PS3, X360
Released: Oct 5 2010 US, Oct 8 2010 EU
Developer: Ninja Theory
Publisher: Namco Bandai
I let Enslaved: Odyssey to the West slip by when it first released. I hear tell it released smack dab in the middle of a busy fall brimming with big name titles, and that’s why it didn’t make much of a splash, but I knew what it was at the time and was pretty sure I wanted it. Alas, I can’t remember why I didn’t buy it then, but I’m glad that its fluctuating 10 to 20 dollar price tag spent months insisting that I didn’t have a good reason for not playing it, because it was right.
Enslaved has a wonderful main menu. Yes, the place where you click options to get you to things you’re more interested in. It’s a screen within your screen. In the foreground, there is part of the side of a girl’s face, looking at the screen, much like you are. Through the reflection of the screen, you can see her face fully. Her eyes occasionally dart to the side. Sometimes she blinks. When you select an option, her hand appears from off screen and familiarly brushes the touch screen, navigating to a different page. Coupled with the overlaid ambient track, the scene is arresting, pensive.
