Note: In this and future “Thought” posts, I will be leaving random thoughts when a certain element in a particular game that I am playing from start to end piques my interest. As I am NOT writing this AFTER I complete the game, I believe there will contradicting thoughts between an earlier and later thought entry or certain fact inaccuracies for earlier thought entries. I will also leave general thoughts about the game as I play through it.
Also, I tend to not delve deeper in a particular thought unless necessary as I prefer to move from one random idea to another rapidly. And, this is NOT a game review.
What is Remember Me? | 14th June, 2014
The game’s plot focuses on Nilin, a memory hunter working for an underground resistance called the Errorists. When the game starts, she has been stripped of nearly all her memories by mega-corporation Memorize. With the help of a mysterious man named Edge, she goes on a quest to bring down Memorize and recover her lost memories. (Wikipedia)
In a nutshell, imagine Batman Arkham Asylum but with a customizable combo list, simple platforming sections, and the power to “remix” your target’s memory to manipulate them; minus the ability to openly explore or revisit an area and not having fancy gadgets at your disposal.
Update 1:
Thought Entry #1 | 14th June 2014
When I reached the first ‘memory remixing’ sequence of the game, the thought of having an open world Remember Me game where the game story changes based on how you alter the memories of your target intrigued me. Think Watch_Dogs but instead of hacking networks of data to bend it to your will, you hack living , breathing people in the game world to alter events. Instead of having dialogue tree to determine the story, your direct action of hacking targets changes the story accordingly. Should you turn an enemy into an ally? Or turn an ally into an enemy to save them from an evil corporation and risk them hunting you down in return? As I have just cleared Episode 1, I am not too sure what has Dontnod done with this “memory remixing” mechanic.
Thought Entry #2 | 20th June 2014
I have just finished Episode 4 and I am kind of disappointed that I have just only encountered the second “memory remix” section at the end of that episode. The memory remix mechanic is more like a device to advance the game story instead of a meaningful gameplay mechanic that would affect the game outcome in any way. Though it is understandable given that the game has a linear story. I just wished that I was able to play around with that mechanic more. The combat system is interesting because it allows you to customized your combat style. You can fight defensively, aggressively or even power move-focused. Memorizing the simple combo combination will definitely help yield a better result than just mashing a single button. But it is definitely less fluid than the Arkham series combat system. The dodge roll does feel slow at times but it could be that the developers do not want the players to spam the dodge button. Overall the combat system is pretty solid.
One thing I hated about the game is how you are forced to recollect collectibles when you reload from a checkpoint!
Update: I realized the reason why the combat system was not fluid enough for me because a combo chain breaks if you do not hit the same enemy continuously. Sometimes I get swarmed by enemies and this causes my combo chain to break repeatedly.
Thought Entry #3 | 22nd June 2014
I have just finished the game and WOW. Fun game. Great story. Amazing heroine. On one hand I wish that there will not be a sequel for this game so to keep the story and ending as it is, but another part of me wish there will be an open world sequel that lets you influence the game story more with the memory remix mechanic. Whatever it is, I am looking forward to Dontnod’s next game!
(Game completed on 22nd June 2014.)
benedict ng 