Cyberpunk is my favorite genre of fiction and it means more to me than I can really say, as the philosophy and ideas at its core not only align with who I am as an individual but greatly shape and inform how I perceive the world around me and engage with it.
Having said this I think I'm more than qualified to say that most cyberpunk sucks, due in no small part to most works within its boundaries' stubborn insistence on remaining locked within the decades that cyberpunk was born out of rather than looking forward into the future or having something to say about the present day-and-age. I, too, love the nebulous concept of cyberspace and The Net and cybernetic augmentations and androids and hackers and shady corporate street samurais and all of that, but there also comes a point where a lot of cyberpunk creators seem more interested in creating genre fiction rather than the introspective, theory-driven text that defined the genre's literary roots to begin with.
With this in mind, you now have the proper context with which you can understand why I find Eliza so refreshing: it's the first time I've consumed a piece of cyberpunk media made within the last five-or-so years that actually feels confident enough in its ideas, storytelling and cohesion as a whole to stand on its own without relying on cliches, visual gimmicks or tired tropes. Instead, it does what ideally every narrative should: draw from the world around it and the cultural context under which the game was developed. Not only does the game's (very nuanced and very well-thought-out) writing reflect the reality that most millennials find themselves in (the gig economy, social media's invasive presence in our personal lives, startup culture and the burnout that inevitably follows, nearly every aspect of our lives being automated or controlled via a smartphone app), but the heart-and-soul of the game is so aggressively 2010s from head to toe that I feel as if ten or twenty years from now this will be considered a seminal cyberpunk period piece, much in the same way that Synners, The Terminator or Serial Experiments Lain are.
Every character is complex enough to feel fleshed out but humble and understated enough to feel believable, as are their relationships with the protagonist Evelyn (herself a masterfully-realized portrayal of getting back on one's feet after burning out of her life's work) and how they do or don't impact her depending on the choices the player's make. I'm not really much of a VN person, but I think that the way that Eliza manages to play with the typical VN formula of "choose dialogue options to influence the path you go down" into its story, themes and Evelyn's character is extremely compelling, especially because for the most part it relies more heavily on a lack of choice than it does branching paths or complete control over what happens in the story.
My only real complaint is that other characters feel sidelined if they're not in the ending that you choose to pick and that the ending itself feels as if it comes up a little suddenly and is forced by a prompt as opposed to a series of multiple decisions – but I also can't imagine the game going on for much longer and this decision makes it easy to go through and get all of the endings, so I can't complain. Some may argue that the political ideals at the core of this game lean too hard into centrism or sympathize with capitalists far too hard for it to be considered a true cyberpunk piece of media, but I personally never felt anything but revulsion towards either of the game's two millionaire characters and I think the game does a lovely job of portraying how difficult it can be to actually bring about meaningful change in society no matter how gifted, privileged or skilled you are.
An excellent experience and a must-read if you're a fan of cyberpunk, even if you normally don't mesh well with visual novels.
Having said this I think I'm more than qualified to say that most cyberpunk sucks, due in no small part to most works within its boundaries' stubborn insistence on remaining locked within the decades that cyberpunk was born out of rather than looking forward into the future or having something to say about the present day-and-age. I, too, love the nebulous concept of cyberspace and The Net and cybernetic augmentations and androids and hackers and shady corporate street samurais and all of that, but there also comes a point where a lot of cyberpunk creators seem more interested in creating genre fiction rather than the introspective, theory-driven text that defined the genre's literary roots to begin with.
With this in mind, you now have the proper context with which you can understand why I find Eliza so refreshing: it's the first time I've consumed a piece of cyberpunk media made within the last five-or-so years that actually feels confident enough in its ideas, storytelling and cohesion as a whole to stand on its own without relying on cliches, visual gimmicks or tired tropes. Instead, it does what ideally every narrative should: draw from the world around it and the cultural context under which the game was developed. Not only does the game's (very nuanced and very well-thought-out) writing reflect the reality that most millennials find themselves in (the gig economy, social media's invasive presence in our personal lives, startup culture and the burnout that inevitably follows, nearly every aspect of our lives being automated or controlled via a smartphone app), but the heart-and-soul of the game is so aggressively 2010s from head to toe that I feel as if ten or twenty years from now this will be considered a seminal cyberpunk period piece, much in the same way that Synners, The Terminator or Serial Experiments Lain are.
Every character is complex enough to feel fleshed out but humble and understated enough to feel believable, as are their relationships with the protagonist Evelyn (herself a masterfully-realized portrayal of getting back on one's feet after burning out of her life's work) and how they do or don't impact her depending on the choices the player's make. I'm not really much of a VN person, but I think that the way that Eliza manages to play with the typical VN formula of "choose dialogue options to influence the path you go down" into its story, themes and Evelyn's character is extremely compelling, especially because for the most part it relies more heavily on a lack of choice than it does branching paths or complete control over what happens in the story.
My only real complaint is that other characters feel sidelined if they're not in the ending that you choose to pick and that the ending itself feels as if it comes up a little suddenly and is forced by a prompt as opposed to a series of multiple decisions – but I also can't imagine the game going on for much longer and this decision makes it easy to go through and get all of the endings, so I can't complain. Some may argue that the political ideals at the core of this game lean too hard into centrism or sympathize with capitalists far too hard for it to be considered a true cyberpunk piece of media, but I personally never felt anything but revulsion towards either of the game's two millionaire characters and I think the game does a lovely job of portraying how difficult it can be to actually bring about meaningful change in society no matter how gifted, privileged or skilled you are.
An excellent experience and a must-read if you're a fan of cyberpunk, even if you normally don't mesh well with visual novels.
Al explorar tan concienzudamente los posibles efectos y dilemas éticos del uso de la tecnología en el área de la salud mental, Eliza corre el riesgo de que se pase por alto lo que de verdad quiere decir. En primera instancia, la novela visual divaga acerca de las posibilidades de la tecnología como medio a un bienestar y salud mayores desde un punto de vista psicológico y los límites de tal idea dentro del sistema. El juego imagina la inteligencia artificial no como entidad propia con libre albedrío, que es la aproximación más común del tema en ficción, sino como posible herramienta de felicidad y su evolución dentro de los engranajes del capitalismo. Tan solo por este punto de vista, más original y terrenal, bien valdría reivindicar el título, lo que pasa es que, en el fondo, Eliza no va de eso.
En uno de sus vídeos, Chris Franklin lamentaba la falta de compromiso del juego, que cuestiona sin ofrecer un punto de vista propio. Y tiene sentido: si solo reflexionas y no te posicionas, ¿dónde queda tu visión? Así no hay riesgo, ni mirada, ni dientes. Desde esta perspectiva, el título se quedaría en un relato didáctico sin nada que decir. Solo que esta aproximación da por hecho que el juego es una exploración ética y filosófica de la tecnología, cuando en realidad es una historia sobre las expectativas truncadas de la vida que, ya de paso, contiene una exploración ética y filosófica de la tecnología. Zachtronics aprovecha su interés por el tema y lo vuelca en su juego sobre aceptar las decepciones que nos da la vida, centrándose tanto en ello que resulta fácil pasar por alto lo importante.
Echad un ojo a los personajes que se nos cruzan en terapia: la artista frustrada por falta de reconocimiento, el estudiante prendado de una compañera, el tipo que va a ser padre... Lo que tienen en común es el deseo de algo que no se cumple o que, una vez conseguido, no resulta como ellos esperaban. Estos personajes, en sus casi-soliloquios, reflejan el estado de la protagonista, creadora del software que da nombre al juego.
En una escena cerca del final, un flashback muestra a los tres jóvenes programadores a las faldas de un lago, sentados junto a una hoguera con vistas al cielo estrellado. Se preguntan qué será de Eliza cuando la terminen, sueñan con cambiar el mundo y formar parte de algo que lo haga mejor. Pero, en efecto, aquello era un sueño, y pasado el tiempo la realidad no es como ellos la imaginaron.
En Eliza, encarnamos a Evelyn durante su proceso de aceptación. Ella está perdida, en etapa de transición, y a medida que toma contacto con la realidad se le van abriendo nuevas puertas. La decisión que se nos plantea al final no es nuestra solución a los problemas de la inteligencia artificial y su uso en la sociedad, sino el camino por el que preferimos redirigir nuestra vida. Y estos caminos no son ideales, ni lo que ella hubiese querido. Son la realidad de aprender a conformarse, aceptar los límites de nuestro control (una constante de escuchar sin poder intervenir durante el juego), y, bueno, tirar pa' lante como mejor podamos.
En uno de sus vídeos, Chris Franklin lamentaba la falta de compromiso del juego, que cuestiona sin ofrecer un punto de vista propio. Y tiene sentido: si solo reflexionas y no te posicionas, ¿dónde queda tu visión? Así no hay riesgo, ni mirada, ni dientes. Desde esta perspectiva, el título se quedaría en un relato didáctico sin nada que decir. Solo que esta aproximación da por hecho que el juego es una exploración ética y filosófica de la tecnología, cuando en realidad es una historia sobre las expectativas truncadas de la vida que, ya de paso, contiene una exploración ética y filosófica de la tecnología. Zachtronics aprovecha su interés por el tema y lo vuelca en su juego sobre aceptar las decepciones que nos da la vida, centrándose tanto en ello que resulta fácil pasar por alto lo importante.
Echad un ojo a los personajes que se nos cruzan en terapia: la artista frustrada por falta de reconocimiento, el estudiante prendado de una compañera, el tipo que va a ser padre... Lo que tienen en común es el deseo de algo que no se cumple o que, una vez conseguido, no resulta como ellos esperaban. Estos personajes, en sus casi-soliloquios, reflejan el estado de la protagonista, creadora del software que da nombre al juego.
En una escena cerca del final, un flashback muestra a los tres jóvenes programadores a las faldas de un lago, sentados junto a una hoguera con vistas al cielo estrellado. Se preguntan qué será de Eliza cuando la terminen, sueñan con cambiar el mundo y formar parte de algo que lo haga mejor. Pero, en efecto, aquello era un sueño, y pasado el tiempo la realidad no es como ellos la imaginaron.
En Eliza, encarnamos a Evelyn durante su proceso de aceptación. Ella está perdida, en etapa de transición, y a medida que toma contacto con la realidad se le van abriendo nuevas puertas. La decisión que se nos plantea al final no es nuestra solución a los problemas de la inteligencia artificial y su uso en la sociedad, sino el camino por el que preferimos redirigir nuestra vida. Y estos caminos no son ideales, ni lo que ella hubiese querido. Son la realidad de aprender a conformarse, aceptar los límites de nuestro control (una constante de escuchar sin poder intervenir durante el juego), y, bueno, tirar pa' lante como mejor podamos.
been reading about the frankly harrowing things going on with the Replika AI app (as well as the advent of AI as we know it in our everyday lives, particularly with regards to ChatGPT and Character.AI). now thinking about how prescient Eliza was with this sort of thing a good four or so years before issues like this were catapulted into the mainstream, once again fulfilling one of the metrics of truly great cyberpunk
This is what cyberpunk is supposed to be. And as someone who works for a Pacific Northwestern healthcare startup that focuses on digital services, parts of this really hit home for me. I've lived in Seattle, and this game is what it feels like to live in Seattle's technocratic dystopia.
This review contains spoilers
SEVEN ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️STARS
SEVERAL STIRS 🥣
Can mental health services be automated using artificial intelligence in an ethical way? Is technology able to improve the quality of healthcare supplied by corporations? How does the mental health of the people that create new technologies affect us as end users?
ELIZA’s a very polished visual novel. The care shown to so many small details across the scope of this small game is glorious. Being the last game made by Zachtronics, a small developer game known for titles that feature engineering-flavored game mechanics, it’s no surprise that ELIZA is a well-oiled novella. If you click to advance the dialog before the voice actor finishes speaking, it doesn’t abruptly skip over the last words, like some VNs do.
Even though the paintings of the characters aren’t animated at all, they come to life through great writing and realistic performances. While a character pauses to find the write words to say between sentences may say “umm” without that word being included in the onscreen text. There’s a conversational believability to how lines are spoken that brings the voice actors’ performances closer to feeling like a movie.
Many people have criticized ELIZA’s length. I can see how it could fly by for some. For me, the game was like a good book; I often stopped progressing the dialog to ponder the moral quandaries presented. That gave the game a contemplative richness. Who criticizes great games for being too short? Are the joys of poetry lost on them as well?
MINOR SPOILERS BELOW 🚨
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(however, if you’ve read a bit about what’s it’s like working for tech companies—which the protagonist does—or game companies, this will come as no surprise)
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I do like how the game deals with Burnout. I think it in the Kotaku review that I saw the protagonist described as “depressed,” and the reviewer felt that the this game has little new to say about depression. I see this game as not specifically intending to speak about depression, rather, it contains depictions of depressive symptoms within modern professional culture: It’s talking about burnout.
Also, it was cool that a character was into making music using modular synthesizers. I am too!
SEVERAL STIRS 🥣
Can mental health services be automated using artificial intelligence in an ethical way? Is technology able to improve the quality of healthcare supplied by corporations? How does the mental health of the people that create new technologies affect us as end users?
ELIZA’s a very polished visual novel. The care shown to so many small details across the scope of this small game is glorious. Being the last game made by Zachtronics, a small developer game known for titles that feature engineering-flavored game mechanics, it’s no surprise that ELIZA is a well-oiled novella. If you click to advance the dialog before the voice actor finishes speaking, it doesn’t abruptly skip over the last words, like some VNs do.
Even though the paintings of the characters aren’t animated at all, they come to life through great writing and realistic performances. While a character pauses to find the write words to say between sentences may say “umm” without that word being included in the onscreen text. There’s a conversational believability to how lines are spoken that brings the voice actors’ performances closer to feeling like a movie.
Many people have criticized ELIZA’s length. I can see how it could fly by for some. For me, the game was like a good book; I often stopped progressing the dialog to ponder the moral quandaries presented. That gave the game a contemplative richness. Who criticizes great games for being too short? Are the joys of poetry lost on them as well?
MINOR SPOILERS BELOW 🚨
.
.
.
.
.
(however, if you’ve read a bit about what’s it’s like working for tech companies—which the protagonist does—or game companies, this will come as no surprise)
.
.
.
.
.
.
I do like how the game deals with Burnout. I think it in the Kotaku review that I saw the protagonist described as “depressed,” and the reviewer felt that the this game has little new to say about depression. I see this game as not specifically intending to speak about depression, rather, it contains depictions of depressive symptoms within modern professional culture: It’s talking about burnout.
Also, it was cool that a character was into making music using modular synthesizers. I am too!
Wow.
No idea how I missed this but in the age of ChatGPT and LLM's, Eliza asked important and thought provoking questions of the player's own views of the technology, the collection of private intimate data of everyday people and how that can be used to help or hinder humans efforts for a better world rather than a thicker bottom line.
I played it start to finish on Steam Deck, took me 7 hours and would highly recommend.
No idea how I missed this but in the age of ChatGPT and LLM's, Eliza asked important and thought provoking questions of the player's own views of the technology, the collection of private intimate data of everyday people and how that can be used to help or hinder humans efforts for a better world rather than a thicker bottom line.
I played it start to finish on Steam Deck, took me 7 hours and would highly recommend.
A highly intelligent VN that got me thinking about my perspectives on tech, AI, mental health, and what it truly means to be content. The solitaire minigame was weirdly addicting as well.
I didn't intend to finish this in one sitting but as soon as I sat down I just found myself absolutely captivated by the story. The characters feel relatable, Their struggles feel real. The feeling of listening to them and not being able to really help them is tearing. As a budding self-loathing far-left software engineer I specifically relate to a lot of the struggle that the main character has. I think Zachtronics absolutely nailed it with the characters of Soren and Rainier, and the company Skandha, who are perfect avatars of what I hate about the tech landscape. Loved the subtle queer inclusion too. I think the only real criticism I have of this game is it's very linear, but that did not at all get in the way of it being a compelling narrative.
The gig-run mental health society we'll end up as if we're not careful.
man backloggd has some weird people
great short vn
great short vn
Eliza es un juego que me ha mirado a los ojos, me ha agarrado el corazón y me ha tirado a la cara las preguntas existenciales perfectas para destrozarme por dentro.
Estoy... en un momento difícil mientras escribo esto. No "difícil" en el sentido de que lo esté pasando mal, sino en uno más... crítico. Estoy acabando mi carrera, tengo que elegir qué hacer con mi futuro y siempre estoy dudando de cada paso que doy. Y si acabo donde me sienta miserable, y si no me gusta, y si simplemente no me llega para vivir una vida normal... Quizás por eso me ha golpeado tan duramente la historia de Evelyn.
Eliza no puede darme las respuestas que busco. En ningún momento plantea una tesis donde diga exactamente lo que hay que hacer o qué debería hacer Evelyn. Pero sí que me ha servido como... como una compañera, escuchando y reflejando mis problemas.
Jugad Eliza.
Estoy... en un momento difícil mientras escribo esto. No "difícil" en el sentido de que lo esté pasando mal, sino en uno más... crítico. Estoy acabando mi carrera, tengo que elegir qué hacer con mi futuro y siempre estoy dudando de cada paso que doy. Y si acabo donde me sienta miserable, y si no me gusta, y si simplemente no me llega para vivir una vida normal... Quizás por eso me ha golpeado tan duramente la historia de Evelyn.
Eliza no puede darme las respuestas que busco. En ningún momento plantea una tesis donde diga exactamente lo que hay que hacer o qué debería hacer Evelyn. Pero sí que me ha servido como... como una compañera, escuchando y reflejando mis problemas.
Jugad Eliza.
Eliza is a soon-to-be relevant and very interesting visual novel about artificial intelligence and machine learning that practically reads like what I would imagine a Black Mirror visual novel would be like, just much more realistic and down to earth taking in context of current technological advances. Based on a semi-dystopian Seattle, we are placed in the shoes of one yet unknown Evelyn Ishino-Aubrey as she works as a "proxy" for the Eliza counseling system, basically, she reads out ChatGPT prompts to clients of the service in a desperate attempt from the big corporation Skandha to push forward AI-powered mental health assistance with a liiiittle touch of human interaction in-between. And of course, Eliza sucks.
The counseling system barely does anything outside of listening into the conversation, asking a few redundant questions and then recommending medications and AR/VR experiences suited for the users' needs, and yeah, it's a pretty big testament against the usage of AI in conversational or counseling practices, the language model will have problems here and there and because there isn't any sort of empathy or logical thinking behind it, most sessions are to no avail because of this and there's always the feeling of wanting to say something from one's soul to another, but then Eliza providing the most cookie-cutter questions of all time.
It's a pretty interesting argument to make the center of a visual novel of this kind, with it being fully voiced and super well presented with amazing art for an individually developed one and with an actual message to deliver out there, it saddens me to say that it falls flat when it comes to telling its story, being kinda repetitive and boring and kinda overstaying its welcome. Characters range from being unlikeable to just plain and without much substance at all, including our protagonist which has had a conflicting past and is now suffering living with depression... A lot of it is very subdued and there's no real emotional impact as the novel would expect it to, infuriating knowing that there is real human soul behind it, and some of the struggles presented by the many sessions you do are pretty real.
And it pains me to realize that the novel never really works on getting a true instance on the advent of AI as an unethical, personal information harvesting and fed tool, it insists on being pretty open-ended and up to whoever's playing it and has pretty much no catch in a narrative sense, which would be fine if every ending wasn't literally what it says on the tin when you get to it, with no real resolve or way of knowing how our actions determined the future of Eliza, the world or how does Evelyn get to live with the burdens of her past that they like to tease so much throughout the runtime of the novel.
It's all pretty half-assed and kinda disappointing, I'm glad people can like it and get some perspective on how things are so royally fucked in real life, but for the rest of us that have been on this pond for so long, I think it's fair to complain about the lack of depth when touching these subjects that passed on to be so important in cyber life. Or just life in general.
The counseling system barely does anything outside of listening into the conversation, asking a few redundant questions and then recommending medications and AR/VR experiences suited for the users' needs, and yeah, it's a pretty big testament against the usage of AI in conversational or counseling practices, the language model will have problems here and there and because there isn't any sort of empathy or logical thinking behind it, most sessions are to no avail because of this and there's always the feeling of wanting to say something from one's soul to another, but then Eliza providing the most cookie-cutter questions of all time.
It's a pretty interesting argument to make the center of a visual novel of this kind, with it being fully voiced and super well presented with amazing art for an individually developed one and with an actual message to deliver out there, it saddens me to say that it falls flat when it comes to telling its story, being kinda repetitive and boring and kinda overstaying its welcome. Characters range from being unlikeable to just plain and without much substance at all, including our protagonist which has had a conflicting past and is now suffering living with depression... A lot of it is very subdued and there's no real emotional impact as the novel would expect it to, infuriating knowing that there is real human soul behind it, and some of the struggles presented by the many sessions you do are pretty real.
And it pains me to realize that the novel never really works on getting a true instance on the advent of AI as an unethical, personal information harvesting and fed tool, it insists on being pretty open-ended and up to whoever's playing it and has pretty much no catch in a narrative sense, which would be fine if every ending wasn't literally what it says on the tin when you get to it, with no real resolve or way of knowing how our actions determined the future of Eliza, the world or how does Evelyn get to live with the burdens of her past that they like to tease so much throughout the runtime of the novel.
It's all pretty half-assed and kinda disappointing, I'm glad people can like it and get some perspective on how things are so royally fucked in real life, but for the rest of us that have been on this pond for so long, I think it's fair to complain about the lack of depth when touching these subjects that passed on to be so important in cyber life. Or just life in general.
Impressively subtle storytelling pulling in philosophical, existential and metaphysical debates into its centre, whilst nevertheless maintaining its sensitive human perspective. Some of the more nuanced performances I've heard in a visual novel, Evelyn in particular standing out as a fantastic lead. She's reserved and introverted yet intelligent and curious. It's stupidly specific but her character drew strong parallels to Sonoya Mizuno's groundbreaking performance in Devs, tech workers quietly rebelling against the equally silent hierarchies scaffolding their lives. The ending choice was glaringly obvious to me at least, but perhaps that's not universally true. Also loved that solitaire game, cheers Zachtronics.
An experience worth having if you like your stories a little too real (especially if you work in CS).
Premier visual novel que je fais. On fait pas grand chose, forcément, mais les quelques choix proposés sont pas mal. Une des cinq fins part dans un truc quasi-transhumaniste, c'est bien vu.
Eliza is a fantasy game - but instead of magic and dragons, its incredibly introspective hot people, for whom money is such an abstract concept they can take jobs recreationally to explore their personal philosophical frameworks.
A narrowly focused cyberpunk story actually interested in exploring the nuances of increased reliance on technology, while acknowledging the exploitation and apologism they provide for the corporate icons already deeply rooted in our societies. How can we provide the benefits of the former without accounting for the latter?
Same
I'll sound bitter and snobby talking about Eliza and its thought-provoking-&-ethics-exploring plot but jeez you guys sound like you never wondered why things are so or even read the news at all.
It doesn't serve any topic that hasn't been argued or highlighted to death in media. Data collection and selling, legally sanctioned invasion of privacy (with long contrived TOS cooked up by lawyers), the itemization of humans and their feelings and properties, reckless AI or consciousness manipulation research, and a few other things. This would've been commendable a decade or so ago, but this is just yesterday's news unless you're completely oblivious.
Art direction was mostly safe in character designs, their writing tries to add depth by casually hinting that a character is asexual/lesbian or a womanizer or an addict, but that doesn't do much to help. Story progression was too slow of a burn for me but that's slightly subjective.
UI design was pretty well done even in a diegetic sense honestly. There's no more praises I can recount.
TL;DR it could be a nice narrative if you have no idea about the dark side of the tech industry, but if you know the shtick there's nothing remarkable.
It doesn't serve any topic that hasn't been argued or highlighted to death in media. Data collection and selling, legally sanctioned invasion of privacy (with long contrived TOS cooked up by lawyers), the itemization of humans and their feelings and properties, reckless AI or consciousness manipulation research, and a few other things. This would've been commendable a decade or so ago, but this is just yesterday's news unless you're completely oblivious.
Art direction was mostly safe in character designs, their writing tries to add depth by casually hinting that a character is asexual/lesbian or a womanizer or an addict, but that doesn't do much to help. Story progression was too slow of a burn for me but that's slightly subjective.
UI design was pretty well done even in a diegetic sense honestly. There's no more praises I can recount.
TL;DR it could be a nice narrative if you have no idea about the dark side of the tech industry, but if you know the shtick there's nothing remarkable.
Zachtronics' titles have always dealt with ethical and moral issues related to technology, at least in an oblique way: SHENZHEN I/O did so through the weapons project and with the city-state of Avalon, while EXAPUNKS dealt with it more frontally. Eliza has this same optic, but all the more direct, as the game focuses on this aspect, being a visual novel. It is difficult for me to describe the mechanics of this title objectively, as I felt so connected with Evelyn, the protagonist. Her calm and soothing demeanour, her exceptional intelligence, both technically and in the intensity of her empathy; everything about her reflects what I would like to be. Evelyn acts as a proxy for Eliza, a kind of weak artificial intelligence she developed before her breakdown, whose purpose is to analyse patients' speech and give them therapeutic advice. From there, several themes about the ethics of AI, crunch, capitalism and more general questions about the meaning of life unfold. The game is wise enough to present complex and believable viewpoints for the various characters, so as to let Evelyn and the player, vicariously, make up their own minds about these issues. The culmination is a final choice that is never a dilemma, but represents what feels right for Evelyn and ourselves. An exceptional mention must be made of the voice acting, which is properly excellent, with the natural awkwardness of the conversations – especially in the emotionally charged passages. In the end, Eliza exhibits the calm that Evelyn does, in a changing world where it is difficult to find one's way. It's a title that hits the mark in today's world, putting people back at the heart of the issues.
Eventhough I really like VNs I almost never play western ones since they are too romantic/relationships/datesim oriented. But this game... someone hold my beer... this game is awesome. The topics and depth of treatment of those way too good. A really nice outlier. I also spent so many hours playing the in game solitaire.
I think Eliza has a lot of really great moments, with really great writing at times, and that it spends a lot of time exploring interesting questions about tech culture and mental health with nuance and care. It also has great solitaire.
But unfortunately, I don't think it quite sticks the landing, specifically in its endings, which left me feeling pretty unhappy with how many of its themes were reduced into their extremes.
It's still an excellent game, but I left it with some frustration at that.
But unfortunately, I don't think it quite sticks the landing, specifically in its endings, which left me feeling pretty unhappy with how many of its themes were reduced into their extremes.
It's still an excellent game, but I left it with some frustration at that.
made me think about what i want to do
My TL;DR review: Eliza reveals raw humanity and all its multitudinous dimensions with piercing relatability and the best voice acting performances of 2019.
My TL review:
Eliza is a visual novel about an AI that does counseling and the people who've had a hand in creating and developing it. Yes, it's named after the chatbot from the 60s. It's much more advanced though. This game's Eliza can measure its clients' biometrics and process their speech, using this information to respond properly all in real-time and give recommendations at the end of a session.
What makes this therapy service unique and successful is the presence of a "proxy", the human element. A real person sits in front of a client. They wear a pair of AR glasses that shows the script Eliza provides based on its understanding of the situation, which the "proxy" has to recite verbatim to the client.
You play as Evelyn. She is a software engineer who has come back to her former employer after a self-imposed 3-year exile, not to return to her previous role as part of the team that created Eliza, but as a proxy. Throughout the 5-6 hour game, she hosts counseling sessions with a handful of clients. In between the sessions, she meets with and talks with the other people connected to Eliza, each one having particular perspectives on the service.
Every single one of these characters is written and voice-acted superbly. They actually all sound like humans! The voices are so good that they breathe life into the static portraits, and these already look great with their painterly look. From their inflections to their pauses, each voice actor brings so much personality with their performance. And because the characters they play are written like real people, there is never a point where the voice actors sound like they're "acting" when they're delivering highly emotional lines or deep, cutting dialogue.
In fact, the writing and performances are so good that I didn't mind at all how mechanically sparse the game is, even for a visual novel. It's a linear story where most of your choices don't affect where it goes, only nudging Evelyn toward expressing herself in a direction that is still within the confines of her largely defined identity. You only get to decide to alter the course of the story near the end after you've taken in all the smaller stories of each character you meet, which makes the process all the more empowering and impactful, and that, too, feels true to Evelyn's own character.
Everything about Evelyn (my favorite 90s romcom) is done so well, too! Aily Kei's understated depiction of a woman in her mid-30s that's been burned out by working in the tech industry drew me in close. Evelyn is thoughtful in every sense of the word; she's smart, she's observant, she's thoughtful, and gets into her own head a lot. It can be tiring inhabiting a mind like hers, one that's grappling with mental health issues internally and externally. Thankfully, her inner voice speaks plainly and honestly, never once veering into self-absorbed pretentiousness. It doesn't demand attention. Its vulnerable sincerity simply moved me to listen.
Everyone else has a distinct sense of self, each one motivated to act with their own purpose. There are some archetypes, but they're either given quirks to round them out or played with a natural conviction that I bought in. The supporting cast does a good job of representing the major roles you'd expect from a story told within the tech industry; from the calculating, delusional executives to the disaffected, privileged talents to the workers who are well aware of their place in the system but do their jobs to the best of their abilities in the belief that they can do something for society. They're all imbued with a little wrinkle of humanity that made me feel for each one, even if that feeling was just of strong disagreement for a couple characters.
Even the clients that Evelyn only interacts with during the brief counseling sessions reflect the multiple manifestations of modern alienation with authenticity. How they open up about (or talk around) their problems is disarming. It was easy to connect with their concerns and doubts, no matter how unfamiliar in their specificity some of those problems were.
And with the Eliza-proxy interface lies the game's central tension. Whatever the client says or the turns the session takes, a proxy should not deviate from the prepared responses Eliza gives them. Eliza is not a replacement for an actual medical diagnosis or psychiatric treatment, so says the Terms of Service. As much as Evelyn wants to reach out and directly help the clients, she has to stick to the script or the service won't work as intended. Complying draws a line of professionalism that allows the proxy to hear out their clients' issues and infer insights at a safe remove. The game explores this distance to disturbing effect.
I was immediately unsettled by the interface with the first client, but as the game went on, I fell into a rhythm just going along with what Eliza told me to say. There is comfort in following the convenience of the algorithm. Plus, it got me to recognize the simple techniques of psychotherapy, asking questions that reframe a person's view of a troubling situation, so that was neat.
And yet there was always this unease at the idea of taking myself wholly out of the equation, where a person is sitting right across me and sharing their thoughts and feelings that they dare not tell others, not even their loved ones, baring their specific and all-too-real pains, only to be given the same robotic spiel Eliza gives everyone at the end of a session. Everybody working a job that directly deals with other humans has to draw their own lines and stay out of other people's lives just so they can keep living their own without losing their sanity. Everybody's got their own shit to deal with.
Evelyn echoes my conflicted mindset.
Eliza, the game, tackles these big themes where big tech intersects with mental health. It balances philosophical quandaries brought on by technological progress encroaching human lives by touching on the deeply personal and very real, material ways today's society affects how people relate to one another. It does so with an understated boldness, avoiding the pitfalls of preachiness without excusing the negative consequences of the tech sector's blind obsession with innovation.
It's funny actually that the game crashed on me midway through. Trying to run it again loaded a crash report page that told me to restart and update my drivers to fix the problem. I did just that, but the crash report page kept showing up after multiple restarts. I even uninstalled and downloaded the whole game multiple times to no avail. I thought I had to start over, which was super frustrating because I was deep into the third chapter and was really enjoying myself.
So I followed the last resort instruction from that crash report page to email Mr. Zachtronics, Zach Barth, himself. Because of my rather peeved state of mind, the messages detailing my problems had... a bit of attitude. I didn't cuss or say insults because I'm not a total asshole, but I was "playfully" upset.
Thankfully, he responded not long after with a fix that let me continue where I left off with no problem. I apologized for my tone in the previous message and made a point to say how much I liked the game. He didn't mind and told me to have fun.
I think I'll be checking out the studio's other offerings. I'm sure they'll be just as emotionally affecting and thought-provoking as Eliza!
My TL review:
Eliza is a visual novel about an AI that does counseling and the people who've had a hand in creating and developing it. Yes, it's named after the chatbot from the 60s. It's much more advanced though. This game's Eliza can measure its clients' biometrics and process their speech, using this information to respond properly all in real-time and give recommendations at the end of a session.
What makes this therapy service unique and successful is the presence of a "proxy", the human element. A real person sits in front of a client. They wear a pair of AR glasses that shows the script Eliza provides based on its understanding of the situation, which the "proxy" has to recite verbatim to the client.
You play as Evelyn. She is a software engineer who has come back to her former employer after a self-imposed 3-year exile, not to return to her previous role as part of the team that created Eliza, but as a proxy. Throughout the 5-6 hour game, she hosts counseling sessions with a handful of clients. In between the sessions, she meets with and talks with the other people connected to Eliza, each one having particular perspectives on the service.
Every single one of these characters is written and voice-acted superbly. They actually all sound like humans! The voices are so good that they breathe life into the static portraits, and these already look great with their painterly look. From their inflections to their pauses, each voice actor brings so much personality with their performance. And because the characters they play are written like real people, there is never a point where the voice actors sound like they're "acting" when they're delivering highly emotional lines or deep, cutting dialogue.
In fact, the writing and performances are so good that I didn't mind at all how mechanically sparse the game is, even for a visual novel. It's a linear story where most of your choices don't affect where it goes, only nudging Evelyn toward expressing herself in a direction that is still within the confines of her largely defined identity. You only get to decide to alter the course of the story near the end after you've taken in all the smaller stories of each character you meet, which makes the process all the more empowering and impactful, and that, too, feels true to Evelyn's own character.
Everything about Evelyn (my favorite 90s romcom) is done so well, too! Aily Kei's understated depiction of a woman in her mid-30s that's been burned out by working in the tech industry drew me in close. Evelyn is thoughtful in every sense of the word; she's smart, she's observant, she's thoughtful, and gets into her own head a lot. It can be tiring inhabiting a mind like hers, one that's grappling with mental health issues internally and externally. Thankfully, her inner voice speaks plainly and honestly, never once veering into self-absorbed pretentiousness. It doesn't demand attention. Its vulnerable sincerity simply moved me to listen.
Everyone else has a distinct sense of self, each one motivated to act with their own purpose. There are some archetypes, but they're either given quirks to round them out or played with a natural conviction that I bought in. The supporting cast does a good job of representing the major roles you'd expect from a story told within the tech industry; from the calculating, delusional executives to the disaffected, privileged talents to the workers who are well aware of their place in the system but do their jobs to the best of their abilities in the belief that they can do something for society. They're all imbued with a little wrinkle of humanity that made me feel for each one, even if that feeling was just of strong disagreement for a couple characters.
Even the clients that Evelyn only interacts with during the brief counseling sessions reflect the multiple manifestations of modern alienation with authenticity. How they open up about (or talk around) their problems is disarming. It was easy to connect with their concerns and doubts, no matter how unfamiliar in their specificity some of those problems were.
And with the Eliza-proxy interface lies the game's central tension. Whatever the client says or the turns the session takes, a proxy should not deviate from the prepared responses Eliza gives them. Eliza is not a replacement for an actual medical diagnosis or psychiatric treatment, so says the Terms of Service. As much as Evelyn wants to reach out and directly help the clients, she has to stick to the script or the service won't work as intended. Complying draws a line of professionalism that allows the proxy to hear out their clients' issues and infer insights at a safe remove. The game explores this distance to disturbing effect.
I was immediately unsettled by the interface with the first client, but as the game went on, I fell into a rhythm just going along with what Eliza told me to say. There is comfort in following the convenience of the algorithm. Plus, it got me to recognize the simple techniques of psychotherapy, asking questions that reframe a person's view of a troubling situation, so that was neat.
And yet there was always this unease at the idea of taking myself wholly out of the equation, where a person is sitting right across me and sharing their thoughts and feelings that they dare not tell others, not even their loved ones, baring their specific and all-too-real pains, only to be given the same robotic spiel Eliza gives everyone at the end of a session. Everybody working a job that directly deals with other humans has to draw their own lines and stay out of other people's lives just so they can keep living their own without losing their sanity. Everybody's got their own shit to deal with.
Evelyn echoes my conflicted mindset.
Eliza, the game, tackles these big themes where big tech intersects with mental health. It balances philosophical quandaries brought on by technological progress encroaching human lives by touching on the deeply personal and very real, material ways today's society affects how people relate to one another. It does so with an understated boldness, avoiding the pitfalls of preachiness without excusing the negative consequences of the tech sector's blind obsession with innovation.
It's funny actually that the game crashed on me midway through. Trying to run it again loaded a crash report page that told me to restart and update my drivers to fix the problem. I did just that, but the crash report page kept showing up after multiple restarts. I even uninstalled and downloaded the whole game multiple times to no avail. I thought I had to start over, which was super frustrating because I was deep into the third chapter and was really enjoying myself.
So I followed the last resort instruction from that crash report page to email Mr. Zachtronics, Zach Barth, himself. Because of my rather peeved state of mind, the messages detailing my problems had... a bit of attitude. I didn't cuss or say insults because I'm not a total asshole, but I was "playfully" upset.
Thankfully, he responded not long after with a fix that let me continue where I left off with no problem. I apologized for my tone in the previous message and made a point to say how much I liked the game. He didn't mind and told me to have fun.
I think I'll be checking out the studio's other offerings. I'm sure they'll be just as emotionally affecting and thought-provoking as Eliza!
I am a developer by trade. I have struggled on-and-off with depression for a good portion of my life even though I didn't know at the time what it was that I felt. This game spoke to me and touched me in a way that I didn't think was possible. Maybe it's just me and my very specific circumstances but the game accurately represented me and so much of myself so wonderfully that it was surreal.
I dunno if the game helped me in any way but knowing that maybe, just maybe, someone else has possibly gone through a lot of what I have and has maybe been better off at the end of it all gives me some hope.
As a game, being a VN, it is missing a lot of basic QoL features of a VN. I wish it had a log and a way to get back to specific points in dialog or a way to rewind. The chapters are fairly long and the chapter selection isn't good enough
This is quite a biased review so I don't have anything else to add here. Suffice it to say, this was an incredible experience for me and I hope you feel the same way about it
I dunno if the game helped me in any way but knowing that maybe, just maybe, someone else has possibly gone through a lot of what I have and has maybe been better off at the end of it all gives me some hope.
As a game, being a VN, it is missing a lot of basic QoL features of a VN. I wish it had a log and a way to get back to specific points in dialog or a way to rewind. The chapters are fairly long and the chapter selection isn't good enough
This is quite a biased review so I don't have anything else to add here. Suffice it to say, this was an incredible experience for me and I hope you feel the same way about it
Such a thought provoking narrative. The voice acting was a mixed bag unfortunately. I spend quite a bit playing the solitaire mini game. Surprisingly addicting.
Great visual novel, loved the story. Sadly, ended quite quickly
I really enjoyed this one. The premise is something I'm already into and studied for quite some time so it appealed to me in particular. And they explore the topic well. There are dialouge options that can change the route of the story. The voice acting is decent overall. It is a little flat in presentation, but in substance it was a meaningful experience. Would absolutely reccomend it for anyone who likes visual novels.
love this concept to bits