by Jose Gamaliel Felongco
Memories are a thing of the past, obviously. But in Remember Me, they become merchandise which people can buy and control. Developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Capcom, is Remember Me a game to be remembered or outright forgotten?
The game is set in neo-Paris, a futuristic city bombarded with electronic banners and advertisements. Memories are a commodity with dispensers which people can use to integrate absent feelings and thoughts. The player assumes the control of Nilin, a memory hunter bent on taking down memory giant, Memorize. Nilin starts off as a captive brainwashed for her previous crimes. As soon as the player gets in her boots, Nilin must escape the facility and piece together her forgotten memory.
Remember Me offers players with action sequences and various mini-games. The player must create and execute combos in order to make Nilin more efficient. Depending on the play style, the player can make combos which reduce the cooldown of Nilin’s special abilities, or increase her health as she lands blow after blow. Getting hit during a combo cancels it, making it very important to dodge enemy attacks.
Part of Nilin’s job description is the alteration of memories. There are certain parts of the game where-in the player is treated to a memory segment of a valued target. The player must then alter specific parts of it to get the objective. For example, a certain character has to recall that he killed his lover. For that to happen, an unchambered gun must be altered and remembered as loaded and fired. Missing certain parts creates a paradox which then prompts player to re-do the memory segment.
What it lacks in gameplay, Remember Me makes up for presentation. Neo-Paris is shown as a bustling metro city filled with rich boutiques and extravagant shopping malls. Hidden underneath the metropolis is a rotten underworld filled with relics of the past and outcasts of the present. All of which are heavily detailed for the most part. But in some areas, linear corridors appear to be rehashed and reused. Scripting and voice-acting is good especially for the lead character’s part. But with regards to the surrounding and less important audio, they sound generic.
Remember Me tries hard to be a triple A game, but the linear and dull storyline makes it a far-fetched dream. Action sequences appear scripted and the improvement of combos is inexistent once the player gets used to the first ones. The memory segments appear to be the game’s unique attraction, but are far too few to be fully enjoyed. Amidst the cobwebs, Remember Me is still a decent action game. Just don’t expect to remember it after a year or so.