Review: Memoria

Two stories, two main characters, one epic experience: in Memoria, players travel through different time periods, while following two distinct protagonists: Sadja, a southern princess who wants to be a war hero, and Geron, a bird catcher who wants to lift a curse from his girlfriend.

 

Pros:

• First thing to hit you will be the simply gorgeous hand drawn back drops of the game. Going for a more fantasy look, The areas encounter ooze atmosphere and beauty.
• You play as two different characters, Geron, A bird catcher by trade and wanna be hero by night. He is on a mission to return his girlfriend back to her natural form. And Sadja a southern princess who wants to be a war hero.
• The game is based off a German RPG series called
• Character animations are clean and detailed.
• Point and click adventure with simple controls, That see you umm just pointing and clicking and them maybe some more clicking and some more pointing.
• Good musical score.
• The two characters are very different and have their own story lines that sometimes entwine into one. The play style is very different in execution and presentation.
• The atmosphere is brilliant and best played with headphones on as you absorb the enchanted music and lose yourself.
• Puzzles are littered all over the game and are the main principle of the game. Ususally a case of combining x with x to make y type affair. Seasoned players of the genre will be accustomed to the puzzle mechanic, Whilst new players will quickly grasp the initial concept.
• The game offers up many hours of gameplay, This may not feel the case due to the way it splits the game between the two players.
• The Sadja sections of the game are some of the best in a point and click game. Offering a lot of depth and adventure.
• The opening scene is served as your tutorial and from here you learn the basics of the game, And the general mechanics and thought processes the game requests from you.
• The game dies the core of point and click games essence very well and is accessible by all.

Cons:

• Despite the good animations, Lip Syncing is lacking. Out of sync and not very well done. More noticeable in the cut scenes.
• The Geron character is the worst of the two characters, Going for a whiny, everything’s crap approach to everything. He always sounds fed up and loves to patronize you when you get combinations wrong.
• The inventory button is very hidden and not at all easy to see. It doesn’t stop there, Interactions in level are not always clear.
• Eventually all puzzles on their first encounter go through the routine of, Try x with x until it works or you move on to clicking everywhere on the screen.
• You get minimal if any help with any puzzles. At times your in a puzzle without even knowing it.
• Puzzle difficulty spikes are to be expected, But are made worse with no direction and clear goal explained.
• Some of the voice acting sounds forced and un atmospheric.

In summary. The game does a lot of things right and if your willing to invest the time, Then you can get a very solid point and click adventure out of it. Yes it has a few niggling issues but overall I did enjoy it. I must admit that a few of the puzzles due to their execution, had me inventing new swear words and taking a break from the game for a while. Whilst most games of this genre have a very “the simplest solution is the usually the right solution” This game feels thats not the case. Adding additional layers to that logic and making the player sweat for it. Seasoned players of the genre would get more out of it than new players. New players need to prepare themselves for a hard slog in places. Failing that, Just admire the wonderful art work.