Checking out Memory's Reach at PAX Australia - Preview
There were a lot of indie games at PAX Australia and I only had time to check out a few of them, but in what ended up being a strange twist, I started with a puzzle game and then never left that genre. Memory’s Reach has been at PAX Australia before, but this time it was in the prime position of being a PAX Aus Indie Showcase winner. Was that a well deserved crown or just a fancy title that meant nothing?
It was deserved and let me explain why. Memory’s Reach has you exploring an alien world, teeming with overgrown ruins showing that there once was a vibrant civilization that called the planet home. What makes the game interesting is that it is locked to the first person perspective, which instantly gave me Metroid Prime vibes, but it was more than that, as the game is considered a first person puzzle game, more akin to Portal than Prime. There is a demo on Steam, which you can get here, but for the show the developer 100 Stones Interactive whipped up a brand new demo for the show and that is what I checked out.
This demo began fairly easy, getting through one door was just the start. One of the things that was explained to me was that the developers wanted a proper sense of progression, which is why they call this a Metroidvania Puzzler. What this means is that when you enter a new region of the game, you will get a new mechanic to play with, which becomes a central point for the puzzles ahead. This is just like how in any Zelda game, once you unlock an item in the Temple, then you know it plays a big part of that temple until the end. For the demo at PAX, the game required me to connect power nodes to specific points, in order to power up doors and platforms, simple right, well mostly.
Turns out these nodes have a set range, so you need to find the right path, but in addition to that, you might not have the right number of nodes for the room you are in. This is where using the environment comes in handy, the first few rooms were simple, either making the path or using a ball to extend the range. Where I got stuck in the demo was with the large room puzzle, which acts a bit like a boss. I first had to get power up to the level I came in on, which required a bit of platforming to get to where I had to turn it on. Much like Metroid Prime, I had no issues adjusting to the platforming required of me to do. Some games do have issues with it, but in my limited time with Memory’s Reach it was fairly straight forward. A lot of this has to do with the fact that you can’t jump, this is not a white man thing, but rather you have a limited teleportation option. Basically, if you see a platform you want to ‘jump’ to, once you are within range of it, you can just zoom across to it, that took a moment to adjust to, but it was easy to understand.
With that done and the power active, I was able to finally start laying nodes down and this is where I stumbled. Now to be fair, Ben the creative director of 100 Stones Interactive showed me the solution as my time came to an end and I was on the right track, I just missed a crucial part to begin with. For obvious reasons I won’t spoil the puzzle, but I will say that you can always press a button more than once. Once Ben did that and then showed me that my idea would have worked, had I done that one thing, the door opened.
I love a good puzzle game, not the 1 + 1 type of puzzle, but a good Rube Goldberg machine type of puzzle, finding what lever to press or platform to stand on, in order to get things moving. Because it means you have to think of the answer, but all the parts that make up the answer and once you get them right, the satisfaction is just the best. Memory’s Reach has that going for it, but what makes me excited for the full release is the mystery around the planet and the people that used to live there.
Memory’s Reach is available to wishlist today on Steam and is aiming for a release either later this year, or early 2026.
