2064: Read Only Memories

I really appreciate the style this game was made in. It is a visual novel, mostly linear with some minor deviations based on what I can see. All the text is also recorded as sound. And I would like to point out, why I give this game 4 Stars: The sound is really well done. No vioce recording sounds bad or not properly recorded. Whoever made the recordings, really was a professional who deserved his payment. The story is OK, the characters aren't bad but it's not a surprising game as far as I have played it yet.

The game itself is shallow and rather lacking, it's a point and click adventure game that plays akin to the investigation scenes of the Phoenix Wright series. I hope you like reading though as it's padded with clunky nuspeak dialogue, just about every "good guy" is something 'progressive', trans, gay, genetically modified otherkin... you name it. But if it's a white man, he's going to be dressed as elvis and portrait as a cyberpunk KKK member. :/ It's quite clear to me that this game (similar to Gone Home) is a political propaganda piece in the guise of art. Not an actual game. The developers have made it very clear that if you don't agree with them politically, then you're not welcome here "If you live in the USA and voted Trump, you're not allowed to play our game." to quote them without the swearing (gog prefers we keep things clean so I can't quote verbatim, but there were several instances of a four letter word beginning with "F")

Let me start off by saying that this is not really a 'game' per-se .. more like a click through novel with some gameplay elements. The puzzles, adventure aspects and little action bits are not at all challenging and nothing to write home about. If you treat this as a game you will be somewhat disappointed. However if you treat it like an interactive story you will have a wonderful time. The characters are all well executed and memorable, the setting is very interesting and well thought out, the music is exceptionally good, the graphics are serviceable but quite charming, the story has a lot of intrigue, lots of heat and passion and most of all, many themes that are well thought out and quite unique. If you try to get things done as quickly as possible you will finish the game in a few hours and not remember much. If you explore everything with curiosity you will enjoy it a lot more and discover new layers of depth. The experience is somewhat repayable, but since it's story based the first play-through will be enough for most people, especially if you've explored everything in detail. There are some minor forks and choices but they are more about moral choice and about you as a player defining your reaction to the experience. Finally, it has a bit more story presented as an extra once you finish the main game, again nothing really 'happens' but it let's you ponder the game events and the implications of your actions a bit longer.

Point and click games usually aren't my bag, but for whatever reason, I loved this one. To address some of the complaints I've seen, yes, the story is extremely linear, and your choices don't matter. Yes, there's not a whole lot of "interactivity" to the point of puzzles, or what have you, and no, I probably wouldn't classify this as a puzzle game. That said, this game engrossed me. As someone who likes to explore every nook and cranny, all the flavor text on every interaction was a delight to discover. Want to use a carton of expired milk on a random NPC? Maybe you'll think better of yourself. Maybe you'll get looks of mild confusion, maybe you'll have someone rant about what an asshole you are for offering them that. A lot of the depth comes not from the story, but from your own exploration and interaction with the city. The game is very much what you make of it. If you just follow the story from objective to objective, you won't get nearly as much as if you take the time to interact with as much as possible. (Managed to get a few game overs by exploring more than I was supposed to, haha.) Take the time to talk to people, and I think you'll have a grand time in Neo San Francisco. Also, to touch on the content, it's very easy to draw parallels between real life and the game, to the point where some might find it "preachy", as I've seen it described. But personally, I found it a nice way to make you think about social issues in a more interactive, introspective way. All in all, I definitely recommend this game.

Sooooooo, I know a lot of people are not going to be as enthusiastic about this game as I am, and I can understand theses reasons. Nonetheless, I feel like it's worth giving other point of views on this. Note that this is entirely based on my own experience. So first of all, I was immediately hooked to the story, the universe and the characters. I am a bit of a science-fiction fan, and I enjoyed this more colourful and humorist take on the cyberpunk genre. The issues it focus on gives place to more personal and intimate themes, which is something I often prefer. It does a great job of portraying a various cast of believable characters that you can feel exist, and on my part, I was genuinely interested in learning about them. The humour landed extremely well on me, allowing myself to feel attached to this universe, but the darker elements were all the more efficient as well. Without spoiling, let's say that the whole ending really had intense moments, and ended up being all the more moving for that. I did not mind the fact that the point and click aspect of the game was very basic. As someone who really loved games like to the moon, life is strange and such, it did not bother me. I also really enjoyed all the time it uses mini-games to shake up the pace. The more visual novel aspect actually, I tough, was really well handled. You genuinely learn to care about the characters and think about how you will interact with them (which is why learning about them is useful, finding what they like or dislike for instance). And even if you make mistakes, it's always possible to make up for it. And at the end of the day, you really feel happy when things turn out right. (even if the ending is not 100% happy, but no spoils of course). So yeah. I understand it's not for everyone, but it was for me a huge favourite. I warmly recommand it!