Memories Off 2nd

So after finishing Memories Off last year, I went and finished the sequel Memories Off 2nd in less than a year, which is good considering the series has been revived and another game is on the way. At this rate, I might be able to get caught up on the series in... 2026?

Oh boy, that's a lot of girls, I hope I can keep up.

2nd is a sequel to the first game in a way that I have a feeling is going to be a signature feature of the series going forward. The 2nd game has almost nothing to do with the previous game so you don't need to play it in order. However, it does take place after the events of the first and only a few train stations away geographically. There's also one character from the first game and Tomoya is now a dog (lol not really). It also tried to maintain the whole rain theme from the first game in one ending though it felt kind of forced.

This game has the usual diverse cast of girls to choose from though this time around, there's a slight, super minor, teeny weensy problem. You start the game with one girl already chosen for you so to speak. In other words, you start the game with a girlfriend, you lucky dog you. And no, she doesn't die nor is there anything wrong with her except maybe her awful taste in men. So yeaaaaaah, you're going to have to be an asshole to get all those other women.

Yup, you're going to have to be an asshole in this game

As usual, this game maintains the series standard as being perhaps the most pure and orthodox model of a traditional galge. Once again, there is almost no fan service and many of the girls have some sort of backstory with quite a bit of drama. There's also many awkward or emotional scenes, particularly when your girlfriend reacts in almost every conceivable way as you break her heart in like 11 out of the 12 possible endings: denial, anger, disappointment, sorrow. I mean, it got kind of ridiculous, seriously, around the 4th or 5th time. If you consider that the list of possible options to cheat with include her best friend and her older sister, it's like JESUS. You are SUCH an ASSHOLE.

Aww so cute. Ok, time to break up this family! #homewrecker

Fortunately, as the After Story bonus scenario shows, the true ending is supposedly sticking with your original girl after all. Kind of boring but of course not unexpected. The PSN 100 yen sale version I played includes Pure Story as well. It was kind of weird that they decided to voice the main character in Pure Story as it kind of broke the immersion. Also, Hotaru sounds very different maybe because the VA is older? Ah, the ravages of time. Oh wait, a Japanese woman, never mind. #loli4life

Hot dayum, she's almost 40 now?

Score: 3 pretty good breaking up with your girlfriend simulator out of 5 (39 hours to complete)

I actually found out while digging into the inner recesses of the Closet of Shame™ that I already had bought a copy of Memories Off Duet at some point which means I own a physical copy of both this game and the first Memories Off. Umm, did I mention I only paid 100 yen for the PSP digital licenses on a PSN sale? C'mon, it's so cheap! SALE!! BARGAIN PRICES!!!

Welp, there goes another 40 hours of my life, down the drain

Given the ever shrinking space left for shit, I probably really should get rid of my PS2 copy but I dunno. I liked the first two Memories Off games enough to want to keep them, which is really perhaps the biggest endorsement I can give for a game. Not the best game but it's definitely good ol' traditional stuff.

Minor potential spoiler warning. Stop reading here if you care.





I do have to rage a bit here on one of the endings which made absolutely no sense at all. I can't talk about it too much cause potential spoiler but how the fuck do you just slap two Kanji characters together and make 2 people into one? Oooh, this is a Uchikoshi scenario. Never 7 reference eh? HA! Feel free to discuss in the comments if you played this game (crickets)...

Ahhh, kyurei syndrome eh? You clever you #spoilers

Scale
0 - Awful
1 - Bad and not worth your time
2 - Has some flaws but still enjoyable
3 - An average enjoyable experience
4 - A great game
5 - Masterpiece of a caliber only found very rarely