Bad Memories

In-depth walkthrough, choices, and tips for Bad Memories

Bad Memories is a choice-driven visual novel that blends branching narrative, character relationships, and multiple endings — this guide dives into everything players need to know to navigate the game. Whether you want a full walkthrough, best choices for specific outcomes, or practical tips to unlock hidden scenes, this article lays out clear, player-tested advice and personal observations to help you get the most from Bad Memories. I’ll share my own playthrough experiences, recommended decision paths, and how to avoid common missteps while preserving the story’s emotional impact.

How Bad Memories Works: Core Systems and Mechanics

Ever felt like you’re just clicking through a visual novel, only to realize hours later that a tiny, forgotten choice has locked you out of your favorite character’s path? 😫 I have, and let me tell you, Bad Memories is the king of making your decisions matter. It’s not just a story you watch; it’s a delicate house of cards you build, where one wrong move can send the whole thing tumbling. Understanding the Bad Memories mechanics is the difference between a deeply personal ending and a frustrating, confusing mess. This guide will tear down the fourth wall and show you exactly how the game’s systems work, so you can craft the story you want. Let’s get into it.

Narrative structure and branching paths

At its heart, Bad Memories uses a day-by-day narrative structure that feels deceptively linear at first. You wake up, you interact, you go to sleep. Rinse and repeat. But beneath that simple calendar lies a incredibly complex web of Bad Memories branching paths. Think of each day not as a chapter, but as a junction point with multiple invisible tracks leading out of it.

The game’s story isn’t one single line that occasionally forks; it’s more like a sprawling tree where branches split, converge, and sometimes die off entirely. 🎋 A conversation on Day 3 might open up an entirely new location on Day 7, while also quietly closing a door on a subplot you didn’t even know existed. The genius—and occasional cruelty—of the Bad Memories branching paths system is that these consequences are often delayed. You won’t always get immediate feedback. I learned this the hard way on my first playthrough. I brushed off a side character’s request for help early on, thinking I was focusing on the main plot. Five days later, that character was gone from the story entirely, and a crucial piece of evidence they would have provided was missing, steering me toward a bleak, unresolved ending.

The connections between scenes are governed by flags—invisible triggers set by your choices. We’ll dive deep into those next, but for the narrative, know this: every dialogue option, every item you pick up (or ignore), and even the order in which you visit locations can set a flag that determines which branch of the story you step onto next. This makes exploring the Bad Memories branching paths so rewarding on replay. My second run felt like a completely different game because I simply chose to visit the library in the afternoon instead of the park.

Relationship meters, flags, and how choices matter

This is where the magic—and the math—happens. While some games have obvious love-heart meters, Bad Memories is far more subtle and intricate. Your standing with every major character is tracked through a combination of visible relationship meters and hidden relationship flags Bad Memories uses to gate content.

The visible meter (found in the game’s journal) gives you a general idea of affinity, ranging from “Distant” to “Close” to “Bound.” But this is just the surface. The real drivers are the flags. These are binary switches: they are either ON or OFF. A single, seemingly innocuous choice can flip a flag that the game checks for much later.

Pro Tip: Dialogue choices that seem “nice” aren’t always the right ones for building a specific relationship. Sometimes, being brutally honest or challenging a character sets a more important flag for their personal growth than simply being agreeable.

For example, with the character Alex, there’s a pivotal moment on Day 4 where they confess a fear of failure. You have two sympathetic options and one that’s more blunt: “You need to face this.” On my first run, I coddled Alex. Our meter went up, but I later hit a wall in their storyline. On my next run, I chose the blunt option. The meter dropped slightly, but it set a hidden relationship flag Bad Memories needed for Alex’s “True Independence” ending path. That single early choice was the key to unlocking their most profound scenes later.

Here’s a compact table showing how some common, hidden flags work:

Managing these relationship flags Bad Memories employs is the core strategic layer of the game. It’s not about maxing out every meter; it’s about carefully setting the specific flags required for the story branch you want to follow.

Inventory, scenes unlocking, and save strategy

Let’s talk tools and tactics. The inventory system in Bad Memories is minimalist but powerful. You can only carry a few key items at a time. Most are plot-crucial, but some are purely for unlock scenes Bad Memories hides as optional content. 📦

An item isn’t just a thing; it’s a key. Holding onto the “Faded Photograph” you find in the attic might seem pointless until Day 8, when showing it to a specific character unlocks a lengthy, emotional flashback scene that completely recontextualizes their motivations. These unlock scenes Bad Memories peppers throughout are the game’s richest rewards. They are almost never mandatory, but they flesh out the world and characters immensely. The trigger is usually a combination: having the item in your inventory and being at the right location and having a specific relationship flag already set. Miss any one piece, and the scene stays locked.

This brings us to the most critical piece of advice I can give: your save strategy Bad Memories demands. You cannot rely on a single save file. The branching is too complex.

Here is the save strategy Bad Memories veterans use:
* Save at the start of every new day. Label it clearly: “Day 1 Start,” “Day 2 Start.”
* Create a new save before any major decision or conversation. Name it descriptively: “Before Alex Fear Choice,” “Before Library or Park.”
* Keep a dedicated “Branch” save at the beginning of each chapter (Day 1, Day 4, Day 7). These are your fallback points if you want to explore a totally different story direction without replaying everything.
* Rotate your saves! Use at least 5-10 slots in a cycle. Overwriting your only save before a big choice is the most common pitfall.

A personal anecdote: I once used a “save strategy Bad Memories” approach that saved me hours. On Day 6, I had a perfect run with my favorite character, Morgan. Before the day’s final choice, I saved in Slot A. I then made a choice that seemed right but ultimately led to a tragic argument. Instead of rewinding days, I just reloaded Slot A, made the other choice, and stayed on my perfect path. 🙌

Understanding the Bad Memories mechanics of inventory and scene triggers, combined with a disciplined save strategy Bad Memories, turns a potentially overwhelming experience into a playground of narrative possibilities. You move from being a passive reader to an active architect, precisely placing the flags and using the right keys to unlock scenes Bad Memories has waiting. Remember, every item has a purpose, and every save file is a doorway to a different version of the story. Now go build your own.

Bad Memories rewards careful choices, curiosity, and repeat playthroughs; understanding flags, relationship dynamics, and key decision points will let you unlock its full range of scenes and endings. Use the walkthrough sections and the character route advice to plan efficient replays, keep multiple saves, and lean on community fixes if you encounter bugs. If you enjoyed this guide, try one of the alternative routes described above and share your experience with the community — your observations help other players uncover more of the game’s depth.