also known as "Another Code" outside the Americas.
**minor spoilers**
CING really made their name with Hotel Dusk. Though having its own detractors, Hotel Dusk is a pretty good adventure title with great writing, characterization and an engrossing story. I jumped into Trace Memory with very low expectations mostly the the mixed reviews which led to my initial decision not to purchase the title when it was first released.
The game turned out to be a lot more enjoyable than I expected. It is short and the ending is weak, but the the build up to the climax is damn fantastic. It has a Myst quality to it as players are thrust into a mansion with elaborate pathways and switches to explore. Unlike Hotel Dusk, the room views are not in 3-D FPS mode rendered in real-time but instead feature pre-rendered angles, this is also reminiscent of Myst and other pre-3D era adventure titles. A room will usually have 3-4 pre-rendered angles plus a few more 'close up' angles of furniture, walls and fireplaces where a puzzle might be involved.
The first glaring weakness I noticed is that the writing is not as good or polished as Hotel Dusk and the characterization of the main character, Ashley, was pretty week.
In one specific line near the ending, the father character which should be in his 40s and has been nearly incommunicado and cut off from the world for 11 years uses the word 'pig out' in his journal, which I find totally out of character
The most enjoyable part for me was the exploration of the mansion which incidentally involves the core of the 'Edwards family' plot line. This takes a good 3 quarters of the game. The supernatural theme coupled with a mansion that is largely untouched by time (complete with blood stained rugs, curtains blowing in the wind, old letters strewn about and family photos scattered on tables) created the perfect mood for exploration.
The accompanying soundtrack also sets the mood in a blend of creepy, melodic ambiance. Though very limited in scope, the small number of tracks are rarely annoying, and there's a theme for each part of the mansion. This is in contrast to Hotel Dusk which uses leitmotifs to cue to entry and exit of different characters, but also created a situation where the lobby tune became nearly intolerable by the end of the game.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) the Puzzles aren't too hard, and involves common sense sequential quests of "take item found in Room A, apply to puzzle", though the 'application' mini-games of said items usually involves novel but not ambitious uses of the DS, which makes them somehwat easier than similar puzzles found in Hotel Dusk. Each chapter usually ends with a modestly difficult puzzle that challenges the player. A few require pattern recognition, memorization, and a bit of lateral thinking. There's also some very neat uses of the DS's touch, mic and dual screens.
It is too bad that the last quarter of the game, involving the conclusion to Ashley's storyline, was poorly plotted and didn't seem believable to me (keep in mind this is a game that has ghosts and hi-tech gadget, so I'm not asking for realism, just a plausible plot for Ashely).
As a final note, I took my time exploring and contrary to some reviews which complained about the amount of backtracking, I hardly did much backtracking at all. I've only had to backtrack in a big way once (having to cross most of the explored mansion to obtain a reel of paper) and a few minor backtracking of having to move between rooms in the same hallway.
Overall a good short adventure and a good buy at a bargain (I got mine used at EB for $15), I highly recommended it for fans of Hotel Dusk. The artistry and style of Hotel Dusk is plentiful in this game, even if its not as polished.
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