Remember Me (Another Code - Two Memories (DS))

Member Name: 3rd Rock Satan

Product:	Another Code - Two Memories (DS)
Date:	17/10/05 (182 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great story | Looks nice | Fantastic use of DS

Disadvantages: Short | Some minor problems

The DS may want to pioneer new game styles and ways to play but it is also a console that can suit the old fashioned type of game to the ground. The adventure genre may not be as big as it once was but with the DS it will hopefully find a niche because the console suits the style of it well. Soon after the DS was announced two adventure games were on the tables, Lost In Blue and Another Code (Trace Memory in the US), both using the DS in new ways to breathe a bit of life into the adventure genre.

In Another Code you play as a young girl called Ashley. Ashley has been cared for by her aunt from a young age due to both her parents dying. Before her 14th birthday she receives a package (containing a DAS which is oddly like a DS) from her supposedly dead father and a note saying he is living on a place called Blood Edward Island. Despite the rather foreboding name Ashley and her aunt set sail to the island in search for their father. Unfortunately, after going on ahead of Ashley, her aunt disappears and so Ashley sets off alone. Luckily she isn't alone for long as she soon encounters a young boy called D who just so happens to be a ghost. They team up together to try and solve the puzzles of the island and to piece together not just Ashley's parents past but also D's suppressed memories of what happened to his parents and why he died at such a young age. Those thinking this is going to be a light hearted adventure romp will have to think again. Another Code may not be too sinister but it certainly isn't all sunshine and lollipops. The story has many little twists and revelations throughout the game and it's one of the games biggest strengths as you, along with the characters, find about all the secrets surrounding the island.

The interface for Another Code keeps everything nice and simple. The bottom screen uses a top-down view for your area where you can move Ashley with the touchscreen and the top screen gives you a view coming from her eyes. When a magnifying glass appears on the bottom screen you can look at an area more closely which will then appear on the bottom screen where items are once again shown as interactive once the magnifying glass shows up which means you wont be dragging the stylus all over the place to try and find objects. Using item is just as simple, they are stored via a menu system in the DAS where they can then be chosen to be interacted with whatever you have put your stylus on. It maybe would have been better to have a button to go straight to your inventory, as the DAS does a 'boot up' sequence each time you open it which can get a bit repetitive but for the most part it's unobtrusive. Talking to people is just as easy, again a button will be on screen whenever you can talk to people, once pressed the person you speak to appears on the top screen and a selection of conversation topics are at the bottom. Conversations are easily scrolled through quickly for those fast readers amongst you but unfortunately if you happen to accidentally tap a one you've already been through you will have to sit through it all again. Other than these few niggles Another Code is well suited to the DS and is a perfect example how adventure games can be played on the console.

Graphically Another Code is quite impressive. The top down view is just like what it says in 3D and while it doesn't have a lot of detail is still good enough for what you need. The top screen hosts some lovely pre-rendered backgrounds that wouldn't look out of place in a Myst game…though luckily they don't come with obtuse and weird logic puzzles. Characters are also nicely drawn out in a cel-shaded Eastern style look. What is disappointing is that a lot of the time everything is pretty much static bar the odd animation here and there; it seems Blood Edward Island doesn't get a lot of wind and it also means pre-rendered backdrops are rarely updated if you've solved a puzzle from there. There's no speech in the game but there is some pleasing music even if it can loop a bit too much. Sound effects are kept quite minimal but there are some recognisable noises depending on solving a puzzle etc. All in all it's a nice looking and sounding game, it may not be pushing the DS to its limits but it doesn't really need to.

An adventure game is nothing without its puzzles and Another Code supplies us with some nice head scratching moments. Puzzles, thanks to the interface and subtle (and not too subtle) hints you get from Ashley are normally straight forward affairs. You will have doors to unlock, items to find and mechanisms to work. Also, in fitting with the game, you'll be presented with a memory task at the end of each chapter to make sure you weren't skipping through all that dialogue. While these sort of puzzles may not seem out of the ordinary, it's the way that the game uses the DS for some of the puzzles that is quite unique. The DS features such as the microphone and touch screen are both used to full effect. Its two screens are used in the DAS to line up pictures on top of each other to give you clues in some puzzles. In some cases you even have to flip your DS or close the lid in order to solve some of the puzzles. Of course there are times when hints as to what you have to do next aren't entirely clear which means a lot of wandering around and there's nothing worse than aimless wandering but sticking at it should see you through.

However its innovation is also one problem that people may have with the game. Because of the way it makes you solve puzzles you will think yourself absolutely stuck at some points in the game when, in fact, the solution was staring you in the face all along and it was just the fact you were limiting yourself to convention. This doesn't happen often but at some points during the game these moments do occur and it really is important to think outside the box. Of course being different is not so much of a problem with the game itself or the way it plays and, more or less, Another Code plays well. However one niggle that is throughout all the game is the way the game won't let you pick up items as soon as you see them. For example you've seen a piece of coal and you know you'll need it for later but its only until you've seen the puzzle you need to use it for that you can actually pick it up which can cause a bit of backtracking and wasted time, it also seems a bit too much of a helping hand at times for people used to these sort of games. Finally the only other short fall is the fact it really is quite a short game. It will only take you about 5 hours to play through, though a second play through can reveal a bit more background information about the plot, there is little replay value and a few more hours would have been nice.

Another Code: Two Memories isn't a perfect game and it isn't going to be a killer app for the DS but it's a game that makes the most out of the DS hardware and shows off the future possibilities well. It shows that with a bit of imagination even something as simple and as old-school as the adventure genre can be moulded around the console. Thanks to a promising start this is hopefully the first of many such games on the DS.


[7 out of 10]


ANOTHER CODE: TWO MEMORIES IS

Innovative
Pleasing to look at
Complete with a good story


ANOTHER CODE: TWO MEMORIES IS NOT

Gimmicky
That long
Too difficult

Summary: A good start to hopefully one of many adventure games on the DS