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Ever since I started playing Another Code: Recollection for the Nintendo Switch, a single thought has pervaded every corner of my brain. Any clever puzzle I solve, I think it. Every bit of dialogue, I think it. I especially think it every single time I have to somewhat jankily move from one place to another. What I can't stop thinking is actually rather simple: I cannot believe that this even exists at all.
That's not to say Another Code: Recollection is bad by any means. But in an effort to call it like it is, let's go over the details: it's a "fully enhanced" duo of mystery/adventure/puzzle games, Another Code: Two Memories and Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories. The first came out nearly 20 years ago for the Nintendo DS (under the name Trace Memory here in North America) and the second was 15 years ago for the Wii – and that one didn't even make it to the North American market.
Each received middling to good reviews at the time, and have been fondly remembered, but it's hard to consider either a slam dunk on paper. Even with Another Code: Recollection having overhauled visuals, new voice acting, and an added set of hint and navigation systems, the core games there are, well, what they are. It's a much nicer presentation than ever before, but it's still the same two games under all of that.
An improbable collection
Without spoiling anything, the two of them feature protagonist Ashley Mizuki Robbins as she looks into her parents' disappearance. They largely follow her as she mucks about on an island and lake area, respectively, solving puzzles and looking for answers in relation to some troubling or missing or unclear memories. I promise it's more exciting than that sounds, but it's certainly no Subway Surfers TikTok mashup.
But even if the Another Code games were immediately and obviously exciting, attention-grabbing titles, it increasingly feels like bringing forward older releases is an afterthought for most companies. This is not a particularly new problem, but it's exacerbated for the likes of Nintendo through the existence of Nintendo Switch Online's offerings, which often include digital versions of classic games for subscribers. Why bother releasing an all-new version of something when the old ones, ported to new hardware, will satisfy most folks? Digital versions of the same old Golden Sun games, for example, are surely an easier lift than full-on remakes.
Add to all of the above the simple fact that the developer of the Another Code games, Cing, ceased to exist almost 15 years ago. Despite releasing the largely acclaimed Nintendo Wii game Little King's Story just one year prior, the developer ended up filing for bankruptcy in March 2010. The majority of Cing's most notable games – published by Nintendo – have been in a sort of limbo ever since.
This context is necessary to fully understand what I mean when I say, "I cannot believe that this even exists at all." I can't! I simply can't, for all of the aforementioned reasons, believe that Another Code: Recollection exists at all. I'm hesitant to hang any sort of grand meaning on its existence, though I would surely love to see Hotel Dusk and its sequel get the same treatment, but it feels like a wonder to have been able to go pick up a physical copy – the only one in the store, admittedly – at my local Best Buy on release day.
It's an attitude I wish we saw more of from folks at Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox, honestly. I wish it didn't feel so surprising to see one of them pull a game out of mothballs like this. (Sega, if you're listening, my kingdom for a localized version of Valkyria Chronicles 3.) I have no idea how the numbers even remotely work out, and it absolutely feels like they must not from the outside looking in, and yet anything else remains a shame. So, instead, I'll hope that Another Code: Recollection is just the start of a new trend that's simply hard to visualize, but one that helps bring even more games that were once only memories themselves to the modern landscape.
