Lawrence.com

Nintendo has brought its point-and-click adventure to the US titled Trace Memory. What was originally titled as Another Code in Japan, Trace Memory tells the story of Ashley Robbins. Ashley is a young girl who is in search of her father; not only that, but her past as well. Ashley is finally contacted by her dad and he tells her to meet him at Blood Edward Island. Ashley jumps at the opportunity to meet her long lost father and this is where the adventure begins.

Point-and-click adventures are hard to come across these days, especially on consoles. In fact, the genre was mostly embedded with PC's because a mouse was almost necessary. Well, the DS has the ability to replicate a mouse with its touchpad. For those who don't know what I mean when I say 'point-and-click adventure', it means the entire game is done by examining different environments with very little, if any, action. What point-and-click adventures lack in action, they make it up with puzzles, logical problem solving, and an intriguing story. The most advanced games of the genre are free lancing, nonlinear games that can range up to hundreds of hours. Trace Memory, in short, is a sum of all these elements, just shorter and very linear. The game is made to be simple and that's just what it is. Most of the puzzles you come across will be as easy as wiping some dirt away to read something, and then they can get a bit tricky with the logical problems that come up to discover hidden lock combinations. I'll admit that I struggled with a few of those, but this is exactly where Trace Memory is great. The game can entertain everybody. The puzzles are meant for young kids and teens, but then they're also meant for young adults and even older. The puzzles are not only clever, but they are varied as well. You never see repetitive puzzle themes.

Trace Memory does a good job with its puzzles, but it fails in other aspects pertaining to the point-and-click genre. The story itself is a bit weak as you'll find many plot holes that make absolutely no sense. The text and dialogue itself isn't a bad read, so that helps to keep your attention span. One major problem that really plagues the game is the backtracking involved. Now I'm not necessarily a big hater of backtracking (I actually don't mind it at all) but the way the game makes you backtrack is annoying. It's obvious they wanted to stretch the game's length as far as they could. The problem is that you'll uncover certain items that you'll need later in the game, but you can't pick up that item until you reach to the problem for which it is used for. So when you reach to that candle that needs to be lit, you'll then only be able to pick up the lighter you found 5 rooms ago. This aspect of the game was tolerable for the first hour or so, but after that it's very tiresome.

The story is told not only through its text but its visuals as well. The game uses 2-D drawings that have simple animations layered on top of the background. The bottom screen is the main one you'll be looking at. Here the view is from a bird's eye that looks down onto Ashley. The top screen is a visual of what Ashley is looking at. This is limited to still drawings of only parts of the room that are interactive. The game is great to look at and some of the 3-D animations on the lower screen do a good job of utilizing the DS hardware. The soundtrack that comes with the story is nicely done. The soothing and yet eerie feelings the soundtrack has is a great choice for the mystery theme of the game.

Trace Memory is made for everyone but not everyone will like it. The point-and-click fan base is limited and most of them will be satisfied. And that's what ultimately limits Trace Memory. How good can a simplified and linear point-and-click adventure get? The game's length also hurts tremendously. Even with all the backtracking involved, the game will take most around 5-6 hours to beat, or in other words, it's short and simple.

Graphics: B-

Sound: B-

First Play: C-

Last Play: D

Gameplay: C-

Overall: 70% C-