Trace Memory/Another Code

Ok, my sister asked for this game for her birthday... She has completely ignored it thus far, so I decided to pick it up and give it a week or two ago. Remember Myst? Most of us were young in the early-ish 90's and thought that game to be an over-rated boring hunk of dog crap... Well I popped it in my CD rom the other day... And it still is.

This game however is actually fun.. well for me at least. If your below the age of 16 or you have a case of ADHD this is not the game for you.. Playing this game felt more like reading a mystery book, and since I enjoy reading mystery books I enjoyed this game.

The game has a deep story. A girl is blah blah blah when she lands on an island and blah blah blah, and her DTS blah blah blah... I other words the begining of the game is boring. But it instantly puts you on this island trying to find this girls father. Eventually you discover a ghost named "D" and you and "D" try to figure our some crap. You know what... Im to lazy to type that it, so just play the damn game. Good luck trying to find a quote out of that for the news wraggster.

Graphics: 7
The games graphics mix Anime styled characters with beautifuly seemingly hand drawn scenes. Also there is a top down view of cell shaded 3D models that really look about as good as they can on the DS. Over all, I liked how this game looked.

Sound: 6
The music is repetative, boring, repetative, and boring. The sound effects attempt to give the game life, and would If the sound quallity was better. The floors creak, the wind blows, windows rattle, doors close, etc.

Gameplay: 8 (7+1 for being unique)
Did you like myst? Me neither.. But this game is much more fun because IT ACTUALLY GIVES YOU SOME IDEA OF WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON. The puzzles in the game can be kind of difficult, but youll figure em out if you think about it for a little bit. The game makes great use of the stylus. You controll alot of objects with it, shaping things, drawing things, removing rust from stuff, smashing stuff with a hammer, etc. The coolest thing I thought was how you could mix two images together to display a secret object.

Story: 9
uh... lets just say its good. Novel worthy almost. Its the first story from any game Ive enjoyed for quite some time.

Overall: Its a good one and will probably be overlooked and underated.

I was thinking about getting this at some stage so thanks for the review. I'll probably track it down when it's reduced.

Does it represent good value for money or is it the sort of thing you just play once?

I never played Myst but I enjoyed the sequel Riven up to a point but had to get some help to finish it as some of the puzzles were really obtuse. It's really frustrating when you're stuck in a game like that and have no idea what to do next.

I probably rated it more than its worth.. It Is a little short, and there is no reason to play it again once you beat it... But you will respect this title if you play it.

If this game would have been a $50 console release I would say thats its too short for the price. However, for $30... its still a little short, but I think its worth the price. If it ever drops to $20, I would say your getting a steal. I just wish it could have been twice or three times longer. It it would have been, I would pay $50 for it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dreary79

If this game would have been a $50 console release I would say thats its too short for the price. However, for $30... its still a little short, but I think its worth the price. If it ever drops to $20, I would say your getting a steal. I just wish it could have been twice or three times longer. It it would have been, I would pay $50 for it.

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i completely agree with this. its a well done game, and the only thing i dont like about it is that it ends.. and it ends quickly.