Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER Review (Xbox One)

STAFF REVIEW of Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER (Xbox One)

Monday, August 26, 2024.
by Adam Dileva

Every so often I need a break from what I would normally play. Generally delving into a lot of shooters, racers, and RPG’s, sometimes I need something slower paced and calmer, almost like a palette cleanser. This is where I find visual novels a great in-between for my gaming, as it lets me relax and not have to think as much or have to rely on quick reflexes.

The one issue I have with a majority of smaller visual novels is that they usually aren’t voiced, so it can be hard to sometimes keep my attention late at night when playing after a long day. Thankfully, this isn’t an issue with Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER, as it’s fully voiced (well, the vast majority of it), and has an interesting story that kept me interested until the credits rolled.

A sequel to 2064: Read Only Memories, NEURODIVER is set in Neo-San Francisco and primarily revolves around a new cast of characters, though fans will surely notice a few familiar faces from the previous game. I was initially concerned that I would be lost having not played the first game, but thankfully developer MidBoss did a great job at making it welcoming to newcomers, as it is its own contained adventure yet some references for previous fans.

In this cyberpunk visual novel set several years after the original game, you play as a young Esper, Luna Cruz, known as ES88. Esper’s are those that have psychic abilities, and she works for MINERVA in a special division. An Esper is able to dive into people’s minds, specifically their memories, and as a new agent, ES88 is excited, yet nervous, for her new career as she gets assigned her first case.

Of course, things don’t go quite as planned, and ES88 is tasked with something a bit more serious, tracking down Golden Butterfly, a rogue psychic who is able to hide inside the memories of others. With the help of your cyborg partner, GATE, you’ll set out to try and find out what Golden Butterfly is, but also how to capture them.

While being an Esper gives you special abilities, you’ll need help. This is where the Neurodiver comes in, a bioengineered creature that greatly boosts an Esper’s ability. Appearing like a large shrimp or prawn, the Neurodiver comes along with ES88 in a container of sorts, attaching to her and her subject that she wants to delve into the memories of. It’s a harmless procedure other than feeling a bit cold, though you sadly never get to see this in action.

Neurodiver hooked me almost from its onset with an interesting narrative. With ES88 helping someone try and recall a memory that seems fuzzy and forgotten, you’ll uncover the truth, showcasing what she’s truly capable of. ES88 is young, naive and not quite sure of herself, but across her journey, she has character growth and becomes much more confident about herself and her abilities. Since the vast majority of the dialogue is voiced wonderfully, it was great to sit back and enjoy the story unfolding before I had to do some detective-like work when inside the memories of others.

When you delve into someone’s memory, they are also conscious of what you’re doing, and you’re able to converse with them as well to get clues or to tell you what they do or don’t remember. These memories might be something as simple as gathering with some colleagues at a bar, chatting with zoo goers, or trying to solve something mysterious on a moving train. The environments are varied and done quite well in its pixel art.

When you’re inside someone’s mind and recollecting their memories, you’ll sometimes come across what looks to be glitches. These are the portions of the memory that your subject can’t quite remember for some reason. As you explore and click around the environments, you’ll come across clues that will help you piece together what happened. This simplistic puzzle has you matching one, two, or three clues to match their story, and when you combine the right objects, the glitched memory is fixed and then you can see what happened. Most puzzles are quite easy, though one or two will require a small bit of pixel hunting, as there’s no way to highlight all the interactable objects in a scene. It appears Golden Butterfly is the one causing these memory glitches, but why? Even with these puzzles, it’s a linear story and quite short, with my first playthrough being about four hours or so.

Many visual novels I’ve played have been hand drawn, but with Neurodiver, it’s all a pixel art aesthetic. It’s done quite well, as the environments are varied, bright and colorful, yet has just enough detail that you can tell what objects are supposed to be. It may not be quite what you think when you imagine a cyberpunk narrative, but it fits the setting well.

The real accomplishment though is the wonderful voice acting across the board. Daisy Guevara as ES88 and Amber Lee Connors as GATE get the most attention with the most dialogue, but the voice over quality across the board is done wonderfully, each with their own quirks and personalities that shine through. The vast majority of dialogue and object clicks are voiced, but it’s odd that some seemed to have been missed or skipped for some reason. Ken "coda" Snyder also composes a great synth soundtrack that’s upbeat and lifting, and also more mysterious and fast paced when story demands.

Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER starts out strong with an interesting cyberpunk narrative that had me intrigued with its cast of unique characters, but with a short runtime of around four to five hours, the final chapter seemed quite rushed and made the ending feel unsatisfying since it was just starting to get good. Even so, Neurodiver was still a psy-fi adventure I’m glad I was a part of, even if it didn’t quite and as strong as it began.

**Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER was provided by the publisher and reviewed on an Xbox Series X**

Overall: 8.2 / 10
Gameplay: 7.0 / 10
Visuals: 8.0 / 10
Sound: 9.5 / 10

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STAFF REVIEW of Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER (Xbox One)

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