Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER

I’ll recommend it based on some decent writing more often than not, quality music, and gorgeous pixel graphics. The story didn't make much sense to me. I read it had a rough development, and the story seems a little all over. But if you can get it on sale like I did, it’s OK. Voice acting was consistently above average except for one character reusing the same voice actor and modulator set at a slightly diff pitch as if we wouldn’t notice and be bothered. It’s not the first game, it’s more streamlined and the “puzzles” are guesses and are more harmful to the product than just keeping it a Visual Novel.

I'll start this review by saying this is the first and only story of this saga I'm familiar with as of now. I found this a really enjoyable experience as a stand alone; the art is really well made, the characters manage to convey their personality easily, the puzzles are not too obvious but also not too challenging and there are lots of cool concepts to this universe that make the story very immersive.
overall a very good experience. definitely consider adding it to your library or wishlist

I am a huge fan of the original Read Only Memories game, so getting Neurodiver was a no-brainer. And I was not disappointed in this one either. I love the idea of going inside others' minds to sort out missing/corrupted memories. The fact that you do so with major characters from 2064 was a huge added bonus. The story started out a little slow, but once you start on the main case things ramp up and just who the mysterious esper you've been hunting is just a nice twist. The fact that Midboss is known for putting queer themes in their games you'll definitely find some rather subtle nods, especially with your relationship with your...bodyguard. I won't spoil that surprise, but I kept rooting for the two. Also, the titular neurodiver is just too cute. I highly recommend this one.

idk i absolutely loved my time with this. i put off playing the game for ages because i wasn't impressed by the demo, but now that i did play it i think the game was really solid.
sure the read only memories IP and characters do a lot of heavy lifting on one hand, and on the other all this psychic stuff moves it further from what the first game was to me.
but the game felt fresh. it felt lovely. and loving and beautiful and interesting. and a lot of other words.
it's a really warm recommendation from me.

Having read some of the negative reviews before posting this, I can see where they are coming from. As a sequel to 2064: Read Only Memories this game doesn't hold up very well. Some of the writing appears to change the personality of the reoccurring characters from the original game almost beyond recognition, and the ending felt more than a little disappointing after all the build-up. However, overall I enjoyed playing this game as yet another cyberpunk adventure in MSX-inspired pixel art. Consider this review a recommendation with a few caveats.
The voice acting is pretty good, though I did notice a few lines where the volume was suddenly so low I could barely hear the character was saying anything at all. What also threw me off was that a handful of the main character ES88's lines outside of dialogue (when examining items) were voiced, but most of them were just left as silent subtitles. While I appreciate that this was probably a budget constraint, I would have liked more consistency there.
In general I liked the central mechanic of diving into someone's memories and discovering clues that let you clear up the traces of the bad guy tampering with them, but one or two times I was confused why a specific combination of clues solved the puzzle, while another that looked equally plausible to me was rejected. Perhaps a line of dialogue after solving it about how these specific things tied into what was hidden here would have helped.
Another thing I noticed in the last two chapters that I still can't figure out if it was intentional or a bug is that the quest log never moved the dive into Jess's memories from the Active to the Completed section, and in the final chapter it still told me to "get ready for work" when I was already at MINERVA. For a while this gave me the impression that the rest of the game was still somehow taking place within Jess's memories as they somehow fully merged with ES88's own due to Golden's psychic interference, and that there was perhaps going to be a big reveal with both characters waking up from a coma after the last corrupted memory was identified and Golden defeated in a climactic battle. Maybe this would have been a more satisfying conclusion than the actual ending, but it never happened and the issue wasn't directly addressed.

I really enjoyed ROM:Neurodiver, even though it starts a bit weird, I found it very compelling and thoroughly enjoyable!! Luna Cruz de la Vega is a wonderfully pompous character, and I love her sincerity and kindness!! I highly suggest to anyone to give the game a shot!!

Really enjoyed this game, the background art, music, character design, voice acting, and retro aesthetics are just beautiful. The plot twist at the end was a welcome surprise too. In a way, I could relate - it sure hit home for me. Would play a sequel for sure.