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2064: Read Only Memories (PS4) Status: Finished playing I started playing this game on Tuesday 4 December, 2018 // I stopped playing this game on: Sunday 23 December, 2018
Current opinion of this game
No comment, yet.
December 23, 2018 10:29:14 PM
Finished this a few nights ago - I've been chewing on the game mostly because there's a fair amount to think about and I'm not entirely sure how much I feel the game is a success in terms of discussing all of the pretty big/deep philosophical questions it raises as part of the story. A few things I thought worth remembering (for future me): a. The game deviates (I think) from standard point 'n click adventure games because it has a few "action" scenes/moments - they're still "discrete" (move cursor to one of nine positions and fire, but do it quickly) rather than "continuous" (so, I wasn't free-aiming with the thumbstick). b. There's a lot of diversity in the character cast - including age, gender, and able-ness. None of the characters are "about" their diversity, which is nice - meaning that they're important/interesting for something else, and their gender, race, etc. just happens to be another characteristic. c. There was a puzzle where I had to input a long code - it was a real pain because (I don't know why), the interface just didn't work as it should. I'd click and nothing would happen and have to move the cursor back and forth, try again, and so on. The code was 10 characters long, so it was a real pain. d. The game has a lot of trophies. Many of them are dependent on really small things - e.g. choosing a particular response in a conversation that, other than the trophy, doesn't really matter for much. I have the impression that they're way too arbitrary - which makes them less interesting/meaningful as trophies. e. There's a big twist at the end - which was interesting and dramatic, but I felt it sort of rolled in another ethical/philosophical issue that was sort of...throwaway. I think. The twist was fine, but the backstory behind the character involved in the twist - while interesting, was a bit of a distraction. Especially since the twist is at the end - a climactic moment in the game. f. List of "philosophical issues" raised/brought up in the game: - Sentient robots - what would that mean? - Human/animal hybrids (humans with animal traits) - rights/issues - Animal/human hybrids (animals with human traits) - same as above, but treated differently in the game (the bear character) - Nature of truth/manipulation of truth online - hacker culture
December 17, 2018 10:18:09 AM
I'm probably about halfway through the 2nd chapter and I'm surprised by how retro the game is - both visually as well as in its game design. I guess there are a few quality of life improvements, but this isn't really a game that benefits all that much from being played with a controlled rather than a mouse. With the controller - due to how they've set it up - you cycle through different objects of interest in a scene, but you have to know which direction to cycle (press left or down to get to an object that's down/left of the one currently selected?). They didn't implement a mouse cursor - which would make it easier. I've missed a few things in a scene because I didn't notice they were objects of interest. On the other hand, at least I don't have to "scan" the mouse cursor around to see what's clickable and what isn't. The game's narrative is, at this point, marginally engaging for me. A super-scientist/engineer has gone missing and you, a lowly reporter, have been tasked by his clearly state-of-the-art AI/robot to find him. So far nothing special. It's supposed to be very cyberpunk but so far it's like the Disney version of cyberpunk with no grittiness and jsut a bit of 80's newwave flash at best. We'll see how it goes...

2064: Read Only Memories (PS4)