Curse of Enchantia - Reception

Reception

Critical reception of Curse of Enchantia was mostly positive, especially in regards of its graphics and animation, even as the game was derided by some for its confusing user interface system, often illogical puzzle solutions and what some reviewers thought was a lack of quality humor, attributing it to the absence of text and dialogue.

British reviewers in particular have often praised the Amiga version of the game. Amiga Action gave this "well-made and cleverly constructed package" the Amiga Action Accolade award, calling it "flawless" and "easily the best adventure game on the Amiga to date". It hinted that using a joystick for control may make certain sections of the game "less annoying to play." Amiga Computing gave it the Gamer Gold award, calling the game "excellent", "down-right bloody enchanting" and Core Design's "easily greatest and most impressive game yet," and even advising to "buy it today because if you don't you will more than likely commit suicide, it's that good." CU Amiga gave the game the CU Gold Screen award and said that while "some of the puzzles are a bit illogical," "the further into the game you get the more luxurious it becomes. Around each bend the graphics get better and better." Amiga Power called it "a classic adventure, which with a few tweaks could have easily beaten the Monkey Island and the like. A worthy addition to any collection and will stand as a challenge to any adventurer."

However, Amiga Format calling Curse of Enchantia "light years behind" Monkey Island with "no comparison" to Monkey Island 2, as "the textless interface just doesn't work - despite the designers' belief, you do need words" and there is "no humour to speak of, no genuinely amusing humour, anyway." The One Amiga said that "the game lacks real humour and atmosphere. This may be partly due to the lack of text in the game - it's hard to relate to the characters you meet," and "althrough entertaining, Curse of Enchantia is to Monkey Island 2 what Smash is to mashed potato," that is "just a weaker substitute."

Giving Curse of Enchantia a score of 83%, the "absolutely enchanted" reviewer of Australia's ACAR said the game's "delightful" graphics and animation "are among the most tastefully executed I have ever seen," but noted the problems with its interface system and difficulty. Australia's OZ Amiga called it "a light-hearted and funny adventure that appeals to almost everyone" and "one of the better releases of 1993." One preview in North American magazine Computer Gaming World called it a "a pretty looking product" of "a Loom / KQV / Legend of Kyrandia approach," but another called it "actually more of a multi-screen puzzle game than a traditional animated adventure," adding that "gamers with a strong penchant for puzzle should find it entertaining" despite its "a bit clumsy" interface. Retrospectively, the website GamersHell found the lack of any text messages and dialogue in the game to be "an interesting design element." Curse of Enchantia was one of the first Amiga games owned by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw who made a Let's Play video of the PC version in 2012, making fun of the game's lack of logic.

In France, Curse of Enchantia was given the high ratings of 84% in Gen4 and 91% in Joystick. The game also received a score of 79% from Sweden's Datormagazin. On the other hand, German magazine PC Player gave it only 38%, saying that the game may make the players "nostalgic for Sierra titles." It received better scores from other German magazines, including 79% in Amiga Joker and 70% (DOS) and 71% (Amiga) in Power Play.

Reception was strong in Poland, where Curse of Enchantia was positively reviewed in C&A (95%) and Secret Service (76%), and featured among "the best adventure games" of 1992 (alongside Alone in the Dark, Indiana Jones IV and The Legend of Kyrandia) by Computer Studio. Retrospectively, Wirtualna Polska ranked it as the 27th best Amiga game, but noting that "proponents of adventure genre's purity" to this day dislike the game for its "unwise flirt" with action-adventure. It was also ranked as the 22th best Amiga game by the Polish console gaming magazine PSX Extreme, noted for its "strong" playability.