Games You Might Have Missed: 2064: Read Only Memories
(Note: I originally published this piece on obilisk.co, but it felt right to bring it here as our new home)
2064: Read Only Memories originally released on PC in August of 2015, but made its PS4 debut this past January. The game is a pixel art, adventure game/visual novel hybrid set in the 80’s inspired future city, Neo-SF.
The current controversy in this world isn’t a new one as far as video games and other media are concerned: what does it mean to be human? People are augmenting themselves either cybernetically or with hybridizing gene therapy, and pro-“pure human” groups are forming in protest.
This theme of humanity continues as you head into the main story of 2064. The player character is a down on their luck investigative journalist who wakes up to a small blue robot who has broken into their apartment. The robot, Turing, explains that they’re a project created by the player character’s old friend, Hayden, and now they need your help to find him. Given your past with Hayden, and the opportunity to grab a great story, your character agrees and the hunt is on.
2064’s story is consistent in its quality, even if the twist isn’t exactly shocking. It’s also only about 10 hours max, which can provide a nice break from all the 100 hour titans that have been coming out lately. Gameplay-wise, the usual tropes of visual novels and adventure games are present. You click through conversations as text blocks and choose responses from a list. Your interaction with the world is limited to the items and people who are clickable, and Neo-SF exists in a small map with very distinct locations. There are several environmental puzzles you have to solve to gain access to new areas of the game, but luckily they’ve moved away from the convoluted nature of older adventure game puzzles (i.e. to pull down a fire escape, you just have to use the hooked handle of an umbrella, instead of having to find weird, seemingly unrelated items, or go through a ridiculously long process).
My personal favorite part of this game is its treatment of diversity. When you start the game, aside from getting to choose the name of your character, you also get to choose from a variety of pronouns you want to use and dietary restrictions. Throughout the game you meet characters with different sexualities, gender identities, races, and levels of physical ability, and it’s all taken for granted. The only kind of commentary on difference is in regards to those who have been modified in some way, which plays into the greater narrative of the game (which can be problematic. You can read more about that and decide for yourself.
Basically, if you like adventure games, visual novels, or narrative-driven games in general, and Watch Dogs 2 meets Deus Ex in an 80’s arcade cabinet sounds appealing to you, you should definitely check this game out.
