IF Comp 2011: The Elfen Maiden

The title of this one may make it seem like a fantasy game, but the subtitle is “A Comedy of Error Messages.”  It’s about fantasy in the context of an MMORPG, and you play the game as an intelligence resting inside someone’s computer.

Edit: Since I played this last, it apparently got a big update, which includes changing the name. So “A Comedy of Error Messages” is now the name of the game. That’s interesting.

Spoilers/review:

I liked it!  It’s very cleverly written.  But it might need another pass in a few key areas:

• “x me” is one of the first things I like to do in these games, and in this case, I got the default message when doing so. Boo.
• The inventory implementation is a little odd.  It’s clever that you carry your emotions around with you as objects, and can’t drop them, but a little annoying that my “sense of uneasiness” bothers me every single round until I finally make it go away.
• There’s a timed task early on in the game, which will end the game if you don’t complete it fast enough.  It requires a bit of  leap of logic, and the timing on it is really tight – a bit too tight in my opinion for something which isn’t necessarily intuitive.
• Using compass directions to move around inside a computer is an interesting abstraction, but… kinda weird as well. I understand moving “up” and “down” to change around servers.  But “east” and “west”?  I guess this isn’t really a polish thing, just something I didn’t understand.

Now all that being said, I thought the game was cute and fun.  I got what I’m pretty sure was the best ending, the three-point ending where you make two individual love connections as the meddling computer.  The references to internet memes were entertaining, but the game wasn’t over-saturated with them. Some people might find the initial premise of the game homophobic, but I don’t think the entire game reads that way, largely depending on what ending you get. And I always like a game with a possibility of multiple endings and some fun little side-tracks to explore.

Second Edit: The game now seems to allow you to choose your sexuality, which might bypass that problem.