2064: Read Only Memories

2064: Read Only Memories is a Cyberpunk Visual Novel that masquerades as an Adventure Game. It is lovingly rendered in 16-bit graphics despite its 2015 release as an homage to the Sierra games of old. Re-released the following year with voiceovers of the main characters.

You star as an Intrepid Reporter drawn in to investigate the disappearance of your friend Hayden. As you get drawn into the investigation, people start to die mysteriously as you get drawn closer and closer to The Singularity.

The game is deeply immersed in California and Valley culture, and projects puts together a lot of the memes about how the Golden State will run into the ground. It also explores the fluidity of gender norms in SF with lots of LGBTQI characters. If you're a local, this is probably what elevates the game over So Okay It's Average territory. The puzzles are pretty weak if you were expecting a classic adventure game instead of a visual novel.

Tropes used in 2064: Read Only Memories include:

Ambiguous Gender: TOMCAT, who is referred to as "they".
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: A lot depends on how well you treat Turing.
Back-Alley Doctor: Installing your cyborg parts, surprisingly with a medical license!
Bad End: I, for one, support our new robot overlords. One of four endings.
Break the Cutie: Jess. Her furry skin was not a choice. She live for a long time with chitinous skin to escape disease, but was eventually able to become a furry instead to have more societal acceptance.
Bunny Ears Lawyer: Or cat-ears lawyer: Jess.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Someone involved with Parallax, but the game keeps you guessing as to who. It's Yannick Fairlight.
Cowboy Cop: Detective Lexi Rivers. She's mad enough about the problems you caused her back when she was still dating your sister, but still willing to let you get by with turning up in random crime scenes.
Cyborg: New parts are getting installed on people for fun or profit. Largely possible due to the neural mesh product developed by Melody Flores' company. Frequently installed by Back-Alley Doctors, natch.
Fail O'Suckyname: Starfucker, though he thinks his name is awesome, and everyone should stop calling him Chad. Turns into a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming when he says "You just don't like it because you're not a star, Oli." Woo Ho Yay!
Gayborhood: The Castro, obviously. Home of the club Stardust, run by Majid and his adorable bear boyfriend Gus.
Gratuitous Japanese: Thanks to Ramona.
Hardboiled Detective: Lexi eventually decides she's going to become this, as she realizes she fits this trope better than Cowboy Cop.
Hollywood Hacking: It's obvious the writers know how real hacking works (target users who write down passwords, etc). But that doesn't explain why you need sneak into the Master Computer on Treasure Island to stop Big Blue. Nor does it explain why a mesh-distributed program even needs a giant central computer complex.
Japanese Delinquents: ~~Chad~~Starfucker is not actually Japanese but otherwise fits the trope for his out-of-fashion delinquent clothes and attitude.
Lego Genetics: Genus, the gene change clinic. Sometimes used to treat disease, sometimes for Bio-Augmentation, and sometimes just because people want to become Petting Zoo People.
New Neo City: Neo-San Francisco, or Neo-SF for short.
Otaku: Ramona and Oli nerd-bond over this stuff.
Point and Click Map: Of Neo-SF. After city services came under corporate control, it looks like they rebuilt the Central Freeway. Sorry NIMBYs!
Pronoun Trouble: Turing at one point speculates about their gender, but doesn't want to pick one yet unlike Grace who was definitely female. TOMCAT, on the other hand, goes exclusively with they/them/their. At the beginning of the game, it asks you which pronouns the player prefers!
Read Only Memory: The stuff Turing keeps in his permanent storage.
Robot Buddy: Turing, of course!
The Singularity: As you go through the game, it becomes apparent that the Singularity is going to happen on December 25, 2064 (Patch Thursday), whether you like it or not. The only choice you have is what kind of AI is going to be the first to surpass human ability... friendly or not.
Shout-Out:
- Turing, naturally, is named after the great Alan Turing.
- Grace, the prior model to Turing was or is named after Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, the creator of COBOL.
- Stardust has the feel of a hacker club, probably inspired by jwz's DNA Lounge.
- Leon Dekker is obviously a reference to The Terminator, with the face-rip and all.
Show Within a Show: Magical Commander Yukino. Ramona is a dai-fan!
Stylistic Suck: A futuristic setting rendered in magnificent 16 color pixel art.
Transhuman: See Lego Genetics and Cyborg above.
Tsundere: At least one interpretation of Jess. "I believe in you... Prick."
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: The Human Protection Act prevents genetically modified people from breeding. While gay rights seem to be unquestioned in Neo-SF, the new minority are those who had gene mods.