Another Code: Two Memories and Another Code: R — A Journey of Lost Memories are apparently hidden gems on their respective consoles; The DS in 2005, and the Wii in 2009, respectively. I can certainly agree with the “hidden” part — I had never heard of the series before. The first game, renamed Trace Memory for North America, was released worldwide, but its sequel was only released in Japan and Europe. If for no other reason, this is why I’m glad Another Code: Recollections exists. More than a simple port or remaster, both games have been completely remade and combined into one experience, with a new art style, full voice acting, and a revised story. But for all those updates, they don’t fix what actually needed to be fixed, and in some ways make the remake less appealing.

Another Code is a narrative adventure that follows Ashley Robins, a 14-year-old who travels to the abandoned Blood Edward Island to meet her father, whom she has thought dead for 10 years. After her aunt, who was travelling with her, mysteriously disappears on the island, Ashley teams up with a lonely ghost boy called D to find her and to get to the bottom of why her father had to leave, and how D died. The second part adapts the sequel, which is set two years later and follows Ashley as she finds out the truth behind her mother’s experiments with the “Another”, a machine with the power to change and erase memories.

The biggest mark against the game is one that the original games were criticised for: the narrative pacing is awfully slow. You’d think that a complete remake of the game was the perfect time to fix this issue, especially since a lot of the story has been changed. Since the pacing is as slow as ever, I can only assume it is an integral part of the developers’ vision, but I can’t for the life of me understand why. Part 1, being shorter in playtime, doesn’t have as much time to waste on waffle, but the same cannot be said for the adaption of the second game.

Two Memories: R – A Journey into Lost Memories kicks off with Ashley, now 16, visiting her father at his new workplace near a local valley campsite. Her arrival kickstarts a new adventure about the secrets her mother kept and why she visited the valley 13 years ago. Like with the first part’s plot, the story itself is fine enough, but the time it takes to get there is far too long, delayed by protracted conversations with side characters that hold little relevance to the plot at hand.

If you’re a fan of the original, the pacing might be no issue to you, so you will likely still enjoy this game. There are definitely things to appreciate about the remake; it’s always great to see another female protagonist, for one, and Ashley is a likable girl easy to root for. To allow it some extra credit, the mild nature of the adventure makes it a fairly realistic tale for a teenage girl, so there’s nothing to strain your credulity at (beyond, you know, ghosts). One can easily imagine themselves at Ashley’s age doing all the same things as she does. But personally speaking, I’d choose something more dramatic and constantly exciting every time.

If you’re a fan of the original games, I might still recommend it, but not as a replacement for the originals. Due to the extensive story changes, especially in the last half, it’s essentially a completely new tale. If that idea excites you, you may still find something to like here.