Anodyne is a top down adventure game which draws inspiration from the 2D Zelda titles. The dull colour palette, the somber, creepy music and some of the character dialog/actions all combine to give the game a weird edge. The overall tone of the game is quite dark; the schizophrenic you find in the wood, the guy you push into the sea, a guy that has hung himself; you just wouldn't find these in a Zelda game. The scenery drastically changes as you move from one area to another which is just as cohesive as the story. The story hints that the game is played in the dreams of a boy called Young. It's more about being vague and unsettling rather than any real story-telling.
Since it is based on Zelda, there's plenty of exploring through a grid-like map. Progression involves solving puzzles (albeit simplified compared to Zelda) or defeating all the enemies in the room. The simple puzzles mean it feels like you are speed-running through the game without much thought. The majority of the rooms are just about clearing out the enemies to open the doors, or standing on a switch and moving on.
Your simple map shows connected squares which helps you identify which squares you have visited. It's very much like Zelda though where you may enter an area to find it is blocked off and can only really be reached from a different direction. You can feel a bit lost because of this, especially since treasure chests are not marked on the squares.
There are plenty of 'C' check-point icons across the map. This is where you respawn when you die. You do not lose all your progress though, since doors you have opened remain that way, so it just means you just have to retrace your steps a bit to get back to where you were.
Instead of a sword, you are armed with a broom. There's a couple of occasions where you pick up upgrades for the broom which extends the length or width of your attack. The broom can also pick up dust which can be placed to block enemies or moving obstacles, and even placed on water to act as a raft. There's a restriction that you can only place dust within the same screen; moving to another location resets the dust. These mechanics aren't logical but only takes you a few moments to adapt.
If you enter the water and do not have a make-shift raft, Young begins to slowly sink, giving you the ability to wade short distances. Reaching solid ground makes you pop back up, but fully sinking inflicts damage and resets you to the room's entrance.
In each of the dungeons, there is a boss battle. Since you don't find unique items in the dungeons, the bosses can be taken down with similar hit and run tactics. I found myself just bumbling through them rather than using any real skill. Defeating them gives you a card and an extra piece of health.
The main aim of the game is to collect a total of 36 cards which you find in treasure chests. There are a few gates in certain areas which demand you have a certain amount before allowing you to progress. Apart from these gates, you aren't guided around the game's world which I think means you can enter some dungeons in a different order to other players. Having a certain degree of freedom is good in some ways, but can often make you feel lost, and so you end up doing some tedious back-tracking. On the plus side, there's plenty of warp points that take you back to 'Nexus' which acts as a hub and indicates which areas you have collected all the cards for.
One common complaint in the game is the jumping elements. Just like Zelda: Link's Awakening, it can be hard to judge the distance due to the isometric view which mean you will often plummet down the abyss instead of landing as you expected. There's a large amount of jumping elements which is why this is such a big deal.
For the end game, you are given a broom upgrade which can swap tiles on the map. This just ends up being a glitchy mess because you can reach areas with no defined map, which also glitches the menu so you can't quit the game.
As you are playing Anodyne, you are constantly thinking of comparisons to Zelda, but since it is a stripped-down version, then you just wonder why you aren't playing Zelda instead. The overall mood and the music are definitely cool elements to the game but it doesn't really do anything else to stand out, or add to the formula.