- Julia Lai and Kaitlyn Chin
Love in Amnesia: A Heartbreaking Parallel
Intro
This piece is to both introduce to you and commemorate the 10th year anniversary of Amnesia, one of the most iconic stories in the otome game genre. For those of you who are unfamiliar, an otome game is a general term used in Japan to describe story-based simulators primarily targeted towards a female audience. A few examples of these games are Hakuoki, Code: Realize and Dandelion. Although the genre and description may lead one to think that it is a game only consisting of individual episodes resolved separately, the routes in Amnesia: Memories consist of plot points that directly (or indirectly) correlate to an underlying story, which were what impressed and compelled us to write this review.
We’ve prepared this review of each route and the overall storyline with our thoughts and impressions on the story’s contents, especially on its characterization and overarching story.
Synopsis
The game begins with the main character awake in a space unfamiliar to her. An elf-like creature appears on screen and apologizes for being the cause of her amnesia. He explains that the parallel worlds that float around are all ‘correct’ worlds that are synchronized with one another. In front of the screen are four different ‘worlds’ you could choose from--- Heart, Spade, Clover and Diamond. The last and final world, the ‘Joker’ world, requires you to complete all the good endings from each of the four routes to unlock. Each world has a designated love interest which will be listed accordingly in the next section.
Review
Heart: Shin
As the love interest of the ‘Heart’ world, Shin is introduced as the childhood friend who’s younger than the main character by a year. His route is one full of drama as it explores the mystery of what caused the protagonist’s amnesia as well as the ins and outs of this mystery; each scene left us feeling exactly like falling deeper into a rabbit hole.
Ever the witty and sarcastic young man, Shin’s antics and bluntness brought laughter on both our ends. And yet as someone as composed and mature as he is, Shin is equally reckless and (secretly) desperate to earn the protagonist’s affection. The reason behind Shin’s actions, gestures and thoughts is satisfyingly revealed at the end when the underlying tension and conflict of the story forces Shin into transparency.
Spade: Ikki
In this world, it turns out that the main character is already in an established relationship, albeit a cliche one. Ikki is popular with the girls, has looks that can send any girl falling for him in a heartbeat and also treats them with graciousness. Oddly enough, his girlfriend doesn’t get the same treatment. Ikki will have you waiting for him for hours on end, getting angry with him for his actions all while prioritizing his ‘fanclub’ over you.
And yet despite his flirtatious personality and aloof mannerisms, Ikki is secretly someone who simply wishes to take back a wish he regrets making. There is more introspection of himself than in any other love interests in the rest of the routes. He talks a lot about how he has lost what love really meant in this haze of blind infatuation. This route is a test of patience and love and faith towards Ikki and whether or not the choices that were made could break through this cycle.
Clover: Kent
Scornful and critical. Cold and too smart for his own good. Kent’s words are awful, they hurt and they sting hard. ‘Clover’ opens up with the main character stuck in a conflict between Kent and the main character. But, because of her amnesia, she couldn’t remember what they were fighting about or even remember how she felt. There are a lot of flaws in their relationship and it was jarringly obvious that a lot of patience and understanding are needed for them to get through to one another.
This route did not involve a lot of drama, yet the portrayal of their relationship was so endearing and heartwarming. It is, in our concurrent agreement, the best route of the visual novel. In the end, both of them learn to reconcile and share their true feelings with one another. The process itself was painful, but in the end their love bloomed again.
Diamond: Toma
If there were truly something distinct about the ‘Diamond’ route, it would be how slow the danger crept in. Under that facade of being a kind older brother figure who will take care of you is an unhinged person who has severe issues at his core and uses it to emotionally manipulate the main character. His character, in this sense, is well done. The emotional connection between his past with the main character and how his snapping is a result of the culmination of his suppressed feelings. It doesn’t happen overnight.
Drama, discomfort and instability from Toma overwrites his actual intention to protect and help the main character out of her situation. Romance or not, the lack of communication and reflection on his actions made for an underwhelming conclusion.
Joker: Ukyo
Even after everything has been said and done, the mystery has yet to be solved. The last route is available for selection, and with it, a tightly wrapped box of the reason for the parallel worlds.
Arguably the oddest and most awkward of the love interests, we started the route expecting Ukyo to be someone a little more mature than the rest and is subtle in his gestures of affection. Yet he turned out to be a lovesick fool tormented by the weariness with his journey of finding the perfect ending between him and the main character.
His meek yet desperate attempts at keeping a distance, his extremely paranoid and protective side as a result of his endeavours are just a mask. The true Ukyo who is revealed to be a bashful, shy and loving young man who had only wanted to salvage what little he had left. "Joker' grants Ukyo, after a seemingly endless search, the happiness he deserves".
In Conclusion:
Amnesia: Memories is a wonderful story that truly shines because of its fragmented, vague connections across the parallel worlds. And although parallel lines don’t meet, a miracle happened at the points that all meet at an intersection. The game definitely has its oddities, its questionable pieces that don’t exactly fit the shape of the puzzle; and yet when the pieces fit, they fit perfectly. It would bring us great joy if anyone would give this visual novel a chance.