Some Distant Memory

Genre: Graphic Adventure / Walking Simulator

Players: 1

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Review:

Some Distant Memory is a Graphic Adventure with strong Walking Simulator elements released on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2019. This game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world set over 300 years in the future, after the Earth has fallen prey to a worldwide fatal algae infection that has left the last remnants of humanity trying to scrounge a life in shelters.

Players take the role of a scientists on a research expedition who discovers a pre-apocalyptic house buried underground, where they scan the relics of our contemporary era to see AI-recreated simulations of scenes from the lives of those who lived there. Using this, these characters hope to learn more about these people and how their lives unfolded, as well as getting a better understanding of life in this era overall in hopes of gleaning important insights that may help to improve the lives of those weathering the apocalypse.

This setup makes for an engaging “story within a story” tale that actually provides players with some wonderful characters and compelling plot with excellent writing in both stories. In the holographic recreations, you get a real sense of these characters as they deal with grounded issues that include problems with parental abandonment and adjusting to a broken family, contending with medical issues, sharing your passion for art with others, and responding to the deaths of loved ones. Meanwhile, in the “present day” of the game’s settings, it’s fascinating to watch these characters try to piece together what life must have been like in their long-distant past while also saddening to see how far humanity has fallen due to environmental catastrophe.

This somber tone is reflected in Some Distant Memory’s soundtrack, which is mostly muted and atmospheric. This accompanies some hand-drawn 2D visuals with somewhat cartoony characters with simple designs that don’t detract from the game’s dark tones, in an overall look that’s dingy and poorly-lit without being difficult to see.

It’s good that the game’s story and presentation are all good here, because there isn’t much more to the game than that. This Graphic Adventure is fairly close to a Walking Simulator in that there aren’t really puzzles here per se, but more parts of the environment for players to scan and inspect to prompt the game’s dual stories to continue.

While of course not everyone is going to appreciate Walking Simulators, I do think that this is overall a solid entry in that genre, save for one noticeable flaw – the game forces players to contend with a miserably slow walking speed that can drag down the pacing quite a bit, especially as you try walking back and forth in a room to interact with all of the “scannable” objects.

Still, despite the issues with the game’s walking speed, everything else about Some Distant Memory is top-notch, with a solid premise, good story and atmosphere, likable characters, and good writing. If you’re looking for a game with an engaging post-apocalyptic story that won’t challenge you with difficult gameplay, this is an excellent choice.

tl;dr – Some Distant Memory is a Graphic Adventure with strong Walking Simulator elements that features a “story within a story”, where players take the role of a scientist in a post-apocalyptic Earth looking at recreated events from the lives of a family living in contemporary times in hopes of getting insight that can help their people. Both stories are well-told and have good writing and likable characters, and the only major flaw I can point to here is a slow walking speed. Otherwise, this is an excellent Walking Simulator that’s definitely worth seeking out for those craving a post-apocalyptic story.

Grade: B

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