Amnesia: Memories

 So...I actually bought Amnesia: Memories (Otomate) ages and ages ago. And little dude and I sat down together and started the game. But we picked the LAST world from the list purely randomly and didn't get very far before both of us were like...ermmmm...maybe not. It seemed dodgy and like it was getting dodgier. Didn't trust anyone but there were so few choices that the MC makes that it was just, I dunno, kinda stressful. So I set it aside and figured I'd come back to it and try it alone and start at the first world in the list instead of the last. 

So, I finished my last major section for the freelance project today and hubby was out for some dinner meeting and little dude and I had watched two episodes of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and I had some free time...so I thought I'd try it out again.

This time, beginning in the Heart world. Which is, apparently, the world for Shin's route. But let me start over -- you wake up and there's a little fairy-like creature named Orion telling you that he accidentally wound up in your mind and he accidentally pushed all of your memories out of your head when he landed there. But, he thinks that if you get your memories back, it will push him out and he can be on his merry way. Just like the first time, I have to say I don't really trust what he's saying. But, ok. 

Then you wake up for real and find yourself in the hospital, which freaks Orion out because he was just going on about how you need to get out and experience things from your life and not get stuck in a place like a hospital or you'll lose yourself. Anyway, a guy (Shin) shows up and kisses you. So...your boyfriend? You have no idea. He takes you home, is a bit brusque, but overall seems mostly okay. He comes back again the next day and says some things and then confronts you about your memory loss as he was testing you and figured it out. You confide in him and get your first memory back (about him apologising to your dad at the hospital and saying everything was his fault). 

Anyway, it goes on in this vein as he takes you around to places, hoping to jog your memory and you also start working again at a maid cafe. According to him, the two of you are childhood friends and have been dating for just three months. He blames himself for the accident that injured you (and which is why he thinks you lost your memory...maybe). Then you start to discover some more...namely, that the accident was you falling off a cliff (WTF) and some people suspect Shin pushed you or had something to do with it. Someone else mentions a possible love triangle between you and Shin and Toma, another childhood friend that you also work with. But Toma is also insisting that Shin is a good guy and there's no truth to that. And there's stuff about Shin's dad killing someone?

Toma, incidentally, I'm pretty sure was the guy in the previous route that we tried and bailed on as he seemed dodgy as all hell. 

So, I know that the MC has a month to figure things out and I'm, like, 6 or 7 days in. I am liking this route more than that first one I tried. BUT given the setup, I...well...how do you trust any of these guys? It all seems so very, very suspicious. Which makes it hard for me to imagine romantic entanglements. Part of that is likely also because there really aren't very many choices that the MC makes. She's very voiceless. And the choices don't really...eh...show much personality? I mean, yes, she's got amnesia. So it really feels like she ought to be a tad bit more proactive, yes? Like, literally, the other characters ask her questions and there's no opportunity for a response at all. She just...stands there. Silent.

Though I do have to say that I am overall liking Shin much more than Toma. It's been a couple of years so I don't even remember why, but I just remember being like OH NO THIS GUY IS GOING TO KILL YOU YOU SHOULD RUN. 

The whole parallel worlds thing is odd too -- she's already regained one memory that everyone is telling her is wrong (she recalls Shin finding her first and everyone, including Shin, says it was some guys called Kent and Ikki). So...does that mean this is not her world? What does that mean for whatever final ending you wind up in? Is this one of the games where you have to go through every route and unlock some "real" ending? I guess we'll see. 

On the art, it's good (which it should be, considering who developed it), though there are some odd bits with the sprites like when Toma raises his arm and it's a bit wonky looking. The backgrounds are very low key and a bit undeveloped, but it kind of fits with the story and the MC's condition.