Eliza

Pretty interresting topic these days, with all the talk about coming AI-revolution. At times it's pretty boring though, and it could definitly use more ambient sounds and more music, as well as a tiny little animation here and there. But oh well, game was pretty decent anyway, and interresting. Towards the end you have like 5-6 different endings to choose, depending on what future you want to pursui. You can end the game at any point and continue exactly where you were, it autosaves instantly which is very nice!

I was surprised how addicting Kabufuda Solitaire can be. It's a challenging take on the classic Free Cell formula. Beautiful art, fine graphics, no FPS drops... what more can you ask for? Oh, and the real-life therapy side game was pretty good too. Very thought provoking. As a software developer who also struggles with severe depression, I felt like I could really relate to the main character... until it was hammered in she is an EXTREMELY successful, charismatic, likeable, highly-desired programmer, who has already changed the world before the story began... with depression. It felt like a trope that ultimately hinders those who really struggle. And even those side characters who get counseling... that first guy, I felt I could really relate to. Then after one therapy session and a fresh medication, suddenly his life is better! While it provides many characters each with their struggles... it didn't feel like a good representation of those with mental illness. Still, it was a good story with many thought provoking perspectives, and an interesting final choice.

For people who are thinking about buying it: The game looks good and the UI is nice. It ran smoothly (ran on Ubuntu Studio with integrated graphics) The voice acting is really good and saves this game (only available in English I think). The story is coherent but not very dramatic or engaging. There are great moments like listening to the stories of the clients and the writing is well done. It feels natural but when I got to the end I thought it went nowhere. It is not bad and it is well made but I hoped for more. Should you buy it? If you read the description and you think you will like it, buy it. The game is not more than it seems. If you played Orwell, you may like this. Thoughts on the game for the devs: I wanted to like this game, if you make another game like this and it is an improvement on this game, I would buy it. I like that it has a more realistic approach to the art style instead of anime and it is not super focused at romantic relationships at all (though I thought the game suggested a relationship might happen with Nora, Rae, or Erland but never followed through with it strangely) That makes it a bit unique in the visual novel space. I felt like the game's led up to the end of the game decision rather than leading to an exciting climax. it feels like this is a slice of life, but usually things in those stories happen to the characters, here nothing happens. The characters interact but they don't have a meaningful impact on each other. Nothing changes. The characters are likeable and well made but the story doesn't do anything with them. It seems like the plot is just the discovery of the past of Eliza but the past isn't that interesting. There are no twists and it felt like none of the choices or actions mattered. The only thing I felt that mattered and I really, really, enjoyed was going against Eliza near the end but that was short lived. Disappointingly, the game would not let me go against Eliza in the Rae ending which is quite ironic.

Visual novel, solid UI, fully voiced, minimal choices, small amount of characters, no right answers. Played this through once and I don't intend to play it again because I feel that I would make the same choices again, and, it appears that alternate choices won't change the lead up to the end. I love the single play-through for its overall message of people trying to help others, the value of just listening to others, and for presenting the strain of suffering through mental gymnastics, whatever their cause may be. I felt like nearly every answer was important for creating a perspective of the character, even though the lead-up would end up the same.

Eliza has serious problems: 1. The game makes you feel annoyed & without agency by design to make a message. You can choose an ending, but there is literally no interaction until then. Just clicking through dialogue. 2. The "AI" is just a glorified chatbot. The therapy sessions are just the Bot being like "Its raining, huh?", "How does that make you feel" & "Do some breathing exercises & take some drugs". Incredibly annoying by design. And while modern AIs deserve a lot of criticism, these criticisms are completely different from this bland mess. 3. The overarching message is equally bland: corpo=bad because inhuman. This great revelation is screaming through every single scene & character. Its not wrong, but incredibly boring very quickly. The voice actors were great & the writers were really good at creating interesting characters feeling human. Its just a real shame the game is such a bland mess.