Customer Reviews

Memento Mori

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! I just got done playing this game, and I must say, I thought it was fantastic! Yes, the game had some shortcomings, but overall I found it to be a very enjoyable game. It starts off at a VERY slow pace, but perservere through the somewhat boring parts and eventually the story will suck you in and not let you go. I'm not going to give away anything about the game, as it should be a surprise (especially any of the eight endings!) I don't have the most powerful computer, but the game was still able to run decently for me. I thought the graphics in the game at times could have been done better, especially the close up shots of the main characters. Also it seemed like towards the end, the dialogue was not matching the characters movements. They would be speaking but their lips wouldn't move. However, this only detracted from the game slightly. I have played several other mystery games, including some Nancy Drew titles (I'm a twenty five year old male, by the way), but I wanted something more adult. This was definitely it. If you are the type of person who becomes easily frustrated with a slow plot pace, where things get revealed bit by bit, this game may not be for you. However, if you like a good story with layers of complexity, where things become known like peeling away an onion, this is for sure your game. The locations in the story were beautiful as well as the cut scenes in the game. Definitely worth getting I would say, if you are an adult and you have patience. Like I said, the story starts off slow, but then sucks you in and won't let you go. Overall, excellent game. No complaints here.

Firstly, I'm not really up to date with adventure games, last time I've played one was some 15 years ago. I'm fairly familiar with RPGs, MMOs, etc.

Here the controls are very simple but limited, basically a mouse is used for pointing & clicking while the Tab key highlights what things visible on the screen can be interacted with. Double clicking on an object or on the ground makes execution of a respective action faster within the confines of the system (entering/exiting buildings, etc.)
The two main characters and other NPCs are sufficiently well animated and voice acting is good all around. Player's control over them is very limited and amounts to clicking various elements on the screen and watching them respond to these commands. No WASD key functionality here.

My first observation was that 3D graphics in Memento Mori (MM from now on) are pretty good but camera movement is practically non-existent. You can't just move around and look at something from an angle that is the most convenient and it is kind of like watching a movie or a theatre play or even a still picture (sometimes) than playing an interactive game. I'm assuming this aspect of adventure games didn't change much since that last time I've played one.

Most sequences (or scenes) in MM push the story forward but some are basically a filler that have nothing to do with the plot, like setting up a chromatograph at Interpol HQ or an elaborate sequence of actions amounting to heating up a pot of water with an antique oven just so your character can wash his face.

It is evident that certain goals could be achieved with different alternative means and tools in the characters' arsenal but unfortunately the system doesn't aknowledge such variations. In other words there is no redundancy, if the game tells you to contact someone you have to call her but can't instead write an email even though it would have been entirely possible (and vice versa)

The game is very linear and as far as I could tell you have to do things in an exact and predetermined order to move the plot forward, even though some things could be anticipated and in theory a prior action could have been taken to prepare for them down the road and, most importantly, to limit running around. There are some moments where the cause-effect rule is thrown out the window altogether in favor of a more `cinematic experience'... for example your character needs to make an obviously useless phone call to trigger next sequence which itself has nothing to do with him making that phone call.

There are some hard puzzles, and I admit I gave up twice and looked up the solutions on the internet. Hard is fun, of course. Unfortunately in the first case I knew what to do and, IMO, had all the available tools to do it but the game apparently wanted me to do that in a very specific way, which I couldn't find out by myself.
The thinking puzzles are fun; the practical puzzles could have more redundancy in them.

While the mystery in MM was quite nice and interesting, the constant running between same old places and forced slow repetition (both due to rigid gameplay system and limited controls) were not.

every now and then you get a hunch that a game with just average rating from magazines/websites/users may be actually good and you turn out to be right..well this is one of them
finally a solid, solid story accompanying great graphics and good voicework - if like this reviewer you have no time for cartoonish adventures then you have to play this game - the story and the final are so good that they should shoot a movie based on MM
my only gripe is that the game would often crash strenge as nobody has reported problems however my pc eats Crysis for breakfast so I wonder what is going on here...regardless I can recommend MM heartily, a minor classic in my view next to Overclocked the excellent in recent times

I was put off by the picture on the box, but the reviews I'd read convinced me to try it. It was a pretty standard point-and-click, except there are game choices along the way that evidently affect which of several endings you get. Since I like happy endings, I used a walkthrough to select the proper choices to get a good outcome. That means I might have shortened my playing and my involvement in the story. Overall I liked it. I'd definitely play any further stories about this character. Interesting story, and not too taxing to play, especially with that walkthrough help(smile). Overall, it seemed a bit short. Good graphics, though not enough of the St. Petersburg museum. It played fine on my computer. (Windows XP and a good video card)

I enjoyed the story and I reminded me very much of other adventure games, like Tunguska, Interpol, and the like You play as 2 characters alternating between the two while following the story-line. There are many cut-scenes and some "timed" responses needed that affect the gameplay. Supposedly there are 8? possible slightly different endings depending on how you answer the dialog questions and what actions each character takes - (each character can be affected independently apprently). I only played it through once so far, so I have only experienced the one ending. But it was a pretty good one though. Graphics - on par with other adventure games - voice acting - not bad in my opinion. I enjoyed the story and the cut-scenes although i can see where some might say there were too many. also the game was broken up into 18 acts? This may have been overkill as some of the "chapters" are very short. to me this was a solid 3.5 (out of 5)

I am enjoying this game but writing this to possibly help someone else that may have had a similar problem. When I first tried to play it the mouse was very draggy and it was impossible to click on the objects. Thanks to help from my son we turned down all the settings on the "advanced" settings and I was able to play the game. Apparently my laptop is not sophisticated enough for this game. But even with the settings turned down the game is great. Interesting story, great voice acting and interesting visuals make it well worth it!

Memento Mori is a third person adventure game where you find clues and use inventory items to overcome situations in the game. The plot is fairly strait forward but a bit odd. You play as two indenities, Max and Loria. I like Max though I found the acting bewtween the two to be well, very dry. The acting is weird, dumb humor but maybe that's just me.

Warning Spoilers below!!!!

You start the game and find out that Max has copied priceless paintings to sell. Not a bad idea except the Russian government catches him. If this would have occured during the Cold War he would most likely have been shipped to a East Siberian prison and never heard from again no questions asked. So you end up in St. Petersburg, now Russia attempting to correct your mistakes (a parden anyone?) when you notice a bald monk stealing paintings right off the wall. Then the story goes from not making since to downright weird. Maybe you have to be from Europe or Russia to get a true understanding out of all this but I was like huh? Don't get me wrong I love a suspenseful plot heck, I was one of the few who actually liked the plot in Next Life but this is well, kind of weird and really dry on the suspense in the story. I mean what excitment or danger is there in stealing paintings? The Nazis stole tons of paintings in the nations they occupied during WWII. This fact is even mentioned in the game when the Russian government hid their most priceless paintings underground in the sewers.

The graphics and effects can be breathtaking at times but mainly what you expect from a game made in 2009. To be honest I thought The Lost Crown and Secret Files have better charactor animations and background effects than this game. The sounds are decent if a bit scarse in places. I was a little surprised they used music rather than sound effects to create tension which worked for the most part do to the music quality. The voice acting however, is not very good in my opinion. You have the typical European accents that are to be expected but they are to dry and stiff. Again, Next Life had much better use of European accents with even some good slap stick humor.

Memento Mori is fairly long taking over ten hours to complete but in the end you just feel like your going through the motions and we all know that is what life is all about these days. That is why we play games to escape from this vicious cycle but only to have it staring you right back in the face in Memmento Mori. This kind of defeats the whole purpose?