Memoranda

TLDR: Overall I think this should be missed, unless you’re specifically trying to figure out how NOT to build a game, in which case this is an excellent example. [b][u]General Thoughts/Overview:[/u][/b] Memoranda is an interesting case of failure. In terms of writing, whimsical and nonsensical have to flirt with one another… they’re dance partners spinning around to the beat of the drum, following a line we can’t quite see and which is different for everyone. I think Adventure Time does whimsical the best. It can cross genre, cross between light hearted and deathly serious, create real moments of joy and pathos, and all the while it maintains this air of just imagination and whimsical thought. Why do I mention this? Because Memoranda [i]fails to[/i], but defining that failure is quite difficult, when it isn’t any one thing. Memoranda is a point and click adventure. We rub things on other things, talk to people, and solve puzzles. We are… well we’re not sure, but that fact feels oddly shoehorned in, and we haven’t slept for days, hallucinating some weird sailor/dwarf/wizard/pirate/thing which stops us from sleeping. And here we meet our first small port of failure. The game seems to be three or four intersecting plotlines. Which if interwoven well would have really served it. Except they weren’t. After setting up its first premise it likes to drop “oh by the way… x” but it never feels earned or constructed meaningfully. So we have this mixture of plots which don’t seem to serve the narrative or the story, and as we progress we meet lots of people the protagonist seems to know, but those relationships aren’t well told. Given we live in a tiny town where everyone should know everyone, this lack of warmth or relationship building is another small mistake. Finally in terms of larger failures the game doesn’t remain consistent to its own internal rules. It builds an interesting world with a suitable premise, and some fun ideas as we move through it… but then doesn’t do anything with them, and it’s frustrating. On top of that lack of follow-through, the game has puzzle issues stemming from this inconsistency. The best example involves a spoiler. [spoiler] It’s the smell-o-tron. World building done well in premise means I accept the existence of the device. Failure to follow-through and remain true to the worlds internal consistency is that I don’t capture the smells myself. That I have to put it on the ground by the rat hole, that I use peanuts and not cheese to entice the mouse out… I can suspend my disbelief in the existence of the device, but I can’t accept the illogical process of using it in the environment. [/spoiler] And so we find ourselves weighing up the cause of failure, so let’s have a look at the best and worse. [b][u]Pros:[/u][/b] [list][*] The art style, music, and voice acting is done quite well. I like the unique almost story bookish style, and I found the game very easy to slip into and immersive. [*] Technically decent, I didn’t encounter any bugs or issues while playing, and everything seemed to be well thought out. [*] The premise and wider world building is done well, and it’s very imaginative and pleasant. The art and backgrounds also did a solid job building the kind of world it seemed they wanted, tying everything together in a believable and enjoyable way. [/list] [b][u]Cons:[/u][/b] [list][*] The story does not wrap up plot points. This is enraging. Half of the games mysteries and arcs remain unresolved. If they weren’t so shallow I could accept this. If there were some better in world consequences and maybe some resolutions here and there it would have worked, or felt like it was a natural close. But it didn’t. [*] World building/plot development/character building errors are just abundant. From relationships that feel flat but hint at depth to the device in my opening points. So much potential of this game feels like it was left on the editing room floor I have to wonder that there was anything left at all. The game truly feels like the vast majority of it was cut, and all that was left was just a nonsensical pile or ideas with no connection and no thought put into connecting them, or it was the bare bones of a plot rushed out to meet a deadline. A series of set pieces poorly connected. [*] The puzzles are simultaneously too difficult and too simple. I have no idea how I was meant to get into the docs office, where I was meant to work out the answer, but 5 minutes of brute force pushed me in. I have no idea [i]why[/i] I would have given the deer head what I gave him when I did. But 10 minutes of just using everything on everyone gave me the answer… but this was a lot of the game. So much of it made no sense I just used everything on everything else on every map until progression happened, and the game is so small and so short that that approach actually worked every time I got a little stuck. [/list] [b][u]Suggested improvements:[/u][/b] [list][*] The game needs finishing. Answer the damn questions you ask, or at least give us a feeling of closure. [*] I would actually reframe most of this story into a 4th wall break. Have the protagonist lean into it, talking to us as if we’re hallucinations. Have her friends and the people around her concerned for her mental health as she talks to the invisible forces they can’t see and bumbles around in a half dazed sleep deprived crazy endeavour. Have her explain who this person is and why they’re important, with them looking on concerned and asking if she’s ok. [*] Make changes in the world. It’s flat and dead, with a few notable exceptions, but many of them don’t feel earned, just there to limit our options. [/list] [b][u]Overall Recommendation:[/u][/b] I don’t recommend Memoranda in general. It’s too flat, too boring. It’s a pretty but vapid experience, it hints and shoots for depth, but really it’s just a murky puddle only a millimetre deep, the beauty is just drops of oil on the surface. I recommend this to devs as a learning experience. Pick this up and have a masterclass on how to lose an audience, throw out world building, and create frustrating and uninspired puzzles with solutions that don’t often connect. I recommend this to people who love point and click adventures, but can’t solve them and use a guide or hints anyway, and I recommend this to people who are after a surreal experience and don’t much care if it’s constructed in an internally consistent or enjoyable way. Oh and I enjoy this to people who just like pretty games. I do not recommend this to point and click lovers who want their games to make a lick of sense, or have anything resembling a plot. I remember accidentally solving the love boat tunnel puzzle in sam’n’max hit the road, with no clue what I’d done the first time around; this entire game is a string of that frustrating and fuliginous puzzle. I do not recommend this to players looking for a character and story rich experience, and I do not recommend this to players looking for a long and meaty experience. Overall I think this should be missed, unless you’re specifically trying to figure out how NOT to build a game, in which case this is an excellent example. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44852412/]My curator page[/url] with reviews by genre. In case you want to find more games, or even reviews, like this one.