As a genre, cyberpunk has often prided itself on pushing boundaries, all while showcasing that the future world we crave often falls into the same traps as our current one. Read Only Memories: Neurodiver is no exception to this, portraying a heartfelt tale of renewal and beginning again among the terror of capitalism and otherness within its world.
We are quickly thrust into the shoes of protagonist Luna Cruz, aka Esper agent 88 (ES88). ES88 works at MINERVA, a special group that, on the surface, could easily be mistaken for a science and data archival service. In reality, this group is entirely focused on the research of psychic phenomena and will go to the ends of the world to meet their goals.
As an Esper, ES88 was born with a rare genetic mutation that not only makes her eyes and blood turn a shade of gold but also allows her to read and sense other people's thoughts. Alongside the Neurodiver, an artificial but sentient creature with a cuttlefish-like presentation, ES88 can dive into a person's mind and restore memories. This makes her work especially important, particularly for helping with ailments like Alzheimer's.
Restoring fragmented memories is a major part of her ES88's job and, as it's quickly established in the opening segments, is something she's highly proficient in. Unfortunately, most of her tasks don't actively inspire her, and she's forced to do the most menial of assignments, like helping jog her colleague's memory over his lost password. Dry as these assignments are, it's a great intro to ES88 as a character. She's charming and often doesn't say what she thinks, which allows the fantastic animation of her facial expressions to do the work for her.
That is, until she's assigned to the case of the Golden Butterfly. A villain who hides in the memories of others, forcing them to forget and wallowing in the misery and confusion left behind.
Gameplay-wise, putting the memories back together consists of ES88 diving into the memory itself and hunting for clues. These fragmented memories are visualized by strong emotions and often don't make sense. For example, one of the first memories you decipher is represented by a baby in a diaper serving drinks in a bar. While this might be an average night in Birmingham, here it's a way for the game to notify you of something that needs fixing.
However, you can only repair a fragment if you've found the relevant clues. These aren't necessarily hard to find, but as you progress, the more clues you find will make choosing the right ones more complicated than before. As someone not into puzzles, I was originally concerned I wouldn't enjoy this aspect of Neurodiver. But these clues are simple, and if you're paying attention to the story, you can easily guess which clues to use. That doesn't mean it isn't frustrating to scour each and every location with your mouse, hunting for that one clue you accidentally scrolled over. Be nitpicky, and get results!
It helps that, like its previous game, 2064 Read Only Memories, Neurodiver is set in a fascinating world that doesn't stray too far from the modern day and, as such, is a delight to explore and uncover. A lot of the memories you delve into explore questions and topics such as whether the government policing android bodies is good or not, or if protesting peacefully against oppressors who want you dead is good enough or not. As someone who is queer and living in a day and age where governments are doing their utmost to make the lives of trans people harder, these cases all feel aching familiar. While these moments aren't necessarily smooth or subtle with their delivery, it feels good to play a game that isn't afraid to delve into these topics.
Yet Neurodiver doesn't linger too long in the injustices of its world, choosing instead to show the bright side of many of its more tragic character stories. It doesn't erase the bad, but within the fresh perspective of ES88, whose entire life has been holed up in a corporate building and as such, has very little experience with the 'real world', we can witness how each clash with Golden in the memories of these people affect her and her naive viewpoint.
Thankfully, ES88 is not alone in her investigation. She is joined by characters like TRACE, an information specialist, and the mysterious FORTUNA, who acts as the head honcho for MINERVA. While both of these relationships with ES88 are compelling in their own right - especially the guarded but respectful relationship with FORTUNA - none are quite as compelling as ES88's connection with GATE. GATE is an android and security specialist who looks after both ES88 and the Neurodiver, and acts as the former's shoulder to lean on throughout the game's numerous tense moments. It's entirely up to the player whether ES88's relationship with GATE goes beyond a mere crush, but it adds an interesting wrinkle to the story of Neurodiver.
Fans of the previous game, 2064 Read Only Memories, will be happy to know that there are more than a few returning characters. As a fan, I was delighted to see the return of characters like Lexi Rivers, but I also felt that their inclusion could have just as easily been someone else, as their connection to the Golden Butterfly investigation was minimal at best and often found that it didn't give room for the rising rivalry between Golden and ES88.
This brings me to my number one gripe with Neurodiver: the game never quite finds its flow, either because of typos and spelling mistakes that break you away from the story, or not giving ES88's inner relationships outside of GATE to grow. What's worse is that, just when you think the story has finally got going with its pace, it nose-dives into an ending that slams the brakes on the building momentum of intrigue between ES88 and Golden. The reveal of Golden's identity is shocking and really throws a wrench into the works, but I got very little time to process it before we're brought to an ending that doesn't feel entirely earned.
ES88's struggles are so often put on the back burner so she can focus on saving others that, outside of her will-they-they-won't-they tease with GATE and her dream of being a magical girl that saves the world, the conflict she faces with Golden doesn't get the time to build into something compelling, making the conclusion feel lackluster instead of explosive.
While clumsily paced, it ultimately doesn't change the fact that Read Only Memories: Neurodiver is an obvious love letter to what makes cyberpunk such a compelling genre: that despite the dystopian backdrop, the artificiality of a future that doesn't look down at the people it tramples on, there are real emotions and humanity to be found within everyday people and their stories. If you're craving a tale like that, this is the game for you.
