known as Trace Memory in North America, is a 2005 point-and-click adventure game developed by Cing and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. The game was first released in Japan on February 24, 2005, with releases in Europe, Australia, and North America, following later the same year.

Players take on the role of Ashley Mizuki Robbins, a 13-year-old girl, as she searches for her father on the fictional Blood Edward Island. Gameplay revolves using the DS touchscreen or D-pad to solve puzzles.

Another Code received "mixed or average" critic reviews, according to review aggregation website Metacritic. Though praised for its implementation of the DS controls, its story, and hand-drawn artwork, many criticized the game's short length, unoriginal puzzles, and gearing towards a younger audience. A sequel, Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories, was released for the Wii in 2009 in Japan and Europe. A remake of the game and its sequel were released for the Nintendo Switch as part of Another Code: Recollection on January 19, 2024.

Gameplay

Players navigate through 3D environments and attempt to solve puzzles as protagonist Ashley Mizuki Robbins. During movement, the DS's touchscreen displays an aerial view of Ashley and her surroundings. The player can move Ashley using a point and click system, dragging the stylus across the screen, or using the D-pad. The top screen shows pre-rendered images of the player's current location. To solve puzzles encountered in the game, the player must use the touchscreen, or other DS capabilities, such as the DS microphone.

A device in the game called the DAS (renamed DTS in the North American release) allows the player to save and load, read messages in the form of DAS data cards, and examine photographs. The photographs come from the player's in-game camera which can take up to 36 photographs at a time. An inventory list is also available to store items for later use. The player will sometimes encounter non-player characters in the game. To initiate dialog with them, the player must tap the talk icon. Consequently, Ashley was raised by her father's younger sister, Jessica Robbins, in the suburbs of Seattle. Around this time, Ashley begins to suffer from a recurring nightmare, in which she is hiding inside a closet as a child and witnesses someone getting shot. Eleven years later, two days before her fourteenth birthday, Ashley receives a package from her father containing a birthday card and a device called a DAS. The DAS, programmed to respond only to Ashley's biometrics, contains a message from her father, claiming that he is waiting for her on Blood Edward Island, an island located off the coast of Washington. The first playable demo of the game debuted during the November 2004 Nintendo World Japanese tour. At a Nintendo retailer conference in January 2005, the release date was set for Japan on February 24. The release date for Europe was set on June 24, under the title Another Code: Two Memories. The game was showcased at E3 2005 under the title Trace Memory. It was released in North America on September 27.

The game's designer and scenario writer, Rika Suzuki, Suzuki said she thought the burden on the game's programmers was quite large. Lead Programmer Kazuhiko Hagihara reportedly had disagreements with Kanasaki during the latter half of development. The game's protagonist, Ashley Robbins, was designed by Kanasaki to appeal to both male and female players. She was originally designed to be 17 years old, but her age was later changed to 14 by Suzuki.

Suzuki later said the game had a large impact in Japan, and that "one thing that I am particularly proud of is that if you go into a games shop in Japan now there is an adventure corner, and that's something that we feel we've contributed to coming back." She also said that "the company feels that with our games you don't need the special skills required to play other games. There is no gender or age classification, it's just you and the story."

Reception

Another Code was the 123rd best-selling game of 2005 in Japan, with 105,452 copies sold. The game also placed 32nd on the list of best-selling DS games of 2005 in Europe, with around 15,000 copies sold in the United Kingdom.

The game received "mixed" or average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. PJ Hruschak of CiN Weekly commented that some critics referred to the game as "Myst for Kids". Jason Hill of The Sydney Morning Herald said the game possessed "a rich plot exploring themes of love, grief, ambition and memory [that] complements engaging characters", and Bethany Massimilla of GameSpot thought that "the 2D art in the game is where all the richness of detail is." Her Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories design appears as a spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Notes

References

  • Official European website
  • Official North American website (archived)
  • Official Japanese website