Thanks to Wolfman for helping with edits. Also, this article openly spoils 2064: Read Only Memories.
Visual novels and adventure games seldom reach the commercial highs of other genres, but they’re valuable and I’m always chipping away at one. They’re cozy, a fun way to engross myself in strange scenarios while I’m winding down for the night. And their slower, more text-heavy nature can allow for deeper dives into their characters, stories, and themes. One adventure game I finished earlier this year binds those elements together through its mascot and co-protagonist, Turing.
Our introduction to 2064: Read Only Memories‘ chipper, childlike Turing (Image: MidBoss)
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, indie studio MidBoss released their debut title, Read Only Memories, in October 2015. Openly inspired by Hideo Kojima’s cult classic Snatcher, it’s set in a grungy, cyberpunk future ridden with robots. They’re called Relationship and Organizational Managers (ROMs) and one of them is the first character we meet…
Turing’s History
We play as a faceless journalist who’s struggling to make ends meat. One morning, a ROM named Turing breaks into our Neo-San Francisco apartment and asks for our help finding his abducted creator, Hayden. Since the guy was our friend, we oblige and wander through the city’s seedy underbelly in pursuit of the truth. Ultimately, our investigation reveals that tech conglomerate Parallax’s former CEO, Dr. Fairlight, is trying to regain control of the company, orchestrated the game’s events, and sics his murderous minion Leon Dekker on us. Plus, Parallax is about to launch a program that will allow them to effectively control the internet! However, by cooperating with Turing, we save the day! …Or not, depending on the choices made along the way.
If you can’t warm up to the trespasser after a few hours, you should probably stop playing Read Only Memories. (Image: MidBoss)
In January 2017, the game was rebranded into 2064: Read Only Memories. Alongside other refinements, an epilogue was added wherein we hang out with Turing on a lazy Christmas. Accessing it requires obtaining the game’s best ending, however. A 2019 comic book is set after 2064 and confirms Turing survived. A second game, Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER, is scheduled to hit next year. MidBoss Creative Director John “JJ” James has confirmed that Turing will return therein. Oh, and the mech even has merch.
So, what’re my thoughts on Turing?
2064: Read Only Memories is an adventure game that’s laudably focused on inclusivity. Unsurprisingly, there’s a wealth of dialogue—listening to people talk is how you spend the majority of your time. But 2064’s cast isn’t especially strong. Significant characters lack depth, others aren’t endearing, and some are neither. One of our first “allies” is the perennially angry attorney Jess. She has an extraneously tragic backstory that explains why she’s a “hybrid,” a human with animal characteristics, in a naked effort to make her sympathetic that never justifies her antagonism. Whenever 2064 nudges me in her direction, I groan.
2064‘s colorful cyberpunk world seems fascinating, but I don’t feel like I got to thoroughly explore its dark crevasses. (Image: MidBoss)
Jess and the hybrids are also 2064‘s poster children for its discrimination allegory (we don’t see them get victimized much, but sure, I’ll buy that society treats anthropomorphic cats and rabbits unfairly). A litany of other themes power Read Only Memories, too: identity, memories (Turing seeks information regarding their creation), humanity (Turing and Dekker struggle processing theirs), technology (artificial intelligence in specific), familial baggage, and the risk of letting unethical corporations operate unchallenged. Like most cyberpunk 2064 isn’t subtle or a deep dive into these issues, but it does ask players to contemplate them (though citing Elon Musk as one of mankind’s brightest and an advocate against AI is unintentionally hilarious, especially in hindsight).
Turing ties Read Only Memories together. After a brief tutorial, we fall asleep and catch a few glimpses of a silhouetted figure breaking into our bedroom. Once we formally meet Turing, any trepidation that might’ve built up dissipates instantly—the intruder’s tiny and cute. Turing’s mechanical torso, legs, feet, and forearms are white, while their thin, fragile-looking limbs are black; these give them a sterile, unrefined veneer. However, Turing’s upbeat theme and the calming, bright blue glow of their head conveys they aren’t a threat. Ditto for their goofy facial expressions. And the two small, pink ovals adorning Turing’s “cheeks” are a great touch that adds texture to their palette and strengthens their cherubic facade. Ultimately, Turing’s design is solid and makes for a pleasant sidekick.
Grace, Turing’s “sister” and predecessor, was considered a failure by Hayden and, apparently, rocked a pink glow. 2064 lingers on this, with Turing discussing their blue hue and the masculine association it brings (for what it’s worth, I thought of Turing as a guy before this rumination). (Image: MidBoss)
Then Turing starts talking, expressing their logical-minded nature and gross lack of social tact. Concepts like sarcasm and nuance are lost on them (we later learn that they don’t understand the appeal of owning stuff signed by celebrities, either). Before Turing even properly introduces themself, they complain about our “lengthy sleep cycles,” ask if we’re open to getting cybernetic implants, complain about our hygiene, and potentially scold us for taking poor care of our plant. They broke our laptop (while trying to remove malware and Turing does fill in, in fairness) and laugh at us for using a “dinosaur.” And, of course, they make their decisions by running simulations, which is why they’re here—evidently, we have the best odds of solving Hayden’s abduction.
So we join forces and become a formidable team. Now, Turing relies on us heavily: we choose which dialogue options to say, where to go, and solve the game’s puzzles. Turing—who always has access to the “meshnet,” the internet’s primary social media platform—acts as our exposition-dumping mouthpiece in return. But our voiceless avatar is really only a vehicle for us to influence the story; we’re simply Turing’s escort and hands.
Chapter 2 closes with Turing summarizing your investigation, including their relationship with you. This gives you ample time to course correct if you’ve been too harsh (or, if you’re aiming for a bad ending, too nice). (Image: MidBoss)
Which is fine. Unlike other ROMs, Turing isn’t just a machine. Technological wunderkind Hayden equipped them with programming that grants them sentience and a conscious, qualities we nurture; how we treat people rubs off on Turing. If you’re nice, you’ll probably score one of 2064‘s better endings; being a jerk makes the cyborg cynical. And it was clever casting Melissa Hutchison, best known as Clementine from Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead quadrilogy, as Turing—both sidekicks start as defenseless kids who need support. Plus, again, Turing’s design is meant to be endearing. When you’re hanging out in your crummy apartment, you can even give Turing a hug. Our partner is 2064‘s emotional fulcrum and MidBoss wants us to like them.
Turing harbors other human qualities, too. Their on hand memory isn’t much larger than an average person’s, even if their meshnet access renders that moot. After learning about Grace, Turing contemplates their own gender and settles on they / them pronouns. You have to break the law a few times, upsetting the chipper cyborg. The one-of-a-kind Turing is lonely and later happily becomes retired tech mongol Melody’s “nephew.” They even have hobbies: Turing likes gardening and art. In particular, they paint and are a Bob Ross fan; taking advantage of that information can even teach ‘em the appeal of owning autographed memorabilia. And Turing, of course, can be hurt and killed.
Chapter 4 closes with us learning that Parallax’s Big Blue project, which will give them control of the meshnet, is set to launch in mere days. Its predecessor, Baby Blue, is also editing journalists’ articles. Tech conglomerates suck, yo. (Image: MidBoss)
One of the big reveals—Hayden’s dead—isn’t surprising but does happen surprisingly early, meaning we watch Turing process their grief. It’s pretty realistic, with them snapping at us during the following chapter; Turing even speculates where they are in the Kübler-Ross model at one point. Chapter 3’s investigation into unethical article tampering leads into a murder spree Turing blames themself for. Looking through Hayden’s files and discovering why he deactivated Grace sours Turing’s idealized opinions of him. MidBoss puts the machine through the wringer.
Chapters 5 and 6 are where your decisions start impacting things. A long conversation opens the former where you, Turing, and professional hacker TOMCAT discuss how to tackle Big Blue. Should you upload Turing’s code into the meshnet? That will stop Parallax’s plans, but will also give ROMs the same capacity for free thought Turing has. Or do you do nothing? It’s a heavy question. You can also let Turing decide—their life and kind are on the line, after all—as I did. Their response: break into Parallax’s mainframe, hook themself up, liberate their brethren, and help integrate them into society. Then we round up our allies, who’ll help if you’ve been friendly. You’ll also sneak into Parallax’s office to salvage Hayden’s research, which entails clearing a brainteaser or, failing that, finding a hard drive.
Dr. Fairlight mentions that he wishes he were young again. We later learn that uploading human consciousnesses into AI programs was one reason behind Turing’s creation, raising the possibility that the sickly Fairlight’s scheming to possess Turing. Ultimately, though, he only wants Parallax back. (Image: MidBoss)
There’s a dearth of puzzles in 2064, of which Chapter 6 has the highest quantity. It starts with you, Turing, your detective friend Lexi Rivers, and Dekker trudging through a sewer maze to break into Parallax’s base. Then you gun down robots (which builds off an optional minigame from earlier). Then Dekker goes T-1000 and hunts you down, tying up lingering threads along the way (the only “big” one that goes unanswered is that we never learn who explicitly killed Hayden). All of this forces Turing to step up. They advocate against killing the rampaging robots, since they’ll soon become sentient (Dekker modifies your laser accordingly). Turing kills Dekker by luring him into an explosion, risking their own safety without consulting you. Yes, the sentient cyborg always had agency, but now they’re fully taking the initiative, becoming the leader their people will need.
Finally, you enter Parallax’s mainframe, the injured Turing connects to it, and 2064’s last challenge begins. Turing starts having a seizure: their expression dulls, the background of their profile box becomes fuzzy, and Turing starts spouting gibberish; it’s evocative of a kernel panic. And this, ultimately, turns into a referendum on you. A list of dialogue options appear and you choose the ones that’ll keep Turing focused. It’s pretty tense! It’s also the logical way to conclude 2064: its core mechanic is choosing dialogue options, and you’re doing so here to appeal to Turing’s humanity. If you’re successful, Big Blue’s rendered inert. But if you choose incorrectly, Turing dies, and if you failed to retrieve all of Hayden’s research, it’s in vain.
…Honestly, I’d like a sequel to continue from this ending. An omnipresent, bitter Turing secretly monitoring humanity—including us; our monitor displays their image—while losing sight of their own could be interesting. (Image: MidBoss)
What if you’re a jerk, though? Turing only follows through with the plan if you’re a good person, which teaches them that mankind’s worth helping. If you’ve been abusive, they’ll go rogue and merge their consciousness with Big Blue instead. This gives Turing control over the internet and nobody can touch them; their takeaway is “only rely on yourself.” Or Turing may be unwilling to risk their life, abort the mission altogether, and abandon you for TOMCAT. Turing isn’t entirely disillusioned with humanity in either scenario thanks to your friendlier colleagues, but their faith is irreparably shaken.
Honestly, 2064‘s mystery isn’t that compelling; a shady tech company and its former CEO scheming things is hardly uncharted territory (and I would be remiss if I neglected to mention that MidBoss is no stranger to egregious misconduct). Plenty of works tell stories about robots struggling with emotions, too. A slate of modern cyberpunk media just retreads clichés, something that’s true of Read Only Memories.
Are synthetic beings worthy of empathy? When they’re as intelligent as Turing, yes, of course. Perhaps future Read Only Memories titles will explore this idea more thoroughly. (Image: MidBoss)
Regardless, Turing is serviceable and kept me grinding through it; the walking action figure is the game’s best realized and, ironically, most human character. The fact we technically failed in our original mission is moot—Turing finds their purpose, one that hopefully laid the groundwork for a richer, more inventive sequel. Read Only Memories‘ universe is a pretty robust place, watching its new guardian grow its greatest asset, and I hope NEURODIVER answers some of their potential.
Congratulations, Turing! Numbers never tell the whole story, do they?
It’s probably safe to assume Turing’s named after Alan Turing, an artificial intelligence pioneer (whose research is also homaged by Outlast). (Image: MidBoss)
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