Listen up, Spy x Family fans. Operation Strix is on and the only way to ensure world peace is to help Anya Forger with her homework. In the case of Spy x Anya: Operation Memories, that means taking her to lots of fun places and taking pictures of her while she does adorable things. It is a low-stakes, cosy adventure that will make fans of the Spy x Family smile and leave everyone else scratching their heads in confusion.
The confusion isn’t because the game is particularly complicated – it is actually delightfully, relaxingly simple. However, unless you are familiar with the characters and jokes of Spy x Family, most of the plot of Spy x Anya is going to go straight over your head. The game assumes that you know the overall goal of Operation Strix and that each of the Forgers has a secret they are keeping from everyone else. Loid is a spy. Yor is an assassin. Anya can read minds. Even the dog can see the future.
Without knowledge of the anime, the gameplay loop is going to feel a bit underwhelming. Anya has been given an assignment to create a diary, so the Forgers resolve to go on trips – called Outings, or Ootings in Anya-speak – where she can play, study, and take pictures. It feels a bit like a very guided Pokémon Snap but without some of the random interactions that made that game such a fun journey.
Here it is very easy to decide what you’re going to take a picture of and to get the snap you want. The controls are forgiving enough that it will be rare you don’t get top marks for your photography skills. You just need to get the focus right, find the right angle, and pick the most dramatic moment to capture, all things that the game tells you how to do each time. You even get multiple attempts each Outing, so there really is no excuse not to get the maximum score possible. It might have been nice to have a bit more freedom to find our own angle and be more creative with the pictures, but it works for the more structured format the developers are going for.
Outings happen every three in-game days, so you’ll spend a few days going to school and spending time with Anya’s adoptive family. Both of these give the opportunity to take more pictures to fill Anya’s diary. At the end of each day, you can play a surprisingly large selection of minigames to earn points to spend on new outfits for the Forgers to wear at the Outings, thus allowing you to vary up your pictures a bit more.
It is a simple but effective cycle that never feels stressful or oppressive. It can start to feel time-consuming to play out multiple days between Outings, but within a few hours, the game even gives you the ability to skip the school sessions or autocomplete the minigames if you want. Considering that the Outings are where you unlock new venues to visit, which in turn unlocks new minigames to play, there is some incentive to speeding through the process at times.
If you are a completionist, there is plenty in Spy x Anya: Operation Memories to keep you coming back to the different Outings and playing the games. Each of the 17 minigames has three difficulty levels and different achievements. The downside to having so many to play is that, invariably, some of them feel flat and underwhelming. Yor stabs and kicks her way through waves of enemies, but they’re all so easy to beat that there isn’t really much sense of achievement here. On the other hand, the pseudo-Endless Runner minigame is adorable and surprisingly challenging.
The important thing to remember, though, is that you don’t have to do any of these minigames or buy new outfits for the characters to wear. Unless you are hell-bent on unlocking everything Spy x Anya: Operation Memories has to offer, the only thing that is plot-relevant is going on the Outings and taking pictures. Of the dozens of items available in the shop, only a handful are necessary to advance what serves as the plot. Everything else is just fleshing out that experience. This is a simple, cosy, relaxing game that you shouldn’t stress out over.
The translation of the anime character designs to game models mostly works. There are some awkward movements here and there, but on the whole, it nails the anime video game aesthetic. The visuals won’t wow anyone but they are good enough for a laid-back game like this. The load times are a touch long and Anya seems to pause slightly when you enter or exit an environment, but these are minor technical issues that, at worst, are a slight annoyance and, even then, only if you play for several hours at a time.
Spy x Anya: Operation Memories is at its best when played somewhere warm and comfortable. While it played fine in docked mode, it was far more rewarding to guide young Anya through her day while we curled up in bed with the lights down low. This is the 'cute girls doing cute things' game of the year so far. When it strayed too far from that premise, such as the beat-'em-up or dodgeball minigames, it felt stiff and awkward. It is meant to be a simple, wholesome, and relaxing experience, even if it doesn’t let you really flex your creative muscles when taking pictures.
Conclusion
If you’re a fan of the anime, Spy x Anya: Operation Memories will feel like a relaxed, slice-of-life side-story, complete with wholesome, adorable moments and some fun interactions between the characters you love. The stakes are low and the gameplay is perhaps too easy, but it's a good way to unwind after a busy day. Between the wealth of minigames to choose from – some of them actually quite good, others lacklustre – and the dozens of outfits to put the Forgers in, anime fans will find a way to play that suits them.
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Comments 22
Damn Sammy is gonna be upset about this score. Jokes aside, it’s a cute game but there wasn’t much to expect from a Bandai anime license.
Basically about what was expected - which is not a bad thing really! There have been plenty of downright awful anime games, and generally they do best when they target the existing fans of the anime who may not normally play games and thus introduce them into the new medium in simple, gateway means that can then get them interested in other forms of gaming in the future.
It's not "outing" it's "ooting" 😜
When people wonder why the free to play MiHoYo games are so popular I have to assume it’s in part due to full price (or there abouts) games like this. I’ve only played Zenless Zone Zero for a couple of hours and I’ve already taken photos and played mini games and there are cute anime girls everywhere, and all for free. This reads like a half price indie game but I suppose the license will sell it, I’ll mention it to my kids.
Pretty much what I expected. It does look like a fun time to me, but I'll wait for a sale on this one.
To be clear, I am aware that a single item in the Pros and Cons does not necessarily equate to a single point score, so I was wondering if the reviewer felt that for someone well acquainted with Spy Family whether the game might be more of a 7?
Thanks for the review, will really have to read/watch Spy × Family before playing it then, but I'm interested in eventually getting it considering this confirmed that it's exactly what I expected and that's not a bad thing for me!
I will probably get this on a sale one day but seems like a fun little game
Shinzo Abe Propaganda the manga, the show, the video game.
Coming soon: Shinzo Abe Propaganda the manga, the show, the video game, THE FLAMETHROWER
they should make one were you play as yor and go on missions to take out the bad guys.
I would jump on this one immediately if it had the english voice cast. Love this show so much.
Remember Anya goes on ootings. Seriously a dub would’ve been preferred.
Anya & Becky is the reason I'm buying this game. No matter how bad the score is 😭😭😭
Thanks for the review. I'm getting this regardless of the score, I do like Spy x Family too much.
Rarely has a game looked so underwhelming while being exactly what I was hoping for.
It's refreshing that it's not just another fighting game anime adaption.
Wait, how much are you taking off that score for being aimed towards people familiar with the series? One might argue that handholding newbies through the plot beats would be a minus, when the game is clearly marketed to fans of the franchise.
One for the fans then? There is a strong element of that with the other Switch games that are based anime, even with the higher scored games to be fair. Maybe one for a sale purchase. Cheers for the review.
Spelled ooting as outing this review gets a 0/10 (jk)
To me this feels like what I expect can happen not what would happen.
SoniComi has more to it's camera style even if a modelling game with visual novel cutscenes.
It being for fans is fair but when people hear lots of things or getting more than fans it can be a challenge I think for some anime games (unless they do explain it which some do).
I think a score system would have been nice & you can repeat them/it cycles random ones at each location that would have been nice. Simplicity it is I guess even if score systems for photography can be picky sometimes on angles.
Spy/assassin missions would be more compelling as brief segments but how do they make it distinct from other games but just spy/assassin but 'anime'? Or I guess in this case as it's more slice of life type series or because of Anya they just go whelp let's go more this direction. It makes sense.
I never care for anime child characters, they just don't appeal to me. Like there is a point of just the adults/teens/middle schoolers and fair situations but when it comes to younger I can't stand them in anime. When they are there, they are there and that's it.
Some photography games exist & have a lot of cool elements to them in the Indie space. I get it's about the IP, safeness, attachment to characters/brand and other nonsense.
But I don't care for Quintuplets or Date A Live just because of the IP I care if it's done well same with OVA episodes being safe (beach/festival/onsen) or using the IP well. But some people are very simple. I don't need pandering in a game to me gameplay comes first, games come first to me before anime even.
I know nothing about this series other than it's popular, spies, slice of life then the mission parts & Anya exists. That's it, the bare minimum so to me it kind of just offers that, the bare minimum, sigh Otaku pandering/people too emotional stupid maybe were struggling for ideas, which seeing as some IPs are just popular slice of life/romcoms but try to put whatever they can & are visual novels/somewhat related themes/character trait mechanics. I'll give the game it has more than that. They have tried a fair amount to make it have more to it in the environments.
Though how much I could compare to say a Bratz Rock Angelz of the parts of story, the clothing and photography hmm. XD Then just a Pokemon Snap.
I mean. There is the high school photography game with fan service with a REALLY long title & that Elder Scrolls quote XD & there is games like Loop8 with too much focus on inspiration then execution or FUN then Animal Crossing or others execution.
In this games case I think the photo focus & minigames being whatever they can probably in a way like Hello Kitty just trying to put whatever they can of a scenario for the characters/focus on Anya is a bit much & very dull.
For fans, enjoy. To me even if say a Takagi-san game came out I'd be like oh boy, teasing minigames, or segments from the anime/manga or a visual novel hmm.
Better to see other types then typical fighters for action based series but slice of life/romcoms or others have it tough and a 'this could be ANYTHING', this is probably the best they could come up with and I think it works fine.
As far as the few adult character scenarios due to their professions and a simple photo diary episode could go and to make parts around that (which can usually be a single short chapter in a manga unless intended to be a bigger thing with more chapters and WHAT they do/see/learn during that time). Not much but makes sense I guess for the IP it is?
I feel like the whole review sounds more like a 7/10 for fans of the anime, but with a strong warning that anyone else will not get the same enjoyment out of the game. Ah well, that's just my fandom rearing its ugly head. I'm just excited to enjoy more of the SpyxFamily world, regardless of the medium!
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