Another
Code: Two Memories
Another Code: Two Memories is your basic
seek and find title. You point and click,
using the stylus, finding clues for
puzzles which you need to solve in order
to progress through the game, it is
essentially a point and click adventure
title that utilises the DS’s touch
screen functionality. Although not scary
in the slightest, it reminded me of
Resident Evil, in that you look at paintings
and find out eerie things about the
late owners of the mansion you roam
in order to find your lost father and
your Aunt.
So, the plot…you play as 13
(almost 14) year old Ashley Mizuki
Robins and you’ve been sent
a very peculiar birthday gift from
your father – who you were told
died when you were just 3 –
this gift looks exactly like your
very own DS. This is a clever way
to incorporate you into the game.
When Ashley powers up the DAS a message
is played asking her to come to Edward
Island (also known as Blood Edward
Island). This essentially sets up
the story and Ashley and her Aunty
(who adopted Ashley when she was 3)
sail to this mysterious island in
order to find out about her father
and what was with all the lies and
secrets. After a heated discussion
with her Aunty, they both arrive on
the island and both are dissappointed
her father isn’t waiting as
promised. Aunty Jessica says she’ll
look for him and wanders off. After
chatting with the captain of the boat,
Ashley finds out sinister information
about the island but I won’t
spoil it for you. Ashley says her
goodbyes to the captain and goes in
search of her Aunty and so the story
unfolds.
You can take pictures which this
little piece of kit and this comes
in so very handy when needing to solve
puzzles. There is also memory cards
dotted around the Edwards Mansion
which she reads using her DAS. These
cards seem to hold clues and secrets
as to the whereabouts of your father.
Your adventure to find your father
is helped along by a friendly ghost
named only ‘D’ who is
trying to find his memories, this
aids gameplay as D gives helpful hints
along the way, helping the story progress.
The use of the touch screen throughout
the game is very effective. It is
necessary to use the stylus at almost
every turn, whether it is just to
look at a painting, search a book
shelf or key a number into a keypad.
You can also guide Ashley with the
stylus but I preferred to use the
directional keys. What I particularly
enjoyed about this game was the realistic
way it seemed to work, for example
there times when even the mic comes
into play, I found this extremely
clever. It is small touches like this
that make you feel very involved in
the game. I can personally say, I
was completely addicted to this game
and played it till completion prior
to writing this review and so onto
a negative point….
This is a relatively short game
and I completed it (including fumbling
and going in and out of rooms trying
to discover what I missed) in about
7 hours. I don’t think that
this takes anything away from the
game itself as it is quite a thorough
game and seems to cover all bases,
although there are questions that
do remain unanswered; this has encouraged
me to go back and start the game,
seeing if I maybe missed things. Some
gamers may feel short changed however
with such a short play time particularly
given it is near impossible to completely
miss clues and items when playing
as D stops Ashley saying ‘I
think we should look in this room
some more’. You know you’ve
missed something if that’s been
said. Another negative point that
I feel is worth a mention is at the
end of every level Ashley asks herself
questions about the completed levels.
It is multiple choice and very straightforward,
however, it is too simple and quite
frustrating when you just want to
get on with the next level of the
game. All in all I’m not exactly
sure what these questions are meant
to achieve and it slows the game down
overall.
The graphics are relatively simple.
They’re a mix of manga style
illustrations and basic manga animation.
Although the graphics aren’t
outstanding, it does have a charming
quality. On the top screen it shows
beautifully coloured images of the
surroundings and key views in which
Ashley should search. While the bottom
screen projects a birds eye view of
where Ashley and D are. This bottom
screen is very map like with the way
it’s set out.
There isn’t really much of
a musical score and I ended up playing
most of the game with the volume on
mute, what is there is good, a sort
of repetitive track dependent on what
you're doing at the time. There is
no speech in the game as it is entirely
subtitled. This means that a hearing
impaired gamer could enjoy this game
too without missing out on any vital
information.
For the female gamer angle, Ashley
is a funky 13 year old who is very
curious. She’s a likeable and
believable character to play, it made
a nice change for me to get a game
where the main protagonist is female
and I enjoyed the experience of playing
a female character. The other female
character, that of Aunt Jessica is
a fairly pointless addition though
she does help the story along here
and there.
For gamers who dislike lots of dialog
and enjoy very quick paced games,
I don’t think this game is for
you. However for more patient gamers
who get easily addicted and enjoy
becoming completely involved in a
game you should pick this game up.
I don’t think you’ll be
disappointed. It’s worth having
a go just because the use of the mic
and touch screen are so well thought
up, not in a gimmicky way, more in
a very clever and inventive way that
adds overall to the realism to the
story. It’s hard for me to explain
just what I mean here as I don’t
want to spoil this title for anyone
who purchases it, suffice to say your
physical involvement in the game is
key in many respects and the DS has
never been put to such clever use,
it really shows just how interactive
gaming can be. The puzzles themselves
are also extremely smart, many of
them will have you smiling widely
as you finally work them out, others
will have you giving out a verbal
‘Duh’ as you realise the
answer was under your nose the entire
time, but in such a clever way you’ve
overlooked it like not seeing the
forrest for the trees. Sadly this
title is only really let down by its
short play time and some extraneous
dialogue, if only this had been a
few hours longer, I honestly think
we may have had the perfect point
and click DS adventure.
