The DS and Wii were hugely successful in the mid-2000s, not only thanks to Nintendo’s evergreen franchises, but also, in the case of the former, a fantastic catalog that spanned nearly every genre and even some experimental projects. target by betting on the so-called “touch generation”, with games suitable for all audiences, taking advantage of the more intuitive controls offered by the system for a more relaxed experience. One of the main exponents of this approach is Another Code, which released Two Memories for DS in 2005 and R: A Journey Into Lost Memories for Wii in 2009 on both systems.
The games were created by the now defunct CiNG studio by combining two genres: the very Japanese visual novel and the traditional point-and-click adventure that we are more accustomed to in the West. The fact that both games (again, especially the first) have amassed a huge cult following among gamers and new players alike has little to do with their exciting plots or well-crafted puzzles: let’s be honest, let’s say we don’t neither are they. The key to their success lies mainly in the tone, the graphics, the interesting way they use the controls and, above all, Ashley Mizuki Robbins.
Another Code: Recollection is coming to Nintendo Switch as a high-definition remaster/compilation of these two titles, looking to both satisfy older fans and possibly spark some interest among old-school adventure enthusiasts, much like Famicom Detective Club has tried (and failed) not long ago Likewise.
This means you get cleaner, prettier graphics and a combined experience of both stories, but at the same time you lose most of the original puzzles or see them heavily modified. This might be a shame for fans of the original, but it makes sense when you think about the new game’s approach. The Nintendo Switch is designed to be played on a TV or as a portable device, as it is not suited to dual-screen types and does not include a microphone. What about the “touch” and pointer functions? Well, it occasionally uses the device or controller tilt sensor, but for some reason the developers didn’t want to use the touchscreen or cursor functionality of the hardware.
So it’s just simple buttons and toggles, which takes away a lot of the “hardware magic” that the original had. In terms of presentation and exploration, for those playing on Wii, it’s very similar to the third-person perspective the game uses in it, but now everywhere and with full 3D camera movement.
Here is an announcement:
Now, camera movement seems to be one of the biggest issues here. Perhaps to make startup easier, it’s so slow by default that you’ll want to set it to at least 60 when you first launch the game. Even there, it feels a little slow… The same can be said about the slow menu and overall performance of the game, as well as some poor textures and geometry, which obviously make it feel like a very small and limited project.
Instead, I appreciate the additional writing and expanded collections that actually add to the lore in interesting and even exciting ways (you fans won’t expect some twists there). While I missed a few puzzles for nostalgia reasons (and let’s face it: they were still pretty easy), some of the newly added puzzles are clearly new and improved, and you no longer collect as many Useless Items.
Aside from the sluggish camera, there are a few new features worth mentioning: Navigation Assist and Puzzle Hints. The former tells you where to go next or what to check, while the latter first gives you some hints and then, more obviously, solves the puzzle in question. This is great for journalists who have already played the original and want to learn about the genre in a very simple way.
Elsewhere, the high-definition graphics elevate the art, highlighting Taisuke Kanazaki’s character designs, so if you fell in love with Ashley’s art when you were 14 and 16 as a teenager, it’s probably even more so with teens of today. Because she pretty much carries the entire experience on her own, as the other characters, including D., who was endearing at first, eventually become shallow or uninteresting, despite the aforementioned extra writing.
When you compare the two games, it’s the same effect it had years ago: the six hours of the first film always seem tighter than the three-part story of the sequel. The stories are decent, dealing with typical coming-of-age tropes, side topics like addiction, and a mild sci-fi mystery overall.
One could see Another Code as a sort of precursor to the Life is Strange genre that was popular a few years ago, with its slow-paced narrative, contemplative perspective, artistic touch, lovable teenage protagonist and supernatural touch to the story, but with 2000s The hardware tricks of the era have disappeared, and not even the added dubbing (only in English or Japanese, unfortunately) manages to make the experience more appealing for today’s audiences, as everything seems a little too boring , lo-fi, predictable and too crude.
For now, I would recommend this game to fans of the original simply for nostalgia and fan service, with a few caveats. If you’re looking for a more complex and engaging anime story dealing with the mind, you have a great choice between the two AI: The Somnium Files games on the same platform. That said, I can’t help but wish CiNG’s Kyle Hyde saga (Hotel Dusk and Last Window) would get the Switch HD treatment, just with a little more care and polish.
Here is an announcement:
2024-01-18 11:04:54
#code #Recollection #Review #Gamereactor