Recent reviews by ELM

A friend gave me this game. I had never played a roguelike before and I'm not much of a strategy buff so I didn't really think I'd enjoy it this much. I also thought the top down pixel graphics made the game look fairly uninteresting.

I'm really glad it proved me completely wrong. I totally got sucked into this game right away. It's really immersive and addicting. The soundtrack really adds a lot. I think I like it even more than the VVVVVV soundtrack. Playing is a rush, and when I die I just want to start over again rather than rage.

The pause mechanic is really great and lets me think things over and micromanage. I don't like rushing to make decisions so that's why I don't like RTS games but there is no time limit here. You can also save and quit and pick up your progress whenever you want which is great.

I ended up getting pretty good at the game a lot faster than I thought I would. The different ship unlocks and upgrades, plus the random encounters give this a ton of replay value. This game will also make you pretty ruthless, so forget about roleplaying Jean Luc Picard. You'll never survive unless you're outright viscious and greedy. There are not really any moral consequences though, but at one point it did guilt trip me pretty damn hard (not going to give spoilers)

Long term strategy is key, so you'll find yourself limping from sector to sector only to die close to the end because you were unprepared for the more powerful enemies later on. It has a lot to do with luck, which is a bit frustrating. But the game is not too difficult on Easy.

TL;DR This game is great, buy it.

Pick this up if you're feeling nostalgic, or if you've never played MYST it's still a great game. The graphics are fairly good, but still look dated and of course the live action parts are still in their original low resolution. The free roam control scheme is a little clunky but it lets you get around a lot faster than the classic point and click. You can use WASD and shift to sprint, but if you're standing still you have to right click and drag to look around. You'll have to do a lot of running back and forth so you'll appreciate it. The flashlight is great to have because it gets REALLY dark at night.

The clues for the puzzles are fairly out in the open but some of them take some really out of the box thinking. There is a really great help library, it starts off giving vague hints but you can dig deeper if you're really stumped until it eventually outright tells you what to do, so you'll never get stuck (unless you refuse to use it). It tries very hard to minimize spoilers. You will also have to obsessively screenshot every clue and keep a pad and paper nearby. Read all of the books, there's important stuff in them. One of the ages you'll have to rely on your auditory memory a lot so WARNING if you're tone deaf you will not have fun with this one.

The funny thing about the puzzles is they all seem pretty obvious in hindsight. There is never anything that's completely unfair or left to guessing or chance, though some of the logic is a little convoluted. Overall if you're good at these types of games or you're not ashamed to take a hint here and there this will be a fairly fast playthrough. I'd say pick this up when it's on sale.

Don't start playing this if you ever want to go outside again...