one of those, with the patch updating/replacing more than 1/3 of the script due to how rushed and lacking it was. In fact, R;N Elite was the first game where people started noticing how little effort was put into the official translations. Chaos;Child also sorely needs the patch, though that one would have benefited even more from also playing C;H Noah patched since the references between the two games will be much harder (or even impossible) to spot without that consistency.

dodo667418 · Sep 8, 2023

Another one for the collection! Can't wait to jump into this later tonight. The steelbook is absolutely gorgeous

Huddy · Sep 8, 2023

Got my copy yesterday, but the backlog is so big, it'll be 2024 before I get around to diving in.

atomsk · Sep 8, 2023

AwShucks said:
Edit: ordered, but Amazon isn't 100% sure on the delivery. Seems like one of those "we didn't make enough copies" situations. If it doesn't ship in the next day or two, I'll try to find it locally.

they just changed my arrival date to the 20th (previously they had it mid-October), which is still insane given that I pre-ordered, but I gotta use these gift cards.

StraySheep · Sep 8, 2023

Huddy said:
Got my copy yesterday, but the backlog is so big, it'll be 2024 before I get around to diving in.

Yeah I'm not 100% sure when I will start it, especially since this will be a great game for the PS Portal. But had to support the series

StraySheep · Sep 8, 2023

Herr Starr said:
It most likely releases at the standard Steam time of 10AM PST. The reason they haven't put up preorders or anything else is because they plan to have a launch sale with 10% off instead on this specific platform.

Please use the Committee of Zero patches if you can. You've already gone through C;H Noah without them, it sounds like, and that's bad enough (probably the worst of the bunch), but there are other games in this series that desperately need that patch. R;N Elite is one of those, with the patch updating/replacing more than 1/3 of the script due to how rushed and lacking it was. In fact, R;N Elite was the first game where people started noticing how little effort was put into the official translations. Chaos;Child also sorely needs the patch, though that one would have benefited even more from also playing C;H Noah patched since the references between the two games will be much harder (or even impossible) to spot without that consistency.

Do the issues apply to the Switch release of the Chaos Head games? I assumed the port was recent and this would have been ironed out.

AwShucks · Sep 8, 2023

atomsk said:
they just changed my arrival date to the 20th (previously they had it mid-October), which is still insane given that I pre-ordered, but I gotta use these gift cards.

Oh crazy. As of now it is still saying Tuesday or me. But it hasn't shipped.

EDIT: I swapped my order to Best Buy who says it'll be delivered by Monday.

StraySheep said:
Do the issues apply to the Switch release of the Chaos Head games? I assumed the port was recent and this would have been ironed out.

I see people say to use the CoZ patches for the Sci;Adv series a lot of the time but I honestly have still enjoyed the Vita/Switch versions of the games. I couldn't tell you what's wrong with them and how they are mistranslated since I don't know any different I guess.

Keiriks · Sep 8, 2023

StraySheep said:
Do the issues apply to the Switch release of the Chaos Head games? I assumed th8e port was recent and this would have been ironed out.

Yes. The official localisations are horrible. CH is also based on the censored version that guts one of the endings of most of its content. The CoZ site goes into just how much they had to change, these three being the biggest problem children.

Chaos Head Noah
Chaos Child
Robotics Notes Elite

Korigama · Sep 8, 2023

StraySheep said:
Do the issues apply to the Switch release of the Chaos Head games? I assumed the port was recent and this would have been ironed out.

The PC and Switch releases of Chaos;Head Noah have the exact same problems with their localizations and QA, with the content of both based on the censored CERO D PSP version and not the original CERO Z Xbox 360 version.

AwShucks said:
I see people say to use the CoZ patches for the Sci;Adv series a lot of the time but I honestly have still enjoyed the Vita/Switch versions of the games. I couldn't tell you what's wrong with them and how they are mistranslated since I don't know any different I guess.

Mistranslations, inconsistencies in terminology and missed references, characters not representative of how they were written in the original script. Basing the ports on the PSP version with the lower rating also led to an entire 500-line scene central to the story being cut. The bugs in the game ranged from videos not playing and sprites not showing to the wrong images being displayed, as well as broken visual effects and menus. The link in the post above mine clarifies all of these things for C;H Noah and also accounts for everything else they addressed.

There really was no excuse for the lack of care that MAGES ended up treating C;H Noah with after finally porting it (especially with it literally marking the beginning of the Science Adventure series), nor for how Chaos;Child (as much as I personally don't like that game) or Robotics;Notes Elite shipped.

Herr Starr · Sep 8, 2023

It's out on Steam now!

Edit: Missing the digital deluxe bundle, though. Perhaps it'll show up in the next couple of minutes.

Mocha Joe · Sep 8, 2023

Bought on Steam. I hope this does well 🤞

Herr Starr · Sep 8, 2023

Digital deluxe bundle is also available now, at least through the new post they added on Steam. Bought and downloading. :)

Sumio Mondo · Sep 8, 2023

Got home and Royal Mail delivered it on release date, got to be a first for me lol.

Mocha Joe · Sep 8, 2023

https://steamdb.info/franchise/Science+Adventure+Series/

Doing very well. 5th best debut CCU on Steam and considering the games above it launched at $35 or less, very good

StraySheep · Sep 8, 2023

AwShucks said:
I see people say to use the CoZ patches for the Sci;Adv series a lot of the time but I honestly have still enjoyed the Vita/Switch versions of the games. I couldn't tell you what's wrong with them and how they are mistranslated since I don't know any different I guess.

Keiriks said:
Yes. The official localisations are horrible. CH is also based on the censored version that guts one of the endings of most of its content. The CoZ site goes into just how much they had to change, these three being the biggest problem children.

Korigama said:
The PC and Switch releases of Chaos;Head Noah have the exact same problems with their localizations and QA, with the content of both based on the censored CERO D PSP version and not the original CERO Z Xbox 360 version.

Mistranslations, inconsistencies in terminology and missed references, characters not representative of how they were written in the original script. Basing the ports on the PSP version with the lower rating also led to an entire 500-line scene central to the story being cut. The bugs in the game ranged from videos not playing and sprites not showing to the wrong images being displayed, as well as broken visual effects and menus. The link in the post above mine clarifies all of these things for C;H Noah and also accounts for everything else they addressed.

There really was no excuse for the lack of care that MAGES ended up treating C;H Noah with after finally porting it (especially with it literally marking the beginning of the Science Adventure series), nor for how Chaos;Child (as much as I personally don't like that game) or Robotics;Notes Elite shipped.

Ugh I wish I had known that. I bought the duology on sale on Switch last week for like 20 bucks. Considering returning it now, but then again I just have no appetite to play games on my computer, hence why I didn't stick with Chaos Head when I tried it last year.

cecilpaladin32 · Sep 8, 2023

StraySheep said:
Ugh I wish I had known that. I bought the duology on sale on Switch last week for like 20 bucks. Considering returning it now, but then again I just have no appetite to play games on my computer, hence why I didn't stick with Chaos Head when I tried it last year.

Heh, similar to me except replace Robotics Notes Elite with Chaos Head for the recent purchase...I pre-ordered that duology =/ ; but likewise, I have very little interest in PC gaming when I can avoid it.

Korigama · Sep 8, 2023

StraySheep said:
Ugh I wish I had known that. I bought the duology on sale on Switch last week for like 20 bucks. Considering returning it now, but then again I just have no appetite to play games on my computer, hence why I didn't stick with Chaos Head when I tried it last year.

The patch is also available for the Switch version of Chaos;Head Noah with instructions for how to install it, if playing it there would be preferable.

That said, while I do most of my gaming on consoles and portables, I usually prioritize PC for VNs (traditional ones anyway, rather than VN/ADV hybrids) due to having more of those games to choose from and the general ease of patching them even for someone like me who's far from an expert on PC gaming.

Herr Starr · Sep 8, 2023

Just finished chapter 1 of Anonymous;Code. A very strong opening, and there's already been a huge Steins;Gate reference. Also, the music is awesome, as always.

Mivey · Sep 8, 2023

Will wait for the CoZ patch before buying, feels pointless before given the uneven localisation quality of these games.

Kalor · Sep 8, 2023

Mivey said:
Will wait for the CoZ patch before buying, feels pointless before given the uneven localisation quality of these games.

It won't need one. Spike Chunsoft handled it this time so they were able to hire Steiner, who was involved with the original Steins;Gate translation and is familiar with the series. One of the Sci;Adv fan sites got a review copy and were happy with the loc, and they were critical of the other games.

Mivey · Sep 8, 2023

Kalor said:
It won't need one. Spike Chunsoft handled it this time so they were able to hire Steiner, who was involved with the original Steins;Gate translation and is familiar with the series. One of the Sci;Adv fan sites got a review copy and were happy with the loc, and they were critical of the other games.

That does sound nice! I think I might bite, even if I'm not likely to get a chance at playing this until much later. Way to busy right now, ironically even with other SciAdv games (playing R;N Dash right now)

Herr Starr · Sep 8, 2023

Yeah, based on what I've played, the translation is on point. There will apparently be a CoZ patch for this game too, but it will only tweak very minor things, not the script itself, beyond fixing a tiny handful of inconsistencies. The biggest thing the patch is likely to add is translations for overlapping voices, which is not handled in the official release. So if someone is talking in the background, it's not translated for now. This is hardly a big deal, and if you're playing the English dub, it's not a problem at all.

Everything is pointing toward this being the best official translation of a Science Adventure game yet, by far.

Nassudan · Sep 8, 2023

Tried this on steam deck, so far I'm getting crackling audio in some instances.

Xils · Sep 8, 2023

Is this really happening?!

Chiyomaru said:
To the fans of our series, however, the protagonists undoubtedly possess special powers. If we're to bring such individuals together…it might be best to do so in 2026 A.D. There's actually a deep meaning behind that timing, but it'll remain a secret…until the day the title is released. Just so you know, I'm a big fan of the Avengers.

Herr Starr · Sep 9, 2023

View: https://twitter.com/CommitteeOf0/status/1700299707116052489?t=yQjozOSepKd0BnD_VSWSgg&s=19

The Committee of Zero is working on a small patch that they expect will be done very quickly. They also point out that it's their smallest patch, even smaller than S;G. The full text from the Twitter thread:

At long last, ANONYMOUS;CODE is out in English! And the translation? It's almost perfect. Massive props to community veteran
@DistantValhalla
—fantastic work.

There are a few small hiccups, though, and we're dedicated to making sure the entire thing is perfect. A patch is coming.

The main things we need to patch are inconsistent series-wide terminology, unsubbed voice lines, some untranslated CGs, and a handful of text errors.

The first of these is especially important, as A;C is the culmination of the entire series—the terms used are very intentional.

This patch will be our smallest patch to date—even smaller than S;G's—and we're already hard at work on it. It should not take long at all.

Once again, massive congratulations & love to everyone involved with putting out a localization as stellar as this.

As for us, stay tuned.

StraySheep · Sep 9, 2023

Mivey said:
That does sound nice! I think I might bite, even if I'm not likely to get a chance at playing this until much later. Way to busy right now, ironically even with other SciAdv games (playing R;N Dash right now)

Not to pressure you, but as someone who was in the same boat regarding time to play it I bought it due to the dire financial situation of MAGES. Maybe someone can correct me and say they are back on track now.

AHA-Lambda · Sep 9, 2023

Any word on steam deck support? That'll decide if I go ps4 or pc

I seen one post on steam forums saying it doesn't work (it's so weird that VN support on deck is so spotty they're hardly demanding titles after all)

Kazer · Sep 9, 2023

Completely forgot I had this preordered. Looks like Amazon won't ship my copy for a couple weeks though for some reason.

Korigama · Sep 9, 2023

StraySheep said:
Not to pressure you, but as someone who was in the same boat regarding time to play it I bought it due to the dire financial situation of MAGES. Maybe someone can correct me and say they are back on track now.

Pretty sure they're still insolvent.

Herr Starr · Sep 9, 2023

I'm in chapter 4 now, and the Science Adventure lore is starting to get laid on thick. I love it.

The pacing of this game is completely different from previous games. This is a high-stakes, fast-paced story from the moment it begins, and it doesn't really let go.

Anonymous;Code |OT| Hack into God

Story

System:

Screens:

Characters:

It's Pronounced "Aerith"

Prophet of Regret

Doctor Videogames at Allfather Productions

Knights of Favonius World Tour '21

One Winged Slayer

Saw the truth behind the copied door

One Winged Slayer

Knights of Favonius World Tour '21

It's Pronounced "Aerith"

It's Pronounced "Aerith"

Omicron Persei 8 Logic

It's Pronounced "Aerith"

Resettlement Advisor

It's Pronounced "Aerith"

"This guy are sick"