Amnesia: Memories is regarded somewhat as a landmark game in the Otome visual novel genre. Coming out originally for PSP in 2011, its popularity has managed to endure, so much that it’s received multiple releases, sequels and now another release for Nintendo’s Switch.
This new release combines the base Amnesia: Memories game with the add-ons, Later X Crowd, which are two new experiences for you to play through.
Amnesia: Memories is a romance visual novel in which you’re placed in the shoes of an amnesiac girl. With the help of a young Spirit called Orion, whose fault it is that you’re like this to begin with, you have to recover your memories to find out who you are and what has been going on in your life. As a blank slate for the player, it’s up to you to choose the life you want to live and, more importantly, who you want to live it with.
Of course, romance is the game’s aim, and the amnesiac mechanic allows you to go through the teething motions of a relationship right from the get-go. Even though everyone knows who you are, you won’t know them, making the discovery of their personalities and quirks a new and fresh experience. One of the base game’s selling points is that each romance you’re capable of getting into belongs to a different world. At the start of each run, you can choose which world you want to live in, which changes up the story and your options.
The other major selling point is that the game is full of choices for you to make. There are, apparently, twenty-plus endings for you to get depending on how you respond to characters and situations, thus increasing the replay value for each arc immensely. The best way to categorise Amnesia is as a slice-of-life romance, though its doors veer into darker territory with suspense and horror vibes.
The game expansions are essentially more of the same, with some changes to the gameplay to make the experience fresh.
Amnesia: Later presents you with a new story/continuation of the main game. Later feels more like an anime holiday episode and is really an excuse to spend more time with your favourite characters from the main game.
Crowd presents the largest mix-up to the game’s formula. It presents you with two games in one. One is a further dive into Amnesia’s world with stories told through different styles. You can choose it to be suspenseful or humorous. The biggest change is that this section of the add-on mixes up a point-and-click style of gameplay with the visual novel aspect and, outside of the now standard choices to make, makes for a more interactive experience.
The other section of Crowd is a collection of mini-games with the goal of earning points. You can do this by playing card games like Poker and Blackjack. The main selling point of earning those points is really for the hard-core fans because, once you have earned enough, you can give Orion a human name.
A consistent visual style has been maintained across the entire collection. Character designs are well done and the 2D artwork on characters is fantastic. One aspect I really enjoyed was the way in which the game’s backgrounds were rendered. Most of them are devoid of colour, rendered in whites or shades of grey and yellow. Whether it was an intentional choice or not, I felt like it fit the amnesiac theme perfectly, with no emotional ties to anything rendering the world impersonal.
One aspect that didn’t gel well with me was the game’s save system. There’s a quick load and save you can do at any time, obviously if you feel like you may have made a bad decision, but they’re temporary and disappear if you switch them off. Main saves seem to only work at the completion of a major arc as far as I can tell, which is a problem if, for some reason, you’re forced to switch off or your Switch runs out of juice and you have no way to plug it in or charge it. If that happens you’re going to have to start all over again. While this may be okay if you want to choose a different chapter or options, if you’re looking to finish one consistent arc, then you need to be prepared for a long marathon session. At the very least, the game should have hard saved at the close of each day.
If you enjoy visual novels, Amnesia Memories Collection is worth checking out for a landmark title in the genre. It has some great artwork and a ton of playability with various endings and expansions. How much you’ll enjoy it, though, is dependent on how much you can take the genre’s inherent tropes and the need to marathon entire sessions to see something through to its conclusion.
Grab your copy now here https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-games/Amnesia-Memories-2264356.html
Developers: Idea Factory, Design Factory
Genres: Adventure game, Adventure
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Android, Microsoft Windows, iOS, PlayStation Vita
Publisher: Idea Factory
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