Squid pro quo
The characters inRead Only Memories: Neurodiverare deeply into anime.
They love manga and figurines and trashy movies and horror novels.
In moments like that, the passion is endearing.
But in other places, it is overwhelming.
That story is one of psychic detective Luna, aka ES88.
Luna lugs this clairvoyant cuttlefish between jobs in its tank, like a kind of wet metal briefcase.
She’s accompanied by Gate, a burly minder (and principal love interest).
But anyone hoping for a deeper dip into adventure game territory will walk away having experienced very few novelties.
The stylish pixel art does a lot to get you on board.
The environments are adorned with smoothly dithering gradients, lush with pixel ginkgo trees and cyberpunk lamp posts.
Thematically we’re stomping on some similar ground to this game’s predecessor,2064: Read Only Memories.
Among their scrambled thoughts lie childhood nostalgia, familial treasures and incidences of neo-criminality.
Neurodiver’s tone is kooky, whimsical, almost childlike.
At times it tickles me.
But I more often felt exhausted by how over-the-top zany and quippy everybody is.
The characters, for all their loudness, can also feel thin.
Her jacked biobot-bodyguard fulfils the archetype of steady-headed stoic fond of ellipses.
Your boss, Fortuna, is a context-twisting manager, an obvious harbour of secrets.
But even this falls into expected grooves.
Harold, a co-worker in the psionics labs you frequent, is particularly obnoxious and grating.
That’s intentional, I think.
But it also makes me reluctant to endure a scene with him.
with all the wide-eyed wonder of a childish tourist, as if seeing it for the first time.
In truth, she makes this comment from her apartment balcony.
She has seen this bridge every day for years.
Like I say, its presentation is stylish and meticulous, full of appreciative details.
It’s fun and effective, the video game equivalent of speech bubble variation in comics.
Because I am basically having an allergic reaction to the game’s obsession with being “meta”.
It is a mega-referential piece of work.
The Japanese developer SWERY shows up at your workplace lobby.
Suda51 hangs out in the background of the arcade.
Lady Love Dies fromParadise Killersits in a cafe.
For me, the relentless referencing quickly broke the story’s fragile container.
In adventure games, a lot relies on keeping the player trapped in your world.
And how can you feasibly stay in one world if the game keeps reminding you that other worlds exist?
To some, these are meta raspberries to blow, fun winks to wink, all easily forgotten.
This review is based on a review build of the game provided by the developer.
