Recollection Review – An Agreeable Ghost from the Past

Nintendo and sophisticated storytelling don’t always go hand-in-hand, but they did for a brief period in the late 2000s when the company teamed up with developer Cing to publish games like Another Code: Two Memories (released as Trace Memory in North America), Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories, and Hotel Dusk: Room 215. These games served as an introduction to the visual novel format for a lot of Western players, telling surprisingly complex, mature stories, and are still fondly remembered by a certain dedicated fanbase today. Unfortunately, Cing went bankrupt in 2010, leading most to assume their work had been consigned to the dustbin of history, until late last year when Nintendo surprise announced Another Code: Recollection, a full remake of both the games in that series.

Does Another Code: Recollection do right by these sentimental favorites? Do they still hold up in a market now flooded with a much wider array of visual novels and narrative adventure games? It’s time to revisit some memories many thought were lost…

The Another Code series put players in the sneakers of plucky teen protagonist Ashley Mizuki Robbins, who heads off to the ominous-sounding Blood Edward Island at the beginning Another Code: Two Memories to meet up with her dad, who she previously though died along with her mother. Upon arriving she finds her dad missing, but soon makes a new friend in a ghost named D with a complicated past of his own. As Ashley explores the Edward Mansion, she unravels the truth about her father, her mother’s death, D’s dark past, and the mysterious mind-altering “Another” project.

Those used to the shouty melodrama of the Ace Attorney games or the mind-bending meta craziness of something like Danganronpa may find Another Code: Two Memories a bit lowkey, but remember, this game came out before the current visual novel renaissance pushed things to new heights. While it won’t melt your brain with wild twists, AC: Two Memories serves up likable characters, an absorbing light-touch gothic atmosphere, and some surprisingly emotional moments.

Once you complete Another Code: Two Memories, you move onto Another Code: R, with the two being presented as one continuous story. This means you can’t skip directly to the latter game, which may frustrate those who played AC: Two Memories, but never got to experience its sequel (it was never released in North America originally). Ultimately though, AC: Recollection’s approach probably makes the most sense for the overall narrative.

Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories jumps forward a couple years, as a now 16-year-old Ashley makes her way to the seemingly peaceful Lake Juliet for a visit with her father, who continues to be consumed by work to the point of straining his relationship with his daughter. Compared to AC: Two Memories’ moody vibes, AC: R is almost offputtingly lightweight and upbeat at first. Ashley wanders around the Lake Juliet campsite, flirts with guys, gets into teenage spats, goes on a long wild goose chase to retrieve her bag from a local runaway named Matthew, and for hours, that’s about as exciting as it gets. You could argue Another Code: R is a forerunner of sorts to Life is Strange and other teenage hangout adventure games, but there’s no denying following Two Memories with this creates a bit of tonal whiplash.

Thankfully, the amount of idle busywork and chatter has been cut back a bit in this version of Another Code: R. Originally, AC: R was nearly three times as long as AC: Two Memories, despite offering roughly the same amount of plot. What was once a 15-hour game has been trimmed back to 8 or 9 hours here, without really impacting the narrative much. And yes, while it may feel like Another Code: R takes some time getting into gear, things do start to happen eventually, with Ashley learning more about Matthew’s backstory, the circumstances surrounding her mom’s death, and what exactly is going on at the secret lab her dad is working at. All the plot threads from both Another Code titles tie together rather nicely at the end, albeit with a few key plot changes to Another Code: R that may generate some debate amongst hardcore Cing fans.

Another Code: Collection brings the saga to new life with full 3D environments explored via a third-person perspective (the original AC: Two Memories featured a somewhat wonky combination of pre-rendered still images and a touchscreen-controlled overhead view while exploration in AC: R was confined to rails for some reason). Visually, the remake is a mixed bag, with character models being crisp, appealing, and expressive, but environments are chock-a-block with low-poly objects and ugly textures (this is a rare case where saying a game has N64-level textures isn’t entirely hyperbole). The game looks a lot more presentable played in handheld mode, which isn’t a huge burden, as it’s well-suited to portable play. While AC: Collection’s visual presentation has its ups and downs, the game’s voice acting is pretty solid across the board, with the actress who brought Ashley to life doing a particularly good job.

In terms of gameplay, the Another Code titles are your fairly standard visual novel/point-and-click adventure games. You talk to people, explore varied environments, and collect an ever-growing assortment of random doo-dads you use to solve puzzles. The original Another Code games’ puzzles relied heavily on gimmicks unique to the platforms they were on – for instance, AC: Two Memories frequently made use of the Nintendo DS’ two screens, even requiring you to close the system or reflect one screen onto the other in some memorable cases. Obviously, that kind of stuff isn’t going to work on the Switch, and the developers of AC: Recollection have responded by tossing out pretty much all the puzzles from the original games. Almost all of them have been significantly reworked or are cut from entirely new cloth.

For the most part, Another Code: Recollection’s new puzzles are quite well-designed, rarely requiring any left-field adventure-game logic. The exception are occasional challenges (they don’t qualify as puzzles really) that use motion controls. These are typically fussy, unfun, and feel like something cut from an entirely different game. Thankfully, these motion controlled moments are also fairly rare.

Like most narrative-driven adventure games, Another Code: Recollection doesn’t offer a huge amount of replay value, but its two-games-in-one approach means your first full playthrough ought to clock in at around 15 or 16 hours, which is pretty substantial for this genre. Both Another Code titles take place within a single in-game day respectively, which is appropriate, as immersing yourself in this collection over a free weekend might just be the best way to experience it.

This review was based on a copy of Another Code: Recollection provided by publisher Nintendo. 

Another Code: Recollection

Another Code: Recollection

Another Code: Recollection may seem a bit quaint compared to some of the visual novels and narrative adventures that have come along since Cing’s games helped reinvigorate those genres, but there’s an undeniable easygoing charm to these stories, characters, and world. This collection also completely revamps the original games’ puzzles, usually for the better, meaning even Cing veterans are in for a fresh experience. Another Code: Recollection may not break much new ground, but it satisfyingly evokes memories of a simpler time.

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