2064 Read Only Memories has passed the Turing test.
2064 Read Only Memories was originally released on the PC in 2015 after a successful Kickstarter campaign. The story follows the unlikely pairing of an unsuccessful journalist and a sentient robot named Turing.
After the disappearance of Turing’s creator, Senior Parallax Engineer Hayden Webber, the robot and the journalist are forced to traverse the futuristic city of Neo-San Francisco to find Webber before it’s too late.
It’s a cyberpunk, LGBT friendly, point and click thriller!
2064 Read Only Memories Review Switch
First off, the game’s soundtrack is immediately excellent. When I started playing 2064 Read Only Memories I was using the shitty little speakers built into my very cheap TV. Even at the opening menu I was compelled to unpack the big headphones so I could lock in and hear the full range of the music.
It’s a superbly composed collection of tracks by 2 Mello!
No joking, the OST perfectly fits the futuristic and cybernetically enhanced world of 2064. At the same time, it exacerbates tension and highlights emotion while the desperate Turing hunts the whereabouts of his “Father.”
I’ll add the Bandcamp link at the bottom so you can have a look at what I’m talking about because my knowledge of terms for music isn’t going to fairly describe the work put into this soundtrack.
Its bloody good, moving on.
Read Only Memories features award-winning writing. You can expect memorable characters and enjoy well thought out dialogue. It’s not as simple as everyone being funny or tough. The characters have real depth to them and come in a spectrum of archetypes.
The little robot Turing is inquisitive, sincere and mostly sweet. Detective Rivers is gruff and no-nonsense but hugely empathetic an even though you have some history she’s quick to help you in the name of justice.
Better than Good
Turing especially is a wonderful character. The gift, or curse, of true sentience, weighs heavily on the young robot. Many interactive elements in the game reveal the depth of existential thought Turing is capable of.
He makes commentary on the difficulty of limited memory and choosing which memories are important to keep for the future and which memories must be let go to keep moving forward. The writing draws a lot of parallels between Turing’s creator, Webber, and a father and a creator.
If you like some human-relevant, philosophical introspection as told by a cute robot boy then saddle up Cowperson! This is the contemporary, genderfluidity-friendly sci-fi thriller for you!
This is the first game I’ve ever played where you can select your pronoun from a hearty list or even input your own. If your feeling marginalised, you’ll find an opportunity to really make the playable journalist reflect your preferences in name and gender.
If you’re feeling silly, you’ll be able to make everyone use the word “dickler” as your pronoun. I welcome the inclusivity and potential for hilarious dialogue.
Call Me Dickler
It’s not just a throwaway to please the LGBT community either. The cast has a big old bunch of non-CIS-hetero folk who’s place in the story is much more important than their sexual preference and gender identity.
There’s also some cool cyberpunk hybrids that have augments that grant them animal features and robotic enhancements that you wouldn’t see on a human in the early 2000s. These people are currently under scrutiny in the Read Only Memories universe as people think they’re ruining traditional humanity and taking things too far.
It’s a neat parallel to a current political outlook that is thematically sound in the futuristic streets of Neo-SanFransico.
In the future, they have finally managed to fix huge text walls that appear and void quality voice acting. I’ve complained about it plenty of times. No one is going to listen to your voice actors if all the dialogue is shown before the actor has finished speaking. Especially in the story-driven genre’s like point and click it’s so important to time the text to fit the pace of the conversation.
Robosexual
2064 has so excellently timed the dialogue boxes it deserves its own paragraph. The text doesn’t just roll out in approximation to the pace of the dialogue, it’s synced up like a plumber’s specialty. If Turing pauses to take a breath, which I just realised makes no sense, the text pauses to take a breath.
There’re shitloads of commas and plenty of full stops to accurately reflect the timing of natural speech. Most of the voice actors are seasoned vets from the Telltale games and their skills are evident. I’m so glad the text can keep up with these guys because it makes the story so much more immersive and enjoyable.
Beyond the writing and voice-acting, Read Only is a beautiful game and a simple and enjoyable point-and-click. The pixel art is on point and the design of the exploarable areas is well composed. The bar looks like a bar with all the weird and wonderful liquor bottles on the shelves. The floundering journalists home is a messy testament to the disorganised and unsuccessful career of the fledgling writer.
There’s no element of movement and the playable character is never seen which might off put people, however.
Other games of the genre often allow you to explore the level as a physically present, moveable character. But usually it’s just walking around a small room clicking A anyway so I really didn’t mind the omission.
In 2064 a level consists of some interactive elements, maybe some people and Turing’s face in a panel on the left. I like it just fine that way.
2064 Read Only Memories was reviewed on Switch using a digital code supplied by the publisher.
2Mello 2064 Read Only Memories OST
PowerUp! Reviews
Game Title: 2064 Read Only Memories
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Turing, the blue dude with the rude ‘tude - 8/108/10
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Timed text for easy listenin’ - 10/1010/10
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Big tunes bruh - 10/1010/10
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Please refer to me as dickle - 8/108/10
