Vivid: Memories is a recreation about accumulating items of your childhood recollections. Why? Did you get hit over the top and have amnesia? Are you so beat down from the day-to-day of your company job that your mind has deteriorated a lot you not know have enjoyable?
Well, who is aware of. Theme is nice although, proper? It’s type of like that Inside Out film. Maybe. But you additionally rating factors. Look… it doesn’t must make sense. Abstract puzzle recreation, okay? Let’s get into it.
Gameplay Overview:
Vivid is performed over three rounds which all comply with the identical construction. First, you’ll draw reminiscence tiles based mostly on the variety of gamers and crystal-shaped reminiscence fragments from a bag, putting them on the reminiscence tiles. Players will then draft the reminiscence fragments off of the tiles. However, you possibly can solely decide fragments from both finish of the road of tiles. You can select any single fragment, two fragments of 1 shade, or three if all of them are completely different colours. If you occur to take the final fragment off a tile you additionally declare the tile.
When you’re taking fragments you have to instantly place all of them in one of many empty hexes in your board. And all of the fragments should go into the identical hex. If you have already got any fragments within the hex you can not add to it. There are some methods round this. If you solely take a single tile you get to take a bonus “rewire” motion, permitting you to maneuver all of the fragments out of 1 area into an adjoining area or transfer any variety of fragments from adjoining hexes right into a single hex.
After all fragments have been drafted there’s a replicate section the place you possibly can take every of the 4 primary actions:
- Draw a random fragment from the bag and add it to an empty hex.
- Remove any two fragments from a hex and add one among any shade from the availability.
- Move any fragment into an adjoining hex.
- Swap two adjoining fragments.
But, in the event you acquired any reminiscence tiles through the draft they’ve a particular motion that may change the essential actions out there. It then flips over to its scoring facet, presenting you with a technique to rating extra victory factors.
Now… victory factors. There are so some ways to attain factors. First, you possibly can create threads in your hex-shaped mind, connecting like colours alongside the skin of the board. If you do you’ll rating factors based mostly on the size of that chain of fragments. You’ll then begin filling up the core reminiscence banks alongside the skin… that’s additionally price factors and people rating each spherical. And in fact, these reminiscence tiles may give you factors for having sure combos of fragments throughout the hexes in your mind.
Those reminiscence tiles will stick round till scored although, limiting your out there primary actions. So taking too many can go away you in an actual powerful spot. The recreation ends after three rounds and gamers will even rating factors for one of many colours of recollections (which they get at the beginning of the sport).
Game Experience:
Vivid: Memories is absolutely stunning to take a look at. The reminiscence tiles have superb Andrew Bosley paintings the place one facet is the imaged reminiscence as a baby and the reverse is what you had been truly doing. It’s cute and actually evokes the sensation of little children and their wild imaginations. As a millennial, it provides me robust Rugrats vibes (though with a way more lifelike inventive model).
Does that theme come throughout within the gameplay… probably not. Mostly I feel the scoring doesn’t actually even try and make sense thematically. There is numerous speak within the rule ebook about core recollections and reminiscence threads. At the tip of the day, it’s actually only a cute theme for a puzzle about making connections on a board. Which, I assume, is a fairly oversimplification of neurology.
Abstract doesn’t trouble me although, so let’s get previous the pasted on theme. Is it enjoyable? Yeah… positive. There are numerous issues happening right here. I like drafting video games and the thought of what number of fragments you possibly can draft depends upon the mixture of colours results in some attention-grabbing decisions. And emptying a tile supplying you with a brand new scoring alternative looks as if an important factor… but it surely comes at the price of one of many primary actions. If you lock your self out of too lots of them it’s possible you’ll discover it tough to attain something.
Trying to finish the core recollections on the skin of the board ASAP so you possibly can rating them a number of instances looks as if a clever selection. The ones price essentially the most factors would require no less than three accomplished threads so that you’d must dedicate numerous time to creating positive that occurs.
Ultimately although Vivid: Memories simply doesn’t knock my socks off. And I feel that’s principally due to the tile laying facet of it. The drafting is essentially the most attention-grabbing half and upon getting fragments and you must put them multi function empty area… it may well actually be AP-inducing. And not essentially in a enjoyable manner that finally ends up being rewarding if you lastly choose a solution.
Often there isn’t an important reply, every thing you do goes to in all probability enable you to make progress towards one thing. And not often does anyone motion provide you with many instantly. You’ll must make good use of the mid-round actions to push issues round and swap locations with stuff. All within the identify of compressing out a number of additional factors.
Final Thoughts:
I feel Vivid: Memories is an efficient recreation. It’s nonetheless in my assortment for the second. But it’s a type of video games that I’m fairly persistently questioning how lengthy it’ll have an area on the shelf. And too typically if somebody picks it up and wonders what the gameplay is behind the superb paintings I’ll attempt to speak them out of it.
And that’s to not say there’s something improper with it. At least not one thing apparent. Maybe it’s the shortage of fine theme integration. Maybe it’s the constant AP. Or it might be the shortage of huge payoffs at any level by means of the sport. In the tip, it’s Vivid: Memories is a little bit… unexciting.
Final Score: 2.5 Stars – The drafting is the perfect half. The tile laying the actions to change your mind may be powerful to type by means of and don’t present sufficient reward.
Hits:
• Really superb paintings from Andrew Bosley
• Drafting guidelines make for some considerate moments
Misses:
• Feels a bit like every thing scores a medium quantity of factors
• Artwork and theme don’t tie will with mechanism and scoring.
