[Spoilers] The Meaning behind Memento

*This post contains spoilers so please refrain from reading till you complete the game.*
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A picture speaks a thousand words... or does it?

That's the question I tried to explore using my rpg, Memento.

If you didn't already realize, it's an allegory about the world of social media! Imago's scrolling gallery is actually an allusion to Instagram and the collection of photographs we specially curate and populate our feeds with. Pardon my generalization but these photographs are, more often than not, an idealization that glamorizes the reality we live in. We like to post pictures of ourselves with family and friends, having fun, eating delicious food, visiting exotic travel destinations, etc. so that we can capture these good memories. However, our daily lives are much more demanding: We have work. We have school. We struggle to fulfill our responsibilities and obligations. We get stressed out and tired. We grapple with our darkest fears and secrets - relationship problems, bullying, loneliness, depression, eating disorders and a whole host of other problems (like in this rpg). Yet, what onlookers on the outside see when they look at our social media is "la vie en rose", i.e. us living the dream and having it all...

With all that in mind, I chose to name the owner of the gallery "Imago" as it means an idealized mental image of another person or the self. "Ignis", the name of our guide, is a reference to the Willow O'Wisp, a ghostly light seen by travelers over marshes at night (in this case, our wandering protagonist as he/she was drifting through the darkness before the first scene of the game). Also, I decided to hide a dark secret behind the happy facade of each photograph in the game (though I must admit, in real life, some of the photographs we post on social media are genuinely happy and not just a facade!). Finally, I never reveal the name of the girl the photographs are centered around because well... she could represent any one of us.

I bet you still have some unanswered questions after playing, like how our wandering protagonist came to be, where the locked door beyond the fourth exhibit leads and why "Hopeful End" is punctuated with a question mark, etc. The first two, I'll leave to your imagination but the last one, I'll answer: The question mark signifies the girl's unknown future, because our protagonist has managed to avert her suicide this time but what happens to her thereafter depends on how she deals with the current problems in her life (as our protagonist, having vanished, is no longer there to intervene). But hopefully, the "mementos" which our protagonist has brought to her during the game will serve as little reminders that others do care about her (the friendship bracelet and the family photograph) and that she is worthy of love the way she is (the iPod song track), and lend her strength to endure/overcome this period of hardship in her life~

Last but definitely not least, thank you so much for taking the time to play this game! I hope that it has given you some food for thought and that you've enjoyed the experience.