Good, casual, short game with excellent lore and story.

Alright. Some Distant Memory is done and dusted. This is a mostly straightforward walking simulator with a bit of backtracking to gather information, which unlocks the next parts of the story. And story is really what this game emphasizes. As is mentioned on the product page, this is a post apocalypse setting. Due to the excesses of billionaire corporations, trash and contaminates being dumped into the oceans basically formed a type of algae which consumes oxygen and releases a toxic and corrosive gas. As it spread, its effects were mostly twofold. First, it began to make the air unbreathable. Second, it began to cause earthquakes as it started to also spread across the land. This does feel pretty realistic as far as the callousness of corporations and the effects of greed go. We more or less see our real life world entering the beginning stages of a catastrophic point of no return that people will ignore right up until it kills them. Flash forward three hundred years in game and surviving humans are desperately trying to survive in the wasteland created by corporate greed. Resources are scarce and things are starting to break down to the point of no return.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3246217999

Anyway, with that bit of happiness out of the way lol, you play as a scientist who has been tasked with guiding an AI the surviving humans of her community have been using to try and find a now mythical place where there is oxygen and no traces of The Bloom (the name given to the algae), which destroys anything it comes into contact with outside of what are essentially super shelters, and which now takes the form of storms. You and your C.O., along with the AI, are searching for this mythical place when you fall into a sinkhole and land in what is potentially said mythical place. Your C.O. on the other hand is stuck on the surface just ahead of an incoming Bloom storm. You will have to explore this underworld setting in hopes of finding mankind's salvation, with your AI while communicating with your C.O. and trying to make it back to the surface so you can all try to get back to the safe confines of your home(s).

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3246585154

The lore created for this three hundred year wasteland was quite impressive, and a couple reveals were lightbulb moments that tied things together. The writing was quite well done and the characters past and present were nicely developed. The AI was also a protagonist and was very interesting and well thought out. Ultimately this is a story of how human relationships can get people through even the most trying circumstances and give people the motivation to try and continue moving forward even as they honor the past. Although it also shows how information degrades over time, truth becomes legend, and things can get a bit a skewed.

Graphically, this game sort of has some qualities reminiscent of games like Darkest Dungeon, but absent the horror and far more cartoonish. Very cool looking, and quite the departure from how most walking simulators present things.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3246218035

I thought this was an engaging game that held my interest throughout. Took just over two hours to complete, which was ideal. I think the retail asking price might be a bit high, but I bought this for $1.29 not too long ago, and that feels like a steal for a game of this quality. So, I definitely recommend this, but I also think you'll see it on sale again, and that will be the perfect time to dive into this.

Some Distant Memory is a post-apocalyptic exploration game where you play as a archaeologist who fell into a centuries-old house, and she tries to learn more about the humans who lived there with the help of a memory-recreating AI. It's not really a puzzle game, your objective is just to examine objects and recreate memories. Atmosphere may be a bit unsettling, but it's not a horror game. It's more like a walking sim but plays sorta like a point-and-click game.

Length-wise it's pretty short, can be finished in 2 hours. However at its discounted price it's very worth it, personally I love the atmosphere, cute artwork, and bittersweet story. My only complaint is the lack of voice acting and achievements, but again if poorly done it's better to do without them. If you like post-apocalyptic exploration games you might enjoy this title, be warned though there's gonna be plenty of reading!

Amazing game! At first, you get used to roaming around the house searching for a way out and more about the story, but eventually you feel like part of that story. The game creates a connection between Zay, Ti, ARORA and the Barons (and Mira), but it also creates a connection with the player.
It was an incredible journey, albeit sad some times when you realize what happened (like when you see the urns and Zay, Ti and ARORA don't know what it is) and also when you can relate. Our world is heading to a possibly terrible future like the one they were living in. And to think that so much could've been done to avoid it.
In any case, it was an amazing experience. The art style is beautiful, the colors seem to follow the feelings. Comforting when the scene is fun or lovely, blue-ish and cold when it's sad. The soundtrack is even more incredible, love that composer. Every game he composes the song seems to be incredibly good!

Recommend this game to all those who enjoy reading and exploring. You're not going to be disappointed! ;]

It was just recently that I discovered this game through the activity of others buying it on steam. It looks intriguing, has a nice style, it seems polished even for the normal price of €10 and it’s 90% off. It was an easy buy. I’ve already completed it 100% after 3.5 hours. While I don’t regret getting it, I feel mixed about the package. All that I noticed still holds true but there is more behind the surface.

The gameplay is mostly going from room to room, find & examine notes, read them and create a memory out of them after you’ve found enough. You get to learn about a family from 300 years ago. It might help with saving humanity after a big collapse that wiped out most humans. Exploring rooms is similar to classic Resident Evil, only without the puzzles and fighting. You can find the notes on your own but you can also use the scanner that shows everything you can interact with, similar to how it works with The Thaumaturge (based on the demo I’ve tried of it). The map shows you whether you’ve read all the memories in each room and the collectibles you’re missing. There are also some very rare points where you can pick up items you need to reach new rooms but this is very automated. Sometimes you can’t pick up the items until the game tells you and shows you where they are in the map. Even when you get a code to unlock a door you don’t input the code yourself. Most of the game is lots and lots of reading. It’s not a novel but it’s still a lot. Exploring rooms and going to the next rooms offers a tiny bit of break in between.

As mentioned, the game has a great style, performance is fine, there is good attention to detail with objects and text, it sounds good whenever there is music (it happens in rare instances), I haven’t experienced any bugs, the game auto saves whenever you enter a room and you can always save manually. The writing is pretty decent and I was interested to know more about the family. The controls are fine whether it’s with mouse and keyboard or controller. I appreciate the quality of life options such as showing you the total collectibles on the map and which rooms you’ve seen the memories of. All in all, it’s a relaxing game that won’t frustrate you in any way.

That said, I would have liked a bit more gameplay. Some puzzles would have added a lot to the game and it would have been fitting too. Then there is the fact that there are no achievements. I prefer no achievements instead of having annoying achievements that ruin games but they can be motivating when they’re done right. I could have easily seen achievements related to the story, certain optional interactions and all the collectibles found etc getting added. And lastly, I’m not sold on some of the characters/interactions. There are 4 female and 3 male characters for the most part. Somehow, all the female characters are brilliant with their work, they’re obsessed with it and they’re often the boss in the relationship. There are multiple notes detailing their accomplishments and what they do for a living. The male characters on the other hand care more about the sentimental things, love is a higher priority to them, they often have more supportive roles and you don’t know much about their careers (one of them or their company is hinted at being involved with the collapse). There are certain dialogues that double down on the things I mentioned. If only 1 or 2 female characters were obsessed with work and same with 1 male character, then it would have been easier to accept. But the game is so one sided and unbalanced, that it affects the believability of the story. It’s a big deal when it’s the game’s focus.

I’ve been hesitating on whether to give this a positive or negative because of the characters. I went with positive in the end because the story is still interesting and it becomes less obnoxious near the end. The ending was satisfying and emotional. The game could have been better with more gameplay and achievements but what’s there is good enough if you enjoy reading. Give it a try if you’re willing to play it with the right expectations. The price is very cheap at the moment too, so there isn’t a lot to lose.

Received this from a friend as a gift, and I would VERY Highly recommend this to anyone looking for a super story driven, laid back game to hit you in the feels. I fell in love with all of the characters pretty instantly. The story, the characters all mixed with the post apocalyptic aesthetic and unique art style is a winning combination in my book.

To sum it up:
Short but sweet story driven game with lot of feels and an amazing aesthetic.

Its short, but it tackles some heavy topics about climate change, and nearly made me cry at the end.

And Commander Ti is the best character by far.

A simple yet remarkable story experience that gives all the good feels. The art is really pretty, and the game doesn't drag on longer than it has to. Plus, same dudes who wizarded the gun. I like Wizarded Guns.

The art's nice, it sounds nice, but ultimately it's an extremely short, primarily narrative experience so it'll live or die on its writing. The writing is extremely contrived and insipid. 10 years travelling together looking for this magic sunken city and you don't talk to each other about basic ♥♥♥♥? 300 years after the climate apocalypse the first intact place you manage to find is a house that's magically fallen into a sinkhole with breathable air that happens to have been the home of the one of the guys responsible for the climate disaster AND the genius researcher who created the AI you use? A ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ large language model is going to preserve humanity's history? It's unsurprising that the only bits of culture you're able to interact with are modern art, bad poetry, and a Harry Potter ripoff. Get a better writer, maybe one who's actually experienced any kind of culture that isn't garbage.

Short but sweet, walking simulator-style explore-the-past game.