Overview: A point and click adventure which contains two related stories separated by hundred of years. In the present, a bird-catcher named Geron is trying to change his girlfriend Nuri back to her old self - she is currently a raven. In the past, a princess named Sadja wants to be a war hero in order to have her name remembered. The game is a direct sequel to Chains of Satinav.
20190814:
I only paid a dollar for the Humble Daedalic Bundle 2018, and in order to break even on my purchase, it was enough to play one of the four games I acquired in the bundle (Memoria, Caravan, Deponia: The Complete Journey, Anna's Quest). Among the choices, I decided to play Memoria.
Setup: At first I tried playing full screen, but I later played the game in window mode (I was under the impression I would encounter less bugs).
Gameplay Log:
Game crashed at "intro" (12 minutes total game time)
The game appears to have autosaved at before the first puzzle (prior to entering the tent).
Press escape to skip the cutscene. Game crashed again.
Steam thread: Game Crashes after "intro"
Changed executable to run as administrator:
Spammed Esc key during opening.
Went into Options Menu to fix the sound; for some reason the volumes on all the sound settings were at zero.
Streamlabs OBS was also no longer able to capture the game. Restarted.
Game kind of freezes/lags. Result is I can't pick up the dagger while in the tomb. This is after retrieving the staff. (71 minutes total game time)
Stuck at escaping the tomb. Looked up info at 102 minutes total game time: "Use the deactivation spell with one of the tomb lamp. Use the sticky dagger with the sliver of light. Look through it."*
Stuck at needing to distract Bryda. I think I distracted the girl but the game state changed and got stuck. At 2.2 hours total game time, looked up info: "Ask Nuri (you have her in the inventory) to hide behind the pillar and talk with the magician."*
: Ugh. When I tried to use Nuri she complained about not being able to fly.
Stopped looking for the pieces Bryda needs. She gave a list of three things: drawing, trap, and power accumulator. I have a drawing and the power accumulator. I found two glass shards and I'm not sure how many more there are. I forgot to use the lens in the academy. (3.4 hours total game time)
Steam Game Time: 3.4 hours (total game time)
*Memoria Game Guide by Game Pressure
20190815:
Gameplay Log:
Stuck at Rachwan's necklace. Looked up info at 4.5 hours total game time: Pick up a stone and use it with the small waterfall.*
: Oh. I didn't see the hotspot for the small waterfall. I think the hotspot should have been higher.
Chapter III complete (5.3 hours total game time) Took a break
I learned that the game is a sequel to Chains of Satinav.
After the dream of Sadja, a bunch of dialogue got skipped when encountering the "demon." Had to find a YouTube video to easily see the missed dialogue.
Chapter IV complete (6.1 hours total game time)
Had to pause. Accidentally left game on. Game was idle for about 2.3 hours. (9.8 hours total game time / 2.3 hours total idle time)
Chapter V complete (10.4 hours total game time)
Chapter VI complete (10.9 hours total game time)
Stuck at floating crystals (versus tentacles). Looked up info at 11.9 hours total game time: "Use the ornamental head with the crystal [in Tower II]"*
: This must be by far the most uninspired solution in this game. Felt utterly stupid. No reason behind it. Especially annoying since the character is always saying she hates guesswork.
Oh my goodness. These floating crystals continue with stupid solutions: use of the belt felt unsatisfying
Chapter VII complete (12.9 hours total game time)
Chapter VIII complete (13.4 hours total game time)
Tried to get various achievements by loading various save files. (14.4 hours total game time)
Steam Game Time: 14.4 hours (total game time)
*Memoria Game Guide by Game Pressure
20190816:
Having finished the game yesterday, I continued playing the game and going for the last of the achievements.
Gameplay Log:
More achievement hunting.
Took some time to map out the forest for fun (part of the time was for an achievement).
Gave up on Sadist achievement: "As Geron in the Bodiak's house touch the petrified Owlric. Use the repair spell with the Owlric and then touch him again. Do this ten times."*
: Apparently I was one short of ten. Hmm. Not sure how I feel about this achievement.
For the last achievement I needed (Caverns of Fail), the in-game achievements list informs that it occurs before the end of Chapter V and likely after the collection of elementals. Whether accidentally or intentionally, I ended up learning the solution from the walkthrough: You need to move cursor on the left rock (there is no hotspot).*
: I'm not sure how I feel about the solution not having a hotspot.
Steam Game Time: 16.8 hours (total game time)
*Memoria Game Guide by Game Pressure
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Excellent story (a little rough around the edges)
+ Beautifully drawn with attention to detail.
Neutral:
~ An annoying thing about puzzle games is that it's hard to tell whether or not a puzzle is poorly designed or if I, the player, missed something right in front of me. While playing this game, I didn't care and I just looked up the solution if I was stuck on a puzzle for too long.
Cons:
- Has game breaking bugs and minor bugs. In general, save often and worst-case scenario use a save file from the Daedalic support page.
- Sometimes the characters are given an animation which doesn't match the situation.
Summary:
For the most part, I enjoyed Memoria. My effort to finish the game is a partial indication of this. However, the game was not without its flaws. There were bugs along the way and some of the puzzles just didn't make any sense, especially towards the end. With that being said, I've learned to not linger on such puzzles and I'm no longer hesitant about looking up solutions to difficult puzzles in point-and-click adventure games. That is, when in doubt, I assume the puzzle is poorly designed and I'm fine with learning it could have been a mistake on my part.
Overall, I would highly recommend the game, although I did learn that technically it's a direct sequel to the point-and-click adventured titled Chains of Satinav. I've read it's not important to play the first game, but I did get the feeling that small parts of this game would have made more sense having played it.
Memoria (PC) (2013)
Relevant Links:
The Dark Eye: Memoria (Wikipedia.org)
Memoria (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Memoria (Steam Store Page)
Memoria Save Games (DaedalicSupport.com)
20190814:
I only paid a dollar for the Humble Daedalic Bundle 2018, and in order to break even on my purchase, it was enough to play one of the four games I acquired in the bundle (Memoria, Caravan, Deponia: The Complete Journey, Anna's Quest). Among the choices, I decided to play Memoria.
 |
| Sadja is stuck in a tomb. |
Setup: At first I tried playing full screen, but I later played the game in window mode (I was under the impression I would encounter less bugs).
Gameplay Log:
Game crashed at "intro" (12 minutes total game time)
The game appears to have autosaved at before the first puzzle (prior to entering the tent).
Press escape to skip the cutscene. Game crashed again.
Steam thread: Game Crashes after "intro"
Changed executable to run as administrator:
Right click on executable and go to Properties.
Click the Compatibility tab.
Check the Run this program as an administrator box.
Click Apply.
 |
| Geron in his home with Nuri, a fairy stuck in the form of a raven. |
Spammed Esc key during opening.
Went into Options Menu to fix the sound; for some reason the volumes on all the sound settings were at zero.
Streamlabs OBS was also no longer able to capture the game. Restarted.
Game kind of freezes/lags. Result is I can't pick up the dagger while in the tomb. This is after retrieving the staff. (71 minutes total game time)
Stuck at escaping the tomb. Looked up info at 102 minutes total game time: "Use the deactivation spell with one of the tomb lamp. Use the sticky dagger with the sliver of light. Look through it."*
Stuck at needing to distract Bryda. I think I distracted the girl but the game state changed and got stuck. At 2.2 hours total game time, looked up info: "Ask Nuri (you have her in the inventory) to hide behind the pillar and talk with the magician."*
: Ugh. When I tried to use Nuri she complained about not being able to fly.
Stopped looking for the pieces Bryda needs. She gave a list of three things: drawing, trap, and power accumulator. I have a drawing and the power accumulator. I found two glass shards and I'm not sure how many more there are. I forgot to use the lens in the academy. (3.4 hours total game time)
Steam Game Time: 3.4 hours (total game time)
 |
| Sadja, forced to fend for herself, attempts to catch a rabbit. |
*Memoria Game Guide by Game Pressure
20190815:
Gameplay Log:
Stuck at Rachwan's necklace. Looked up info at 4.5 hours total game time: Pick up a stone and use it with the small waterfall.*
: Oh. I didn't see the hotspot for the small waterfall. I think the hotspot should have been higher.
Chapter III complete (5.3 hours total game time) Took a break
I learned that the game is a sequel to Chains of Satinav.
After the dream of Sadja, a bunch of dialogue got skipped when encountering the "demon." Had to find a YouTube video to easily see the missed dialogue.
Chapter IV complete (6.1 hours total game time)
Had to pause. Accidentally left game on. Game was idle for about 2.3 hours. (9.8 hours total game time / 2.3 hours total idle time)
Chapter V complete (10.4 hours total game time)
Chapter VI complete (10.9 hours total game time)
 |
| Nuri flies in through the window to look for a way in for Geron. |
Stuck at floating crystals (versus tentacles). Looked up info at 11.9 hours total game time: "Use the ornamental head with the crystal [in Tower II]"*
: This must be by far the most uninspired solution in this game. Felt utterly stupid. No reason behind it. Especially annoying since the character is always saying she hates guesswork.
Oh my goodness. These floating crystals continue with stupid solutions: use of the belt felt unsatisfying
Chapter VII complete (12.9 hours total game time)
Chapter VIII complete (13.4 hours total game time)
Tried to get various achievements by loading various save files. (14.4 hours total game time)
Steam Game Time: 14.4 hours (total game time)
*Memoria Game Guide by Game Pressure
20190816:
Having finished the game yesterday, I continued playing the game and going for the last of the achievements.
 |
| Sadja in one of three chambers which will unlock the |
Gameplay Log:
More achievement hunting.
Took some time to map out the forest for fun (part of the time was for an achievement).
Gave up on Sadist achievement: "As Geron in the Bodiak's house touch the petrified Owlric. Use the repair spell with the Owlric and then touch him again. Do this ten times."*
: Apparently I was one short of ten. Hmm. Not sure how I feel about this achievement.
For the last achievement I needed (Caverns of Fail), the in-game achievements list informs that it occurs before the end of Chapter V and likely after the collection of elementals. Whether accidentally or intentionally, I ended up learning the solution from the walkthrough: You need to move cursor on the left rock (there is no hotspot).*
: I'm not sure how I feel about the solution not having a hotspot.
Steam Game Time: 16.8 hours (total game time)
*Memoria Game Guide by Game Pressure
 |
| Geron and Nuri at the Waterfall. |
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Excellent story (a little rough around the edges)
+ Beautifully drawn with attention to detail.
Neutral:
~ An annoying thing about puzzle games is that it's hard to tell whether or not a puzzle is poorly designed or if I, the player, missed something right in front of me. While playing this game, I didn't care and I just looked up the solution if I was stuck on a puzzle for too long.
Cons:
- Has game breaking bugs and minor bugs. In general, save often and worst-case scenario use a save file from the Daedalic support page.
- Sometimes the characters are given an animation which doesn't match the situation.
 |
| Sadja tries to find her way through the forest. She (the player) leaves berries on the floor to prevent getting lost. |
Summary:
For the most part, I enjoyed Memoria. My effort to finish the game is a partial indication of this. However, the game was not without its flaws. There were bugs along the way and some of the puzzles just didn't make any sense, especially towards the end. With that being said, I've learned to not linger on such puzzles and I'm no longer hesitant about looking up solutions to difficult puzzles in point-and-click adventure games. That is, when in doubt, I assume the puzzle is poorly designed and I'm fine with learning it could have been a mistake on my part.
Overall, I would highly recommend the game, although I did learn that technically it's a direct sequel to the point-and-click adventured titled Chains of Satinav. I've read it's not important to play the first game, but I did get the feeling that small parts of this game would have made more sense having played it.
Memoria (PC) (2013)
Relevant Links:
The Dark Eye: Memoria (Wikipedia.org)
Memoria (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Memoria (Steam Store Page)
Memoria Save Games (DaedalicSupport.com)
Date/Time
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
@
20:00
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