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The Enigma of Mr. X's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Characterization | #5 | 4.207 | 4.207 |
| Emotional Engagement | #11 | 3.655 | 3.655 |
| Atmosphere | #21 | 4.207 | 4.207 |
| Overall | #23 | 3.649 | 3.649 |
| Lasting Impression | #28 | 3.586 | 3.586 |
| Overall | #34 | 3.655 | 3.655 |
| Mental Engagement | #102 | 2.586 | 2.586 |
Ranked from 29 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Nice work! I really felt the gritty, dark tone of the story with some suspenseful buildup. The mix of 2d and 3d graphics grew on me as I played it. The characters also felt solid and believable. My only question is, was something supposed to happen after taking "The Nightmare" drug? My screen went black and I wasn't sure if something more was supposed to happen in the game. I couldn't figure it out, so I had to close the game. Overall, great game.
Hmm strange, there is a final scene and credits after that, not sure what might have messed up. Were you playing the windows version? Did you hear the music change? Just curious... The webGL build might have some memory issues.
I was playing the windows version through the itch.io standalone launcher, if that helps. I didn't hear any music once the screen went black. I can give it another shot later tonight, see if it works for me on a second run.
You did a great job conveying the dysfunction. Atmosphere is great (as in effective, not as in pleasant), and some of the most fleshed out characters I've seen in the jam.
A thoroughly unpleasant game stylistically, one with a heavy atmosphere and themes of domestic abuse and drug abuse. But it's handled well and combined with some good voice acting really made me feel uncomfortable in several scenarios which I'm always interested in from the comfort of my desk. Stylistically reminds me of the old Human Entertainment games with its photo-sourced character sprites and low-poly 3D backgrounds. Pretty good if not exactly "fun" but that's what indie gaming is all about.
Very nicely done. I wasn’t sure about the art style at first, but it grew on me, and the mix of 2D and 3D was quite unique and worked well, adding to the overall disturbing atmosphere. Great voice acting, and cool music. Nice job!
This was an amazing game! I loved the story, characters, art, music, everything! No clue what to critique or mention really. There is a lack of real puzzles in the game, and I thought that there was a decent discrepancy between the side and front of the character design, but I have nothing other than that. Great game, but believe what you want.
Thank you :) Interactivity got de-prioritized further into the jam in favor of the storytelling and VOs. And Emily's forward/backward facing sprite was a fairly late addition after realizing how out of place the left/right sprite looked for a lot of the camera shots, and in the process her hair color somehow became kinda ... grandma-ish.
What a wild trip. This is the best anti drug PSA I've ever seen. Looks great, has good voice acting, spooky story, and is really long for a 2 week game jam. I can see this game easily getting top 10.
Thanks for your kind words! Drugs are bad!
The Lynch/Silent Hill vibe of this game made me love it. The story is quite interesting, but the storytelling you used was even better: the camera angles, the visual style, the “boring” tasks, and the dream world all worked perfectly together.
The voices of Emily, Stranger and Alex were my favorites. And the last nightmare was amazing.
Strangely enough, one of my game ideas for this jam was also set in a Lynch-esque atmosphere. Maybe I’ll work on that next year.
Thanks for including the OST. I’ll listen to it.
It's tough to use these as inspirations without just being derivative, so I'm glad you found it cohesive! And yes, all the talented voice actors really brought this to life. Also glad you enjoyed the OST :] It's funny trying to do Lynchian stuff because it kinda requires you to... not do Lynch stuff? Lol idk like trying to find some aspects of his work that haven't previously been explored, while still retaining the mood and atmosphere.
I don’t know if not-doing Lynch stuff is the right way to do Lynch-y stuff. As I see it, one way to do it is to put special attention to the details: the things in the scene, the way characters speak, all those symbols that help you figure things out later.
Anyway… great work!
Amazing work on this, the dialogue and story are really gritty and captivating and I love the voiced lines! Very polished too - and of course, 2.5D is always awesome to see! (no bias)
Ha no bias at all. Honest! Thanks for playing and I'm glad you liked it :]
Substances, here I come (not). Well, there's a bit of a Lynchian charade going on here, with a touch of Cat Lady attitude, but the design is so dark, details hardly can be seen (I played PC version).
Most of the time it was more of a listening than playing, and the voice acting is very cool here, pleasure to ones ears. I'd work more on the final song (it sounds quite raw now), but that was a very nice touch, I personally love when vocal songs are placed right where they're needed.
However, there's more to the story, I think. Or maybe I should try stabbing the officer... Still, loved the idea of raw corn-eating. Great game! Hope you'll make your designs more playable (and less dark, at least talking about brightness here) in the future.
You hit the inspirations right on the head :] and you're not missing much from the story. I ended up sacrificing a lot to get it across the finish line. Its doubtful this will get a substantial update but I'm debating a re-imagining focusing on some different characters. The ending credits song was finished just before submissions ended but I quite like it in its 'raw' state, although you're right the mix certainly could use some more attention. I guess I should increase the brightness as I've got a lot of comments about it. Thanks for playing and your kind words !
I get there's some experience behind the picture (at least, one wouldn't go writing this kind of stuff, if had no experience in... darkness). It's great that games can be used to express the stuff learned and lived through at some point, especially when they don't hit you right into your face with that experience.
I feel the story is over somehow, however the context (and the sooth!) is out there, so the idea of seeing the picture from the pov of other characters is a good one.
Sound production may take lots of time (I know the drill), so it's understandable, why the credits song is quite raw, yet has its charm, I agree. Anyway, it's great you managed to add the vocal song to the jam game (I had that kind of idea, but decided to do a total production for a full-play, rather than get "dead" trying before the deadline).
I like the atmosphere of The Enigma of Mr. X. The 2.5 graphics and the grim backgrounds really give the effect of a "bad trip". The talented cast of voice actors brings the characters to life and the story I find very "Lynch" . Definitely an interesting experience even if the gameplay is limited to a small number of choices and minimal explorations. The simplicity allows the player to focus on the story and the emotions.
Thanks for your kind words! Towards the second half of development, interactivity got put in the backseat in favor of the storytelling, atmosphere, and voice overs, so I'm glad it manage to have an impact on you.
The art is quite unique, The 3D environment with 2D sprite plus the gloomy and mysterious atmosphere really kills it! It matches the main theme of the game, some top notch voice acting (I already love Billings), the minigame where you have to memorized the order of that customer, and the story really keeps me playing the game!
Also the corns sway is really awesome! and yes I've eaten a raw sweet corn, taste good though.
Thanks for playing and your comments! I'm glad it managed to hold your attention, and also glad someone is aware of the magic of raw sweet corn. Billings ended up being somewhat of a comic relief character even though he is fairly sinister and incredibly manipulative.
That's a really solid game, with awesome writing and a unique gloomy atmosphere. The art style pushed me away at first but it matches the game's dark theme and feels really immersive after a while.
Good job ;)
Thank you, I'm glad it all managed to come together :)
I had the impression there were just a few choices to make BUT the atmosphere, the writing, and *wow* the voice acting were seriously good here.
Congratulations - a really impressive work
Thank you! I was blown away by each voice actor that volunteered, seriously talented folks that helped bring this project to life.
Really deep story. I liked the style, it complemented the story very well, almost gave me goosebumps. Excellent job!
Thank you! I'm left wondering what I could have done differently to actually give you goosebumps? :)
What in the world have I played?! Awesome game. A really dark, mysteriopus and intense story, though it was pretty confusing. Could you summarise the story for me please? I think that the story was well written though.
The art was very nice. I like the mix of pixel art and polygon(?) art. It was unique and interesting to watch. I think that the music and sound effects was very fitting, creating a good atmosphere. The voice acting was great and I really liked it.
I have question: What happens if you...
What happens if you don’t kill the police man and eat the corn instead?
I wish the some scenes were a little brighter (it was difficult to see).
Good job!
The story is a bit ... un-summarizable? lol I tend to write a little more thematically and slice-of-life-y rather than a story about _______. I'm personally not a big fan of stories that leave nothing for you to interpret for yourself, or those that over explain their premise and existence. Generally, it's about nightmares (subconscious or living), monotony, addiction, and manipulation. Everyone is searching for something fairly unattainable and using others (or drugs) impractically to try to attain it: past relationships, understanding, meaning, and fulfillment.
And if you would have made a different choice, you would have found out a little more information about the drug, dreams, and whereabouts of Emily's brother, although not a whole lot of clear information. You would have also learned that Billings isn't as bad of a guy as I painted him to be. His appearance in the final scene would vary slightly. And also you would have eaten the corn and it would have been delicious. Nothing too major affecting the experience, but it's about the only choice that changes things.
I think the brightness issues stems from my monitors deceiving me a touch, leading me to believe everything was brighter than it really is, but I also intended for the scenes to be dark and indiscernible. Lighting/brightness on the WebGL version also seems to suffer a bit compared to desktop versions. But thank you for playing and your comments!
Thank you for your answer!
Some great cinematic storytelling. I got a sense of who the characters were even if there were only brief interactions. Hit the small town desperation/vibe 100%. The graphics gave me nostalgia for a very specific period in the 90s. Also... KITTY.
Thanks for the kind words! And I couldn't agree more... KITTY.
It's very well written and creates an immersive experience (maybe too immersive sometimes because I felt quite trapped like the character sometimes). The voice acting, music and graphics are perfect for the game. There weren't any puzzles except remembering the order but the choices made it quite engaging. Not sure what impact my choices had though because I only played it once. I'm feeling depressed now, good job! :P
Heh I'm glad it made an impact on you :) About the only choice that changes the experience is in the corn 🌽 I initially had more 'branches' planned but it felt like I should just tell the story rather than let the player choose their own. Thanks for playing and your comments!
I love the uncanny digitized sprite on 3D background style. This kind of wears its roots on its sleeve, even quoting David Lynch at the start. I always love narratives that discuss trauma, addiction, and all the other heavy topics people don't want to talk about at the dinner table. I appreciated that yours took itself seriously through to the end.
Thanks for your comments! The quote at the beginning is almost a bit of a 2nd content warning haha It's tough to dive into these things without trivializing them so I appreciate that it resonated with you.
Nice one, the narrative was so cool, gg !
Definitely hit the mark with narrative direction, especially with the awesome voice acting!