Beat the Backlog: Another Code: Two Memories (Trace Memory)

Thanks to AShadowLink for helping with edits.

Beating my backlog has been an ongoing struggle. However, I made another breakthrough last September: I finished Another Code: Two Memories and, by extension, my Nintendo DS backlog (at least until I purchase a few stray titles I’ve had my eye on). The DS is a significant system for me; it was the first (and only) system I bought at launch, it was the first I bought fully with my own money, and it houses my all-time favorite game, Hotel Dusk: Room 215. It’s a brilliant experience oozing personality and a distinct noir aesthetic, and Another Code is its direct precursor. Both were developed by the now-defunct Cing in cooperation with Nintendo. Curiously, Another Code received two different English localizations, one by Nintendo of Europe and the other by Nintendo of America, which also renamed the game Trace Memory. This is my first time playing through the former, so how does it, and the game it services, hold up?

Another Code: Two Memories Trace Memory title screen

Another Code is Cing’s second title altogether, succeeding the obscure PlayStation 2 exclusive Glass Rose. (Image: Nintendo)

Another Code opens quietly. Ashley Mizuki Robbins, on her fourteenth birthday, is sailing to Blood Edward Island, contemplating her invitation there. She’s accompanied by Jessica, her older cousin and guardian, who raised Ashley after her parents died eleven years ago. But here’s the thing: it turns out Ashley’s father, Richard, is not only alive, he’s the one who invited them. Surprisingly, he doesn’t greet them at the dock, spurring Jessica to go look for him. Some time passes without her return, so Ashley decides to venture out in pursuit of her missing relatives. Shortly thereafter, she gains a travelling companion in D, an amnesiac ghost of a young boy who’s lingered across the island for years. As both struggle with unanswered questions regarding their respective histories, they decide to work together. Why did Ashley’s dad feign his death, isolate himself on Blood Edward Island, and where is he hiding? And who is D, and what happened to him?

Controls are simple; you can move with the D-pad and inspect things with the A button, or perform both by using the touch screen. The DS’s bottom screen offers an overhead perspective of Ashley, while the top one displays a Myst-esque pre-rendered still depicting your current location. When examining something, the bottom screen’s perspective zooms in on Ashley’s viewpoint, letting you click on conspicuous objects. Generally, each area has three or four sections you can investigate. Several puzzles across the game impede Ashley, most of which are admittedly simple. But a handful of them utilize the DS hardware in legitimately clever ways (the reflection puzzle is a highlight). Ashley also carries her own DS with her, the DAS (or DTS in Trace Memory). Her father, an accomplished scientist, invented it, and the DAS can take and overlay photographs and read the data cards hidden throughout the mansion (some of which are mandatory to find). Also, Ashley collects other items of note, storing them in her inventory until they’re required to solve a brainteaser.

Another Code: Two Memories Trace Memory Chapter 1 meeting D

Astute surveyors will deduce D’s real identity as early as the first chapter, but that doesn’t matter much. His family’s story is frankly more compelling than Ashley’s. (Image: Nintendo)

Again channeling Myst, Another Code plops you on its landmass to investigate with little guidance, asking you to piece together its history. Ashley begins along Blood Edward Island’s outskirts, exploring its forest and decaying mining facility. In Chapter 2, she enters the mansion, and every subsequent chapter sees her accessing a deeper wing therein (though occasionally you’ll need to backtrack). Barring a few specific rooms, the Edwards’ manor remains frozen in time. It’s dusty, window curtains drift openly, the dried blood stain on that carpet is ominous, and it just emits a cold, lonely mood. While Ashley’s story unfolds automatically, rekindling the specter’s memories requires digging. If you want his soul to finally rest, you must trigger specific objects, including a piano and the diary pages of his relatives. Hunting down every artifact of import gets tiring, especially since you’ll basically end up clicking on everything everywhere. But that’s worth enduring to learn about the Edwards, a family torn apart through war and betrayal. Another Code builds tension gradually, and though the resolution is somewhat anticlimactic, the descent down to it is stellar.

Another Code isn’t as polished as its successors, yet so much of their spirit is visible here. Along with hardware-specific puzzles, the studio’s other hallmarks – Rika Suzuki’s character-driven drama, Taisuke Kanasaki’s artistic flair, memory quizzes, making subtle adjustments during replays – are accounted for. It’s also a significantly shorter affair; it spans six chapters and an epilogue, and can easily be cleared in three or four hours. Two Memories does, however, one-up Room 215 in one detail, by giving every section of the mansion its own leitmotif (conversely, the eponymous hotel’s go-to lobby theme grows nearly intolerable by the time you check out).

Another Code: Two Memories Trace Memory Ashley Mizuki Robbins meeting Bill (Richard)

As Ashley discovers, her father and three other scientists were working on another machine, one that has something to do with repairing memories. (Image: Nintendo)

Now having finally played both English adaptions of the game, I’m left with a preference for Nintendo of America’s interpretation. Both scripts are perfectly serviceable, conveying the same plot beats and details. Certain things, like a few names, are altered, and each script uses terminology tailored to its respective region. However, the American Ashley simply carries more personality; she can be skeptical and has a (not great, admittedly) sense of humor. Her European counterpart – and Another’s script as a whole – is characterized by comparatively stilted, wooden writing (though it’s nowhere near the machine-translated fare seen elsewhere).

Nintendo rarely dabbles in the adventure genre, the Famicom Detective Club series being the major exception. It is a genre the Kyoto-based giant’s affiliates periodically explore, yielding off-beat titles like Detective Pikachu and Cing’s output. Both Another Code and Hotel Dusk were successful enough to score direct sequels, Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories and Last Window: The Secret of Cape West (sadly, neither were released in American territories). Super Smash Bros. cameos notwithstanding, these sagas and their shared universe have effectively ended. Cing is gone, and though Suzuki still has stories to tell starring these characters and Kanasaki is happy to keep drawing them, Nintendo seemingly isn’t interested in continuing either series (Hotel Dusk scored a spiritual successor under Kanasaki and Arc System Works, though it also ended prematurely). And though that’s sad, Another Code and its follow-ups remain seminal games for me, titles I will always treasure and remember.

Another Code: Two Memories Trace Memory ending Ashley Mizuki Robbins teddy bear birthday gift

Clearing Another Code during a replay rewards you with a bonus scene, teasing Ashley’s sweet sixteen. But that’s a story for another day… (Image: Nintendo)

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Cart Boy

Cart Boy wants to be the very best, like no one ever was. When the stars align properly, he also writes articles, edits his peers' work, and helps run Source Gaming's social media.

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