''Enigma'' (エニグマ) is a 1998 Japanese video game for the Sony PlayStation. It was developed by

Omega Force (stylised as ''ω-Force'') is a Japanese video game developer and a division of Koei Tecmo, founded in 1996 by Akihiro Suzuki and Kenichi Ogasawara, and is best known for the '' Dynasty Warriors'' video games. History Omega Force was found ...

and published by

Koei Koei Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its ''Dynasty Warriors'' games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based on ...

. It is a third person

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extr ...

title that includes elements from fighting games which draws influence from ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environmen ...

''. Set in 1920, the game features three playable characters from England, Japan, and America, who travel the world solving puzzles in various ruins and temples. The game was never released outside of Japan.

Gameplay

Enigma is a single player adventure game with three selectable characters.

Development and release

The game was developed by

, who had previously developed ''

Dynasty Warriors is a series of Japanese hack and slash action video games created by Omega Force and Koei (now is Koei Tecmo). The series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' series, based upon the Chinese novel of the ...

''. During this period, Koei was attempting to branch out from the strategy game genre that they were known for. They produced several games such as the shooting game ''

Winback ''WinBack'' (known as ''WinBack: Covert Operations'' in North America and ''Operation: WinBack'' in Australia and Europe) is a third-person shooter video game developed by Omega Force (a division of Koei) and published for the Nintendo 64 in 1999 ...

'', the fighting game ''Dynasty Warriors'', as well as Enigma, an adventure game. The game was directed by Kazuta Imamura, while Tatsuya Yazaki served as the producer, and Kageki Shimodo wrote the story. When the game was announced in June 1997 at E3, development was expected to take 9 months, and there was initial plans to localize the game for English markets. At the time, a PlayStation version was confirmed, but there were also the possibility of versions for the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...

, or

Personal Computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tech ...

as well. A spokesperson for Koei at the time described the game as like "''

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' The ...

'' but with a twist of ''Resident Evil''". The spokesperson also said it was possible that the game could outsell the recently released game '' Final Fantasy 7''. The game was later shown at the

Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. Th ...

Spring 1998. It was part of over 200 PlayStation games shown at the show, compared to just 16 for the Nintendo 64. Enigma was released on April 2, 1998 for the Sony PlayStation in Japan and was published by Koei. A 127-page guidebook was published by Koei titled ''Enigma Hyper Guidebook''. The game has never been released outside of Japan, nor has it been released on the PlayStation's Game Archives in Japan either.

Reception

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the ...

'' gave it a score of 25 out of 40. A reviewer noted that the viewpoint and control scheme is very similar to ''Resident Evil''. Brazilian magazine ''Super GamePower'' gave it a score of 3.8/5. ''Joypad'' gave it a 5/10. Brazilian magazine ''Acao Games'' gave it 9.10, praising the graphics, gameplay, and challenge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enigma 1998 video games Japan-exclusive video games Adventure games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation (console)-only games Single-player video games Koei games Video games developed in Japan Omega Force games