Anonymous Notes Chapter 4 - From the Abyss Review - Screenshot 1 of 2

The Anonymous Notes series is pretty meta, in a way. For games about eternally slaying monsters in dungeons, they never seem to stop emerging from the eShop themselves. If you’ve been following along with our reviews, it probably won’t surprise you to know that Anonymous Notes Chapter 4 - From the Abyss is very much like Chapter 3, Chapter 2, and Chapter 1 before it. Our Chapter 1 review will provide the best general overlay of what’s to offer here.

The hero for this go is Nome, a bristly fighter who’s here to kill infinite beasties and tell an interesting backstory, and two guesses as to which one she’s all out of. The dialogue that takes place between dungeon dives in the game is rather bland and, in a few minor cases, not very well translated.

The meat of the game, however, is still found in the dungeons. They are sea grotto-flavoured this time, retaining the same quaint, 16-bit feel of games past. This abyss still plays like all the others, though: hack, slash, find loot, kill the boss, rinse, and repeat. There are different weapon types with different strengths, which can be fun to experiment with, but weapons and other equippable items are the only ways to alter Nome’s stats, since there is no levelling up.

The “Soul Capture” ability returns as well, where skills and healing can be absorbed from weakened monsters. Capturing a spirit also runs the somewhat frequent risk of a temporary negative effect, though, making the ability feel at first like a necessary evil as you build powers. Nome’s acquired skills remain after she’s knocked out but her items are taken, so once a comfortable set of skills are collected it’s more tempting to run past creatures than engage them.

Anonymous Notes Chapter 4 - From the Abyss Review - Screenshot 2 of 2

Saves from previous games can be loaded into Chapter 4 to port over any saved equipment. There is also access to an independent save file that won’t connect with other games, should it be desired.

Conclusion

Anonymous Notes Chapter 4 - From the Abyss is another near-identical instalment in the series. This is where we usually say your enjoyment will depend on how you liked previous games, but there’s one notable difference here: as of the time of this review, Chapter 4 is a full $3 more expensive than the previous titles! Veterans should consider whether this game is worth more of their change, while curious newcomers should definitely take one of the other chapters for a test run.