By Dag Härdfeldt.
Imperishable Memories is a simplistic SHMUP with a unique artstyle. And when i say simplistic, i mean SIMPLISTIC. As far as the gameplay goes, it doesn´t get more basic and stripped down than this. There are no weapons to pick up, no upgrades, no shields - it´s just you, your gun that shoot straight and a pretty cool, but underutilized mechanic where you can pick up an enemy, carry it around and launch it for massive damage. In a couple of areas, you can pick up a ball - that splits your shots for a few seconds, but that´s it. It´s still a very enjoyable game though, gameplay-wise. The controls are smooth, the enemy formations and bulletpatterns are interesting and unique, the difficulty is a bit on the easy side. I managed to get to the last boss in one continue, during my first playthrough, it took me about 35minutes.. Still, the game is a pleasure to play, although i wish the developer added a mechanic or two.
The screenshots don´t do the game justice. It´s poetry in motion.
Now let´s talk about the hightlight of the game. The art. It´s truly a bliss. The artstyle is a mix of childhood drawings with coloring pens and low-poly psychadelica. It´s truly a unique mix - and i was constantly astounded by the environments and curious about the next level. I would recommend a playthrough due to experiencing the visuals alone. The music on the other hand is bland and uninspired. I got the impression that the music was made by a person who never made music before, but wanted to try anyway.
The environments are mesmerizing.
Unfortunately, the game suffers from a horrible, intrusive storyline that takes itself WAY to seriously. Worse yet, is that a majority of it seems to be unskippable. The action is constantly interrupted by conversations that just go on, and on. I hated every line of dialogue, and was constantly mashing the skip button.
All in all though, i would definitely recommend giving Imperishable Memories a run through. It´s a perfect way to spend half an hour.
I Liked + Smooth Gameplay + Surrealistic environments. I Disliked - Horrible storyline. - A bit to simplistic. Art: 9/10 Music: 2/10 Gameplay: 6/10 TOTAL 8/10