This is my first time playing a hidden object game. It felt largely similar to Myst or a point and click adventure, with a bit of extra pixel hunting. All and all, I don't mind the style, though it's not something I'd want to play all the time.
As far as Enigmatis itself goes, I was surprised by how compelling it was. I played all 4 hours today, in two sessions. I usually break point and click games up more, so clearly I was enjoying myself. You play as a detective in a rural town trying to solve a murder. Of course, something went wrong and you start the game waking up with amnesia in the town, trying to piece back together what you were doing. Needless to say, the plot is a bit cliché. Luckily, that doesn't stop it from being enjoyable.
Piecing back together what happened to this point and solving the murder involves a variety of fairly simple puzzles, hidden object finding, and piecing together clues on your evidence board. It's all fairly straightforward, but it actually does a good job of making you feel like a detective. There are hint systems to prevent you from getting stuck, so you don't have to wander around wondering where you find the hacksaw you need to get into the next area unless you want to, nor do you have to worry about pixel hunting until your eyes bleed in the hidden object sections.
The art and music were actually quite well done, making Maple Creek an enjoyably creepy place to explore. My only complaint with the production values is that the voice acting is hilariously bad -- I was legitimately wondering in a couple of places if I was listening to old text to speech. Of course, I find that sort of campiness to have its own charm, so it wasn't that detrimental to my experience.
Overall, Enigmatis was a solid experience that has me curious to see where the sequels go, though I'll probably wait until they're on sale to find out.
As far as Enigmatis itself goes, I was surprised by how compelling it was. I played all 4 hours today, in two sessions. I usually break point and click games up more, so clearly I was enjoying myself. You play as a detective in a rural town trying to solve a murder. Of course, something went wrong and you start the game waking up with amnesia in the town, trying to piece back together what you were doing. Needless to say, the plot is a bit cliché. Luckily, that doesn't stop it from being enjoyable.
Piecing back together what happened to this point and solving the murder involves a variety of fairly simple puzzles, hidden object finding, and piecing together clues on your evidence board. It's all fairly straightforward, but it actually does a good job of making you feel like a detective. There are hint systems to prevent you from getting stuck, so you don't have to wander around wondering where you find the hacksaw you need to get into the next area unless you want to, nor do you have to worry about pixel hunting until your eyes bleed in the hidden object sections.
The art and music were actually quite well done, making Maple Creek an enjoyably creepy place to explore. My only complaint with the production values is that the voice acting is hilariously bad -- I was legitimately wondering in a couple of places if I was listening to old text to speech. Of course, I find that sort of campiness to have its own charm, so it wasn't that detrimental to my experience.
Overall, Enigmatis was a solid experience that has me curious to see where the sequels go, though I'll probably wait until they're on sale to find out.