What does it mean to die? What does it mean for the people left behind? What does it mean for a memory to die? These weren’t questions people were ready to answer when Trace Memory was first released in the United States back in 2005—especially not in the form of a point-and-click adventure game on the Nintendo DS. But here we are, nineteen years out. Time has saw fit to give us a tiny miracle in the form of Another Code: Recollection which reunites us not only with young Ashley Mizuki Robins and her many misadventures as she treks through Blood Edward Island but also allows American fans to enjoy her journey to Lake Juliet for the first time.
Ashley is a unique protagonist for such heavy subject matter. When we first meet her, she’s a tender youth barely at 14 years old, worrying about a father she doesn’t remember and a mother taken from her too soon. Her journey with the ghostly D across Blood Edward Island has her confronting truths far beyond her age—but, as Ashley soon learns, harsh truths are better faced head-on. Much of the first part of the story, dubbed “Two Memories” by Recollection, has Ashley piecing together the lives of people who came before her from contextless clues—learning about losses and deaths that set her life in motion before she was even born. Harsh truths they might be, they indeed help Ashley come to a happier place in life—even if, once we’re reunited with her in the second part, “Journey into Lost Memories,” she’s a much moodier 16-year-old whose familial relationships are on the rocks. Ashley is nevertheless able to use her own wisdom to help the people around her navigate their grief and learn how to handle the memories of people long-gone. It’s not always easy, it’s not always pretty, but the important thing is everyone is able to do it together.
The years have been kind to Ashley’s adventures. While Nintendo and Arc System Works have taken a great many liberties with both of the original Another Code games, it is overall for the better. The original games are reformatted from a point-and-click game/2.5D adventure to a three-dimensional adventure game where Ashley is able to fully explore her environment. The many locales on Blood Edward Island are changed from what you might remember on Ashley’s handheld adventures, but it’s all in the service of improving pacing and tension—as well as working around the loss of the DS’ touch-screen controls. Indeed, Ashley’s in-game DAS has been redesigned to look like a Nintendo Switch instead of a DS (similarly, the RAS has been redesigned from a Wiimote-looking device to a bracelet). The many puzzles Ashley encounters are no less daunting: players will use a combination of motion controls, cryptography, deduction and memory to solve the many tricks and traps set before Ashley. There is even an in-game hint system available if the puzzles prove to be too daunting—useful, especially if you choose to share this game with younger players. It helps that Recollection avoids the less-intuitive solutions of its originators; while overlaying photos was an extremely situational tool, it was still easier to parse than intentionally closing a DS to “reflect” a photo on the bottom screen.
There are other changes that might raise some eyebrows. In the original Trace Memory, D’s memories were a completely separate ordeal from Ashley’s; it was possible to beat the game without solving the mystery behind D’s death. Recollection simplifies matters, weaving D’s backstory much more clearly into Ashley’s quest, while also simplifying or even omitting certain details about D’s life. Similarly, the Journey into Lost Memories segment revises certain aspects of the original story, solving long-standing mysteries surrounding Lake Juliet.
Graphically, Recollection revises its originators, top to bottom. The art style is completely new, Ashley has completely different outfits (swapping her Trace Memory belly shirt for a hoodie that’s more fitting for her Seattle origins) and certain other characters even boast completely new designs. This does come at the expense of the heavy contrast from the original Trace Memory; the old DS title had heavy shadows on every model that helped heighten the suspenseful tone of the game. But now both Two Memories and Journey into Lost Memories benefit from a more-congruent cel-shaded look. There are some minor issues; trees and bushes, for example, have a lot of paper-thin boughs that are obvious at certain angles. But when it comes down to it, Recollection is quite pretty in its approach.
Recollection adds a few final wrinkles to the formula in the form of hidden origami cranes that, once scanned, unlock journal entries fleshing out one of the overarching characters in the game; and an unlockable costume upon beating the game that allows Ashley to play through the events of Two Memories in her original Trace Memory outfit. (Sadly, Ashley’s original pink luau tank top from the original Journey into Lost Memories didn’t get brought over, even though you see art of it in-game.) The origami are a fun addition, especially when it comes to tracking them all down but in my time playing Another Code I discovered that one of the cranes was permanently missable. An annoyance, but at least a minor one. And for folks who remember Cing’s other famous adventure series, Hotel Dusk, you’ll be pleased at the smattering of fanservice sprinkled throughout the game.
It’s been fourteen years since developer Cing shuttered but just like the mysterious letter Ashley received on the eve of her birthday we find ourselves reunited with the young white-haired girl. The world is different from how it was in 2005, and we’ve all changed with it. Whether you were around for Ashley’s original adventure on the DS or you’re a new friend, Another Code: Recollection is a game sure to stick in your memories. It’s not often we get a flashback like this one, definitely don’t miss out.
