Review

Another Code: Recollection – successful remakes of forgotten adventure classics

18-1-2024

With Another Code: Recollection, Nintendo is re-releasing two adventure games from the DS and Wii era. The remakes of these insider tips are well done, but not perfect.

It’s nothing short of a miracle that Another Code: Recollection exists at all. This remake double pack contains two forgotten adventure gems. Another Code: Two Memories was released in 2005 for the Nintendo DS. The sequel Another Code: R was released for the Wii in 2009. Both games sold poorly and received only mediocre ratings. Development studio Cing even filed for bankruptcy in 2010. With the demise of the studio, Nintendo also buried the Another Code series.

Over the years, the puzzle games have built up a loyal fan base. They’re now regarded as underrated, cult-status insider tips for adventure fans. With Another Code: Recollection, both games are now getting a second chance. The remake double pack was developed from scratch and impresses with substantial new features. However, the reinterpretation cannot fully replicate the charm of the original games.

What are the games about?

The first game, Two Memories, is one of my absolute favourite Nintendo DS titles – not least because of the melancholy story. I slip into the role of thirteen-year-old orphan Ashley Mizuki Robins. Shortly before her fourteenth birthday, she receives a letter from her father, who she thought was dead. In it, he invites her to a deserted island. Despite her scepticism, Ashley decides to follow her father’s call.

When she arrives on the island, there’s no trace of her father. Something’s wrong. In the course of the story, Ashley encounters a ghost in a huge, abandoned mansion. He’s the ghost of a teenager who died in the estate several years ago. His soul has been trapped on the island ever since. He can’t remember how he died.

In the course of the game, I find out both what Ashley’s father, who was thought to be dead, is all about and how the ghost boy died. It’s a wonderfully melancholy story about the power of memories, grief and friendship.

Ashley and the ghost boy become good friends over the course of the story and explore the estate together.
Source: Domagoj Belancic

The sequel Another Code: R is set around two years after the events on the island. Ashley ends up in the picturesque tourist town of Lake Juliet. There, the teenager is haunted by disturbing memories of her deceased mother. In her search for the truth behind her dark memories, she becomes embroiled in a huge conspiracy surrounding Lake Juliet.

The story in part two is bigger, more ambitious and more complex, but it can’t captivate me as much as the first part. There are too many boring characters and lots of bumpy dialogue. I’m constantly interrupted by irrelevant cutscenes while exploring. I miss the intimate melancholy I feel when exploring the huge estate on the island. But maybe this is just me being nostalgic – compared to the first part, I never played the sequel on the Wii.

In Another Code: R, Ashley meets Matthew. Like the ghost boy, he’s lost the memory of an important event in his life.
Source: Domagoj Belancic

How do the games feel to play?

Both games are a mixture of visual novel, adventure and puzzle game. You shouldn’t expect action-packed gameplay, the focus is on the story. I spend most of my time either exploring the world or having conversations.

Sometimes I have to solve puzzles to get ahead, your usual point-and-click fare. I operate a lever there, flip a switch here, enter the correct password, and so on. The puzzles are usually simple enough that I don’t get frustrated. But they’re still clever enough to give me an aha moment and make me feel like the smartest person in the world.

When starting a puzzle, the game zooms in on relevant items.
Source: Domagoj Belancic

What has changed compared to the original games?

Some of the puzzles have been redeveloped for the remake. This was necessary, because the original puzzles were tailor-made for the DS and Wii hardware. Some of them broke through the fourth wall with some pretty clever ideas. In one puzzle in Two Memories, for example, I had to close my DS halfway so that the lower screen was reflected in the upper screen. A password was then revealed to me in the reflection. Terrific. The Wii successor also made full use of the unique possibilities of the Wii Remote.

The Switch version completely lacks such hardware gimmicks. As a result, the remakes lose the unique puzzle charm of the original games. The touchscreen, the HD rumble function or the IR cameras of the Switch controllers aren’t used. The game uses motion control in two or three puzzles, but that’s it.

Motion controls are rarely used. They don’t work properly either.
Source: Domagoj Belancic

Fans of the original games will also notice that the story has been massively changed in places. In Another Code: R especially, substantial changes were made to the background story and central characters. Some adjustments are understandable – they make the game shorter and crisper. Other changes, however, are incredibly crazy and turn everything upside down in the game’s finale.

Ashley solves puzzles with a Switch-like gadget, among other things.
Source: Domagoj Belancic

Part of these story changes also concern the gadgets that Ashley receives from her father, who’s believed to be dead. In the original games, these were based on the Nintendo DS and the Wii Remote. In the remake, they’re replaced by a futuristic Switch and a generic wristband. Here, too, some of the original charm is lost. At least the gadgets have been supplemented with new functions that make my everyday puzzle solving a little easier.

Ashley’s gadget provides an excellent overview of all the characters. This makes it easy for me to get back into the story even after a long break from the game.
Source: Domagoj Belancic

The point-and-click of the original games gives way to modern controls from a third-person perspective in the remake. This makes the levels feel more like real locations and not like sections from a video game. If I get lost in the 3D world, the game offers a navigation aid to guide me to the next puzzle. There’s also a new hint system that gives me valuable tips when solving puzzles.

Graphically, the new edition fluctuates between beautiful and outdated. The double pack is particularly impressive in the remake of the first game, with beautiful environments reminiscent of oil paintings. The idyllic scenery is accompanied by gentle piano sounds and catchy melodies. Wonderful.

In screenshots, some rooms of the island mansion look like 2D art.
Source: Domagoj Belancic

The larger levels in part two fall off sharply in comparison and look unfinished in places. It’s also a shame that the remakes are repeatedly interrupted by annoying loading screens – a problem that was much less present in the original games.

The detailed character models are well designed, but poorly animated. Many adult characters don’t just move strangely compared to Ashley, but barely move their lips when they talk. It takes me out of the story from time to time.

The character models are beautiful. The animations less so.
Source: Domagoj Belancic

Most of the protagonists in the original games were mute, no longer the case here. A large part of the conversations are voiced. The acting quality is reminiscent of mediocre anime dubbing. Over time, I got used to the exaggerated acting and the sometimes annoying word fragments when solving puzzles (Hmmmm…, Oh!, Aaaah!).

Verdict: a successful if flawed remake

Another Code: Recollection is a comprehensive remake of two forgotten adventure gems. The reinterpretation of the original material impresses with substantial new features, but cannot quite capture the magic of the original games. This is partly due to the puzzles, which have been revised for the new edition. The audiovisual presentation is also not beyond all criticism.

Despite these points, I had a lot of fun with the remakes in my fifteen or so hours of playtime. I love the melancholy world of Another Code and am glad they’ve been given a second chance – even if it wasn’t implemented perfectly. If you like visual novels, adventure games and melancholy coming-of-age stories in the style of Life is Strange, give this double pack a chance.

Now I’m hoping Nintendo will give us a remake of the Hotel Dusk games from Cing.

_Another Code: Recollection will be available for Nintendo Switch on 19 January. The game was provided to me by Nintendo for testing purposes.