The VII Enigma‘s unusual time travel mechanics should please fans of the genre, but it doesn’t make the best use of its format, and the bland writing and frontloaded info-dumping don’t do a great job of drawing the reader into the story. Instead, it feels a bit like a prototype of a more interesting visual novel — a disappointing experience that nevertheless left me wanting more.

The story is convoluted and sloppy, the characters are caricatures of themselves, and the choice system feels pointless when the game is obviously linear and should’ve just stuck to telling the story it wanted to tell without the false sense of choice. Unfortunately, the only passable part of it all, the soundtrack, wasn’t able to make up for the janky visuals and tons of spelling errors. I was just left tired by the time I reached the end. Fortunately, Spire Games isn’t charging an arm and a leg for this game, but even ten bucks at the time of writing feels like a lot when the experience is so lackluster. For those that are somehow able to stay engaged, The VII Enigma has a total of 17 endings and 26 achievements, so there’s that to consider. I was just not one of those people.