Another Code:
R – A Journey into Lost Memories
Developer(s)Cing
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Shigeru Komine
Producer(s)Takuya Miyagawa
Designer(s)Rika Suzuki
Programmer(s)
  • Junpei Fukuura
  • Natsuko Wada
  • Hiroaki Ōkuma
Artist(s)
  • Taisuke Kanasaki
  • Keisuke Sakamoto
Writer(s)
  • Rika Suzuki
  • Yu Tominaga
  • Shunichi Nakagaki
  • Tsubasa Shibata
Composer(s)Satoshi Okubo
Platform(s)Wii
Release
  • JP: February 5, 2009
  • EU: June 26, 2009[1]
Genre(s)Point-and-click adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories[lower-alpha 1] is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Cing and published by Nintendo for the Wii console, released in Japan and Europe in 2009. It is the sequel to Another Code: Two Memories (known as Trace Memory in North America). Set two years after the first game, returning protagonist Ashley Mizuki Robbins joins her father at the fictional Lake Juliet, solving the mystery of her mother at this location. A remake of the game and its previous title will be released for the Nintendo Switch as part of Another Code: Recollection on January 19, 2024.[2]

Gameplay

Players control Ashley Mizuki Robbins via the Wii Remote, to explore, and solve puzzles, across Lake Juliet.[3] Exploration gameplay is split into two distinct sections: exterior, and interior exploration. During map exploration of exterior locations, the player moves Ashley along set routes within 3D environments.[4] During exploration of most interior areas, Ashley is fixed to a set spot, and the player can rotate her perspective of the room, as well as move from room to room by selecting a doorway when it is within their view. During both exterior and interior exploration, the player can highlight select portions of the environment within the environment to examine them closer, and have a look at specific things of interest. By interacting with the environment, the player can enter certain items into their inventory. The player can also take photos of the environment, which can be used to solve various puzzles.[5]

Interactions with non-player characters take the form of visual novel style segments, in which the player progresses through Ashley's conversation with the characters, and is occasionally prompted to pick a specific response. The player may also be required to present an item to someone.[4][5]

The player must solve various puzzles throughout the game by utilising the Wii Remote's motion sensing capabilities. An in-game device which can unlock card-reader locks, the "TAS", is made to resemble a Wii Remote, and is used through the game by the player to access locked areas by completing unlocking sequences which utilise the remote's motion sensing and unique button layout. An updated model of the DAS from Two Memories (now modelled after the Nintendo DSi) acts as the player's menu, from which they can access various features, including in-game options such as viewing the photos on the DAS, as well as game options.[3][4][5]

Despite the claims of the game's promotion and back-cover, the nunchuk is required in order to play the game, as it is needed to complete a late-game puzzle.[3][6]

Plot

The story takes place two years after the events of the first game on the fictional Lake Juliet. At the end of the summer holiday, Ashley Mizuki Robbins, now 16-years old and an aspiring musician, receives an invitation with a package of newly modelled "DAS", containing a message from her father that he wants to bond with the two on a camping trip at Lake Juliet. Ashley arrives, but frustrated as her bag gets stolen. After a brief argument with her father, Richard, he reveals that he came to the lake to know why her mother, Sayoko was doing here 13 years ago, which much to her surprise, Ashley's been having brief flashbacks as soon as she arrived. He gives Ashley a "TAS", which Sayoko had built before death.

After camping, she meets a 13-year-old boy named Matthew Crusoe, who is a runaway that came to search for his missing father, Michael in Lake Juliet. The two explore around the lake, as they recover missing items that were in Ashley's bag, and learns what happened to Michael: He was framed by the real culprits behind the pollution of the lake, and being followed ever since.

Ashley is called by her father to JC Valley, which much to her surprise, he never sent the message. After slowly unravelling the mystery inside JC Valley, Ashley learns the truth from Rex Alfred that the lab's late-director Judd Fitzgerald had summoned Sayoko and gave her an ultimatum, which she chose her family over being a scientist. As a result, Sayoko's memory of her days as a scientist were erased, but Rex kept them in a pendant and gave it to her.

After Richard's memories were erased by Ryan, the culprit behind the incident, Ashley uses the TAS to restore his memories. Both later discover that Ryan is the son of Judd before his memory wipe, and he's Sayoko's true killer. After failing to kill Ashley, Richard, and himself, Ryan decides to turn himself in.

A day later, Ashley returns home, with everything resolved. The game ends with Ashley in a band contest.

Development

The game was first shown at Nintendo's autumn conference in October 2008.[7]

Reception

The game received a score of all four sevens for a total of 28 out of 40 from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu.[12] Elsewhere, it received a bit more mixed reviews than the original Another Code according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[8] It was the 11th best-selling game in Japan during the week of its release, selling fewer than 15,000 copies.[20]

Chris Schilling of The Daily Telegraph gave the game 8/10. He gave praise to the puzzles and the touching story with its mature themes, stating that they help keep interest even when the game's story meanders. He also praised the game's watercolour visuals, saying that they make the world a pleasure to be in.[21][22]

Despite mixed reception and lacklustre sales, Another Code: R has gained a reception as an underrated game over the years. Chris Schilling of The Telegraph, who gave praise to the game in his review, rated Another Code: R as one of the top ten underrated games of 2009, in December of the same year.[22] The game has particularly garnered some positive reception following the end of the Wii's lifespan. Kate Willaert of A Critical Hit put the game seventh in a shared seventh place in "Top 20 Games Nintendo Wouldn't Release In The US", alongside Last Window: The Secret of Cape West, another title by Cing. She said that it had a "beautifully designed and animated world" and also praised the game's cover art as "one of the nicest looking of 2009".[23] GameCentral on Metro UK called the game a "hidden gem of the Wii", praising the graphics, animations, soundtrack, puzzles, and in particular, the story and Ashley's "realistically written" character.[24] Game journalist Chris Scullion put Another Code: R in his list of the 30 best Wii games, calling it "cracking" and considering Ashley to be a "rare" example of a "well-rounded female lead".[25] A decade after the game's release, in 2019, Charles Herold of Lifewire called Another Code: R one of the "top 5 missing Wii games", referring to its lack of an American release.[26]

Positive analysis has also been directed at its angle of storytelling. Anthony John Agnello of The A.V. Club has praised how the game's storytelling "thrived on boredom". He stated that Another Code: R's story sandwiches exciting, large moments between hours of tedious conversations, in a way that allows the game to thrive on this, by making players experience the "beauty of real boredom [...] the color of a natural life", in a way that is "unexpectedly intoxicating". He compared the experience of Another Code: R "to waking up in the morning and realizing how miraculous it is that you are alive".[27]

Ashley in her Another Code: R variation has appeared in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate iteration of the Nintendo crossover fighting series Super Smash Bros.[28]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: アナザーコード：Ｒ 記憶の扉, Hepburn: Anazā Kōdo: R – Kioku no Tobira, lit. "Another Code: R – Memory's Door"

References

  1. ↑ Scullion, Chris (April 23, 2009). "Another Code R Dated for Europe". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  2. ↑ LeBlanc, Wesley (September 14, 2023). "Trace Memory And Its Wii Sequel That Never Hit The States Come To Switch In Another Code: Recollection". Game Informer. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories". Nintendo of Europe GmbH. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 "Another Code R: A Journey Into Lost Memories". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 Wales, Matt (June 22, 2009). "Another Code: R UK Review". IGN. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories (2009) Wii box cover art". MobyGames. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  7. ↑ Bailey, Kat (October 1, 2008). "Nintendo Reveals Punch-Out!! Wii, Sin and Punishment 2, And More". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Another Code R: A Journey into Lost Memories for Wii Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  9. ↑ Wild, Kim (October 14, 2009). "Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories review". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on July 14, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  10. ↑ Edge staff (August 2009). "Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories". Edge. No. 204. p. 107.
  11. ↑ Welsh, Oli (June 25, 2009). "Another Code R: A Journey Into Lost Memories". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 16, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  12. 1 2 Riley, Adam (February 4, 2009). "Mario & Luigi Scores High in Famitsu". Cubed3. Archived from the original on June 9, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories". GamesMaster: 69. August 2009.
  14. ↑ Walton, Mark (July 14, 2009). "Another Code R: A Journey Into Lost Memories Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  15. ↑ Wales, Matt (June 22, 2009). "Another Code: R [A Journey into Lost Memories] UK Review". IGN. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories". Nintendo Gamer: 68. August 2009.
  17. ↑ Blundon, Matthew (April 9, 2009). "Trace Memory: R, Gateway of Memory (Wii) Review". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  18. ↑ Scullion, Chris (July 2009). "Another Code R: A Journey Into Lost Memories Review". Official Nintendo Magazine: 74. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  19. ↑ Schilling, Chris (June 24, 2009). "Another Code: R [A Journey into Lost Memories] video game review". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  20. ↑ Jenkins, David (February 12, 2009). "Japanese Charts: Tales Of The World Holds Off Demon's Souls". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  21. ↑ Schilling, Chris (June 24, 2009). "Another Code: R video game review". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  22. 1 2 Schilling, Chris (December 31, 2009). "Top 10 underrated games of 2009". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Top 20 Games Nintendo Wouldn't Release In The US". A Critical Hit!. September 12, 2011. Archived from the original on June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  24. ↑ "The hidden gems of the Wii – Reader's feature". Metro. January 13, 2013. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  25. ↑ Scullion, Chris (February 27, 2016). "The 30 best Wii games". Tired Old Hack. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  26. ↑ Herold, Charles. "The Top 5 Wii Games That Skipped the U.S., plus 3 That Finally Arrived". Lifewire. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  27. ↑ Agnello, Anthony John (September 28, 2016). "Remembering Cing, the defunct game developer that thrived on boredom". Games. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  28. ↑ Fennimore, Jack (January 7, 2019). "Smash Ultimate Best Spirits You Need to Use". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
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