Another Code: Recollection Review

Another Code:

In 2005, CING would begin launching adventure games in partnership with Nintendo that would fully exploit the capabilities of the DS and Wii for immersive puzzles.

Bringing in two industry veterans, writer Rika Suzuki (who practically inaugurated mystery novels at the beginning of the games industry in Japan) and designer Taisuke Kanasaki, CING brought games that were immortalized on the DS and Wii, such as the Another Code series and Hotel Dusk (together comprising 4 games) and then, together with Tecmo, the game Again.

Now, in 2024, the Another Code series (Two Memories and A Journey Into Lost Memories) become a single game in Another Code: Recollection, exclusive to the Nintendo Switch.

Story:

As Ashley Mizuki Robins, the player will explore the uninhabited island of Blood Edward in search of her father, who she thought was dead until then, alongside a spirit who is trapped on the island. When your aunt who accompanied you disappears on the island, it will be up to you to unravel the mystery of the family that lived on the island and Ashley’s own past, in order to find her father and save her aunt.

With the original plot written by visual novel mystery pioneer Rika Suzuki, the reimagining managed to maintain all the unexpected twists that only a brilliant and experienced mind like Suzuki’s could devise.

The story has heavy contexts such as war, loss of family members, abandonment, among other contexts, but it is seen from the perspective of a pre-teen hurt by her family, bringing intelligent, subtle and emotional dialogues.

Gameplay:

CING was notable for bringing a lot of originality to all three aspects of the adventure genre: the narrative, the art and the gameplay, and Nintendo knew (even with a new story/art direction and reimagining the puzzles) how to maintain these aspects.

That said, the weakest of the three aspects is the gameplay. It makes good use of the features of the Nintendo Switch, but it also leaves something to be desired at times: when you use the gyroscope to remove a key stuck in a grid in a creative way, you also have to remove pieces from a box simply by clicking on them, instead to drag them with the touch. It makes sense if the player is using the traditional controller, but it shows how it doesn’t take advantage of the Switch’s features as much as Another Code and Another Code R did on the Nintendo DS and Wii.

Another gameplay aspect maintained was progression, with puzzles that are not easy but also not impossible. The mystery of the mansion’s door handle may seem difficult, but all it takes is careful observation to realize how simple it can be to solve, bringing that satisfaction of feeling like a detective to those who enjoy the genre.

This does not mean that sometimes the game does not let go of the player’s hand, leaving it up to them to explore the game’s functions more carefully, such as when it is necessary to superimpose two images with the DAS, which the game simply does not inform about this function.