David’s Game Reviews: 11-11: Memories Retold

Okay so this is the first of several reviews I plan to release somewhat regularly of games both new and old. There are a lot of games that get overlooked or many do not know if they would want to play them. So regardless of whether they are new to the market or have been out for a decade I want to lend my voice to those who might be unsure. This particular game is not one that I would usually try and go for, but I will say that I was rather glad that I did.

11-11: Memories Retold

Summary: This game takes place during World War 1 and follows two different male characters. Kurt an engineer from Germany and Harry a photographer from Canada. Kurt enlists to the front lines after learning ill news of his son’s fellow soldiers, but nothing of his son. Harry enlists after given an offer from Major Barret to take photos of the front lines, and he wants to impress his childhood friend by being a man in uniform.

You choose which of the two you wish to play as first in each chapter and a lot of the choices and story intertwines. The choices you make both interacting with your fellows and what you send in your letters back home change the way the story goes slightly at first and then as you continue on they get more serious. Kurt and Harry even end up with small animals companions that you can use to interact with things behind the scenes a bit.

Review: 3.5 Stars

Okay so the first thing that threw me off was the graphics of the game. The painter like display was unique and It took me a small while to get used to it. It did however make it hard to see what I was looking at a few times when I was tasked with finding something. It was fun to watch the ever shifting colors and images.

Having the animal companions, a cat for Kurt and a Pidgeon for Harry was a fun add on to the story. You can even right home to Kurt’s daughter and talk about the cat. I honestly wish there had been more to do as the animals, as they seemed to be a superfluous unless you are trying to collect everything in game.

I did like that I had to deal with characters interacting who could not understand one another because of a language barrier. That was a nice tidbit to have honestly and the voices of the game were wonderfully done. I mean I thought I had recognized Harry’s voice as Elijah Wood and I was not wrong.

Overall it was a somewhat relaxing game about trying to keep one’s humanity amidst dark times and how that can affect not only ourselves but those around us. Getting to see the perspective of both Kurt and Harry made it an overall wonderful game. My biggest complaint from this point would be that I had it beat in about 4-5 hours total and would have wanted more. I am sure it would have lasted longer if I had been more actively trying to collect everything I possibly could.

Needless to say I ended up with a satisfactory ending to the game, which I am sure there are different endings to. I got a peaceful ending and made the choices I feel like the characters would make despite everything that happened to the both of them.