Another Code: Recollection

[Maryokutai]

 

This came out to very little fanfare in January and I forgot I pre-ordered it at some point. Was in the right mood to (re)visit it over the weekend, so here goes. First off, the way they bundled this together is rather curious, because you can't simply pick the games on the title screen. Instead it simply throws you into the remake of the DS game and after you beat it it more or less goes straight into its sequel. So if you didn't know any better you'd think these would simply be two chapters of the same game.

 

So far I've only completed the first. The original DS game is a weird one because you could almost call it a tech demo without really offending anyone, but it's also a rather relaxing and charming 'baby's first mystery adventure' kind of game. By remaking this in full 3D without having access to the DS' unique hardware features this would always have been an interesting case study for how to approach remakes and, well, it's not exactly a triumph. Puzzles feel very menial and by-the books, the very first one requires usage of the system's gyro controls and barely works -- after that, they're all solved with classic input methods. Due to the nature of the original it had to spell out a lot of things because it couldn't visually represent them in detail, and unfortunately they didn't adapt the writing to the fact that you can, indeed, now see everything. So you're permanently running into situations where the characters tell you what you see, which adds an unnecessary layer of inactivity to a game that already feels extremely passive.

 

On the plus side, they did make good usage of their apparent low budget by bringing the mansion to life in a rather accomplished fashion. Character models are also very nice and clean, but the camera is placed so close to Ashley I was just waiting for the FBI to knock on the door. On the other hand, the VO is pretty abysmal in terms of audio quality (and, in some cases, the acting itself -- though Ashley herself is thankfully pretty good), camera controls are absolutely awful and the only time it hits its fps target is on the main menu.

 

As a remake I think this is a downgrade in almost every way, but unfortunately I don't have access to the original at the moment to properly compare it to. You could of course make the point that this was mostly made for newcomers, but I wonder if the very simplistic nature of it might turn them off rather than draw them in. That said, I actually did like my second visit to the mansion, to an extent. It's a cool setting and it has a wholesome, if super predictable plot. And if nothing else it's still rather unique, more than two decades later.

I think the second game might actually benefit more from the switch to the over-the-shoulder view, because the 2D plane you moved around in always felt oddly restrictive. I've only played the first hour of that one so far, so it's too early to tell, but it already feels like a better fit.

[Maryokutai]

Completed the sequel yesterday, and my initial impression got confirmed in the sense that I think this part of the remake is actually better than the original. It's not an all-out improvement, but just being able to move around freely immediately improves the overall atmosphere and sense of place. I actually never completed the Wii game because it was such a distant, almost superficial experience and the intrusive UI torpedoed any sense of immersion. So I can't comment too much on narrative or gameplay differences*.

 

Narrative is a good key word though because it just barely has enough puzzles to make me remember writing that word here. I think it's two or three in total, combined with a couple of minigames – ultimately though it's very much running around and talking to people, in a similarly glacial pace we've seen from the likes of Shenmue or Life is Strange. Unlike the former, it's a very guided experience and it lacks the decision-making process of the latter, but for what it wants to be (some kind of YA mystery anime-style story) it works. I really enjoyed going through it, it's an almost cleansing after-work kind of game. Weird description, but if you are out and about for a day and get home and just let yourself fall on the couch/bed? This game is that feeling.

 

*I did go back to watch some videos of both the first and second game on youtube and they really changed a truckload of things. It's definitely a proper remake in that sense because there was no stone left unturned, for better or worse. The second game even completely rewrites a major 'antagonist', if you want to call them that, while reshuffling and removing some other NPCs that were just one-off exposition-blasting cannons. They also concluded an arc that was previously left open in preparation of a spin-off Cing never got to do before they went bankrupt. They definitely put more effort into this than meets the eye, even if it might not be immediately apparent due to how low-fi the technical side is.

 

The best way to experience these games then would probably be playing the DS original of Two Memories and then the remake of the second game. It's too bad you can't really do that because they mixed both into one in this, but the homogenised approach does have its charms, too, even if an optional choice would have been welcome.