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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jaquette_remember_me_pc_cover_avant_g_1344969567.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} Remix memories, change the world.]]]]
3%%
4%% Caption selected per discussion in the Caption Repair thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900&page=193
5%% Please do not replace or remove without further discussion in the thread.
6%%
7''Remember Me'' is a 2013 action-adventure game from Creator/DONTNODEntertainment and Creator/{{Capcom}}, released for PC, Platform/PlayStation3 and Xbox 360.
8
9The story takes place in the year 2084, set in a [[CyberPunk futuristic]] UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} known as "Neo-Paris," a sprawling, beautiful, vibrant metropolis, made rich and prosperous with the development of a revolutionary new technology known as the Sensation Engine. Developed by the Memorize Corporation, the "Sensen" -- as it's widely called -- is a brain implant that allows people to alter their memories, deleting them, sharing them via the wireless pervasive 'Net, trading them, or even buying new ones that are distributed by Memorize, which acts as a central hub to store these memories. This has allowed the corporation to turn Neo-Paris into their own private surveillance state of sorts, with the interconnectivity giving them a vast degree of control over the population.
10
11The hero of our story is Nilin, a "memory hunter" (a person specializing in targeting and stealing memories) in a resistance against Memorize, who is unique among her fellow hunters because of her ability to [[MoreThanMindControl manipulate others' memories]] by diving into them and changing minute details to create an alternate reality for that person to remember. Nilin is captured by Memorize and has most of her memories erased, before being imprisoned in the super-maximum-security prison "La Bastille." Here, she's contacted by a mysterious hacker called "Edge," a leader of a guerilla revolutionary movement known as "The Errorists," who seek to bring to light the corruption of Memorize and hopefully bring the company down. With Edge's help, Nilin escapes into the underground and fights off waves of mutants known as "Leapers" -- once people who became so addicted to their Sensen it degraded and changed them -- until she resurfaces in the slums of Neo-Paris, where she officially rejoins Edge's cause.
12
13Nilin's personal goals, however, are to recover her lost memories and find out exactly what happened to her, hoping to clear herself of her status as a fugitive.
14
15After all, she is the hunter. So why now has she become "the hunted?"
16
17Not to be confused with the [[Film/RememberMe drama film]], the [[Literature/RememberMe1989 fantasy book series]], or the song with the same name in ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}''.
18
19----
20!!Tropes found in the game:
21
22* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Paris is already a city famous for the network of tunnels, catacombs, and metro lines built up underneath it over the centuries. Add to that several large subterranean aqueducts built quickly as an emergency stopgap measure to contain the rising global water level, and you get plenty of these, often occupied by Leapers.
23* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: Dr. Quaid has a minor case of this. His speech tends to pause and drag slightly every so often.
24* AddledAddict: Sensen abuse turns ordinary humans into Leapers.
25* AdvertOverloadedFuture: Neo-Paris has its walls covered with huge advertisement billboards, augmented reality text and ad bots are roaming the city.
26* AerithAndBob: Compare Nilin and Edge with names like Gabriel, Frank and Alexia. This is actually intentional: to unfamiliar ears Nilin would sound like an exotic name that belongs in a cyberpunk dystopia, but it's an existing name of Hindi origin and thus really is something people would name their kid. [[spoiler:Particularly certain people who are also of mixed, partially Indian origin.]] As for Edge, [[spoiler:he isn't exactly human in the first place.]]
27* AirborneMook: The ''AV-48S Seraphim'' security robots. These fly safely beyond the reach of your melee attacks and fire energy projectiles to disrupt your combos on other enemies. In some arenas they even fly between vantage points to keep you within their range. Luckily they're {{Glass Cannon}}s and can be destroyed in just two [[ChargedAttack Junk Bolt]] shots.
28* AmbiguouslyBrown: Subverted. Nilin looks that way, but her ancestry is explicitly stated when you unlock some journals in Episode 5: [[spoiler:1/2 white, 1/4 Ethiopian, 1/4 Indian]].
29* AmbiguousRobots: The Zorns are definitely robots, but two very unrobotic things characterize them. First, they're smart enough to taunt you in battle -- they say some very demoralizing things. Secondly, they often unleash a terrifying howl, complete with a hologram of a screaming mouth (with the word "warning" on its side). These are both likely because the Zorn is designed to intimidate you into surrendering.
30* AndThisIsFor: Nilin gets an impressive one during her memory overload of Sergeant Vaughan.
31-->'''Nilin:''' This is for everything you did to me! And that's for everything else I can't even remember! %% I hope it's not just in the French.
32* ApatheticCitizens: The well-to-do citizens of Neo-Paris, and fully {{justified|Trope}} by Sensen technology. If something is bothering them, some pang at their conscience or worry, they can pay for the EasyAmnesia to just forget it, and this has been made so accessible that they can just ignore any concerns practically at will. [[spoiler:Once much of the city becomes flooded, they find that a bit harder to just forget...]]
33-->'''Edge:''' It's not their selfishness that I condemn, sister. It's their eagerness to forget everything that bothers them.
34* ArcWords: "So empty, so true" and "Remember you soon". The former is usually spoken by people suffering from mental corruption, like Leapers. [[spoiler:So it becomes a really bad sign when uttered by Edge...]]
35* AssholeVictim:
36** Sergeant Vaughan abuses his power as a guard in La Bastille for various purposes and implies that he has raped some of the prisoners.
37** Frank Forlan's memory remix shows him as a verbally abusive lover, at least when he's drunk.
38* AttackItsWeakPoint:
39** The Zorn's weak points are helpfully marked so Nilin's auto-targeting can lock on.
40** The final boss goes so far as to tell you exactly how to hurt it. [[spoiler:Justified because he wants to die.]]
41* AugmentedReality: Ubiquitous thanks to the presence of Sensen. Virtually every store, kiosk, and even a few robots use AR displays. Even areas that have been abandoned for years -- or ''flooded'' for ''decades'' -- have AR tags scattered throughout.
42* BackgroundBoss: The final boss is large (6-10 meters) and will attack by hitting you with its hands, creating projectiles and summoning other enemies. It is not possible to close the distance until the finishing cutscene.
43* BackStab: One of Nilin's S-Pressens, Sensen Camo, gives her the ability to [[PerceptionFilter spoof opponent's Sensen implants such that they are incapable of perceiving her]]. This gives her thirty seconds to get behind an enemy and execute a [[FinishingMove Memory Overload]], after which everyone snaps back out of it.
44* TheBeautifulElite: While the lower-class toils away in the slums, the middle and upper-class enjoys a life of leisure and privilege on the gleaming streets of Neo-Paris. Their homes are gorgeous, they have all the latest technologies at their disposal, they have robotic servants that cater to their whims, etc.
45* BeehiveBarrier: The robotic Seraphim and Nephilim enemies can generate these to foil Nilin's attacks.
46* BilingualBonus: There's a lot of French in the game, on signs and street graffiti. If you know the language it adds to the already vast world created by the atmosphere.
47* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: Inverted, at least in letter. Memory abuse via Sensen somehow mutates the bodies of people addicted to it, such as the Leapers.
48* BossInMookClothing:
49** In spite of their name, Elite Enforcers are closer to this due to their electrified armour, which will literally damage Nilin with every strike of hers, demanding that she use Regen Pressen-heavy combos to counteract the harm. S-Pressens are also effective, but using those regularly depends on landing combos with Power and Cooldown Pressens. Have fun!
50** Mourner Leapers are this in-universe, as they are able to command other Leapers, turn invisible, camouflage as humans, and even teleport. However, Mourners are only encountered twice in the game, and always in a boss battle-like fashion.
51* BrokenAesop: We're told that memories, even painful ones, are a necessary part of life and the human experience, but all the problems in the story are caused by people who couldn't forget their painful memories and took that pain out on others; Nilin can make anyone believe almost anything, and she has no problem using the memory-remix ability to solve her problems with no consequences except the ones she inflicts on herself.
52** In addition, the moral of the story goes against our scientific understanding of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, where victims of traumatic experiences undergo beta-blocker treatment to essentially "forget" their trauma in an attempt to lead a normal life.
53* BullfightBoss: Kid X-Mas is this during his first two phases, charging after you and occasionally using the Spammer in his second phase. By the time he gets to third phase, he stops doing that in favor of deploying mines around the arena.
54* CallAHitPointASmeerp: The experience points that Nilin earns are known as PMP (Procedural Mastering Power).
55* CaptainErsatz: Despite the fact that it is supposed to reference ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' (see below), the environment is actually much closer to ''Literature/BraveNewWorld''. [[spoiler:Dr. Quaid is turning the mentally-deranged into slaves. Even further, Edge could be considered a reimagined copy of John the Savage.]]
56* ChekhovsSkill: During your first memory remix -- which also serves as a tutorial for these events -- you are likely to trigger a Memory Bug, with the game explaining why these are undesirable. You can trigger Memory Bugs in all remixes; though you can't succeed by doing so ([[spoiler:most of the time]]) you get a trophy/achievement if you trigger all of them at least once. So the possibility of Memory Bugs seems to be merely for HundredPercentCompletion purposes... [[spoiler:until you get to the final remix, where your objective is to trigger one]].
57* CinematicPlatformGame: The bulk of the game is platforming in the ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia''/''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' mode.
58* {{Combos}}: Customizable combos form the core of the close-combat system. Each hit in the combo can be assigned a bonus like extra damage, health recovery, or speeding up the cooldown of special moves.
59* ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive: A variation. Edge tells Nilin that [[MissionControl he's the voice she needs to listen to]] if she wants to live.
60* CrapsackWorld: It's a cyberpunk game, so naturally the old order is crumbling, the poor are forced to live in slums and ruins while the rich swan about in newly-built malls and shops, and the definition of what it means to be human is constantly being toyed with. The world is still recovering from a European civil war that left the old Paris in ruins, and the journal entries you can find scattered throughout the world include references to a war between Russia and ''Canada''. The main plot of the game involves [[spoiler:turning prisoners into brainwashed, sub-human slaves through memory manipulation, thus creating a permanent, controllable underclass]].
61* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: All of the Memory Remix sequences require Nilin to change someone's memories to make happy events tragic, and already tragic events traumatic, in order to [[MindRape force a change]] in that person's personality. [[VideoGameCaringPotential It is possible to also change the memories to make them more happy (and grants achievements for doing so)]] but one cannot progress without taking the cruel options.
62* CyberPunk: Pretty much everyone in the world uses Sensen, an augmented-reality device that also allows for the free exchange of actual memories. Overuse of that last feature tends to cause addiction, followed by a specific kind of insanity that gradually destroys the user's personality.
63* {{Cyberspace}}: The so-called Ego Rooms are locations that exist entirely in cyberspace. Your battles against Madame and the final boss take place in these.
64* DiegeticInterface: A mixed example; some of the interface elements are augmented reality features that it's implied Nilin can see in-universe, while others are only for the benefit of the player.
65* DivideByZero: A Memory Bug occurs when Nilin causes a person to be killed in their own memory, creating a paradox where they remember they were killed but they can't possibly be alive to remember it. However, making the subject "remember" seeing someone close to them die is fair game. [[spoiler:The final remix tasks you with triggering a Memory Bug.]]
66* DopplegangerSpin: Madame's boss fight involves her creating copies of herself in the second stage. Hitting the wrong one injures you. Hitting the right one stuns her to allow follow-up attacks. The right one is posed slightly different than the rest, though it can be hard to tell without knowing what to look for. The game encourages Nilin to use her S-Pressens to overcome the illusion instead.
67* DreamWithinADream: When Nilin confronts [[spoiler:her father]] the player gets to remix his memory, and then the memory of [[spoiler:a childhood version of Nilin]] ''within'' the first memory.
68* DrivenToSuicide: Using Nilin's ''Memory Remix'' ability on specific targets, she can alter their memories to push them into doing this, as witnessed in the demo [[spoiler:where she convinces Frank he killed his wife]].
69* DualBoss: The only other time you encounter Mourner Leapers after Johnny Greenteeth is when two of them appear at once. It's got its own special theme, in case you weren't sure it's a major encounter.
70* EarlyGameHell: A bit of a crossover with NewGamePlus. The PMP, SAT Patches, Focus Boosts, and Sensen combos from one playthrough carry over into any future playthroughs in that save slot...which significantly reduces the difficulty of several sections on replay, even after increasing the game's difficulty setting.
71* EasyAmnesia: A core part of the setting, granted widely by Sensen technology. People can just forget bad memories and implant more pleasant ones at will through their implants.
72* EliteMooks: Several.
73** [[GiantMook Skinner Leapers]] are the first kind you'll encounter. They force you to defeat their flunkies first.
74** The Prison Enforcers perform a [[ManaDrain Brain Lock]] grappling attack if you ignore the giant warning mark.
75** Elite Enforcers have electrified armor and are often found controlling Reconversion Leapers, which also apply as they're tougher than common Prowlers. Both are immune to Sensen DOS, to boot.
76** All of the Enforcer varieties come in [[ShieldBearingMook Heavy Enforcer]] variants.
77* ExpositoryGameplayLimitation: The game will sometimes slow Nilin down to a walk, usually during dialogue sequences. In some cases there are nearby obstacles that Nilin can target with her Spammer or climb over, which temporarily override the slowed movement.
78* FakeMemories: A major plot element, and actually a game mechanic as well.
79** [[spoiler:When remixing Charles Cartier-Wells' memories, your objective is to change it to where he inadvertently kills his own daughter with a Memory Bug instead of purging her memories of a traumatic car accident.]]
80* FantasyGunControl: The majority of the gameplay is an AugmentedReality BeatEmUp because guns were outlawed in the [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]]; The [[http://dontnodentertainment.wikia.com/wiki/Law_of_the_Stone_Age "Law of the Stone Age"]] AKA [[FictionalDocument "Decree no. 56-124."]] This is why Nilin and the SABRE Forces do all their fighting with augmented reality melee weapons. The only firearms seen are on security drones and gunships, none of which Nilin ever actually fights directly.[[labelnote:*]]though the Seraphim does have an energy projectile attack[[/labelnote]]
81* ForebodingArchitecture: After a while it becomes painfully clear that whenever you enter a large open area, enemies are going to arrive one way or another.
82* {{Foreshadowing}}:
83** When Nilin makes it onto the streets of Neo-Paris, she can encounter a street preacher talking about God manifesting Himself through the collective memories of humanity. [[spoiler:The final boss, [=H3O=], is an A.I. spontaneously born from the memories stored within the Conception Cube.]]
84** When Nilin first meets Johnny Greenteeth, his outfit looks like that of a doctor or another medical professional. [[spoiler:Nilin later discovers that Johnny used to be a colleague of Dr. Quaid at La Bastille.]]
85** Edge often refers to Nilin as "sis" and she reciprocates at least once with "bro", since the Errorists tend to use familial terms to address each other. [[spoiler:Given that [=H30=] is also the "child" of the Cartier-Wells, it's also literal.]]
86* FinalExamBoss: The final boss tests your understanding of most of Nilin's S-Pressens, your mastery of combos, and your knowledge of enemy strengths and weaknesses. About the only thing it doesn't cover is [[PressXToNotDie quick time events]].
87* FinishingMove:
88** "Memory Overload", where Nilin knocks over a stunned enemy, palms their back of their neck, and directly accesses their Sensen implant to overload it with junk data such that they're rendered practically catatonic. Comes complete with a "gunshot" style particle effect spray in augmented reality.
89** Most bosses have to be finished off with a "Terminate" sequence -- see PressXToNotDie. Nilin usually delivers the Overload on the final button prompt or in the cutscene immediately after.
90* FlunkyBoss: Both the Madame and the final boss will summon digital versions of Enforcers and their security robots to assist them in the battle. This serves to allow you to build Focus, lower your cooldowns, and heal using Pressens, since the bosses occasionally require the use of Focus moves that you would almost certainly run out of otherwise.
91* FunWithAcronyms: While they're all employed by the Memorize corporation, the official name of Enforcers' group is [=SABRE=].
92* GenericGraffiti: There are countless sprayed all over the place in Slum 404, like a pixel stencil graffiti of Mona Lisa.
93* GenreBlindness: [[spoiler:Capt. Trace makes the mistake of toying with Nilin first by chasing her and deliberately shooting around, giving her the chance to escape and turn the tables on him.]]
94* GenreBusting: A handy mix of combo-based brawling (and you can build your own combos), [[CinematicPlatformGame realistic platforming]] and the "memory remix" segments, with the occasional puzzle thrown in.
95* GiantMook: The Skinner Leapers are much taller and bulkier than regular Prowler Leapers,and have correspondingly greater health. They have a similar moveset to Prowlers but receive significant buffs from the presence of other Leapers. That, and they will block all regular attacks, requiring either the use of power moves or the activation of [[SuperMode Fury]].
96* GlowingEyesOfDoom: The final boss has really large light orange ones.
97* GrimyWater: The first time when Nilin comes near water is when she's in the sewers, and her SuperDrowningSkills are explained by it being full of nuclear waste, pathogens and other pollutants. Naturally, it doesn't have any effect on her when she's walking alongside, or even through ankle-high pools of it, and there are no long-term consequences for her.
98* GrayAndGrayMorality: Though occasionally crosses into BlackAndGrayMorality.
99* HappinessInMindControl: Nilin's memory remix changes how people remember the past as well as how they feel about it. Two of her victims recognize what she's doing but realize that the effect on their present selves is positive and are thus happy with the operation.
100* HardLight: Some of Nilin's abilities seem to be this. Particularly the "Junk Bolt" that forms a holographic ArmCannon to destroy physical objects.
101* HeelFaceBrainwashing: Early on, Nilin uses her Memory Remixing abilities to turn bounty hunter Olga Sedova to her side by warping her memory into believing that her husband David was killed by Memorize thanks to a botched surgery. [[spoiler:Arguably done to the Cartier-Wells as well, though both of them realize what's going on -- if Scylla doesn't in Episode 5, she surely does by Episode 8 -- and decide to change their ways anyway.]]
102* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:[=H30=]'s''/''Edge's ultimate motive-he has decided that the Sensen system is utterly irredeemable as a concept and has created a CrapsackWorld where people run from life. Thus, he wants Nilin to [[DeathSeeker destroy him]], and with it, return everyone's true memories.]]
103* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: Throughout episode 6, Nilin repeatedly catches a glimpse of something camouflaged moving past her. One of those moments happens when she's waiting at a security scanner in front of a door, and it opens with the message, "Welcome, Dr. Green." However, at a later door, the scan identifies her as Nilin. [[spoiler:When Nilin finds Dr. Quaid, Johnny Greenteeth suddenly appears out of thin air. Nilin realizes later that Johnny used to be the Dr. Green in question. Now consider that Johnny was likely stalking Nilin since they first met in the subway so that she'd lead him to Quaid.]]
104* IAmTheNoun: Done twice when Nilin finally gets to meet Edge. [[spoiler:He calls himself Edge, then [=H3O=], then the father of the Leapers. When Nilin enters her Ego Room, [=H3O=] calls itself by name, then "Sensen", then the Leapers.]]
105* ImAHumanitarian: Implied. Leapers refer to people who haven't had their memories wiped as "meat" and try to kill them.
106* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Captain Gabriel Trace is a proud graduate. The odd thing is that when he's not toying with Nilin, he's a crack shot, able to aim the gunship's weapons with pinpoint precision the second she sticks her nose out. Another possibility is that the gunship's weapons are computer-aided, and he ''deliberately'' changed the settings to aim ''around'' Nilin when he's not being serious.
107* InaneBlabbering: One effect of the mental degeneration that turns ordinary people into Leapers is their speech patterns breaking down. Occasionally they manage to say something vaguely relevant to the situation, but then you have people like David Sedova whose ramblings are all so much word salad.
108* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: In a game with frequent parkour/platformer sections, it's extremely frustrating that Nilin can't jump over knee-high objects unless the plot demands it. There are a handful of spots where you can ''see'' RareCandy right on the other side of a knee-high box, but you have to find a level passage around. It doesn't help that Nilin has one of the lowest, most useless jumps in gaming history. Sawteeth are also used extensively to keep the game linear. Much of the RareCandy is on forks off the main path, but proceeding down the main path locks the passage behind you. Many forks are 50/50 guesses whether you're going to find a powerup and backtrack or [[GuideDangIt lose it forever.]]
109* IronicDescriptionCut: The first two minutes alone is (literally) a commercial about how Sen-Sen. The entirety of it is how some people have benefited from this technology and what a terrific breakthrough it is to be able to store one's memories. The next scene is of Nilin having her memories drained at the Bastille prison, as though driving home that this same wondrous technology [[{{Deconstruction}} can be abused and used for malicious purposes]].
110* KickTheSonOfABitch: In order to establish that the PsychicAssistedSuicide victim in the first demo deserves it, a throwaway line mentions how he [[spoiler:punished a cop for not killing a homeless person that got in his way while pursuing a criminal]]. Not to mention that in his unaltered memory, he throws an empty beer bottle at his girlfriend (but drunkenly misses).
111* KillTheOnesYouLove: [[spoiler:Nilin does ''not'' want to destroy Edge, but he insists it must be done. Eventually, she agrees that it is necessary, but it's clear that doing so is painful for her]].
112* KingMook: Johnny Greenteeth is definitely the King of the Leapers, for multiple reasons. He's got powerful holographic abilities that let him vanish or impersonate a normal human, and he's capable of surprisingly coherent conversations. His boss fight is annoyingly difficult, too.
113* LackOfEmpathy: Edge seems to have a noble goal in destroying the Sensen network, but he cares little to nothing for the people he has to hurt to get that accomplished. [[spoiler:This makes more sense when you learn that Edge isn't human, but an AI born of all the cast-off bad memories of humanity.]]
114* LampshadeHanging:
115** There's no ''obvious'' reason why having one's memories damaged by Sensen misuse, like the Leapers, should cause any sort of physical mutation. Which is exactly why Dr. Quaid studies the phenomenon. [[spoiler:And weaponizes it.]]
116** Also when Nilin finds out that [[spoiler:Mrs. Cartier-Wells is her mother]], she is quick to point out the cliche nature of these revelations and wonders whether next she'll learn that [[spoiler:Bad Request is her long-lost brother (he isn't; however, being an Errorist sympathizer, he does call Nilin "sister")]].
117* LaserGuidedAmnesia: The inmates of La Bastille have their memories of the outside world taken from them, keeping them docile by making it seem like there is no point to try and escape. The second cutscene in the game is this being done to the PlayerCharacter. [[spoiler: When Nilin restores everyone's memories after her BossBattle with the Madame, it instantly leads to a major PrisonRiot.]]
118* LayeredMetropolis: Neo-Paris is divided into three sections. Lowest of these is the Underground, which is the rotted, decaying remains of old Paris, covered in moss and grime, and crawling with Leapers. Above that is the Slums, where the under-privileged live in poverty and destitution. And beyond that, separated by a reinforced wall, is Neo-Paris, a shining utopia of elegance, success, and beauty, where the middle and upper-class reside.
119* LeanAndMean: All the Leapers are abnormally thin and gaunt, giving them a ghoulish appearance to go with their aggressive behavior. Several of them seem to experience a strange post-pubescent long bone growth that gives them CreepyLongFingers and [[CreepilyLongArms Arms]], making them look even taller and further from human.
120* LeParkour: While less elegant than the [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Assassins]], Nilin is no stranger to scaling walls and jumping from water pipe to abutment.
121* LifeDrain: One of Nilin's Pressens is a strike that heals her. Chain them together and she recovers to full health just by punching and kicking people! This is actually ''required'' when fighting Elite Enforcers, who wear electrified armor that damages you every time you hurt them.
122* LikeBrotherAndSister: All of the Errorists refer to each other as brother and sister. This is symbolic, but also editor-appeasing, as ExecutiveMeddling reportedly axed a romance plot in development.
123** Also, [[spoiler:Nilin and Edge/[=H30=] are ''actually'' brother and sister.]]
124* LiteralMetaphor: The Baroness [[spoiler:has the Bastille set up to bolster her ego. In other words, it's a ''superiority complex''.]]
125* LogicBomb: One of Nilin's [[SpecialAttack S-Pressens]] is actually called this, and it overloads her enemy's memory and [[WhyAmITicking turns them into an involuntary grenade.]]
126* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:Sensen was created as one, though it's since diversified.]]
127* LukeIAmYourFather: A double example: [[spoiler:Nilin is the daughter of Scylla and Charles.]]
128* MagicAIsMagicA: Apart from one definite and one possible exception, the rules of the setting are rather consistent: Everything beyond the mundane happens because of the ubiquitous Sensen implants. You're not magically stunning people, you're overloading their implants with a Denial of Service attack. And you're not becoming invisible either, you're manipulating other people's vision. The exceptions are the Junk Bolt which can destroy unpowered physical objects and possibly the Mourner Leapers, assuming their teleportation abilities are real rather than a combination of illusions and ranged attacks.
129* MagicTool: Nilin's glove, which also gives her access to Remembranes to aid her in her path.
130* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Or a suicide that the victim did of their own free will, as opposed to a PsychicAssistedSuicide. [[invoked]]
131* MaleGaze: A lot of footage for the game and its cover art like to focus on Nilin's buttocks. According to initial interviews, advertisers were really not happy with the idea of a female protagonist who wasn't a ThirdPersonSeductress. And even if she isn't sexualized, Nilin has still a... well-animated backside, especially when she walks.
132* MeaningfulName: The names of all security robots have meaning. The angel-like [[AirborneMook airborne robots]] are known as [=AV48S=] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraphim Seraphim]], for a type of angel, while the ground-based robots are called [=AV48N=] - {{Nephilim}}, which is most commonly translated as ''fallen angel''. The huge mecha guard at the entrance to the Bastille Prison is called [=AV78=] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorn Zorn]], which is German word for "wrath". Fittingly, the move you use to hack them over to your side is known as ''Rust In Pieces''. The locations also get in on the act: the Bastille used to be the most dreaded prison in France under the Bourbons and the French Revolution began with its capture and destruction. Its reconstruction [[spoiler:and eventual destruction]] show that the social inequality of the era and the distance between the wealthy and the underclass has made a comeback. The Parisian slums that house said underclass are known as ''Slum 404'', which signifies their invisibility to those in power.
133* MindRape: People who go to La Bastille have their memories of the world wiped away thinking there's nothing outside for them, giving them no reason to attempt to escape. It's only when their sentence is done that they get all of their memories back. Also anytime Nilin does an Overload on an Enforcer. Really, you could make the argument that this whole game is basically ''Mind Rape: The Video Game''.
134* MissionControl: Edge for Nilin.
135* MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: Nilin spends much of the game wondering whether this is the case after Edge gives her some very morally grey assignments. [[spoiler:He really does have her and the world's best interests in mind, but his lack of empathy and his disdain for the privileged civilians whose lives they either end or ruin foreshadow that he ''is'' a little unstable -- and also that he's a ''machine''.]]
136* MookChivalry: Gleefully averted - enemies will always attempt to at least flank Nilin, if not get behind and completely surround her. Luckily, your AugmentedReality system will display red exclamation marks over their heads when they're about to strike. However, it's played straight in that only one of them will attack at any given time. If one enemy is about to attack, the others will wait a short while before they do anything other than move. Robots, however, have no problem attacking you at the same time as other robots or human enemies.
137* MonstrousHumanoid: All of the Leapers. Also, [[spoiler:[=H3O=]'s FinalBoss form.]]
138* MoreThanMindControl: By subtly manipulating a person's memories, Nilin can, for instance, [[PsychicAssistedSuicide drive them to suicide]] without ever technically suggesting it to them, or create a whole new reality where a mercenary she was fighting off somehow became her ally in her new memory.
139* {{Mutants}}: Of the sewer variety. The Leapers are citizens of Neo-Paris who have been affected by a mysterious sort of Sensen implant rejection, causing them to develop longer extremities, deformed facial features and various enhanced abilities. They have become addicted to other people's memories, and descended into insanity as a result.
140* NeverTrustATrailer: The original press releases implied that Nilin was a Memorize employee who was betrayed by them and recovered by Edge at the beginning of the story. In the game itself, Nilin has always been an Errorist and never worked for Memorize.
141* NewNeoCity: Neo-Paris. It even includes its own new Bastille.
142* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Oddly enough, to be set in Neo-''Paris'', not a single character in the game has a French accent. Unless, of course, you use the French audio track.
143* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: In a flashback to a previous remix, Alexia mocks Frank when he grabs his handgun because she knows he always leaves the safety on. She feels so confident about this that she even [[spoiler:walks right up to him and grabs the barrel, pointing it at her own chest]]. Naturally, you can ensure the safety ''isn't'' on.
144* PaintedOnPants: When Nilin gets her own clothing back, the outfit includes blue jeans that look so tight they should almost prevent her from even moving her legs.
145* PerceptionFilter: Sensen Camo allows Nilin to become effectively invisible to her enemies by manipulating their Sensen implants. She will become visible again after attacking them once, but said attack can be a [[FinishingMove Memory Overload]].
146* PlotHole: The FantasyGunControl is one [[http://badwasabi.tumblr.com/post/54380390240/this-game-makes-basically-absolutely-no-sense the size of a city]]:
147** The execution; the gameplay is based on Neo-Paris having a zero-tolerance law against guns even for cops, but why don't the police use less-lethal weapons such as tasers, flash-bangs and tear gas? Hell, just ''capsaicin spray'' is debilitating with an impressively low risk of long-term side effects.
148** The social effects; Gun control laws actually ''increase'' the proliferation of illegal firearms; Japan has similarly draconian gun control laws, but it also has a thriving ''black market'' in guns - because a <$500 factory-made automatic nine-millimeter can be sold for the cost of a ''luxury car.'' To say nothing of the profit margin for ''bullets.''
149** The exception; the crime that got Nilin imprisoned and wiped in the first place was [[spoiler:a PsychicAssistedSuicide - with a ''handgun.'' [[http://dontnodentertainment.wikia.com/wiki/Frank_Forlan Frank Forlin]] ''was'' a cop who had it on his desk at the moment, but he was permitted to keep the handgun with him at all times despite being a ''known alcoholic.'' In the memory Nilin remixes to make him commit suicide, he even keeps it ''[[ArtisticLicenseGunSafety loaded]]'' (albeit [[NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont safetied]]) which results in him '''shooting his wife with it''']].
150* PowerCopying: Over her journey, Nilin assimilates the special moves of other memory hackers into her own repertoire.
151* PowerGivesYouWings: Nilin sprouts these when she remembers a new S-Pressen.
152** AbnormalAmmo: All of them, more or less, but the Junk Bolt in particular is a kind of GrenadeLauncher on her arm.
153** HandBlast: The Spammer, a kind of handgun that is also used to unlock certain doors.
154** HollywoodHacking: Aside from the standard long-range remixing and closer range memory overloads, the Pick-Socket allows her to open up doors and activate technology instantaneously. She is also capable of hacking the security robots to her side with the ''Rust In Pieces'' ability.
155** TractorBeam: The Force Spammer, which allows her to move doors or other objects in the environment.
156* PressXToNotDie: Most boss fights end this way, which is irritating as the player is given very little warning. Each requires 3-4 inputs, and failing one means the boss recovers some health and gets to keep fighting.
157* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Nothing matters unless it matters to Nilin personally. None of the moral implications of her memory remixes are addressed except for the one she felt guilty about, and the only reason it mattered was Nilin's guilt over it, not the damage she caused or how wrong it was. She questions her actions and nameless [=NPC=]s seem to object, but she always avoids actually being culpable. At the end of the game, [[spoiler:her relationship with her parents, and her parents' relationship with each other, are healed consequence-free because Nilin has remixed their memories to make it so. Although Nilin mentions having to fix the world, she also acknowledges that she now has godlike powers, and her behavior over the course of the entire plot suggests that her new perfectly loving family isn't going to take any heat she doesn't want them to.]]
158* PsychicAssistedSuicide: [[spoiler:The crime that got Nilin imprisoned and mindwiped; a SABRE Force officer who she remixed to believe he shot his wife while drunk]].
159* PurpleProse: The dialogue presumably sounded a lot less silly in French. Ironically, Nilin notes that Edge talks like a poet, but she's not much better.
160* RareCandy: The SAT Patches, Focus Boosts and Scaramechs, which are hidden away in most episodes. They increase your maximum health, maximum focus, and give a healthy experience boost, respectively.
161* RecurringLocation: La Bastille is visited three times during the course of the story. Episode 6 notably features a return to the same laboratories within the prison that Nilin found herself in during the prologue.
162* ReliablyUnreliableGuns: One of the Memory Bugs in Frank's memory remix scene involves him tossing his pistol with the safety off onto a table, whereupon it goes off and shoots him dead.
163* RegeneratingHealth: Subverted. In combat, Nilin recovers by landing combo hits with Regen Pressens assigned to them. Out of combat, Nilin can find the occasional SAT Station to instantly heal up.
164* RemixedLevel:
165** Slum 404, first visited in Episode 1, is re-visited in Episode 3 after the destruction of the Saint-Michel Dam drains it of water, causing the Leapers to swarm the district.
166** The Saint-Michel district from Episode 2 makes a return in Episode 5 after being flooded by the same dam's destruction.
167* RPGElements: The game has the several hotkey-activated special abilities for you to use in addition to regular melee attacks, as well as the experience point collection and levelling up.
168* SavedByTheCoffin: At the end of the TutorialLevel, Nilin escapes [[TheAlcatraz La Bastille]] by hiding in one of the coffins meant to transport dead prisoners' bodies out.
169* SequentialBoss: Most bosses have three stages.
170* SexBot: Valet Robots come in several types, including this. There's even a Sex Bot Red Light District, and various Robo Love Hotels around Neo paris.
171* ShieldBearingMook: The second half of the game sees the appearance of "Heavy" versions of the various ranks of Enforcers. Their riot shields block all melee attacks, and if there's more than one they can group together and charge Nilin to deal some serious harm. Nilin can destroy the shields with the Junk Bolt or by targeting a nearby enemy with a Logic Bomb.
172* ShockwaveStomp: The Zorn has two ways of doing this. One is an actual stomp on the ground which stuns Nilin for a few seconds. The other happens after you disable both its arms, where it charges up a glowing ball of energy that explodes into a shockwave. Both of these require Nilin to time a dodge maneuver.
173* ShoutOut:
174** [[http://dontnodentertainment.wikia.com/wiki/File:Valvet_Concept-03.jpg Advertisements]] for various {{Sex Bot}}s include the tagline [[Anime/GhostInTheShell "babes in the shell"]].
175** When Nilin is remixing Olga's memory of David, which is set in a hospital, you can interact with [[Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife "the machine that goes 'Ping'"]], and make it, well, go 'Ping.'
176** In Episode 5, while breaking into Memorize HQ, Edge says that it's [[Literature/{{Neuromancer}} "time for a little neuromancy"]].
177** Nilin's [[DownloadableContent DLC]] moves come from another Capcom [[Franchise/StreetFighter franchise]]: the Flash Kick, the Spinning Bird Kick and the eponymous {{Shoryuken}}.
178** Dr. Quaid's name is obviously a reference to a [[Film/TotalRecall1990 very famous film about memory alteration]].
179** One of the 3D models in the Extras menu is Nilin and Kid X-Mas playing ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII''.
180** The faces of the servant androids look similar to those of several Autoreivs in ''Anime/ErgoProxy''.
181** The achievements provide an astounding number of pop culture references:
182*** [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest "Dead man's chest"]]
183*** [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} "Mind craft"]]
184*** [[Film/TheToweringInferno "Towering inferno"]]
185*** [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi "The shield is down!"]]
186*** [[Music/MCHammer "Can't touch this"]]
187*** "Droning by numbers", referencing the Peter Greenway film ''Drowning by Numbers''
188*** [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} "Gotta patch them all!"]]
189*** [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings "Lord of the ring"]]
190*** [[Film/TaxiDriver "You talkin' to me?"]]
191*** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild "Are you my mummy?"]]
192*** [[Literature/TheBible "Fiat Lux"]]
193* SidetrackBonus: Here, every side path will either have a health-increasing SAT Patch, PMP-point granting Scaramech or the Mnesist memories with background info.
194* StoryDifficultySetting: The text for the equivalent of the easy difficulty setting, "Script Kiddie", urges players to "Enjoy the story!"
195* SuperDrowningSkills: Nilin will instantly die at contact with water. Sometimes this is justified by it being [[GrimyWater tainted with nuclear waste]], but not always.
196* SuperMode: Fury, which can be activated when the Charge gauge is full and allows Nilin to inflict much more damage and break through the defences of some enemies. While it's active, every attack is accompanied by lots of [=AR=] "shattered glass" visual effects.
197* SuperPoweredMook: The Strangler Leapers, who are capable of making themselves invisible, thanks to their glitching implants granting them an innate InvisibilityCloak. It is not perfect, however, and will stop functioning in light.
198* SpaceWhaleAesop: One message seems to be "don't overuse social media or you'll become a zombie". (Though, used metaphorically, that isn't really a Space Whale Aesop at all.) The main message of the game, though, is "don't run away from your problems or try to block out your past", which is much more applicable to real life.
199* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Early trailers spelled "Memorize" as "Memoreyes", which was edited in the final release.
200* SuspiciouslyCrackedWall: Here, the walls, locks and other things like this are highlighted with a ''Structural Weakness'' notification in your augmented reality as a sign that they can be destroyed/broken through with the Junk Bolt.
201* TeleportSpam: The Mourners love to do this, alongside the more common invisibility. It's never explained how they do it, given all the difficulties with teleporting in RealLife. One would think that if they figured it out, Memorize and other companies would be investing billions into trying to do the same.
202* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: Nilin's pre-mission monologues fall into this a lot. Granted, they are meant to be her ''internal'' monologues, but they're still hardly subtle.
203* TheCityNarrows: Slum 404, also called "Deep Paris" is the lower level of Neo-Paris, inhabitated by the Leapers.
204* ThirdPersonSeductress: Downplayed - Nilin is certainly slim and gorgeous, but she dresses fairly sensibly.
205* TimedMission:
206** Right after you get the Junk Bolt from Headache Tommy, you have 45 seconds to collapse the tunnels where the Leapers are swarming from. Luckily, there are only three targets and they're close together, so the time limit is the least of your worries.
207** After meeting Johnny Greenteeth in the subway, you have to disable two door controls to hold him back. Wait too long and he breaks in and grabs Nilin for an instant loss.
208* TokenRomance: Averted thanks to ExecutiveMeddling. As to whether this is a good thing, it does make the game less cliche, but unfortunately, it was done for fear that the (presumably straight male) gamer wouldn't want to (have his character) "kiss a dude".
209* TomatoInTheMirror: In trying to remix [[spoiler: her father's]] memories to help him see the error in his ways, Nilin learns [[spoiler: her father remixed ''her'' memories to forget the accident when she was a little girl. No doubt she's pretty devastated to learn she's not the prodigy who thought up remixing memories herself. Ironically, for being the master of remixing memories, she was actually the very first guinea pig of the practice.]]
210** Earlier, while traversing [[spoiler: the Bastille, Nilin has a vision of herself in the prison cell she was in. ...and has a frightening epiphany that by the time Edge broke her out of Bastille, ''she'' was well on her way to becoming a Leaper.]]
211* TransferableMemory: The Sensen brain implant technology allows people to transfer memories between each other. In one of Nilin's memory remixes, a bounty hunter is trying to cure her husband by transferring her memories to him while he is in the hospital.
212* TranslationConvention: Despite the game being set in future-France, most people speak American-accented English. Nilin herself speaks with an English accent, which, along with her initially ambiguous ethnicity, help make her seem more exotic and unique.
213* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Takes place in 2084. The artbook reveals that the choice of that specific year was a reference to ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''.
214* WasOnceAMan: The Leapers are all pretty much this. Mourners, the rarest and most powerful of them, are even capable of camouflaging themselves as human and seem to prefer this state to their real appearance.
215* WaifFu: Nilin throws heavily armored guys twice her weight about like nobody's business. However, when she hits people, they often complain about their vision cutting out or their Sensen (personal augmented reality devices) glitching, or needing to reboot their implants. Nilin is certainly throwing punches and kicks, some of which clearly cause injuries, but the majority of the damage she inflicts is explicitly coming from messing with her opponents' personal software and with their heads. Backed up by the fact that Nilin won't even try to punch robots, even flimsy ones. Her finishing move, Memory Overload, is essentially a denial-of-service attack against the ''human brain''.
216* WallCrawl: Basic Prowler Leapers will often try to flank you by clinging to walls several metres above your head and jumping off somewhere behind you.
217* WeakenedByTheLight: The Strangler Leapers are capable of assuming invisibility in low-lit surroundings, but this ability cannot cope with intense artificial light. Thus, when most fights against these Leapers occur near some sort of a floodlight that you can temporarily enable to let you see them.
218* WellIntentionedExtremist: Charles Cartier-Wells. He first used his Sensen technology to remove the most traumatic of memories so people will live a happier, unburdened life. He eventually became obsessed over happiness itself and propelled his research to remove ALL bad memories, no matter how minor, which led to the current state of Neo-Paris in the game.
219* WhamLine:
220** In the memory remix, [[spoiler: Scylla referring to her daughter as ''Nilin''.]]
221** [[spoiler: "I hadn't lived your memories for such a long time."]]
222* WhatTheHellHero: The final boss calls her out on remixing her mother's memory to get what Nilin wanted.
223* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Gabriel Trace is the only person in the entire game that just opens up on Nilin with his gunship's weapons, and he makes the mistake of toying with her first.
224* UnexpectedGameplayChange: Some levels have the gun-equipped drones patrolling the entrances. If you get detected, these will gun you down in seconds, forcing you to always sneak past them. [[FridgeLogic Makes one wonder]] why they aren't more common.
225* VictorGainsLosersPowers: Nilin gains the Spammer Glove and the Force Spammer upgrade by beating the people holding them.
226* YouWouldntShootMe: [[spoiler:In one of the memory remixes, the player must arrange it so that Frank kills Alexia, prompting him to [[PsychicAssistedSuicide shoot himself in his guilt]]. In the remixed memory, Frank stumbles when he goes for his gun, and Alexia scoffs at him, saying, "What are you going to do? Shoot me?" while adding that he has never turned the safety off... and if the safety has been turned off in the remix, Alexia gets shot in the struggle to get the gun out of Frank's hands.]]
227* YourMindMakesItReal: With a little help from the Sensen implant everyone has that is linked directly to their brain. Spoofing, overloading or otherwise hacking the implant has all kinds of interesting effects ranging from memory manipulations to unconsciousness or even degeneration into a Leaper.

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