Path to Mnemosyne is a puzzle game with a tricky name. Seriously, I feel like I have to triple check every time I type it out just to make sure I’ve got it right. Its strange title may be the main reason why I hadn’t heard of it before, which is sad, cause it’s an excellent game.
Path to Mnemosyne revolves around a long, straight path. As in literally revolves. As you traverse into the depths of the main character’s memories there’ll be rotating abound to walk on walls and solve intricate puzzles, all without a single tutorial. Voice-acting is solely reserved for the ambiguous story in this case, so you’re only given a bare-bones guide to the controls before being let loose to make your way further and further forward using nothing but observation and experimentation.
Along the way, you’re tasked with collecting memories to unlock the doorways that halt your progress. This can require everything from using portals to advance, memorising patterns or simply pushing the right buttons based off of hints in the background. I love this sort of puzzle-solving where you’re given all the pieces and just have to figure out how they fit together to reach the solution. It’s incredibly satisfying but still simple to solve, even without a dedicated hint system in place. And it’s always a good sign for me when I don’t feel the need to consult a guide while I’m playing. I went start to end with no help required, and no mental roadblocks encountered.
And boy, is it a fantastic journey. The visuals never cease to be inspiring with the twisted view ever expanding into the horizon, and the crisp greyscale artwork clawing at the edges of the Switch’s screen. I played in handheld but I’m strongly considering playing again just to see this game on my TV screen in finer detail, it’s that good-looking. It’s got sound to match too, as your footsteps echo for days or a growing sound follows you when you really start running. The presentation is perfect.
I only have a few minor complaints really. One, sometimes memories require running a fair distance back to collect, which is a bit of a chore. And two, on Switch it would sometimes stutter for a second, especially when struggling to load an area. My only other criticism is that it’s very short, especially for a $10 game. I finished the whole thing, with the secret ending too, in about an hour and a half. I’ve never been one to advocate for gameplay time matching price though, so for the price of a movie ticket it’s not that bad a deal. Quality over quantity is much better than dragging out an experience, and I can’t think of anything that Path to Mnemosyne could really add to pad it out anyway.
So, much like this game, I’m not going make this review longer than it needs to be. Path to Mnemosyne is a superb puzzle game, and a delight to even look at, never mind play. If like me you’re a fan of unique indie puzzle games, you’ll adore your time with this, no matter how short that may be – I know I did.
A digital copy of Path to Mnemosyne for Switch was provided by the developer.
Check out Path to Mnemosyne on Switch here:
https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/path-to-mnemosyne-switch/
