Memoranda Review (Nintendo Switch)

Review code used, with many thanks to CarbonFire Studio!

Story and Characters

*I really appreciate you smoking in my apartment when I just want to sleep, honest…*

Memoranda takes place in a quaint seaside town with no name, occupied by a whole host of quirky individuals. It’s a town where the normal rules of logic don’t apply, where it’s completely normal to meet humanimals – people who are transitioning between a human and an animal, or vice versa – and people who are utterly obsessed with the most mundane of things, such as making spaghetti.

One occupant of this bizarre place is Mizuki, a young woman with a rather nasty case of insomnia thanks to the persistent dogging of a peculiar and primarily invisible old sailor. One day, out of the blue, she starts having trouble remembering her name. This leads to the most unusual and illogical sequence of events I’ve ever seen in a game, from helping a wheelchair-bound man escape his restrictive mother to helping the florist worm out of a holiday she doesn’t want to go on.

The overall tone of Memoranda is definitely melancholic, and a little dark, with references to topics such as suicide and depression sprinkled liberally throughout the various stories. The game is best described as short and bittersweet, as while charming it generated a sense of unease that left me with a furrowed brow by the time I was done.

Gameplay

*Please say I’m not the only one who thinks that’s creepy!*

Memoranda is a very well-executed point-and-click game. Both touch and button controls feel nice and fluid, with very short transition times and some helpful little QoL features such as an objective highlighter. Navigational points can be double-tapped for instant transition even if you’re on the opposite side of the screen, and are indicated by a green icon when using the highlighter so it’s hard to get lost.

Puzzles and environmental interactions form a large part of Memoranda. There’s a wide variety, although the actual number of puzzles is relatively small. This is where I take issue with the game. The puzzles are often completely illogical, meaning that they take ages to figure out and you’re left with a sense of frustrated relief at the end rather than satisfaction. They feel more like a poorly-considered add-on to a whimsical and unusual point-and-click novel than a core mechanic in their own right, and I found that quite disappointing.

Graphics, Sound, and Performance

I loved the almost hand-drawn art style of Memoranda. It feels almost like the pages of an old-school fairytale have come to life, embracing the 2D and using to its advantage. The whole game has a gloomy but pretty overtone, from the sweet but run-down buildings to the peaceful yet unsettling fields, giving the entire experience a paradoxical sense of being cheerful but sad.

The sound design throughout the entire of Memoranda was subtle, with small delicate sounds providing a backdrop as opposed to some epic score. I have to admit though, it worked extremely well with the melancholic vibe the graphics and story set up, rounding out the experience without ruining the delicate balance the rest of the game struck.

The game presented itself very well in both docked and handheld modes, with no noticeable performance issues. Plus, in handheld the text was easier to see than I’m used to, which is a lovely thing!

Difficulty

Memoranda was hard. Unfortunately, this wasn’t due to a genuine level of challenge to puzzles, but rather the utterly illogical nature of many of them. I spent a long time staring at one particular puzzle, in which the hints appeared to contradict each other slightly, only for my partner to lean over and say “It sounds silly, but have you tried…” Lo and behold, it worked. I suspect that some people will have no problem allowing for the illogical nature of the puzzles, and may even find it enjoyable, but personally it was just frustrating. I enjoy being able to sit and figure out a puzzle in a sensible way, rather than being faced with an obscure and bizarre solution.

Conclusion

I wanted to love Memoranda. It comes across as a quirky, slightly dark, and fun little point-and-click game. While the story was a little strange, it was also fun and interesting without being too long. The graphics and sound design were spot-on for the tone of the game, instilling a subtle sense of unease all the way through. Unfortunately, the obscure nature of the puzzle solutions lowered my enjoyment a lot. They were just too bizarre, and as a lover of logic puzzles this went completely against what I enjoy in a puzzle.

All in all, a nice little experience, but expect to be scratching your head more often than not!

Final Verdict: I like It