Trace Memory

released on Feb 24, 2005

The events of the game take place on the fictional Blood Edward Island. The game's protagonist, Ashley Mizuki Robbins, is the daughter of Richard and Sayoko Robbins, researchers of human memory. After her parents mysteriously went missing in 1994, they were presumed dead.Consequently, Ashley was raised by her father's younger sister, Jessica Robbins, in the suburbs of Seattle. Eleven years later, two days before her fourteenth birthday, Ashley receives a package from her father containing a birthday card and a device called a DAS. The DAS, programmed to respond only to Ashley's biometrics, contains a message from her father, claiming that he is waiting for her on Blood Edward Island. Assuming control of Ashley Robbins, players navigate through 3D environments and attempt to solve puzzles. During movement, the touchscreen displays an aerial view of Ashley and her surroundings. The player can move Ashley using a point and click system, dragging the stylus across the screen, or using the D-pad. The top screen shows pre-rendered images of the player's current location. To solve puzzles encountered in the game, the player must use the touchscreen, or other DS capabilities, such as the DS microphone.


Reviews View More

D is the victorian child who learns about a happy meal for the first time.

Absolutely love how this game uses literally every aspect of the DS's functions. Also a beautiful yet bittersweet story.

Charming in many ways, but it feels like it commits many cardinal sins of the adventure game genre. If you pursue only the most basic ending, most of the puzzles seem fairly straightforward, but there aren't too many, so the game will end fairly quickly. This ending is somewhat unsatisfying though, and leaves critical questions unanswered. The "true ending" path (which isn't that much different in terms of story) requires you to investigate several key points throughout the game, sometimes in a particular order, without much guidance, or feedback letting you know if you've done anything correctly, or if you've missed something and locked yourself out of this ending. After one playthrough, I felt like a guide was required for the subsequent playthrough, to at least point me towards any "missables". Still, it's a neat exhibition of the various features of the DS, and a cool format for an adventure game like this.

It's alright. Short game with pretty simple puzzles that make use of the DS to the full extent. Decent but predictable story.