The past comes roaring back with Midboss and Chorus Worldwide’s Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER, a cyberpunk thriller that has players entering one’s memories. Should players “dive” into this visual novel (sorry, too easy)?
Plucky young Esper ES88 possesses quite the skill – with her handy squid-like Neurodiver, she has the ability to enter one’s memories. This is more than just a simple party trick; she can use it to clear out brain fog, uncover repressed thoughts, and even alter the way one thinks.
There’s just one problem – a rogue Esper known as the Golden Butterfly is using these abilities for mischief throughout the greater Neo-SF Bay Area. With GATE, TRACE, FORTUNA, and the greater power of the MINERVA organization at her side, it’s up to players to find the truth.
What follows is a title that prides itself on its immersion. Featuring a world that pulls from both Latin and Japanese influences, NEURODIVER’s fusion of different cultures is a breath of fresh air in the gaming space.
This immersion also applies to its worldbuilding. From bars to cafés to even zoos, each area is given plenty of flair for players to encounter. As locals to the real-life Bay Area, we loved seeing its unique spin on each area.
NEURODIVER gives players the chance to interact with different objects in true point-and-click fashion as they piece different memories together. While there isn’t a terrible amount of depth, finding out what goes where leads to some light puzzle solving that is welcome.
It’s just a shame that NEURODIVER is a short one, spread across five brief chapters and an intro. With each one presented in an anime-style episode format (complete with commercial bumpers), it just doesn’t have enough runtime to flesh things out.
Each chapter does possess its own puzzle and storyline, but it oftentimes feels like they are a bit more standalone chapters. There are a lot of interesting concepts when it comes to protests and previous MINERVA history, but they’re not given too much time to sit before the next major storyline takes shape.
NEURODIVER does provide a fantastic audiovisual presentation for each of its chapters. The sprite work is at the top of its class, the synth channels the best early 90s titles, and the professional voiceover talent really drives things home. We especially loved ES88’s bubbly performance, which is so full of life
Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER provides a fantastic futuristic experience that we were all too eager to dive into. While we would have appreciated more runway with its brief tale, ES88’s hunt for the Golden Butterfly is well worth a trip down memory lane.
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Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER provides a fantastic futuristic experience that we were all too eager to dive into. While we would have appreciated more runway with its brief tale, ES88’s hunt for the Golden Butterfly is well worth a trip down memory lane.
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