Ethereal Enigma
- August 22, 2020
- PixelFade
- 21h median play time
Get on SteamEthereal Enigma is a first-person puzzle-adventure game set in a mysterious, alien world. Players must navigate through beautifully designed environments and solve mind-bending puzzles to uncover the secrets of this strange new world. With a soothing soundtrack and atmospheric visuals, Ethereal Enigma offers a unique and immersive gaming experience.
Reviews
- The game features beautiful artwork and polished animations, enhancing the overall visual experience.
- The characters are well-developed and engaging, with humorous dialogue that keeps the player entertained.
- The voice acting is top-notch, adding depth and personality to the characters.
- The story feels somewhat lacking and can be predictable, with some players feeling it doesn't live up to the depth of previous titles.
- Some choices in the game seem inconsequential, leading to a feeling of limited player agency.
- The pacing can be uneven, with certain scenes dragging on while others feel rushed, particularly towards the end.
- story330 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The story of "Ethereal Enigma" is primarily a slice-of-life narrative that follows the daily lives of high school students, interspersed with fantasy elements and character-driven interactions. While many players appreciate the engaging characters and humor, the plot is often criticized for being predictable, lacking depth, and feeling disconnected from the main storyline, leading to a sense of passivity in player choices. Overall, the game is seen as enjoyable for those who favor character dynamics over a complex plot, but it may disappoint players seeking a more substantial narrative experience.
“Even though it is a basic slice of life novel, the story is well presented, and the characters are all well written with well-defined yet not overly cliché personalities.”
“This game does not fail to live up to its predecessors, with an enjoyable slice-of-life storyline and lovable characters that you can't help but become invested in.”
“The story is so good, it also makes me think about the whole universe with these games.”
“The story is completely focused on one of the love interests and when not romancing her, all the romance scenes feel like filler between the important story bits.”
“The story was disappointing at best, and almost all work towards solving the main conflict of this game occurs off screen and is done by side characters.”
“The main story has little progress and the focus is on a laidback school slice of life.”
- humor60 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for its lightheartedness, clever dialogue, and memorable characters, often eliciting genuine laughter from players. Many reviews highlight the self-aware, campy nature of the writing, filled with pop culture references and witty quips that enhance the overall experience. While some found the humor inconsistent, the majority agree that it contributes significantly to the game's charm and enjoyment, making it a worthwhile purchase for fans of the genre.
“It was a stereotypical slice of life anime, but the game was very self-aware of this fact and often made quips about itself that were often hilarious to read.”
“Getting to enjoy all their shenanigans made me laugh harder and more often than I have in a good long while!”
“The characters were the highlight of the novel, and mixed in with the hilarious dialogue and amazing voice-over work, you can get some really funny and heartwarming moments.”
- music38 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, with some tracks being described as catchy and charming, though not particularly memorable aside from the standout opening song. While the soundtrack complements the game's atmosphere and enhances emotional moments, it has been noted that some music may feel derivative or recycled from previous titles. Overall, the combination of good music, polished art, and strong voice acting contributes positively to the game's immersive experience.
“The art is also beautiful, and the music is honestly charming to listen to.”
“As someone who does casually create music from time to time, the tunes are quite catchy and smooth to the ears.”
“Music by Eric Benaim will both hook you and set the mood perfectly, backgrounds are once again a beautiful part of the game.”
“The music in the game is not really memorable, except for the excellent opening song; other songs are nothing special.”
“Music never stuck out to me.”
“The music is bouncy, but nothing particularly memorable.”
- graphics33 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their high production quality, featuring beautiful and meticulously designed artwork, vibrant backgrounds, and well-animated character sprites that enhance the storytelling experience. The voice acting and original soundtrack complement the visuals, creating an engaging atmosphere that resonates with players. While minor bugs and typos are noted, they do not detract significantly from the overall impressive visual presentation.
“The visuals were vibrant and the characters are all lovely with interesting personalities; their friendship bond was sweet, and some of the scenes actually made my heart flutter.”
“Backgrounds are beautiful, character artwork is beautiful, and is animated, and is lip-synced to voice acting: on auto mode you're almost watching anime.”
“Absolutely beautiful artwork, amazing humor (the baking puns literally made me cheer) and varied character voices.”
“Overall, I would say it is a teeny bit of a step down from both previous titles in terms of story and graphics.”
“The odd typo or missing voice line (I counted just one of each) are minor nitpicks at best, and there seems to be the odd and inconsistent bug with some save files and graphical live-2D issues.”
“The artwork, presentation, soundtrack, UI, and voice acting are all great but the execution and delivery of the story is certainly lacking.”
- emotional27 mentions
- 96 % positive mentions
- -7 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by its heartwarming and wholesome storytelling, featuring well-rounded characters that evoke genuine feelings through humor and touching moments. While some critiques mention plot holes and a lack of choices, the overall experience is described as enjoyable and memorable, often eliciting laughter and even tears from players. The combination of beautiful art, excellent voice acting, and a focus on slice-of-life romance contributes to a deeply engaging emotional journey.
“But what is here is a touching story about the daily lives of some very enjoyable characters.”
“I couldn't stand Erilynn at first, but her route turned out to be so touching that I nearly cried manly tears.”
“Once again, Pixelfade does what they do best: make a visual novel that is not only heartwarming, but extremely enjoyable and memorable.”
“The characters lack depth, making it hard to connect with their emotions.”
“The story feels flat and uninspired, failing to evoke any real feelings.”
“There is no emotional investment in the plot, leaving the experience hollow.”
- character development18 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 28 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is generally well-received, with many players appreciating the slow and subtle growth of characters, particularly in the slice-of-life context. While some characters, like Kira, may feel underdeveloped or stagnant after certain plot points, the overall character designs and voice acting enhance the immersive experience. However, the depth of character development varies, with some players noting it is less intense compared to other titles in the genre.
“The character designs were also very beautiful, the 3D models looked great and had a diverse range of facial expressions which really added to the immersion and enjoyment of the story.”
“It's a slower-paced slice of life story with excellent character development.”
“Overall the story was nicely paced and character development was slow but subtle.”
“You won't find much character development in here; it's not that there is no character development, but the game is geared towards a slice-of-life story.”
“I feel like Kira needs an after story to, you know, finish her character development because I felt very underwhelmed after her route.”
“They do try and make her likable and show she can be generous, but it feels backhanded and there is little to no character development with her.”
- gameplay13 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The gameplay in Ethereal Enigma is primarily choice-driven, allowing players to shape their character's personality and relationships through numerous decisions, though some may find the lack of significant consequences for choices limiting. Pixelfade has enhanced its gameplay mechanics over time, offering a rich narrative experience with multiple romantic routes and character arcs, resulting in a compelling visual novel that engages players for hours. While it may not feature traditional gameplay elements, the focus on storytelling and character development is a highlight for many players.
“Ethereal Enigma takes the best of both worlds; there are hundreds of choices that let you really build more unique relationships with characters, while also providing multiple romantic routes that make your entire gameplay change with each subtle choice.”
“Whenever you play a Pixelfade game, you can always expect a few things: a wonderful story that can be told in multiple ways and end in different ways, friends who support you throughout your gameplay and experience their own arcs, regardless of if you lead them into it or not, and of course an excellent job by all those involved with the game, from the voice actors and artists to the writers and sound production team; all of them worked very hard to bring another Pixelfade game into this world, and they have done their jobs perfectly.”
“Even with it only being early access, in its current state I had a good 4 hours of gameplay going through just one story alone.”
“There are no mechanics, just choices.”
“It was different than I thought when I realized it was a visual novel and not one with any serious gameplay.”
“Choice-driven is more of a 'next few lines are different,' which is not a bad thing, but if you read more visual novels where every choice has big consequences, you might find this mechanic annoying.”
- replayability7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game offers notable replayability through multiple character routes and a relationship system that encourages players to explore different paths, enhancing the overall experience. However, some players feel that certain choices, like club selection, lack significance, which may diminish the perceived replay value for some. Overall, it is considered entertaining with enough content to warrant multiple playthroughs.
“There's actual replay value in this game.”
“The relationship system is actually rather simple, and going down each of the character paths gives the game a good amount of replay value, especially if you're trying to unlock all of the CGs.”
“They even pretend like you're going to have some more replayability by having you choose a club, which becomes inconsequential and just another quick scene you gloss over.”
“The replayability is there, and the game design made me fall in love.”
“Multiple routes leading to replayability.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and boring, with repetitive story segments that often feature unprovoked insults from a female character, leading to a frustrating experience.
“The story was getting tedious and boring.”
“This gets tedious really quick; a few jabs once in a while are fine, but I can't think of too many story segments where a female character didn't dish out insults and disrespect (unprovoked).”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game demonstrates a high level of stability, with only a few minor visual glitches and occasional audio issues reported. Overall, players find the quality to be impressive, with minimal bugs affecting the experience.
“The overall quality of the game - amount of bugs, visual glitches, misspellings, etc. - is very high, with maybe only one or two actually noticeable visual glitches throughout the whole novel.”
“Not much else to say this early on, but I did notice a couple of minor audio glitches in some scenes.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game's voice acting is highly praised, with users noting that the performances, particularly Megan's portrayal of Kira, enhance the characters' depth and emotional resonance, reflecting a strong commitment to quality in both writing and delivery.
“Voice acting here really makes the characters come alive, and you can tell that care was put into the writing and performance of dialogue.”
