As I sit opposite a giant cat man about to help him solve the mystery of his missing memories by jumping into his head with the help of an artificial memory squid, I’m reminded of why I love Science Fiction.
Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER gives me everything I could ask for from a sci-fi setting. A vibrant setting, a solid cast of characters, and a weird world to explore. Don’t get me wrong, I like fantasy settings too, I’m a sucker for swords and dragons, Dragon Age could entertain me for lifetimes. Science Fiction is underrepresented though, so when a good title comes along, I’m drawn to it like a moth to a neon light.
MidBoss were kind enough to give us a preview of the first few chapters of Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER this past week, and after the Thank You for Playing screen came up I was filled with feelings of frustration that I’d just been cut off. The first 2 chapters of Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER set the stage for the potential of a great story. As ES88 and her Neurodiver companion, you’re tasked with diving into the heads of clients to help them recover memories, solve clues, and uncover a larger mystery. The opening section of the game drops you into a world filled with sci-fi goodness, if you’ve played the (short) Demo on Steam, you’ll have some understanding of the concept. The game opens introducing you to ES88 and her Neurodiver sidekick, having you read a literal training manual to get you up to speed, before giving you a training mission of sorts to get to grips with Neurodiving. Once this is out of the way you’re dropped into the game proper. Living in Neo-San Francisco and working for MINERVA you’re given the assignment to track down the Golden Butterfly.
I don’t want to go into too much of the story to prevent spoilers, but the characters and voice acting in the first chapters just hook you and drag you into the world. The little details are there, each scene depicts a wonderful Neo sci-fi world that just oozes theme throughout. ES88 (Luna) is a great lead character with her own charm and quirks, bringing a cute awkwardness to some of the scenes as she’s still trying to figure out exactly what she should be doing. The interactions during the first Neurodive on the job to recover a technicians password, is filled with the right level of humour for me as well and just helps build out that world and setting, getting you ready for the larger mystery at hand and stopping Golden Butterfly. After finishing my time with the first few chapters of Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER, I’m simply left wanting more.
Read Only Memories: Neurodiver is out on May 16th, add it to your Steam Wishlist, or keep it here for our full review closer to release.
