11-11 Memories Retold, two men with two paths that intertwined in unexpected ways.
I got this game some time back, in the November 2019 Humble Monthly, and I wasn’t sure if I would actually be interested in it, with it being about the war, because usually you’re doing shooter combat. I suppose it’s my mistake for thinking it, because I was fascinated with the game when I started playing it.
I might not understand all the ins and outs of war, but…it’s interesting to look back on from a certain character’s viewpoint.
- Developed by Aardman Animations, Digixart
- Published by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe
Explanation to Negative Feedback
Hard to notice collectibles
Some items are going to have an aura around them so you can notice them a bit better, but not the collectibles. Which is unfortunate because some of them blend into the environment really well, and in the stressful environment of war, it’s not like this game urges you to look everywhere for them.
I mean, there’s people to kill, lives to save, problems to solve…but hey look, a collectible.
Interactions are sketchy
There are times in the game where there’s an item you can interact with, or if you’re controlling the cat, there are areas you can jump to, but you have to angle the camera just right in order for it to show. So if you move away to redo your stance, you could mess yourself up, sometimes they’d show up, then disappear, and rinse and repeat to make it a cumbersome concept.
I’m pretty sure a lot of these moments were in the viewpoint of the cat, as it can jump to certain places, but you have to look at those places at a certain angle.
An unnecessary annoyance.
Too much back and forth
I honestly didn’t mind some moments of going from one character to another, as we get some very different viewpoints, but there were other times where the play time on one character last for less than five minutes, before you’re hurled back to the other, and then hurled back to the previous.
It’s enough to give you whiplash.
I want to know about both of the characters. I enjoy playing both sides with their own dilemmas they face, but let me sink into them for a bit. I’m not a volleyball you can just spike into the next person while I’m flying high in another’s viewpoint.
Explanation to Positive Feedback
Great voice-acting
I’m not just saying this because Elijah Wood voices Harry–the voice acting really is good, no matter which character is talking. Whether they’re the main part of the story or a character you happen to run into.
Stylistic graphics
I’ve noticed that a lot of people aren’t fond of these kinds of graphics and they were put off from buying it from that reason alone. Which is a real shame, because after a while of playing you can really get a feel for being someone who’s outside looking in. As if you’re being told a story, rather than reliving it. The stained glass/painterly style is a good look in that regard.
Links Worth Checking Out
- Wolftooth provides you a video on all 6 endings
- Check out PlayStation’s 11-11 Memories Retold trailer
Gameplay
Achievements
There are 50 of them to obtain.
Plot
11th November 1916, a young photographer leaves Canada to join the western front in Europe. The same day, a German technician is told that his son is missing in action. Both want to preserve their humanity and come back alive to their loved ones.
Game Length
Around 6 hours
Replay Value
Not unless you want to choose different choices and get a different ending.
Genre(s)
The adventure takes place wherever the war takes you. It’s not an adventure that most would want to take, either.
Since this isn’t a war game centered around combat and winning sides, you’re definitely free to move around a lot more. Take in the sights (along with taking pictures of them), get the lay of the land, and talk to your fellow war-goers.
11-11 Memories Retold Review
War is fascinating, when you’re on the outside looking in at two different people from two different places that have two different reasons for joining the war. Neither of them signs up for the bloodshed, nor did they ever want get one up on the opposing army.
Harry is a Canadian with a camera, recruited by the arrogant Major Barrett in order for Harry to take photographs of the war, front and center.
Kurt is a German with a talent in engineering, having enlisted to find out the truth of his missing son–to find out whether he is dead or alive.
You get to play between the two of them, and you don’t think too much on enjoying a game that revolves around war, but then again, there aren’t very many war games where you’re not part of the battle–you’re merely a pawn, or perhaps a victim, in this case. Which means instead of wielding a gun and heading out onto the front line, you’re more of a tool during the battle.
Harry will take pictures while Kurt fixes radios and such.
Sometimes you get more relaxed and the gameplay isn’t strung with tension. Other times, as we get pushed into the war zone, things become a bit more hectic. It’s those times that I was a bit too stressed to be looking around for collectibles.
And it’s not even the fact that war is going on around you–there are some sections where you’ll need to stealth areas so you don’t get caught or shot by a sniper. But I mean, a photograph of a sniper’s sun-glare before you get shot would make a nice final farewell, don’t you think?
This game can be pretty emotional, maybe even more so for those who have lost someone to war, or is a significant other to someone in the military, and even to someone who will never know the outcome of a person they cared for.
While Harry might be taking pictures, Kurt not only has a MIA son who may or may not be alive, but he also has a little girl at home who’s sick. I can only imagine what it’d be like to be torn in two different directions. So much so that he does something I’m sure many have wanted to do when looking through a cemetery at all of the headstones and finding one unmarked.
Two enemies becoming friends isn’t a new concept. But it’s kind of fascinating to watch their interactions.
Especially since they don’t understand what each other are saying. It’s cool to pick up the little words that they start to learn from one another.
