Relics Anthology

Relics Anthology is a compilation of two classic Japanese action-adventure games, ‘Relics’ and ‘Relics: Ankoku Yōsai’, featuring a unique body-exchanging possession mechanic set in mysterious underwater ruins. Released for Windows in 2003, this collection emulates the original games from platforms like PC-88, PC-98, and MSX, while improving gameplay by fixing loading times through automatic disk swapping and speed hacks. The anthology includes digital bonuses such as promo artwork, movies, and a Relics clock, and holds historical significance as the first title on the Project EGG service, offering players a nostalgic journey into obscure sci-fi exploration.

Relics Anthology: Forgotten Relic, Unearthed Potential – An Exhaustive Retrospective

Introduction
Emerging from the digital archives in 2003 like the titular fortress rising from the sea in its opening cinematic, Relics Anthology is less a conventional video game compilation and more an archaeological dig into Japan’s gaming past. Bundling Bothtec’s pioneering and enigmatic side-scrollers Relics (1986) and Relics: Ankoku Yōsai (1987), this anthology serves as both a preservation effort and a technological necessity. The thesis? While marred by the inherent limitations of its source material and era, Relics Anthology remains a vital artifact for genre historians—a flawed but ambitious attempt to resurrect foundational “possess-em-up” games that dared to blend H.R. Giger’s biomechanical horror with non-linear storytelling and tactile control experimentation. Its significance lies not just in the games themselves, but in how Anthology confronts the challenges of honoring archaic design in a modern context.

Development History & Context

Studio Vision & Technological Battlefield

Bothtec—better known for Legend of Galactic Heroes strategy epics—conceived Relics as a passion project by Yoshihiko Takei. The 1986 original targeted Japan’s booming microcomputer scene (PC-88, PC-98, MSX), exploiting their audiovisual capabilities to realize a vision impossible on then-underpowered consoles. Bothtec invested two years iterating prototypes, settling on an action-adventure hybrid where a disembodied spirit navigates Lovecraftian ruins via body-swapping. Each port became a technical compromise: The PC-98 version featured lavish scrolling cutscenes scoring Woman by Crystal King, while the MSX2 iteration reduced visuals and animations to function on weaker hardware. This pursuit of atmosphere crippled performance; input latency and clunky controls plagued even the “premium” ports as CPU resources buckled under detailed pixelscapes.

The Famicom Dilemma & Rebirth

The 1987 Famicom Disk System adaptation (Ankoku Yōsai) faced brutal constraints. Memory limitations forced simplification: the fluid body-possession mechanic was reframed as gaining abilities from defeated monsters, dungeons became segmented gauntlets, and explorative freedom narrowed. However, it introduced dedicated dungeon layouts and visual polish absent in originals. Though celebrated for surviving hardware translation, retrospective critiques (cited in GameFAQs guides, e.g., odino’s FAQ) lambast its “lousy controls” and disk-swapping load times.

Anthology as Technological Therapy

By 2003, Bothtec and publisher D4 Enterprise saw opportunity. Relics Anthology launched Project EGG, Japan’s now-prolific retro game service, aiming to preserve their legacy titles. Rather than remasters, Anthology utilized emulation “wrappers” for 8 systems, with critical fixes:
– Automating disk-swaps for Ankoku Yōsai using “speed hacks” to mask excruciating loads.
– Preserving platform-specific quirks (PC-98’s intro FM synth, MSX color limitations).
– Digitally archiving promo art, ads, cinefilms—and even a desktop clock utility—to resituate the games within their launch context.
Ironically, while Anthology smoothed technical friction, Bothtec’s bankruptcy in 2004 derailed its ambitious “Recur of Origin” Action-RPG redesigns and an Xbox-exclusive spiritual reboot, leaving this compilation as an unintended eulogy.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

Minimalist Horror & Moral Ambiguity

Anthology’s core narrative remains unchanged: a consciousness awakens in submerged ruins littered with insectoid automatons and biomechanical terrors reminiscent of H.R. Giger (anthropomorphized via robotic soldiers and alien creatures). Text fragments—clues scattered across terminals and tablets—hint at aeons of conflict between two ancient, morally ambiguous entities. Players inhabit hosts (rabbit-like borers, armored soldiers, sorcerers) not merely as “power-ups” but as fuel for existential questions: What constitutes humanity? Who is the “invader”?

Gameplay as Narrative Conduit

Victory isn’t defined by combat but curiosity. Relics famously tracked “violence levels,” cowardice, and unresolved curiosity via hidden counters triggering branching paths. The obscure “true ending” reveals humanity’s extinction and the player’s unwitting role as an agent of the ruins; lesser conclusions trap players in surreal, eternal loops. Ankoku Yōsai, constrained by FDS scope, simulates this via dungeon choices and sequential boss battles, yet retains atmospheric dread through its fortress hub design and enemy bestiary. This thematic core—exploring morality through mechanics rather than dialogue—predates indie game introspection by decades.

Symbolism in Silence & Dissonance

Armored red troopers symbolize futility; crumbling ziggurats serve as monuments to hubris. Even the player’s spirit embodies alienation. The deliberate awkwardness of controlling hosts—momentum-drifting slimes, weapon-wielding soldiers with complex interaction rules—comments on body horror: no vessel is “natural,” resilience requires violence, dominance corrupts. Simplified in Anthology’s Famicom iteration but undeniable in PC-98’s full expression.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

The Possession Core Loop: Innovation Handcuffed by Physics

The original Relics loop is ingenious:
1. Disembodied Exploration: A vulnerable spirit drifts seeking hosts
2. Takeover Combat: Battles to displace enemy consciousness through contextual actions (biting, shooting, clashing swords)
3. Progression via Adaptation: Bodies unlock pathways (e.g., soldiers break barriers; sorcerers dispel energy walls)

However, collision detection and input latency haunt this loop. Bodies “stick” to walls; turning requires multi-step inputs; jumping feels unpredictably weighted. Combat is a tug-of-war as hitboxes flutter. Ankoku Yōsai streamlines this into gaining abilities upon enemy defeat, but sacrifices systemic depth—now just “keys” for locked zones.

Interface & Progression: Fragmented Navigation

Anthology’s disparate UIs create friction:
– Relics’ keyboard-centric control remains obtuse despite mouse-menu modernization attempts.
– Ankoku Yōsai simplifies movement to a two-directional “crouch-jump” schema, exacerbated by poorly telegraphed fall damage (FAQs note vaulting platforms risks unexpected pitfalls and frustrating backtracking).
– Inventory management is universally cryptic; “bibles” augment attacks, swords unlock dungeons, lanterns light paths—all documented minimally in-game. Modern play requires guides like odino’s walkthrough to decipher sequential actions (“collect 8 swords to enter Dungeon YAROVI”).

Dungeons: System-Driven Haunts

Six dungeons branch from the central fortress, each gate requiring specific body abilities:
– DATT (Surface Ruins) exploits soldier slashing for breakable walls.
– LAHRO (Bio-Core) demands sorcerer magic to dissolve barriers.
Non-linear exploration is Relics’ triumph—permitting philosophical endings—but Ankoku Yōsai funnels players along scripted corridors. Anthology smoothes loading yet can’t resolve level design disjointedness when stapling ports from 12-year development gaps.

World-Building, Art & Sound

Gigerian Ruins & Architecture as Storyteller

The fortress-uprising opening cinematic—with Crystal King’s haunting synths—stuns across Anthology’s ports. Despite resolution downgrades (MSX tiles PSG vs. PC-98 FM chiptunes), zooms reveal forms melding Egyptian step-pyramids with bone-like girders and caverns seeping organic sludge. Textures suggest ossified membranes; corpses deform into bridge platforms. Every screen feels fossilized—an organic ecosystem corrupted by ancient AI. Ankoku Yōsai condenses this into blocky castle halls but retains leviathan murals and subterranean ventricles evoking System Shock before its time.

Dialogue, Text, & Linguistic Uncanny

Clues appear in fragmented English grammatically disassembled to feel “archaeological”:

“RECORDS SYSTEM DAMAGE. TIME RUNING LOW FOR GOOD SOULS.“
This linguistic uncanny valley—perhaps unintentionally bolstered by awkward localization—enhances unease. Enemy cries are guttural MIDI roars; ambient drones haunt hall transitions.

Sound Eras & Emulation Fidelity

Anthology preserves decade-spanning soundscapes: PC-88 buzzing basslines under sparking synth melodies; Famicom’s punchy percussion; X1’s metallic reverb. The sound design is less orchestration than auditory hauntology—signals decaying inside generations of silicon. Emulation accuracy softens outlets conservatively: tracks loop cleanly, but some FM tones lose resonance without true hardware.

Reception & Legacy

Launch Window: Niche Embrace

The original Relics garnered cult acclaim for its ambition despite its flaws (HG101 praises it as “bizarre yet charming”). Anthology itself proved commercially obscure. Player reviews underscore accessibility frustration under Anthology’s emulated veneer: a single logged MobyGames user rating awards 4/5, noting “a shame about controls.” No contemporary mainstream reviews surfaced—unsurprising given its Japan-only release via Project EGG’s nascent platform.

Long-Term Resonance & Genre Impact

Anthology’s true legacy lies in precedent:
– First released title on Project EGG—now a keystone of Japanese digital preservation.
– The “spirit possession” concept predated indie genre-blenders like Seasons After Fall or Ghost Trick.
– Non-lethal traversal options (evading foes for “best” endings) influenced immersive sim designs.
– The Action-RPG reboots (Recur of Origin, 2nd Birth) presaged Diablo-likes embracing alien geometries.

The 2005 offshoot Rinne—coded “Relics 3” pre-copyright lapse—became Falcom’s forgotten sci-fi RPG, proving Bothtec’s mythology resonated beyond bankruptcy. Fan guides by writers like odino lament the squandered potential: Anthology made relics run, yet their rust remains audible.

Conclusion
Relics Anthology stands as a paradox. It salvages historically critical obscurities—seminal in demonstrating action-adventure’s thematic potential—while trapped in amber alongside them. Bothtec’s foundational 1986 vision remains astonishing: marrying body horror to responsive gameplay ethics in ways many procedurally generated worlds still avoid. Hyrule, it isn’t; mechanical murk and era-bound constraints render both originals fascinating yet rancorous experiments. And the anthology itself? Its purpose transcends emulation—it’s a contextual museum. Digital bonuses resurrect a studio who dreamt beyond their hardware limits, even as their walls collapsed. To play Anthology now is to grip a fractured relic: feel its edges cut your patience, admire its alloy, and mourn the missing pieces (6.5/10 – Historically Vital / Practically Flawed). Essential not for fun, but for understanding how strange and bold our digital past truly was.