Review: Another Code: Two Memories (NDS)

It was only a matter of time before a point-and-click game made an appearance on the Nintendo DS; the system itself seems uniquely geared towards it. Another Code: Two Memories, whilst something of a genre-straddling release, certainly quenches a small part of multiple thirsts, one of which being the need for a good point-and-click adventure.

Ashley Robins thought her parents were dead, until she received a letter from her father, telling her to meet him on Blood Edward Island, shortly before her fourteenth birthday. She also received a handheld device called a DAS (which, conveniently, looks just like a Nintendo DS), which is capable of taking photographs, recording message logs, and... well, she doesn't discover its true purpose until later. Ashley's aunt Jessica goes with her to Blood Edward Island, a small resort once owned by the rich Edward family, but when she gets there, her father is nowhere to be seen.

You play the game via the stylus pen or the normal controls. Essentially the game uses a point and click interface; the bottom screen shows a 3D top-down perspective of your environment (much like the old GTA games), whilst the top screen displays a still picture of where you are, which changes as you move around. Pointing anywhere on the screen will make Ashley walk in that direction (the controls are very intuitive and simple), and searching in any area will bring the detailed top screen down to the bottom, enabling you to click and examine elements of it.

The graphics are a mixed bag: On the one hand, the 3D engine is too simple for the DS; we know it can handle more than this. On the other hand, the detailed pre-rendered scenes are impressive, and the anime style characters look great, especially during the brief cut-scenes. There's barely any movement, but the emotion is quite apparent. Much of the music consists of gentle piano pieces, and violin scores, which really set the mood beautifully, but there isn't enough variety in the themes to stop it sounding repetitive. Sound effects are average, and there's no voice acting of any kind - everything is laid out in text alone.

So what are you doing in this dusty old mansion on Blood Edward Island? Ashley doesn't know, and neither do you; but what you can do is explore the place. As is the norm for point-and-click games, you'll be scanning every scene you come across, seeing what 'active' elements you can find, and what they do. Surprisingly, Ashley has something to say about almost anything, even mundane background elements. Sometimes you will discover an item and she won't do anything with it until she finds a use for it. Gamestyle says "she", not "you", because the game relies on the character knowing that she needs something before she'll pick it up. Therefore there are a few times in the game where you will solve a problem long before the character acknowledges it, and will have to scan an item again and again before the story decides to let you pass.

Dialogue in the game is somewhat clumsy, which is a shame. It's akin to the type of dialogue you get in translated Japanese RPGs; essentially it's there to tell you what's going on, and Ashley will reveal her thoughts and emotions to you, whilst repeating everything the other characters say, to help you remember it. What's missing here is a true sense of character to all the cast. Ashley's teenage emotional uncertainties are apparent, but without any voice acting, a lot of the dialogue scenes just come across empty.

This emptiness is at odds with the subtle revelations of the story, which are very deep and engrossing. In fact, if there is one driving force behind the game, one thing that keeps you hooked to the screens, discovering the secrets of the Edward family history is it. The mansion is riddled with secrets, its empty rooms eerily left as they were decades ago, diary entries and paintings providing some of the only clues as to what horrific things happened there. Of course, you also have the aid of "D", who is a ghost. Yes, we were a bit surprised by that particular twist of the bizarre too; but this spirit boy has lost his memory and - much like Ashley - is seeking answers. His insight into the Edward history reveals more, but you won't find out everything after just one play through the game. Which is just as well, really, because the game isn't particularly long at all. Even if you get stuck a few times, 5 or 6 hours is more than enough to clear its scant chapters and see the end credits.

Of course, it's quality that should matter, not quantity, and Another Code's clever puzzles and mini-games have that in abundance. Everything that needs to be solved, every arrangement of objects, or secret switch, or hidden key or torn piece of paper, needs to be solved by using the DS's various inputs. This sets the game apart from other point-and-click titles on any other format, because of the dynamic interaction you have with it. Admittedly it would have been better for these interactive segments to gel seamlessly with the rest of the game, rather than swirl into mini-game 'sections', but Gamestyle understands this would be very difficult to implement. As it stands, you will often be confused and dumbfounded by some of the ingenuity these puzzles have on offer, which need to be solved by either interacting with the onscreen elements or discovering secrets from photographs (stored on the DAS). To avoid spoiling further surprise here, we'll refrain from going into any more detail; but we'll say this much: that double photo frame reflection puzzle was a work of genius.

Since the story deals with the concept of memories and truths, it is only fitting that, at the end of each chapter, Ashley asks you to help her remember what she has just done (via a series of multiple choice questions). Gamestyle isn't sure whether this is just to check if you were paying attention, but these sections do help remind you of the events you have most recently played through. Perhaps for those who do not play the game regularly they provide a reminder, in the absence of any other kind of notebook.

Another Code is not a game without its problems: its short length, its stilted dialogue, its murky 3D graphics, its ridiculous name (seriously, what will the sequel be called?!); and yet there is an ineffable quality to the game that transcends these shortcomings. This is a game that will hopefully be succeeded by others of its kind. It's a seminal stepping stone to a family of similar titles which can afford to go the extra mile and get it right. Another Code may be a small first step, but it's a good one.

Rating: 7 / 10

Words by Daniel James