Zero Punctuation: Remember Me
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
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Nice to see Yahtzee going back to his old jokes; I remember the "Whipped Cream Genocide Brouhaha" from a few years ago.
I was hoping for a Strange Days reference with the whole "reliving the good memories" bit so maybe someone would go out and watch the movie, but I definitely feel the Total Recall one was more appropriate. In any case after the less than stellar reviews I heard about this back when it came out it's really starting to sound like a Steam Sale for me based on the futuristic cyberpunk setting and combat.
One of the very rare cases where Yahtzee reviews a game that I'm on the fence about buying (usually it's either one I know I'm gonna get or already know I have no interest in) so this was a pleasant surprise for me. I'm glad to hear it was actually not all that bad, but I'm still not going to shell out sixty bucks for it.
Wow. Those four movies that the game is supposedly a mix of suddenly made me super-interested into playing it. I mean, c'mon, they're all great movies.
..Though maybe the concepts do not exactly mash well.
..Though maybe the concepts do not exactly mash well.
This little red riding hood has a bucket full of kickass?
Yeah, that's impressively bad, even for a...
Nah, now I'm imagining Duke Nukem saying it in a really awful FPS and now it's funny, in a laughing at, not laughing with way.
Yeah, that's impressively bad, even for a...
Nah, now I'm imagining Duke Nukem saying it in a really awful FPS and now it's funny, in a laughing at, not laughing with way.
Thinking about it this week, I feel I've figured out one of the big driving problems with Remember Me. I forget the episode, but Extra Credits made a point that, in game development, while you can definitely create the story first and the gameplay second, the safer move is to do the opposite and build a story around the gameplay. In the second option, even if the story makes no sense or is drivel, the gameplay probably has enough redeeming qualities to look past the story and enjoy multiple playthroughs, while the first option means players are more likely to slog through uninspired or forced gameplay all for the sake of a story.
How does this apply here? Seeing as how the original concept for Remember Me when it was originally titled Adrift had to do with a flooded, Water World styled...world, it makes me think the team was doing exactly what EC warned about--trying to come up with an interesting story first and forcing gameplay around the story. While the memory manipulation mechanic seems to follow suit with the story, the combat and exploration seem off. Or rather, it seems like those were aspects that were included not because they necessarily fit with what the game was trying to do thematically, but rather because it seemed like an easy way to bridge the story together. Based on the story I've seen and read so far, it would make sense to me to have changed Remember Me from an action game to a full puzzle, possibly stealth espionage game. Or, if they wanted to stick with combat so much, remove the memory mechanic and just make it cyber-punk Bourne with a female protagonist. That way the focus on pure combat and exploration for gameplay would've hopefully forced the developers to tighten or actually expand on the combat rather then let it fall short the way it did.
I think Remember Me will serve as an interesting example of what not to do in game design, that is to focus on the game element first and to place your focus on elements one at a time rather then spreading it out.
How does this apply here? Seeing as how the original concept for Remember Me when it was originally titled Adrift had to do with a flooded, Water World styled...world, it makes me think the team was doing exactly what EC warned about--trying to come up with an interesting story first and forcing gameplay around the story. While the memory manipulation mechanic seems to follow suit with the story, the combat and exploration seem off. Or rather, it seems like those were aspects that were included not because they necessarily fit with what the game was trying to do thematically, but rather because it seemed like an easy way to bridge the story together. Based on the story I've seen and read so far, it would make sense to me to have changed Remember Me from an action game to a full puzzle, possibly stealth espionage game. Or, if they wanted to stick with combat so much, remove the memory mechanic and just make it cyber-punk Bourne with a female protagonist. That way the focus on pure combat and exploration for gameplay would've hopefully forced the developers to tighten or actually expand on the combat rather then let it fall short the way it did.
I think Remember Me will serve as an interesting example of what not to do in game design, that is to focus on the game element first and to place your focus on elements one at a time rather then spreading it out.
Remember me...Nillin my dear... don't forget me... Nillin my love...
Hold your head up. You silly girl. See what you've dooooonnnneee...
Hold your head up. You silly girl. See what you've dooooonnnneee...
I'm disappointed that Yatzee didn't (and maybe won't unless there's going to be a release drought, which is actually very likely this year) review The Last of Us. I know he loves to tear critically acclaimed games new a-holes more than keep reviewing games no critic really likes.
But for those of you who want a review of The Last of Us, the first "3rd-Person Strangler/Ladderer"...
Keep in mind that dunkey here isn't serious like this unless he's being a critic.
But for those of you who want a review of The Last of Us, the first "3rd-Person Strangler/Ladderer"...
Keep in mind that dunkey here isn't serious like this unless he's being a critic.
To give science credit, they did manage to solve that toast problem.
But yeah, it's a shame that the ideas didn't work out as well as hoped. Still, I intend to pick it when it becomes a bit cheaper, since at that price the ideas alone might carry it.
But yeah, it's a shame that the ideas didn't work out as well as hoped. Still, I intend to pick it when it becomes a bit cheaper, since at that price the ideas alone might carry it.
To be fair, it was probably aimed at the entire gaming press. From what I remember, they were all at it.WaitWHAT said:
I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you that Yahtzee does his videos in the week leading up to the actual release of ZP. As in, right now he's probably doing an E3 video (if the text stinger is any indication), which will release next week, and then the week after he'll be doing The Last of Us, which only released last Friday (which is a pretty odd world-wide release date, since it's usually on a Tuesday).Xman490 said:
OT: Hilarious. Kinda the impression I got from the game, myself. I would've definitely preferred that they had built the entire game around the memory-rewriting mechanics, instead of trying to shove in platforming, brawling, and some puzzles too.