Indie Spotlight: Elisa has a Headache

Elisa has a Headache is a short adventure game that takes about 30 - 60 minutes to complete.  Created by independent developer Xenvex, this game is currently free to download on GameJolt here:  Download Page

Premise:

Join the mysterious and unnamed hero on his quest to heal Elisa from her Debilitating headache.  Or is it possible that it is something more ominous?

Visuals:

Your generic old-school RPG sprites.  Nothing new and different, but they get the job done.

Characters look reasonably fun and are distinct from one another.

Environments are lively and colorful.

During battles though, visuals are a little dull, especially because they occur so often.

Music:

Or rather, a lack of music.  I feel like a small score would have brought this little charming adventure together.  Instead, we are left walking around in a complete awkward silence.  Perhaps some ambiance, such as chirping birds or wind rustling leaves would also work nicely.

There is absolutely no music aside from music played during battles, so when you hear music the very first time, you may completely freak out.  The music in battle sequences though does convey a sense of urgency and excitement.

Menus/Interface:

A decent menu and interface system, although some menu options are difficult to access and are somewhat confusing, including the menus during the turn-based battle sequences.

Gameplay:

Be ready to see this screen.  A lot.

Gameplay is pretty generic.  Mostly you just walk around, talk to a few townsfolk to gain information and resources, and get attacked by random pointless enemies every 5 seconds.  I'm pretty sure if the frequency of these battle events in the forest could be reduced, and the game would be a lot more fun.  These turn based battles become extremely frustrating after the first couple of occurrences, especially when you are trying to figure out how to make it through the confusing maze of the forest.  These battles are technically skip-able, but they still kill the momentum of the game, even if skipped.

On another note, there isn't a lot of content in the game.  There are a few chests with items placed here and there, but there isn't really much you can do to make your character more powerful.

Controls:

Pretty simple controls.  You only need to use the arrow keys to move, Enter to interact with objects in the game, and Escape to cancel menu selections.  It usually works well, but some menus are odd to navigate during the battle sequences as I stated before.

Summary:

Overall the game is somewhat generic and a little long-winded due to the repetitive forest battles, but it has some good points.  If you want to play a short game with a cute and simple storyline, I'd say this game is for you.

If you want to try it out, click the link to their download page:  Download Page