Remember Me (PC) (2013)

Overview: In a future where memories are assets, the player takes control of Nilin, a memory hunter who was taken captive and had her memories erased.

Nilin

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20170924:
Two games ago (Tiny Barbarian DX), I noted that the remaining $29.99 retail-valued games I had yet to play (see footnote) were either unappealing or seemed to require a sufficient amount of time. Remember Me most certainly fell into the later category. As such, instead of watching a movie today, I decided to allocate time towards playing Remember Me.*

Setup: Bumped up various video settings. Errorist (normal difficulty).

Using S-Pressen.

Gameplay Log:
I played for 47 minutes before getting a phone call, during which time the game ran for 10 minutes before I decided to close it (and hope that not too much progress was lost). Fortunately, when I loaded the game back up, it started from a decently recent checkpoint.
I completed the third level, "Episode 2: Microwave".

Steam Game Time: 2.4 hours minus 10 minutes; (47 and 87 minutes)

*Intuitively, I felt I would enjoy Styx: Master of Shadows more than Remember Me, and hence would require more time, and so I decided to play Remember Me over Styx.

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Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Good story
+ Nice graphics; beautifully crafted world/scenery

Combo Lab

+ Attractive female protagonist
+ Interesting battle mechanism
+ Small details that help add to the action.

Neutral:
~ Quick time events; what do these symbols mean?*
~ Battle animation looks nice, but repetitive and a closer inspection shows strange clipping and/or contact issues.

Minor Con:
- Battle mechanism does evolve, but just a little slower than optimal.

Cons:
- Implements climbing mechanism but, in contrast to Prince of Persia (2008) or Assassin's Creed (2008), it feels superficial; in particular, there's generally an indicator that points out where Nilin is suppose to go
- There should have been one or two more combos added early on to keep the game fresh

Kid Xmas

*The symbols are listed in the controls page: Punch (fist), Kick, Dodge (clock-wise arrow).

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Summary:
I had fun playing Remember Me, but I reached a point in the game where it began to feel repetitive and providing diminishing returns. While I might consider playing more of the game in the future, the more likely scenario is I just watch a speedrun of the game on YouTube.

I'd say it's unfortunate, because the game did a lot of things right, but failed to push a lot of gameplay elements to their potential. In particular, the fighting mechanics could have benefited thematically by incorporating some sort of memory attack.

Overall, this game fell shy of being a great video game. With that being said, it remains worthy of a recommendation - just keep your expectations low. In other words, you won't find the game as polished as Prince of Persia (2008), Assassin's Creed (2008), or Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009).

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Remember Me (PC) (2013)

Hanging next to a Wanted Sign (for Nilin)

Relevant Links:
Remember Me (video game) (Wikipedia.org)
Remember Me (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Remember Me (Steam Store Page)