Checking the latest offering on Playstation Plus a title popped up I actually did not hear much about. Now I know from experience sometimes very good titles suffer from poor publicity or simply that they can't compete with the success of the newest titles that have come out. After seeing a trailer I was very intrigued by what is promised.
Remember Me looks phenomenal. I am not a graphics hound but I could not help but be impressed at times. The visuals were so beautiful I felt compelled to explore if only you aren't really encouraged and are able to because your path is linear and confined. You can pick up some collectibles or upgrades but nothing else. This to me seems like a missed opportunity. Some side missions to go deeper into telling or explaining what makes this world so bad and why these memory hunters need to rectify or change it so badly would have given the main story more and much needed weight and depth.
The story is one of several problems I had with this game. Initially there was a hint of potential. Especially with our main character, a memory hunter being able to remix memories. The idea is an intriguing one and therefore hard to understand that not more has been done with it. Throughout the game there are only four times the player is given the chance to remix where again the potential of the premise becomes apparent only never is fulfilled. To me it was one of the most interesting game mechanics and if you think of what is possible with it you can't but help to be disappointed. Remember Me to me even with all the excessive combat is basically an adventure game where story and some plot developments are very essential. Then you can’t just come up with a standard story where at the end you might be scratching your head and ask yourself. Hang on the game is over? This is the end?
I mentioned the excessive combat. It seems a lot of focus went into the combat giving the notion it is deep but just saying it is doesn’t make it so. Compare it to any beat em up or hack and slash and you see where Remember Me just falls short. Variety and fun. Take Ninja Gaiden for example. Yes, it is not fair to compare but bear with me. Ninja Gaiden’s combat is deep and engaging. And while some combos might be difficult to pull off you have a lot of options. Even the most simple moves can be effective. All this would not mean anything without the fun factor attached to it. You get rewarded for taking the time to learn the combos plus it feels satisfying to have pulled them off. Even if you find the game difficult it still is fun to play. In Remember Me the combat is a lot of work and it did not look like the combos even after upgrading had much impact. I felt no incentive whatsoever to make my own combo. Apparently there were 50.000 possible. Somehow I missed all that. Now I must admit that I could not be bothered to pay much attention to the combo lab. More because of how it was explained. Which was very poorly. And a lot of it also has to do is that to me there was not much need for it. In later levels the challenge or difficulty consisted out of waves of enemies ganging up on you instead of having a few strong ones where actual skill was required. More challenge was added since new types of enemies were introduced you only could defeat in a certain way. Fine if it is just a few times. But if these enemies keep returning wave after wave then I can tell you it can become tedious very fast. It comes down to sticking the quickest and simplest,standard combos and mashing the buttons as quick as you can while avoiding the enemies. Now I don’t want to complain too much but the camera can also be a huge enemy. When enemies pile up at you and you have little space to manoeuvre in it would have been nice to have a much faster camera and also one that would take some distance. One plus point though of having the camera close up is that you get a nice view of Nillin's rear. Chapter 7 is a good example of how ridiculous the game is designed. Little variety, not much to the story and way too much combat. Check out my gameplay videos underneath. Now some of the boss fights were fun. Only in hindsight they served more as tutorial how to defeat the different types of enemies and never really impress.
I had trouble to be drawn in when I started playing this game. Only after I left it alone for a while and picked it up playing again I could motivate myself to stick to it. The best way to enjoy this game is to play it in sessions. Although I can imagine people rage quitting because of the tediousness and repetitiveness of the combat and not much else to do or to experience.
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| The visuals entice and make you want to explore...... |
I mentioned the excessive combat. It seems a lot of focus went into the combat giving the notion it is deep but just saying it is doesn’t make it so. Compare it to any beat em up or hack and slash and you see where Remember Me just falls short. Variety and fun. Take Ninja Gaiden for example. Yes, it is not fair to compare but bear with me. Ninja Gaiden’s combat is deep and engaging. And while some combos might be difficult to pull off you have a lot of options. Even the most simple moves can be effective. All this would not mean anything without the fun factor attached to it. You get rewarded for taking the time to learn the combos plus it feels satisfying to have pulled them off. Even if you find the game difficult it still is fun to play. In Remember Me the combat is a lot of work and it did not look like the combos even after upgrading had much impact. I felt no incentive whatsoever to make my own combo. Apparently there were 50.000 possible. Somehow I missed all that. Now I must admit that I could not be bothered to pay much attention to the combo lab. More because of how it was explained. Which was very poorly. And a lot of it also has to do is that to me there was not much need for it. In later levels the challenge or difficulty consisted out of waves of enemies ganging up on you instead of having a few strong ones where actual skill was required. More challenge was added since new types of enemies were introduced you only could defeat in a certain way. Fine if it is just a few times. But if these enemies keep returning wave after wave then I can tell you it can become tedious very fast. It comes down to sticking the quickest and simplest,standard combos and mashing the buttons as quick as you can while avoiding the enemies. Now I don’t want to complain too much but the camera can also be a huge enemy. When enemies pile up at you and you have little space to manoeuvre in it would have been nice to have a much faster camera and also one that would take some distance. One plus point though of having the camera close up is that you get a nice view of Nillin's rear. Chapter 7 is a good example of how ridiculous the game is designed. Little variety, not much to the story and way too much combat. Check out my gameplay videos underneath. Now some of the boss fights were fun. Only in hindsight they served more as tutorial how to defeat the different types of enemies and never really impress.
The little platforming that is present just serves as a change of pace as it is not challenging at all. Not much can go wrong apart from a few occasions it was not very clear where to go. Why put it in if there is not much to it?
Overall Remember Me is a very forgettable title that had a lot of potential. Real shame that it got wasted.
Special Note: I had added some gameplay videos of this game and removed them out of caution. Youtube's policy towards copyrighted material and how they allow people to claim copyrighted material even if it is not theirs and make you go jump through hoops is not worth my time and stress. However I do think this is outrageous to say the least.
Edit 18-10-2016:
Seems like gameplay video's for the most part are allowed.
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