Ratings and Reviews by cgasquid

When you build a game with conversation, particularly conversational puzzles or conversations that set flags, it's not enough for it to just offer a challenge and a compelling story. "The Elysium Enigma" has challenge and it has an interesting story.

What it doesn't have are good characters.

There are essentially three NPCs in this game; your PC is a generic male Star Trek space guy and doesn't really have a personality.

The main NPC is a farm-girl named Leela; she is immediately described as attractive. When you first meet her she's dressed in rags and begging for help; the next time you see her she's stark naked and perfectly happy to walk around in that state indefinitely. You can give her femme accessories like combs and mirrors and talk to her about herself. (Spoiler - click to show)She will also kiss you, unprompted, and you can flirt with her and ask if she's up for a relationship. At one point she even throws herself on a bed. If you're thinking "hey, this is a ridiculous heterosexual male fantasy woman who exists solely to be a sexual object," then I'm right there along with you.

(Spoiler - click to show)Until it's revealed that she's a spy from an enemy space nation that wants to go to war with your space nation. This becomes incredibly obvious when you find a tight-fitting alien jumpsuit that fits her perfectly. Of course, the second she's exposed, she becomes a vicious ice queen who does nothing but try to kill you -- in other words, as soon as she begins acting intelligently she becomes a dire threat.

While one could make the argument that "Leela" is a disguise intended to pander to the PC's libido, she breaks character so briefly and solely for a fight scene so it's hard to consider that an excuse. You can do everything short of actually bedding her, and that feels less like forbearance and more an attempt to keep this from being classified as AIF.

Then you have Petroc, who is the SOLE person in the town and is a grouchy Luddite old man. While he certainly seems more realistic -- this is what you expected when you came to the planet, after all -- he's almost entirely one-note. Talk to him about anything and he'll turn it into a jab at the concept of technology or offer to let you give up your job and settle on the planet. (He makes this latter offer over and over.)

(Spoiler - click to show)That's all I really have to say about Petroc, but I had to have a spoiler here so the one for Leela doesn't make her blatantly obvious.

Finally you have Soolin, your ship's pilot. She, too, is immediately described as attractive. Despite the fact that she spends the entire game sitting in the shuttle trying to get you to give up and come back, she's probably the most likeable and realistic character in the game. Her responses to conversation aren't a syrupy male fantasy nor completely predictable. I liked her.

(Spoiler - click to show)Again, nothing more to say about Soolin.

I also have to say, having no one in the town but Petroc feels like a huge cop-out. You're visiting an alien planet with a vastly different culture! (Spoiler - click to show)Not that the culture has anything to do with the plot, but it's still interesting ... Give us some random NPCs hanging around, maybe split some of Petroc's information among several characters, anything to make this planet not seem so completely deserted.

This is a technically competent game. I only ran into a single bug, and it was just that an automatic numbering system couldn't spell the word "twelfth." It has some pretty good puzzles, like finding the flag, actually using the raft, and obtaining the passwords. The basic plot -- (Spoiler - click to show)a brief and boring mission turning into a hunt for a spy -- is serviceable.

But frankly, when you build a game where conversation is so crucial, having your characters consist of an irritating fanatic, mission control, and little miss Captain-Kirk-Teach-Me-Of-This-Thing-You-Call-"Kissing" feels like the missed opportunity of all missed opportunities.

Clever bit of dry, political British humor. You encounter Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on the street and have to keep him from joining a terrorist organization. I can't help but feel this was probably more topical when it was created.

Still, it's not bad per se. It's brief, it's more of a CYOA than actual interactive fiction, and there's nothing literary about it. But it's worth a few chuckles and trying for a few different endings.

I'm really not sure what this is meant to be. I won on my first attempt, just by answering the questions (the interviewer's three, and the one question Josh asked me). The actual gameplay was tedious; mostly just (Spoiler - click to show)waiting and passing the plate when indicated.

I tried talking to the other characters, but they all just looked at me funny. In particular, they weren't interested in discussing the particulars of the experiment ... ? Maybe having a menu-based conversation system would help? I didn't talk much and still won, so ...

Are there really people who could (Spoiler - click to show)look three innocent people in the eye and murder them all for a plate of cookies? I mean I guess fascist aliens might, but the experiment doesn't seem to have anything to do with the interview!

(Spoiler - click to show)Cicero was killing his son as an example, performing an evil act to increase his army's efficacy. Nietzsche advocated creating one's own morality system guided by the will to power, but the selfishness of this doesn't extend to coveting very minor material gains. And the alien, while monstrously selfish and evil, was fighting for real temporal power and security. The aliens have things they could offer that the subjects might kill for -- freedom, greater privileges, the ability to send messages to loved ones, etc. -- but they are offering something worth barely anything. How could ANYONE come to the decision to kill for a trivial, transitory gain?

The experiment is faulty, it doesn't prove anything, and from the IF player's perspective it means you mostly just (Spoiler - click to show)keep typing Z and every few turns PUSH THE PLATE. That's Annoyotron level gameplay.