Memories Remain, the tried and true of a narrative adventure set in Italy

The 2003 film Big Fish, directed by Tim Burton, tells the story of Will Bloom and his father, who is dying of cancer, Edward’s attempt to discover the truth in the fantastic stories he tells himself and others. life. Does he want people to believe he’s met giants, worked in a circus run by a werewolf, and planted millions of asphodels to win Sandra, the woman of his life?

But above all, what does Tim Burton have to do with ours? Tried Memories Remain?

the story of the stories

Memories Remaining is a school project created by a team of children. Event Horizon School and released on itch.io as a free demo. The play begins on the day of Old Piero’s funeral, of which we knew nothing at first. There are some relatives around his coffin that start to tell fantastic stories about him and make his nephew Marco uneasy, who can’t listen to them anymore. The young man considers these stories not only false but also harmful, and angrily decides to go on a journey to Isola Minore to seek out his grandfather’s old friends and prove his thesis.

The connection to Big Fish should be open at this point. Even in the title Botte Piccola (development team), as in Tim Burton’s movie, stories As Piero says, he hides more than meets the eye, and soon Marco will have to realize it.

Gameplay

The remaining memories arenarrative adventure, from the very simple game system. You basically take Piero to Isola Minore, the only place you can visit, and have him talk to the available characters at the push of a button, similar to a Japanese role-playing game. Every now and then you have to choose what to have him say through a simple line selection interface and you can perform a secondary task that requires us to find the cats, but that’s all. The demo is very short, but frankly enjoyable, either for the graphic style of a picture book that makes the whole experience supportive and enjoyable thanks to the beauty of the illustrations and the colorful and vibrant color palette, or for the story being told. Asking the right questions and referring to a possible final version for answers, making the player curious about discovering the truth.

Especially while wandering around the island, one encounters a character with a story connected with Piero. In this case, we move from a text-only narrative to an interactive one, where the player is called to live the story directly, guiding a handsome Piero in the role of a medieval knight who must contend with goblins and a giant trio. heads up as he escorts a girl to the island tower. During the short adventure, a kind of combat system also appears, which requires you to choose the right action according to the description of the situation (the enemy is distracted? Then you can shoot. The enemy attacks? Defend yourself better. shield or try to dodge). Don’t expect experience points, hardware management or anything like that, because that’s not the case.

At most, the damsel will heal Piero if she takes a few hits, and she will find a mythological weapon hidden in a giant chest in the town square. In Memories Remain, everything is a story and that’s how it’s brought to life. After the story of Piero Cavaliere, the demo also ends. In fact once you reach a certain place the credits will begin where you are sent back to the full version for the result. At this point we can’t wait to play the full version to find out why Piero likes to manipulate reality this way.