I’ve said it before, but surprises like Elroy and the Aliens are why I still enjoy being a video game critic. I try to stay as on top of interesting and fun-looking games as I can, but I’m only one man, and I can’t know everything. So when an opportunity slides across my desk to review something I’ve heard basically nothing about, it’s always an exciting venture to be surprised—for better or worse.
Elroy and the Aliens is a great game. An old-school point-and-click adventure bolstered by an interesting story and a ton of heart. In a way, it almost feels unbelievable—in this current videogame landscape, you shouldn’t be able to make something like this, let alone have it be half this good. Just more reason to keep an eye on the indie scene.
The story begins when the titular Elroy meets with a journalist named Peggy Wolfe to show her his new prototype rocket built for commercial travel. However, during the demonstration, a strange electrical discharge causes the rocket to malfunction and crash into Elroy’s apartment. But this turns out to be a blessing in disguise as it leads Elroy to discover a strange device that informs him that his father—who went missing when Elroy was still a child—may still be alive somewhere.
What follows is an intergalactic adventure as Elroy and Peggy try to get to the bottom of a strange archeological mystery, the whereabouts of Elroy’s dad and perhaps even more sinister secrets. Elroy and the Aliens has a genuinely solid story that manages to have a lot of heart, charm and interesting twists and turns. Even in the moments where it bends itself a little to fit in the point-and-click narrative logic, it still manages to have a lot of humour and engaging moments.
Of course, this is bolstered in a big way, like many of the classic Sierra point-and-clicks, by an eclectic cast of characters who all add a lot of personality to the narrative. At first glance, you’d think Elroy would be kind of an annoying dweeb, but he’s super likeable and really charismatic—like a more confident Flint Lockheart. Peggy is equally delightful being a rambunctious go-getter who helps ground Elroy a little, and every interactable character has a distinct look and personality that really makes them stand out.
There’s not a lot to talk about on the gameplay side, and that’s because Elroy and the Aliens is about as traditional a point-and-click adventure as it can get. If you’ve played even one of these, then you know what the gist is—grab everything that isn’t nailed down and use it on every potential roadblock, either with logic or by force. It’s never too obtuse that you need to really employ that point-and-click pretzel logic, and the game is pretty good at giving you small hints if you examine items in certain situations.
“Elroy and the Aliens has a genuinely solid story that manages to have a lot of heart, charm and interesting twists and turns.”
But the real charm of Elroy and the Aliens lies in its visuals. The game uses a fully hand-drawn art style that gives the game a real distinct sense of personality. On top of that, the game is incredibly animated, both in the literal and figurative sense. Everything from the standard gameplay animations to the in-game cutscenes, there’s no shortage of movement that really gives the game the distinct look of an extremely high-budget Flash game.
And that may be part of the reason I find the game’s art style so incredibly charming. As someone who got really attached to Newgrounds after playing Castle Crashers, I was always amazed by some of the high-effort projects you’d find on that site, and a big part of that came from amateur artists and game developers working within Adobe Flash. It had a distinct look and feel that was so evocative of its time, and Elroy and the Aliens looks like the best possible example of that.
And the visuals are backed by an incredibly talented voice cast who are bringing their absolute A-game to this production. Almost every interactable character or object is accompanied by spoken flavour dialogue, and at no point does it get tiresome or annoying. Conversations between characters feel genuine and heartfelt and really bring the game to life. Jay Rincon and Dev Joshi deserve special mention as Elroy and Peggy since they do the lion’s share of the dialogue, and they really bring these characters to life in a genuine way.
If you’re a fan of classic point-and-click adventure games or even just want something new with a really engaging story then you definitely need to check out Elroy and the Aliens. It’s got the right amount of challenge, an abundance of charm and once it sinks its teeth into you, you won’t be able to step away from it!
