Anthem’s long list of problems is well-documented, and there are only so many times I can yell “increase the drop rate” before losing my voice, so I wanted to switch gears for a minute here today.
There is one thing that I think gives Anthem an advantage over its rivals, specifically Destiny 2, The Division and honestly, probably even Borderlands 3, though we know next to nothing about the game so far.
I’m talking about its endgame.
Hahaha, no not the loot endgame. The fashion endgame.
Anthem’s loot endgame is a total mess right now, but its fashion endgame is on point in a way these other games can’t match. The Division 2 is grounded in “real world” stipulations which mean your most extravagant fashion options are dressing up like a cop or firefighter or putting on a scary mask. That’s pretty much it.
Destiny 2 can have a good fashion endgame, but the current problems with power level and infusion mean that you have to wait until you hit max level to start crafting a build that isn’t just functional, but also looks the way you want. Infusion is expensive, and there’s no transmog system, so you’re stuck looking like a mismatched garbage person as you level, and only once you’re at max is it the “right” time to start trying to look as good as you can.
Borderlands 3, again, we know nothing about it, but if it’s anything like the last games, swapping out color palettes and different heads is about all you can do, and of the series’ many strengths, “fashion” is not one of them.
And so, we have Anthem, which is starting to echo Warframe in its pursuit of making the coolest looking javelins possible, if you can’t find the loot to make them powerful.
Anthem’s armor system is rather clever. It still has “armor abilities” in the form of six components that take the place of normal armor slots that change your build. But components don’t have any effect on the visuals of your javelin, so all the armor you wear is just cosmetic. It essentially functions as a permanent transmog system. You can wear any armor you want and it doesn’t change your build at all.
Then you pair this with Anthem’s unmatched coloring/materials system, where you can change not just the color of your armor, but the texture, and the differences between stripped metal, glossy paint, hard rubber or fine leather are very, very noticeable because if there’s one thing this EA Frostbite engine gets right, it’s the details like that. You can change the color and material of all the different layers of your armor playing, as well as add vinyls and decals to it.
The result? You can make some truly impressive looking javelins at any power level, and even though I’m on the hunt for legendary gear, I am also really, really hunting for new materials and specific decals in the new cosmetic Elysian chests as I try to make all my Javelins unique.
This system is only getting better in time. Anthem launched with painfully few armor sets, but more have been added, and we’re starting to get wicked cool additions to the cosmetic game like the dragon scale texture that just went on sale this week. The more stuff is added, the more potential combinations you can make and the larger the variety of “fashion endgame” builds there are.
Obviously, there are still problems within Anthem’s cosmetic systems, and changes need to be made here:
- BioWare needs to designate at least some armor sets to drop from Elysian caches, rather than only offering those through the store (even if you can “earn” them). I also think armor pieces should periodically be random world drops (albeit rare ones)
- BioWare needs to let you change the colors of vinyls and decals, and alter the placement of decals. Stacking vinyls and decals would be good too.
- The game needs a dedicated photo mode to show off your suits in various places/angles
But things are certainly off to a good start. Anthem is shaping up to be the loot shooter producing at least the best-looking player characters out there in the form of its javelin fleet, and doing so in a way that its rivals can’t match. I mean, that’s not enough to carry it on its own as its larger issues still threaten to consume the game, but credit where it’s due.
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