Another Code: Recollection brings back the Another Code games from DS and Wii and remakes the experiences into one new package on Switch. Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in the North American market) originally released on Nintendo DS in 2005 and Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories (which was never released in North America but we Europeans did get a localised release) originally released on Wii in 2009 are the two games that have been redone here on Nintendo Switch. The series is a relatively unknown Nintendo ip, originally developed by Cing who unfortunately went bankrupt in 2010 and for many of us, we thought that was the end of the Another Code games as well as their other Nintendo ip, the Kyle Hyde games (Hotel Dusk and Last Window on DS) but thankfully, a group of ex-Cing developers have found their way to Arc System Works and have worked with Nintendo on bringing Recollection to life, making sure the memory of Cing lives on which is very fitting for the Another Code series.
So what is Another Code exactly? Well the games were originally point and click puzzle adventure games that made excellent use of the unique DS and Wii hardware for some pretty memorable puzzles (like there's one puzzle in the DS game where you have to reflect the bottom screen image onto the top screen to find an answer by slightly closing your DS) and this was the core charm of the games. The games follow a teenage girl called Ashley Mizuki Robins as she attempts to uncover mysteries surrounding her family and a top secret project they worked on that can alter people's memories (hence both subtitles referring to memories).
Bringing the games to Switch has meant a lot of that unique hardware puzzle charm has been lost. Puzzles are now a bit more simpler and traditional in style, more focusing on you having to pick up on subtle hints to figure out how the game wants you to progress rather than play with something clever. There are a couple of motion controlled puzzles, one early one sees you turn a chair to try and guide a key through a maze to obtain it, which can be a bit finicky, but otherwise most puzzles are long the lines of you figuring out a number combination or turning a dial to the right position. There's a couple where what's expected of you is a little bit obtuse compared to what you would be thinking and while a hint system has been added to this remake, I found that it told me what I already knew rather than point me in the direction I needed. The puzzles otherwise get their job done, help break up the heavy story segments but like many other DS games brought to newer hardware, like Zero Escape or The Word Ends With You, a little bit of the charm has been lost with the difficulty of adapting a unique dual screen experience.
The other main gameplay addition to this remake is a navigation assist option. By turning this on, an arrow will appear around Ashley’s waist to point you in the right direction. I never had much use for it during Two Memories but I pulled it out in the more open Lost Memories where it did what I needed.
Graphically the game is passable but it's clearly been a very budgeted release for a niche ip. The model work all looked great, I loved the character models and the art style fit them well but the texture work did not look great at all and the animations at times was very robotic like and you can tell how limited they were in areas. It's understandable because we're lucky to even get a release like this these days, let alone one with a physical release and full of voice acting so it's more of a minor point of contention for me.
Rather than let you choose which game you want to play from the off on the menu, Recollection has instead combined the two games into one cohesive narrative with a timeskip. The option to play whichever game you wanted would've been nice but I can see why the chose to do it this way, especially when some of the late game reveals in Lost Memories call back to stuff in Two Memories. And it's not like it's a long game either, with the whole package being beatable with 20 hours and Two Memories clocking in between 6 and 7 hours, I think it makes sense to make sure players experience the whole story in one narrative.
Two Memories takes place in 2005 where the day before Ashley's 14th birthday, she receives a package from her father whom she believed was dead, containing a mysterious device called a DAS (Dual Another System, which in the original looked more like a DS, updated here to look like a Switch) and an invitation to meet him on Blood Edward Island where apparently he's been conducting research on something all alone since Ashley's mother died when she was 3. Arriving on the island with her Aunt Jessica who quickly goes missing, Ashley meets a ghost called D who has almost no memories of his life and together the two must solve the mysteries of Blood Edward Island while also figuring out just what Ashley's father has been up to for all these years. The bulk of this game sees you exploring and solving puzzles in the old Edward mansion and it's a very lonely atmosphere as you uncover more and more about the Edward family and some of the more sinister going ons behind the scenes. Ashley and D’s two plotlines work well together and the bond they form throughout is very heartwarming. Two Memories is very well paced, full of impactful moments and while my knowledge of the story from playing the DS game did lessen the impact of some of the twists, it's nonetheless still a really lovely story to experience.
Journey into Lost Memories (the R and A dropped from the title in this release) picks things up two years later with a now 16 year old Ashley who has since struggled to connect with her father who has once again prioritised his work over his daughter and the pair haven't seen each other for months. In an attempt to reconnect, Ashley's father invites her on a camping trip to Lake Julliet where his work is based. Immediately upon arriving there Ashley has her bag stolen and begins experiencing flashbacks to lost memories of her mother from when they visited together when she was 3, and with that you have the perfect storm for an emotionally charged teenage girl who is in a place where she doesn't want to be. The supporting cast is much bigger in this game, with research workers and campsite workers as well as other teenagers for Ashley to bounce off, giving the game a much more cosy vibe to contrast the lonely vibe of Two Memories. Ashley ends up meeting a young boy called Matthew who is looking for his dad after he disappeared a few years back and the two team up to uncover the mysteries of Lake Julliet, including how the lake's contamination came about. Ashley and Matthew develop a similar relationship to how things panned out with D, with their stories intertwining throughout the game. Unlike D however, Matthew's story wraps up a couple of chapters before the end of the game and he disappears for the rest of it, leaving a very weird feeling while you go through the climax of the game. The climax itself is pretty wild and intense, a far cry from the cosy camp vibes the game initially gives off but it's fantastic nonetheless.
My familiarity with the original Wii version of Lost Memories isn't the best, I never finished that version of the game, only getting about two or three chapters in. From what I've read with people more familiar with that game, this version streamlines things a bit and it makes for a much better paced adventure which is good. The door hacking puzzles seem to have been reduced to mere button pressing sequences which is a shame, I'm assuming they wanted a cohesiveness between both Two Memories and Lost Memories so they didn't go full in on replicating the Wii remote puzzles which the Switch would've been capable of, instead going for something simpler that could be enjoyed on a handheld without too much motion stuff involved.
I have a preference towards Two Memories and it's focused feel on the mansion and D, where it nails the loneliness vibe very well. Aside from losing the DS specific puzzles, I think this version still has an enjoyable charm to it. Lost Memories doesn't quite hit the same heights and I feel like they push Matthew aside a bit too early in the story, however it's still a great experience and a lovely follow up and conclusion to the Another Code story. Ashley is the core of the experience and I think in her they made a very relatable character whose shoes are easy to place yourself in.
I'm grateful to Arc System Works and Nintendo for bringing these games back and allowing a new audience to experience the story of Ashley Mizuki Robins. While a little bit of the charm has been lost transitioning the games from DS and Wii hardware to Switch hardware, there's still a wonderful and heartwarming tale to experience with Recollection that carries a powerful message that sums up this release perfectly: As long as someone carries your memories, you will never truly die. Here's to the memory of Cing living on in this release.
So what is Another Code exactly? Well the games were originally point and click puzzle adventure games that made excellent use of the unique DS and Wii hardware for some pretty memorable puzzles (like there's one puzzle in the DS game where you have to reflect the bottom screen image onto the top screen to find an answer by slightly closing your DS) and this was the core charm of the games. The games follow a teenage girl called Ashley Mizuki Robins as she attempts to uncover mysteries surrounding her family and a top secret project they worked on that can alter people's memories (hence both subtitles referring to memories).
Bringing the games to Switch has meant a lot of that unique hardware puzzle charm has been lost. Puzzles are now a bit more simpler and traditional in style, more focusing on you having to pick up on subtle hints to figure out how the game wants you to progress rather than play with something clever. There are a couple of motion controlled puzzles, one early one sees you turn a chair to try and guide a key through a maze to obtain it, which can be a bit finicky, but otherwise most puzzles are long the lines of you figuring out a number combination or turning a dial to the right position. There's a couple where what's expected of you is a little bit obtuse compared to what you would be thinking and while a hint system has been added to this remake, I found that it told me what I already knew rather than point me in the direction I needed. The puzzles otherwise get their job done, help break up the heavy story segments but like many other DS games brought to newer hardware, like Zero Escape or The Word Ends With You, a little bit of the charm has been lost with the difficulty of adapting a unique dual screen experience.
The other main gameplay addition to this remake is a navigation assist option. By turning this on, an arrow will appear around Ashley’s waist to point you in the right direction. I never had much use for it during Two Memories but I pulled it out in the more open Lost Memories where it did what I needed.
Graphically the game is passable but it's clearly been a very budgeted release for a niche ip. The model work all looked great, I loved the character models and the art style fit them well but the texture work did not look great at all and the animations at times was very robotic like and you can tell how limited they were in areas. It's understandable because we're lucky to even get a release like this these days, let alone one with a physical release and full of voice acting so it's more of a minor point of contention for me.
Rather than let you choose which game you want to play from the off on the menu, Recollection has instead combined the two games into one cohesive narrative with a timeskip. The option to play whichever game you wanted would've been nice but I can see why the chose to do it this way, especially when some of the late game reveals in Lost Memories call back to stuff in Two Memories. And it's not like it's a long game either, with the whole package being beatable with 20 hours and Two Memories clocking in between 6 and 7 hours, I think it makes sense to make sure players experience the whole story in one narrative.
Two Memories takes place in 2005 where the day before Ashley's 14th birthday, she receives a package from her father whom she believed was dead, containing a mysterious device called a DAS (Dual Another System, which in the original looked more like a DS, updated here to look like a Switch) and an invitation to meet him on Blood Edward Island where apparently he's been conducting research on something all alone since Ashley's mother died when she was 3. Arriving on the island with her Aunt Jessica who quickly goes missing, Ashley meets a ghost called D who has almost no memories of his life and together the two must solve the mysteries of Blood Edward Island while also figuring out just what Ashley's father has been up to for all these years. The bulk of this game sees you exploring and solving puzzles in the old Edward mansion and it's a very lonely atmosphere as you uncover more and more about the Edward family and some of the more sinister going ons behind the scenes. Ashley and D’s two plotlines work well together and the bond they form throughout is very heartwarming. Two Memories is very well paced, full of impactful moments and while my knowledge of the story from playing the DS game did lessen the impact of some of the twists, it's nonetheless still a really lovely story to experience.
Journey into Lost Memories (the R and A dropped from the title in this release) picks things up two years later with a now 16 year old Ashley who has since struggled to connect with her father who has once again prioritised his work over his daughter and the pair haven't seen each other for months. In an attempt to reconnect, Ashley's father invites her on a camping trip to Lake Julliet where his work is based. Immediately upon arriving there Ashley has her bag stolen and begins experiencing flashbacks to lost memories of her mother from when they visited together when she was 3, and with that you have the perfect storm for an emotionally charged teenage girl who is in a place where she doesn't want to be. The supporting cast is much bigger in this game, with research workers and campsite workers as well as other teenagers for Ashley to bounce off, giving the game a much more cosy vibe to contrast the lonely vibe of Two Memories. Ashley ends up meeting a young boy called Matthew who is looking for his dad after he disappeared a few years back and the two team up to uncover the mysteries of Lake Julliet, including how the lake's contamination came about. Ashley and Matthew develop a similar relationship to how things panned out with D, with their stories intertwining throughout the game. Unlike D however, Matthew's story wraps up a couple of chapters before the end of the game and he disappears for the rest of it, leaving a very weird feeling while you go through the climax of the game. The climax itself is pretty wild and intense, a far cry from the cosy camp vibes the game initially gives off but it's fantastic nonetheless.
My familiarity with the original Wii version of Lost Memories isn't the best, I never finished that version of the game, only getting about two or three chapters in. From what I've read with people more familiar with that game, this version streamlines things a bit and it makes for a much better paced adventure which is good. The door hacking puzzles seem to have been reduced to mere button pressing sequences which is a shame, I'm assuming they wanted a cohesiveness between both Two Memories and Lost Memories so they didn't go full in on replicating the Wii remote puzzles which the Switch would've been capable of, instead going for something simpler that could be enjoyed on a handheld without too much motion stuff involved.
I have a preference towards Two Memories and it's focused feel on the mansion and D, where it nails the loneliness vibe very well. Aside from losing the DS specific puzzles, I think this version still has an enjoyable charm to it. Lost Memories doesn't quite hit the same heights and I feel like they push Matthew aside a bit too early in the story, however it's still a great experience and a lovely follow up and conclusion to the Another Code story. Ashley is the core of the experience and I think in her they made a very relatable character whose shoes are easy to place yourself in.
I'm grateful to Arc System Works and Nintendo for bringing these games back and allowing a new audience to experience the story of Ashley Mizuki Robins. While a little bit of the charm has been lost transitioning the games from DS and Wii hardware to Switch hardware, there's still a wonderful and heartwarming tale to experience with Recollection that carries a powerful message that sums up this release perfectly: As long as someone carries your memories, you will never truly die. Here's to the memory of Cing living on in this release.