Shadow of Memories
From the makers of Twinbee RPG and Kensei: Sacred Fist comes an adventure game like no other.
First off, there’s one thing I need to get out of the way. I hate how people talk in this game. I don’t think it simply comes down to localization woes either. You play as a mind-empty wanderer who is always several steps behind you, the player, in realizing what’s happening. Half the time, he just says “uh,” “what?” “huh?” He’s also the most trusting and naive character I’ve seen in a story. Other characters aren’t much better, so conversations feel unnatural and stunted. Here’s an example.
“Here. You forgot this. It is yours, right?”
“Huh?”
“It’s such a gorgeous stone, like a jewel or something…It gives me a funny feeling to look at it. If you make it into a necklace, I bet it would look great on a lot of girls.”
“Well, ah–this isn’t mine.”
“What?”
The game actually keeps track of conversations that you’ve heard and encourages you to find them all. Sorry, I won’t.
It’s a shame about the writing because the plot is pretty fun time-traveling pulp. There’s a unique Faustian flavor to the typical time-travel cliches that makes the Germanic setting feel appropriate. A tremendous amount of detail can be seen in the architecture and decor. The city has a strong character to it and its fun to see it change through time and take on different color palettes.
The act of playing the game is not too different from the typical Japanese adventure game as it mostly boils down to being at the right place at the right time. I had a rude lesson in how to progress right at the beginning: I am trying to avoid being alone at the “fated hour” of my death. I travel back in time to see if anyone wants to meet me. The first person I talk to says yes. I travel back to the present and there they are. Wow, that was easy. I look at the clock and there are still 20 minutes until the fated hour. Talking to the woman moves the clock forward 30 seconds. I do this forty times. At the fated hour, I die. Oops! Turns out I’m meant to get three people to hang out with me instead of one. Time jumps forward automatically once you’ve met these conditions. I learned my lesson. I became a good actor and followed the script until the very end.
I got ending D by the way. It seems pretty clear where I can change things since my character stops and thinks to himself, “this is important.” Before I move on, I think I’ll play through it once or twice more to see what those or like.