Recent reviews by Virescent

This is the only game I play on my phone. I've tried lots of other games but this is the one I keep coming back to. I personally enjoy it and while it's possible to play this game 100% free, it is super heavy p2w which is why I'm hesitant to introduce this game to new players. I recommend playing it casually if you can but stay away if you have an addictive personality.

TL;DR: 4/5. One of the best otome game I've played so far. I highly recommend it!

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Warning: This review may contain spoilers.

In Amnesia: Memories, you first open your eyes to a vast empty space which - you soon learn - is the gateway to many parallel realities. You then meet a spirit (Orion) who basically tells you that he's stuck inside your consciousness; his collision being the cause of your memory loss. The first major choice you make in the game is to pick which reality/world you came from: Heart, Spade, Clover or Diamond, i.e. according to the motifs associated with each of your love interests. There's also an unlockable world (Joker) you can only get after achieving good endings in the other realities.

Story: (5/5)
Unlike many other visual novels in which you gradually form a relationship with your chosen love interest, I find it refreshing that in Amnesia: Memories you're already in one at the very start. The five routes (worlds) have a similar theme of you having some sort of relationship issues (plus the memory loss), but the plot in each is very different - giving the game a high replay value. Some of the minor characters even have completely different personalities: most notably, Waka, the manager of café you work at. Each route took me about 5-7 hours to complete and the game, around 30 hours.

While there are some internal monologues at the end of each route, you are entirely silent unless making a choice. Because of this, I feel that it is easy to get immersed in the story. It's like you're holding a conversation (although one-sided) with Orion throughout the game. Don't worry though, he knows when to make himself scarce during the more romantic scenes.

The story itself is lighthearted at the beginning, but around the halfway mark it becomes more suspenseful, tragic and even creepy in some storylines; Toma's (Diamond) route in particular (and Ikki's fangirls). The whole incident where he drugs you and put you in a cage made me very uncomfortable; and the fact that we're (as the main character) expected to just forgive him to get the good ending left me really baffled. Other than that, I truly enjoyed the other routes with Kent's (Clover) and Ukyo's (Joker) being the stand out. At least Kent's route provides some reprieve from the craziness of Ikki's fanclub. And Ukyo...I can probably write an essay on how I feel about his story but I'll just say it's worth experiencing for yourself.

There are also a few things I feel that aren't as clearly explained (e.g. the wishes, Lord Nhil and the world Orion came from) but overall it's very well-written with only a few, minor typos. I also want to mention the various instances where characters tease you with obscure(?) hints (spoilers really) of what can happen to you in the other routes. I find these very amusing especially if you only realize it after playing a few times.

Gameplay: (3/5)
The game plays like a basic VN with dialogue branches and unlockable CGs. There are unfortunately only 24 save slots in the game. I would've much preferred to keep all my saves instead of having to overwrite each time I start on a new route. If there is a way to watch the complete ending scenes again, I wouldn't mind as much. But since there's not, I think the game could do with unlimited save slots.

The game provides you with a 'Parameter' system (shown on the 3rd screenshot) to check the status of your relationship and maybe which ending you get in the end(?), but I think it is a bit unnecessary. The 'Suspicion' meter, in particular, maxes out at some point in the story no matter what you do anyway.

The 2 mini games available are simple, short and somewhat enjoyable. What I do appreciate about the Rock-Paper-Scissors mini game is the Hit 'N' Guard mechanic that ensures it relies less on luck and more on your reflexes. It does make the mini game way easier however.

There are also a few extra content unlocked after finishing the game including short stories told from the perspective of the love interests that I find interesting. I recommend reading at least Ukyo's.

Controls: (3/5)
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the keyboard (and gamepad?) controls are re-bindable. Although I don't think I would ever need to re-bind anything for this particular game, I do appreciate the devs putting that feature in regardless. I do wish there was an option to skip the story after picking a choice, but other than that, I have nothing bad to say about the options menu.

Graphics: (5/5)
Practically every character in the game is gorgeously designed, and every voiced dialogue is accompanied by effective use of expressions and eye blinking. The stylized backdrops with little tints of color suit the game in my opinion and makes it look very surreal/dream-like in its simplicity. A close-up of the curtains at the Shinano mountain lodge in a few conversations, however, looked very messy and amateurish but that's just me nitpicking.

Sound: (4/5)
The voice acting for all the characters are done very professionally by accomplished voice actors. There are no English voices but the high quality of the Japanese voices more than makes up for it. The lip syncing is just okay; it's a bit distracting when their mouths move even when they're not actually saying anything. Tracks used for the background music are generally soft and tranquil but slightly repetitive. I can listen to the opening song all day though and to a lesser extent, the ending song as well.

Conclusion:
A must try for fans of the genre. I can't say if it's worth it for $30 since I bought it on sale. But for $3, I would definitely recommend buying it.

I like the art but that's probably all I like about this game. It's too repetitive and super imbalanced. There's just too much pointless clicking going from one town to another with almost no possibility of making any profit. I also can't seem to unlock certain achievements due to bugs in the game.

Cringeworthy story and voice acting. The ending was abrupt and cliche. Some of the hidden object scenes were also frustrating to deal with & I had to rely on the hint system to find some items due to the objects being too small and blurry.