Another Code: Recollection is a simultaneously disturbing and luminous game that delves into a 13-year-old girl's story of murder and family secrets. And we must forgive the extreme slowness of the plot and dialogue in speech bubbles in order to appreciate the original tone and gripping narrative.
Posted at 6:00 am.
At first glance, Another Code: Recollection, which will be available on January 19th, is similar to many Nintendo Switch games in that its wide-eyed child characters talk to each other through bubbles displayed on the screen. But it only takes a few minutes for us to lose our bearings as we witness the shooting of the parents of little Ashley Mizuki Robins, who was three years old at the time.
Of course we are no longer involved in “Mario and his friends”.
The ghost boy
Ten years later, Ashley receives a letter from her father, whom she thought was dead, and travels to Blood Edward Island with her Aunt Jessica, who has been caring for the orphan. The investigations and revelations begin.
One thing leads to another: Ashley will uncover the secrets of a magnificent mansion with the help of a ghost, a boy named D who died 57 years earlier. He has lost his memory and Ashley's research will allow him to reconstruct his memories from the past all at once.
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When you arrive on the island, the secrets pile up. Where did Jessica go? What is the tragic story of the rich family that occupied the mansion and left behind all those messages, keys, empty bottles and scribbles? How do you open the rooms? Where is Papa Richard?
And above all: what is “other”?
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We won't reveal any impact here, it would be a criminal offense to spoil the future player's joy.
Slow or Zen
In the version we installed, the dialogues are in English and are played in speech bubbles in French. Ashley has a device called the DA S that only she can use and it looks like a Nintendo Switch. In particular, 10 photos can be saved, which can be used to solve puzzles. Each new character and story development is placed in a tree structure, allowing you to trace the connections between characters. The DA S can also scan the origami animals that Ashley encounters from time to time and reveal their message.
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Everything is very slow, starting with the dialogue that you have to use the A button to advance one sentence at a time. You can also choose auto-forward, but that's even slower. You must meticulously search every corner of every room you discover to find hidden clues. Again, the process is sometimes frustratingly slow; it takes forever for Ashley to change direction or move to a certain place.
We can complain about this slowness or find a more relaxing zen side to it after all those supercharged games.
The core of the game requires thinking anyway: it's about the puzzles that have to be solved. They are often very ingenious and complex enough to present an interesting challenge, but never unfair.
We promised there would be no spoilers. So let's give just a few examples of puzzles to solve. You must find a piano score, complete it, and play it using multiple keys on the controller at the same time to revive D's memory. To open a safe and a briefcase, you have to read all the messages to find out the numbers.
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We let you discover the usefulness of this scale with five coins with the phases of the moon, this ashtray full of cigarette butts and this key with different motifs.
Shadow and light
Since we are not in Resident Evil, the player is quickly guided through the dialogues if they cannot find a solution. In the worst case, it can get clear information using the “-” key. We only used this legal cheat once.
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It emerges from the melancholy of Another Code: Recollection, with all those past and present family dramas, that search for a teenager who thought she was an orphan, and those bloody secrets. At the same time, the magnificent settings, the friendship between D and the only person who can see him, Ashley, and the unshakable family bonds despite all the misfortunes are luminous. We don't like this game because of the efficiency of the mechanics or the splendor of the animations. Fans of well-crafted stories, imaginative puzzles and pretty pictures will be in heaven.
Another code: memory
- Publisher: Nintendo
- ESRB Rating: Teen
- File size: 5.2 GB
- Release date: January 19, 2024
- Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
- Number of players: one console (1)
- Price: $79.99
Rating: 8 out of 10
Tried on a Nintendo Switch with a copy provided by Nintendo