is an

action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

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 founded ...

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 historical simulation games based on the novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', as well as simulation games based o ...

for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

. 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 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 ...

''. 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'', 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 and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

, or

Personal Computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

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

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...

'' 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 trade fair and 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 Publication ...

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 , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' 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 ''Ação Games'' gave it 9.10, praising the graphics, gameplay, and challenge.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enigma 1998 video games Japan-exclusive video games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation (console)-only games Single-player video games Koei games Video games developed in Japan Video games with pre-rendered 3D graphics Omega Force games Action-adventure games