Another Code: Recollection revives two niche adventure games in a beautiful remake that has some disappointing changes, but overall is a great way to experience these nearly-forgotten games.
Another Code: Recollection
Developer: Arc System Works
Price: $60
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
MonsterVine was provided with a Switch code for review.
Back in 2005, a point-and-click adventure game was released for the Nintendo DS called Another Code: Two Memories, released in North America under the title Trace Memory. I loved Trace Memory and was crushed when its Wii sequel, Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories, never got a North American release. Then the developer, Cing, filed for bankruptcy in 2010, and I assumed these games would be lost to memory forever. The announcement of Another Code: Recollection, a full remake of both games, left me shocked and delighted. I couldn’t wait to relive the first game in full 3D and finally see what the second game was like.
When you start playing Another Code: Recollection, only the first game is available. You must complete it to unlock the sequel, and the first flows neatly into the second without credits in between or a second spot on the main menu. Between that and the way the presentation has been unified so that they share the same graphics style and controls, they are almost treated like a single game for the remake.
The story begins with a girl named Ashley traveling to Blood Edward Island after getting a letter from her neuroscientist father, whom she believed was dead. After getting separated from her aunt, she meets a ghost named D with no memory of his past, and the two end up working together to explore the mysterious mansion on the island. The new graphics are beautiful, and it took my breath away to see the DS game I remembered brought to life like this.
Gameplay largely consists of exploring the island and interacting with the environment. Items can be collected to solve puzzles. The original Trace Memory had puzzles that made specific use of the DS’s features, which have been simplified here to more standard puzzles. For example, you might find a riddle that tells you what order to use certain items in to unlock a door, or there might be a combination code you need to learn. I believe some puzzles from the original game were cut entirely, as well. A handful make use of the Switch’s motion controls, and one requires a specific mechanic that isn’t explained ahead of time, but most are more straightforward. Additionally, there is an option to turn on puzzle hints.
Exploring to solve puzzles and unlock new areas to explore creates a pleasant gameplay loop, but ultimately this game is more story-driven than anything else. Due to the first game’s short length, D regains memories so frequently that the constant flashbacks can start to feel annoying, but overall it’s an interesting story that should keep you invested until the end. The remake also features collectibles in the form of origami birds you can scan with the in-game camera for messages that flesh out some aspects of the story. Unfortunately, other story elements were skimmed over compared to how they were handled in the original, making the narrative feel less tight. I had to look back at how the DS game explained one significant part of the backstory because the remake left it feeling so unclear.
Once you beat the first game, which takes only around 5 hours, it moves straight into the sequel. Set two years later, it follows Ashley as she heads to a campsite near a research facility only to have her bag stolen by a mysterious boy. With a countryside campsite area as the main setting instead of a claustrophobic mansion, and numerous characters to interact with instead of the first game’s small cast, the sequel has a very different tone. At first I thought it simply had a slow start, but it maintains a slice-of-life feel for most of its runtime, even as hints of a conspiracy and mysterious past events begin to crop up.
Most of the gameplay mechanics remain unchanged, including the collectible origami messages, although it adds a new style of puzzle where you unlock locked doors by pressing the buttons shown in a sequence on the screen. You can also find discarded cans and recycle them in exchange for tokens you can spend on gumballs. Eating gumballs and other food seems to have no purpose aside from getting new dialogue from Ashley, which contributes to the more relaxed feel of the story. It is even less gameplay-driven than its predecessor, since you mainly travel from one point to another as the story dictates. At the same time, it’s twice as long, so some parts of the story felt like a slog. Nevertheless, the story ends up being quite exciting.
Now, since I had no prior experience with the second game, I can’t really compare it to the original release. From what I’ve looked up, however, there are some major story changes for the remake – to the point where when I read discussions about the sequel’s ending, it almost sounded like a different story. Why they changed it so much, I’m not sure, but it seems the original second game left several loose ends. With the chance to remake the story, perhaps they wanted to give it a more complete resolution in case a third game is never made. Nevertheless, if a third game ever is made in this remake’s style, I’d be interested to see where they would take an all-new idea… preferably with more puzzles.
The Final Word
Another Code: Recollection is a beautiful remake that I can hardly believe exists, bringing two niche games back when they could easily have been forgotten. In many ways, it’s a fantastic remake – enough that I wish it had all the puzzles and story details of the original so I could feel fully satisfied. Instead, the changes left me with some mixed feelings, but this remake is a solid narrative adventure game in its own right.
MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
