Clandestinity of Elsie is a short but memorable indie survival-horror experience that may not have enough going on to be classic, but makesClandestinity of Elsie is a short but memorable indie survival-horror experience that may not have enough going on to be classic, but makes for an enjoyable bite-sized experience.
The pluses:
+ An innovative use of the RPGMaker engine. It continues the recent trend of developers using it to make non-JRPGs, and does so with out being overly artsy-for-the-sake-of-artsy.
+ Sudden emergence of enemies and accompanying music makes for a very creepy atmosphere (it made me jump at least a couple times, admittedly.)
+ Very strong tileset graphics, including a variety of colorful background items that contrast well with darker/more cryptic backgrounds.
+ The availability of health and ammo bonuses is quite balanced, except for toward the end (which works, given that that builds up challenge and suspense at exactly the right point in the game.)
The minuses:
- Because of the blocky nature of the graphic environments, it's easy to get stuck in corridors in which all you can do is hope that the game over comes quickly.
- Several typos and a few graphic glitches (a couple involving standing on tables, and another in which a map you can backtrack to is pitchblack and you can't turn your flashlight on.)
- I completed the game with all Steam achievements in only 2.5 hours.
- Ending feels abrupt, from a gameplay perspective (i.e. lack of a final boss.)… Expand
