Read Only Memories Neurodiver revels in the corrupted past Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Read Only Memories Neurodiver revels in the corrupted past Esper-cially for you. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Updated on 3 Mar 2021 7 comments 2064: Read Only Memories might have my favourite opening of any game ever. I'm thinking specifically about the bit you can play in a demo on Steam. You're a writer, sat in your tiny apartment, procrastinating about writing a review of some fancy new headphones. You manage to power through the review and go to sleep after flicking eyes across the local news, and then you wake up in the middle of the night when a polite robot breaks in and tidies up. Read Only Memories Neurodiver Developer: MidBoss Producer: MidBoss Availability: Out 2021 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One 2064 is the work of MidBoss, a studio based in Berkeley, California, and which specialises in games with a LGBTQIA+ focus and a strong sense of diversity and inclusivity. The game is an adventure affair set in a future poised on the brink of three singularities, and in the opening ten minutes there's a brilliant joke about being a writer and an excellent discussion of Asimov's laws of robotics. I've spent the morning playing the demo for Read Only Memories Neurodiver, the studio's follow-up. It's every bit as good as 2064. It might be love. The Neurodiver in question is a genetically-engineered lifeform that allows Espers to move through other people's memories. In the demo, which is short but filled with details and conversations and possibilities, it allows you to travel back in time to a client's missing memories of a long-ago bar transaction that may or may not have gone awry. Watch on YouTube It's a perfect demo - an ideal way of introducing the characters and the game's main ideas. The characters are delightful and complex, as was the case with 2064, and you have leeway to shape the lead at least through the dialogue options you choose. As for the main mechanical ideas, they involve unravelling a mystery by working through corrupted memories. I'll give you just one example because I don't want to spoil the demo much itself. You have to go to the bar to order drinks for you and your friends. But the barman is a giant flickering baby. This is a memory glitch, the giant baby masking something else. To work out what happened to the real memory you need to combine items from your inventory with the corrupted memory, and once this is done, the barman is revealed. There is so much potential here, not just in terms of combining different objects, but in terms of the masking memories themselves. And that's really what these games are interested in, I would argue: people and memories, and through that a person's relationships with the people and cultures surrounding them. In Neurodiver that includes the Espers, people who can read minds, and who may have emerged through mutation or genetic engineering. It also includes hybrids, who seem to be the subject of a degree of quiet hostility. What I loved most about 2064 and that opening wasn't the surprise of the house-breaker who tidied up, or even the rogue thrill of seeing my own working life parodied in a game. It was the flicking through the news aspect. These games go all-in on creating a sense of their world. I love that, and I cannot wait to play more. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 28 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 3 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store