Capcom and Dontnod’s spirited 2013 release, Remember Me, is a great title that too few gamers bought, a title that only the Edge elite could respect, one that honestly deserves to be remembered.
Melding together somewhat simplistic beat-em-up gameplay with puzzling and platformer diversions, Remember Me’s gameplay is pleasantly exhaustive of its primary mode of operation. Just as I was nearly tired of fighting and traversing the environments, overly limited by realism, the game would present me with an interesting and sometimes interactive cutscene to propel the story forward whilst allowing me to rest my thumbs in preparation for the next set of repetitive fights.
Remember Me is not a game to be played for any long stretch of time, minus its often remixable cinematics it’s too linear and repetitive. The gameplay is more suited for a portable console, to pick up and play on a short commute, lengthening the games longevity .
Remember Me is not a game to be played for any long stretch of time, minus its often remixable cinematics it’s too linear and repetitive. The gameplay is more suited for a portable console, to pick up and play on a short commute, lengthening the games longevity .
Most plot progression in the game involves getting to the next more important person who needs their memories manipulated. Although fantastical and convoluted, the winding story is mostly engaging. It's cutscenes rarely persist for too long but show themselves frequently - which depending on your persuasions may or may not be a good thing. It’s best to not try to keep track of the details of the story because of its complicated nature, metaphorical liberty and complete exposition in its conclusion. With undertones of the erasing of a history, national branding, interracial love, the search for truth, confusion and delusion it can mean what you want it to mean - something to commend in this medium of media.
Despite its expansiveness, the narrative doesn’t bring enough light to the Memorize Corporation and its wide-world ramifications or Nililn’s origin. Although not quite a “proper ‘black’ girl” (even her child form has odd looking european hair), Nilin’s extraordinary appearance imbues the game with a unique feel. Modelled with clarity and realism, her slender and smoothly animated form welcomes and endears with a scarred leather jacket that looks about as real and as cool as it could.
Despite its expansiveness, the narrative doesn’t bring enough light to the Memorize Corporation and its wide-world ramifications or Nililn’s origin. Although not quite a “proper ‘black’ girl” (even her child form has odd looking european hair), Nilin’s extraordinary appearance imbues the game with a unique feel. Modelled with clarity and realism, her slender and smoothly animated form welcomes and endears with a scarred leather jacket that looks about as real and as cool as it could.
Remember Me’s immersing and often astounding settings aesthetics look somewhere between the Star Wars Universe, Deus Ex: HR and Bioshock. The first half of the game runs you through tight corridors, alleys and small rooms while the latter half presents wide open spaces. Similar but superior to DMC’s art style, Remember Me’s graphics are clean and realistic yet artistic and colorful. Remember Me often looks absolutely amazing, leaving me wishing for a first person viewpoint, but all too frequently it's block ridden simplicity is bared with incomplete shadowing and copious amounts of enemy clones. Fortunately, the game features convincing physics and animation, leaving it’s pleasing Unreal presentation coming off as nothing short of masterful.
Jean-Max Moris’ creation has a way of understating its impressiveness, with no build ups or defined crescendos it is a game that doesn't force itself, opting instead to keep tension at all times. The second half of the game treats players to one of the most awesome ‘box moving’ sequences of all time and one of the most beautiful and original endings of last generation in which you are forced beat a final boss who doesn't really want to hurt you and kill a small "black" girl in the longest way imaginable.
If it wasn't for the expansive Combo Lab component, repetitive fighting and it’s testing UI and tutorials, the experience would've been a ‘recommendable to all’ universal pleasure, but with such an annoying and almost impenetrable combo system the game loses a lot if its impressiveness and accessibility. The game probably wouldn't have been as good without the Combo Lab, but its limited move set and lack of intuitiveness exhibit untapped potential.
Although sadly not due to receive a sequel, Remember Me is an unmissable experience that too few gamers have had. I highly recommend it and you can now probably pick it up at a price inexpensive. Go on then, you can probably emulate it on your smartphone….
8.2 out of 10
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