This game is bland most of the time, full of grinding, the story is mediocre.. but when I set all that aside and make this my comforting dollar menu fast food game, I love it. I played it for over a hundred hours and don't regret it, even if I don't think the game is objectively good.

Arata is by and large the highlight of the first game for me, and with the exception of the main character, the cast of Hacker's Memory are all pretty good. Hackers' Memory improves on Cyber Sleuth in a lot of ways, but I can't help but wish it was it's own game. HM feels very tacked on, which doesn't let it's own characters shine. That said, I appreciated the deepening of Arata's character that HM allows for.