SPYxANYA: Operation Memories
Review
Your Mission, should you choose to accept tt…
by Camrin Santchi
reviewed on PC
A Slice of Life
Beginning in 2019 and receiving an anime adaptation shortly after, Spy x Family is a charming story about a family who are doing their best to hide their secrets from each other. The father, Loid, is a masterful superspy by the code-name of Twilight. The mother, Yor, is a deadly assassin that goes by the moniker of Thorn Princess. Their adopted young daughter, Anya, is a telepath capable of reading minds. And Bond, their dog, can see visions of the future. Beginning solely as a marriage of convenience to serve the purposes of Loid and Yor, a big part of Spy x Family is the unlikely group all learning to be a family together despite the secrets that they keep from each other. In Spy x Anya: Operation Memories, the slice of life aspects of the series are vastly more front and centre than the action pieces.
Simple Gameplay Loop
Gamers take the role of Anya Forger, and they are tasked by her school to complete a photo diary. The gameplay loop of Operation Memories focuses almost exclusively on this diary, with one portion of the game being finding "Super-Cool" items to photograph in the world. These locations include Eden College, the Forger household, and multiple outing locations. Anya only has so much 'inspiration' in a day, and that often takes the role of finding only one location to claim a photo of per location on a school day, or two photos at an outing location like an aquarium or dog park. These photos are graded with three stars, depicting the focus, framing, and timing of the photo. The better the photo, the more 'Eurekas' that Anya receives, which are used in the other parts of the game.
The second part of Operation Memories and its gameplay loop is made up of mini-games, depicted by Anya writing about events in her diary. These minigames are quite varied, from a beat'em up style depicting Yor's evenings as an assassin, to one-for-one Pac-Man and Mappy classics down to the music and sound effects, fitting as Bandai Namco is the publisher for Operation Memories. Doing well on these minigames earns points that can be used to purchase items, some of which are 'Super-Cool' and needed to complete all photos in outing locations. Most of the items, however, are outfits and accessories for the Forger family, some of which include benefits like a boost to Anya's movement speed, points earned from minigames, or Eurekas earned from photos to play more of the minigames. The minigames have three levels of difficulty each, and the difficulty levels have challenges that can be completed for bonus rewards like raffle tickets- which is another way for new outfit options to be earned for the Forgers.
Be Social
While wandering around Eden or the Forger Household in Operation Memories, you can chat with familiar faces from the series. These interactions boost a bond with the characters and unlock 'Memories' that are added to the diary Anya is working on. With Eden the cast are all usually in the same room you end the day in, but at the Forger household there are occasionally visitors like Fiona, Loid's spy protege, or Yuri, Yor's younger brother. Some characters like Damien's friends at school or Bond don’t have a 'connection' or memories that are unlocked, but players still can progress challenges by speaking with them, so one may as well say hello while trotting around.
Fluff
With all that being said, Operation Memories is fairly simple, and the gameplay loop of photos and minigames can certainly feel repetitive after a while - particularly with a lot of the music feeling similar throughout the game and other aspects that feel a bit too repetitive. There isn't much to the game, so with a standard price of $50 USD even some of the biggest Spy x Family fans may wait for a sale to pick this one up. It cannot be said, however, that the game is lacking charm by any means, with the written dialogue demonstrating the entertainment of these characters and how they can bounce off of each other thanks to how big most of the personalities in the show can be. Completing this photo diary may feel like a slog, but for an anime fan waiting for a next season of one of their favourites, it might be just what they need in short bursts!
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8.2
fun score
Pros
Charming and fun minigames, best enjoyed in short bursts
Cons
Not much to it, Feels repetitive
