Every once in a while it's nice to switch to a game without time limits, stressfull shooting sequences or racing around in a car and just relax with a point and click game that's not Myst-like difficult.
Enigmatis is this type of game. It's colourfull, the graphics are decent (even the cutscenes) and the pace is whatever you want it to be.
You can see that the developers made a fair effort to make your journey through this game as pleasent as possible. Letting you skip cutscenes, decide wether you want to go after collectables or not, fast travel to areas you have been before, letting you skip puzzles if they take you too much time/effort and having a hint system that works well.
Not that the puzzles are particularly hard. They're actually quite easy. Yet, not so easy to where you don't need to think at all to solve them.
It all takes place in a bright mystical forest where you as a detective stumble upon some events that clearly need investigating. Without spoiling too much; you come across a campervan that looks like it's been in some sort of crash. When you go inside, you find a little girl hiding. As she tells you what evil has happened to her, you soon feel compelled to help out.
The characters aren't really memorable and the story isn't great, but the game does a great job in making you want to discover the magical forest and the puzzles that are within.
If you are looking to spend some time clicking away without having to think or strategise very much, this is a great game.
Buy if:
- On sale. I got it for under 5 euro's, which I think is good value
- You want to play a relatively easy point and click puzzle game
- You like bright colours and butterflies (when you play the game, you'll know what I'm talking about)
Don't buy if:
- You're expecting Myst-like difficulty
- You think it's scary/horror (it's not, even though they advertise it that way)
Positives:
- Nice graphics, bright colours, clearly has some effort put into it
- Well designed, fast travel, good hints system, can skip puzzles and cutscenes
- Easy, but not a total cakewalk
Negatives:
- Voice acting not always great, especially the main character feels like she's just reading out loud sometimes
- Story feels flat
- You spend a lot of time looking for parts of things to make them open and give you other parts for other things. --> Gets a little repetative after a while