Resette’s Prescription doesn’t waste your time

Resette’s Prescription: Book of Memory, Swaying Scale presents players with a situation where basic doesn’t mean bad. LizArts’ point-and-click adventure game has been localized for English audiences by Sekai Project. It’s brief, simplistic and uncomplicated, but there’s an undeniable charm here. Its austere, but manages to keep all of the essentials and present them in a rather pleasant way.

This unembellished experience begins with the character art and environments. Resette’s Prescription: Book of Memory, Swaying Scale is set in an uncluttered, uncomplicated, watercolor world. The only things you see on screen are the ones you’ll actually need. There’s no filler in the forest Resette initially explores, save for her feline assistant, Gaede. Any objects you find directly relate to tasks at hand. While the art offers a sense of depth and personality, there are no unnecessary flourishes or embellishments to distract us.

The story is similarly stark. Resette is wandering through a forest, heading from point A to point B. She comes across Achille, stricken by a sleeping sickness, and immediately delves into his memory to restore the young man. The plot is doled out on a need to know basis, with no spare sidequests or supplements. The doctor is in, she’s going to do her job and move along.

This especially works to Resette’s Prescription: Book of Memory, Swaying Scale‘s benefit with the challenges and puzzles. When items must be collected in the world to proceed, you see exactly what they are and have some idea how to use them. Situations in which a player has to arrange weights on a scale, arrange pieces on a board or enter a code into a machine, have clear objectives. You know exactly what must be done, with no questions about how to get there.

All of these things affect Resette’s Prescription: Book of Memory, Swaying Scale in an entirely expected way; it is an incredibly short game. It can be completed within a single afternoon. It’s possible to complete it within seven or eight hours, and there’s no replay value. Given the cost, $13, it may put some people off. I prefer to think of this as a nonissue. There is no filler here. You’re constantly advancing through the story and getting closer to the goal; enjoying a game without delays is a virtue.

The focus allows someone playing Resette’s Prescription: Book of Memory, Swaying Scale to ignore things that might otherwise detract from the experience. Resette and Gaede aren’t particularly likable protagonists. Some of the puzzles are callbacks to more traditional challenges, meaning we’ve seen them before. Since we’re moving so swiftly through each situations, it’s easy to overlook these issues and dedicate ourselves to completing the tasks at hand.

Resette’s Prescription: Book of Memory, Swaying Scale is a modest game. It avoids nonessential details and story elements in favor of giving people an opportunity to tackle every challenge at hand without superfluous elements. It’s an admirable and enjoyable thing.