Eliza is a poignant, well-presented tale about how even technology created to help people can be harmful when it replaces human connection. Rather than demonizing technology, though, Eliza is a paean to compassion, communication, and all the varied ways people can lift each other up.

His masterstroke is Eliza itself. [Issue#337, p.120]

Quotation forthcoming.

Zachtronics make a detour from its puzzle game destiny with the visual novel Eliza. It's slick in its design, though shy on the big choices you might expect from most visual novels. Still, packed with a stellar solitaire minigame, impressive voice acting, and one of the most prescient narratives I've seen in games, if you're a fan at all of interactive stories that'll have you gripped from start to finish, Eliza is it.

It’s a game about the compromises necessary to get by in the working world and problems that don’t come with pat solutions.

It is not unreasonable to assume that the software suggested in Eliza already exists, though it has not yet been exploited and marketed. Our culture certainly believes that technology is the solution to what ails us, even when what ails us is technology, and Eliza the visual novel is an interesting and engaging exploration of that thesis.

I have such mixed feelings about Eliza. With regard to what it does well, it stands head and shoulders above the competition. In terms of the concepts explored, exemplifying how directionless adulthood can be, and its presentation, Eliza is exceptional. Regarding the actual narrative, pace, and flow of the writing, Eliza can be a slog to get through that frequently left me wondering, "Why am I doing this in the game right now?"