2064: Read Only Memories

i really wish steam had an option for a neutral rating. the game's not [i]bad[/i]--there's lots of stuff to like about it. the pixel art is done relatively well, the soundtrack is great to listen to, the voice acting is decent, and the game actually has linux support, which is nice when most other devs don't give a shit. on the other hand, the game's writing is rather hamfisted and preachy. it certainly isn't terrible by any means--there are lots of VNs whose shitty writing has made me bury my face in my hands, and this wasn't one of them. still, a lot of the issues here weren't handled with very much tact, and the VN very much wants you to think in a certain way. a lot of the characters in the VN feel like they were added there simply for diversity. the depiction of sympathy seems lowkey transphobic--i'm gonna be real, i don't think it's okay to depict women with beards. it might've been fine to do a decade ago, so i'm not gonna fault them for it, but in an era where we have shit like [i]U.S. v. Skrmetti[/i] and now have to worry about optics, it really isn't a good look. hybrids seem like a really shitty metaphor for the way trans people are treated today, and the game completely ignores the differences between the entirely elective nature of gene therapy and gender dysphoria; people don't kill themselves because they can't be catgirls. while the game presents an alternate point of view in the form of the human revolution, you don't get the chance to seriously engage with their ideas. maybe i simply just don't like the genre of SF, but i would much rather see representations that are genuine, that speak to the struggles that marginalized communities face in the real world. speaking of which, as a south asian myself, i really wasn't a super big fan of majid. he felt more like a token character than an actual member of the south asian diaspora. i don't really know how to put it, but you can kinda tell when stuff like that was written about us and not by us. if the game was released today, it would be called woke. sure, it's progressive, but in a performative way (for christ's sake, the game makes you ask a robot its pronouns). it's the type of neoliberal bullshit that you would see in the mid and late 2010s. and that brings me to what i like about the game--yes, it's inaccurate, yes, it's performative, yes, it's preachy, but it couldn't have been made in 2025. it makes you yearn for the past where games like this with their extreme, weirdly.. privileged descriptions were considered normal. having to join a pronoun circle's marginally better than being called slurs. personally, i would maybe suggest playing the game at least once. it doesn't have much replay value, and i can't really recommend it unless it's on sale or something (hence why i gave the thumbs down rating). i can appreciate the aim of the project, and i like the little bits of culture sprinkled in (gonzo journalism, neuromancer references, etc.). i'm not gonna discuss the fact that AI is panning out differently than how the devs thought it would--after all, the game was written 10 years ago. but regardless, this game's a pass from me. i thought it was interesting, but i certainly wouldn't play it again.

Great game so far. Had a midlife crisis trying to figure out why one of the voice actors sounded familiar. I found out they're the person who criticized Chipper and Sons so harshly that it lead to fnaf being made. That aside though Reading Only Memories is genuinely a fun visual novel and I'm glad I rediscovered this game for I've heard of it back in 2015, but never played it.

Played about 2 hours, love it so far! Good story, retro vibes and the writing is really good. I like the voice acting too

Lovely nostalgia-evoking cyberpunk pixel point & click thriller. The aesthetics still live in my head to this day, it did a fantastic job in 2015 and inspired many game makers.

Never competed it, but it was still fun for at least 10 hrs with some fun writing and whacky characters. I recommend if you like VN or point and click games at all.

can we get hybrids irl please im interested