You and Me and Orion: let's talk about Amnesia: Memories

As I planned out the reviews I had to write for what I played during what I'm calling my 2 months of otoge madness, I kept thinking, wait, wasn't there something I played between Collar x Malice and BUSTAFELLOWS? And as much as I tried to wrack my brain, I couldn't remember it. Several times I had to go back to the list of VNs I played this year to find that the answer was Amnesia. Wow, it's like I have amn—

I wasn't looking forward to playing this, mostly because I always thought it looked bad, but I've heard about it for most of my life and so many people say it's their favorite, so I felt a bit of a sense of obligation to try it out. Gotta read the classics now and then.

The steam version was pretty buggy, which made me regret not pirating it (though since I bought it on sale with steam wallet money that I got from selling game cards, I didn't mind it that much)—the videos wouldn't play, which means I had to drag the files to VLC if I wanted to watch them(it's like demonbane all over again), though not seeing the opening and ending was not such a big problem as when it’d start force-skipping all by itself. Resetting the computer fixed it, but still. Such a pain.

I really didn't like the character designs or art style, though I have to admit I used to drool over outfits exactly like the heroine’s while scrolling fashion blogs on Tumblr back in my middle school days (hell, I still have a beret with rosettes and a top that's exactly like her dress somewhere in my closet). I thought the cut-in sketches and Orion’s silly, simplified expressions looked nicer than the more “polished” CGs and sprites, so maybe it's the rendering that's throwing me off?

Anyway, the story is pretty straightforward: a little spirit bumps into you and ends up taking up the space in your brain where your memories should be, so you two go around trying to get those memories back (without lifting too much suspicion so the heroine doesn't end up in a hospital). Spoiler alert, said spirit (called Orion) was the only thing I enjoyed in this game—as I said back in my 7’scarlet review, referencing The Portopia Serial Murder Case gets you points in my book, and they're so nice and sweet—aah, I want a headmate like this for me too!

I like this thing I like it lots

You pick between 4(+1) worlds, each named after a card suit. Because of the characters’ rather odd fashion sense, plus the suits of cards theme (and Orion), I thought it was going to be some Alice-in-Wonderland-esque fantasy setting, so imagine my surprise (or maybe you could say disappointment) when I started Shin’s route and found myself in modern-day Tokyo…at this point I still thought something along the lines of “oh, the worlds will probably look different based on the suits, only Shin’s will look this boring”, which was a real show of optimism on my part—even more so considering that when I unlocked Joker World I still thought, “ah, finally, this will be the different one”—but no, they all look the same.

I tried going at Shin without a guide at first but he was frankly exhausting to deal with. I felt like I was in some parody about visual novels with how he seemed to be unhappy no matter what I picked. The mystery was kinda interesting, though. I thought every route would be along these “find out who tried to kill you” lines, but it turned out to be an outlier.

Ikki’s design is incredibly ugly (I would say no hate but please.) but he's (thankfully) way less aggravating than Shin. It still wasn't to the level where I could say I liked him or his route, but I did feel a bit sorry for him, which, if it isn't the same as fully like, it's the same as not hate.

By the time I got to Kent’s route, I was asking myself why I was still playing this damn game, but I figured if I could stand two routes, another three wouldn't hurt. Kent is not a bad guy, even if he made me do math puzzles (if a VN is making me do math, it should at least have an h-scene as a reward). I guess I could relate to him a little, even if that didn't translate to enjoyment.

Toma’s route made me remember a thing called “sunk cost fallacy”, and I almost did quit the game here—but it felt stupid to quit so close to the end(clearly I didn't remember the fallacy part), and I was curious about Ukyo, so I forced myself to read on. I think the only reason I managed to finish this game at all was because of Orion. I felt that I could go through anything as long as they were by my side. They were my sole friend in that dark, dark world.

Wise words tragically left unheeded

I’m starting to think that the difference between a good and bad otome game lies in whether I like the guy who locks me up in his basement or not. Anyway, after that harrowing experience, it was finally time for the last route!

I was very curious about what on earth Ukyo’s deal was—I figured it'd have something to do with Orion's god, and I was right. This was the route I enjoyed the most, somehow. Maybe it's because I like time loop stories, maybe it's because I could relate to Ukyo going crazy from going through the plot of Amnesia several times as someone who was also going crazy from doing just that—though it never got to the point where I’d say that I liked him (or the route itself). The ending was pretty cute, though. Goodbye, Orion, I wish we could've played together forever, without those annoying guys to worry about…

Anyways. After you clear each route, you unlock an extra story, which I had kind of forgotten until I was about to uninstall the game. I don't remember anything about any of them, because at that point I felt like I was being forced to work overtime on a Friday.

There was also that thing where you could click certain CGs in the gallery to get extra lines, but I didn't bother past the first few. I think it would've been better if they had made it like in Diabolik Lovers, where you get them as you see the CGs in the story itself (and don't have to click aimlessly several times on each picture)

I have to admit that the minigames were fun, though. At first I couldn't get the hang of the rock-paper-scissors one, but I soon got into the groove. I was always the queen of air hockey though. I wish the computer opponent was a little harder.

More visual novels should have air hockey.

All in all, this was actually a worse experience than I expected, but now I can at least say that I played it, which should be worth something (it isn't).