This Remember Me review has been harder to complete than others: it’s complicated to assign a number or letter grade to this game. It’s incredibly ambitious and original in so many of its concepts and with a few of its mechanics. The game looks to establish itself as something unique in the realm of dark science fiction, and in many ways it successfully does. Published by Capcom, this first endeavor by Dontnod Entertainment is an admirable one, but in order to appreciate the final product you’ll have to overlook some rough edges and mediocre, though at times inventive, gameplay.

Some of the best science fiction is that which is based on one core idea, one technological advancement, one event, or simply one possibility. It explores the evolution of the, including its ramifications and probably abuses. Remember Me does exactly this. The year is 2084 and Europe has been divided and demolished by war. Paris has become Neo-Paris. The city has suffered through the years, being cut off from its neighboring countries, but has since seen some sort of revitalization due to the return of the Memorize Corporation. Memorize is a behemoth; it’s a powerful entity that has steered and altered the course of history for Neo-Paris, creating a frightening vision of a not so distant France hinged on one idea.

What Memorize has done is found a way to digitize, and eventually, commoditize memories, resulting in the invention of Sensen technology. Through Sensen, a majority of the population is able to share, buy, or alter memories. Memories can heal or harm, capable of empowering or weakening. It’s changed the way people connect and share experiences, and it’s allowed them to forget what they have tucked away in the darker corners of their mind. Due to the the widespread use of Sensen technology, Memorize has become something of a Big Brother figure, watching over the citizens of Neo-Paris, with a possibly too intrusive eye.

As a result, a group of rebels has formed in opposition of the corporation, known as Errorists. You play as Nilin, an amnesiac Errorist, who awakens in a prison and is guided to freedom by a man who identifies himself as Edge. Edge claims he’s the leader of the Errorist movement, and soon Nilin is tasked with dismantling Memorize and, in the process, regaining her personal memories. It’s an intriguing premise, as the game has you learn along with the protagonist without a memory, searching for her past and a stronger justification for her present actions.

At Edge’s command you’ll find yourself (literally) traversing numerous locations throughout Neo-Paris, from the grimy slums, which hide the dregs of society, to the wealthier districts, occupied by the blissfully ignorant. Neo-Paris feels alive, buzzing with both citizens and technology, and aesthetically it’s an effective blend of antiquity and modernization. The glow of neon and glint of lights line everything, but underneath you can see the city and its structures that existed before the technology.

Unfortunately your interaction with Neo-Paris is constricted. Edge beelines you through the city for one reason or another, and any attempt to explore is stifled by invisible walls. Getting from A to B always involves some platforming, which doesn’t feel terrible, but rather just too predetermined; there’s just very little room to deviate or stray from the path in Remember Me. Sometimes the game will open itself up and you’ll get a panoramic view of the landscape, a huge expanse of the glimmering city, and you’ll wish you could see more of what it might have hidden behind its closed doors and blocked off rooftops.

Platforming is made easier and more obvious by your Sensen, which bluntly indicates what can be scaled or leapt onto. Most of the gameplay elements are neatly connected to your Sensen, actually, which is novel and stresses the power of the technology. The platforming is broken up by somewhat predictable bouts of combat, which is reminiscent of games like Arkham City or maybe Sleeping Dogs, but with a twist. Each combo is comprised of a string of Pressens, which are divided into four groups; the Pressens can deal extra damage, feed Nilin’s health bars, multiply the effects of the previous Pressen, or speed up the regeneration of Nilin’s cache of special moves. The groups are all mapped to two buttons or keys, and as you progress you unlock more Pressens, allowing you to mix and match them, and create combos that suite your playstyle. As you progress, the strings of combos become longer and longer, with bonuses dangled at the end of each one.

Executing the combos properly involves a sort of rhythm, and you’ll have to fall into the beat and learn the proper timing. Remember Me wants you to use and customize the Pressens it offers you, and to perfect the longer strings of attacks. It isn’t terribly difficult to do so though, and a lot of the time it just ends up feeling like an exercise in memorization without a tremendous purpose or payoff. Certain situations will end up forcing you into using a particular Pressen or special ability, known as an S-Pressen, and at times it’s clever and produces an “a-ha” moment. The problem isn’t that Remember Me is devoid of these moments, it’s just that they’re sparsely littered throughout the game.

Being an Errorist and a memory hunter, Nilin also has the ability the steal the memories of others, which are used throughout the game to solve certain puzzles, enter areas, or illuminate otherwise concealed environmental pitfalls. The memories, or Remembrances, play out in real time, as you watch the events of another unfold before you in a spectral haze. In most cases it’s a great idea, but is often executed in a predictable manner. The Remembrances further stress the frightening ability of Sensen tech, and do an adequate job of instilling some sense of control and power in Nilin.

The most interesting mechanic Remember Me introduces is the ability to “remix” certain memories, which involves engaging in a memory and altering it in slight ways in order to change the entire memory itself. Remixing memories is like watching a character’s version of events, and then rewinding and fast-forwarding the event while trying to detect variables that can impact the way the scene unfolds. These can be little things, like leaving something unlocked or open, or letting an object fall from a shelf. The goal is to find the right combination of slight change in the right order, resulting in a dramatically different memory. You’re literally changing the way a character recalls the past in order to change the present to suit your needs.

Remixing is one of the best things Remember Me has going for it. In a sense it feels like solving a mystery, as you put various pieces together and figure out how you can achieve a desired outcome. At the same time it’s incredibly empowering and slightly uncomfortable, knowing that the technology the game is centered around can be used to invade the minds of others and transform their histories. Nilin can alter who someone is, and how they view the world and themselves, by tweaking their version of the past. It’s an interesting feature, and it’s disturbing enough to make you pause and actually consider what you’re doing, while taking into account to the moral implications of the act.

Remember Me is ultimately a flawed, but very admirable game. The gameplay shows promise but is dragged down by mediocrity and familiarity; a lot of it has been done before, and in many cases better. Playing it you’ll feel an odd twinge of déjà vu, and you’ll recognize a lot feels similar and that you’ve experienced before; it uses the past as a template and changes it to suit its needs.

Despite its missteps and shortcomings, the game is still an undeniably good work of science fiction, one that explores the evolution of perversion of an idea and creates a world based on that. Remember Me questions the weight of the past and how it can influence the future, and makes us wonder how we would use Sensen technology. It’s an ambitious game, and an impressive vision of the future, and if there’s one thing you take away from Remember Me, it’s that you shouldn’t forget the name Dontnod Entertainment. The developer is clearly capable of doing great things given the right creative leeway, and we should look forward to their future.