Elroy and the Aliens Review

Despite what you may have heard, rumours of the traditional point-and-click adventure game's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Indie and AA developers are still making excellent adventure games. Still, it has been a while since I've played one that is so dedicated to reproducing that 90s LucasArts energy. Elroy and the Aliens is a wonderfully hand-drawn homage to the golden age of adventure games.

It's your standard adventure game fare, spending most of your time satisfying your inner klepto by nabbing up anything not nailed down. The vast majority of puzzles you'll solve in Elroy and the Aliens involve combining items in your inventory or with the environment. Some puzzles are even more straightforward than that, with a substantial number of logic puzzle mini-games.

The logic puzzles aren't nearly as interesting and didn't feel rewarding to solve. As a whole, I found the puzzles to be fairly easy. I still prefer "too easy" over the trauma-inducing puzzles of yesteryear's point-and-click adventure games (I'm looking at you, Monkey Island). There are some infrequent difficulty spikes throughout Elroy's journey, but nothing that couldn't be solved with indiscriminate item combining.

Overall, the gameplay is solid. It's easy to navigate the world, the controls are simple and quality-of-life options are available. For example, the option to enable item highlighting if the puzzles are stumping you. Aside from the logic puzzles, everything is grounded in the world the developers have created — the environmental puzzles build on the setting and story.

Speaking of the story, you play as the eponymous man of science Elroy DeLuna joined by intrepid reporter Peggie Wolfe. Elroy's father, Diego, went missing 18 years ago while investigating a mysterious archeological discovery. After a short prelude, Elroy and Peggie discover a message left by Elroy's estranged father, hinting that he may be alive after all. Thus begins the epic journey to uncover what happened 18 years ago and save Elroy's father.

The game captures the spirit of an adventure — sweeping you off your feet from one exciting discovery to the next. In its ambition, Elroy and the Aliens' pacing is breakneck. Serious moments in the story aren't given enough time to breathe, undercut by a barrage of jokes causing a tonal whiplash. Those jokes are funny and hit the mark more often than not, but the game's attempts to grapple with serious and emotional themes feel cheapened.

That doesn't mean the story is bad. The corny writing might put some people off, but fans of classic adventure games will find plenty to like here. Characters effortlessly endear themselves through sheer charm and wit — the dynamic between our dual protagonists Elroy and Peggie is especially entertaining. Side characters are all bursting with personality too.

On your quest to investigate the disappearance of Diego DeLuna, you'll become embroiled in many inventive dilemmas. Whether it's dressing up a robot to act out the role of a love interest in a local play, or selling an alien creature's waste for spare spaceship parts. Everything is just a bit out there — exactly what you want from a game like this.

While it plays like a classic 90s adventure game (albeit, with easier puzzles) the beautiful hand-drawn art sets it apart. With the style and questionable grace of a Saturday morning cartoon, the environments can rival the art in remasters of old pixel-art adventure games done by bigger studios. The music was all done out-of-house by Epix Soundworks who have created a few really memorable tracks. However, too much of the music felt bland in a very "cinematic" sounding way.

Whatever gripes I have with the story's pacing, the music or the lack of challenge are handily outpaced by the genuine love and care poured into the experience by the small but talented team at Motiviti. It's a game that's comfortable with its cheesy writing and silliness and leans into it. It just wants to put a smile on your face and take you on a journey and in that, it hits all the marks.

The Verdict

Elroy and the Aliens hits all the right notes for a traditional point-and-click adventure game. Overflowing with charm and wit, this heartfelt homage to the classics is a must play for fans of the genre.

Get Elroy and the Aliens on Steam