Trace Memory (Nintendo DS)
Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Cing Inc./Nintendo
By Diana Poulsen
When I finally bought a Nintendo DS, Trace Memory was the first game I played on it. The DS is perfect for quirky little puzzle games and other gaming oddities, which is why I love it so much. Quest for Glory 1 (the remake) and 4 would be my dream DS games. If you want shooters and racers I’d recommend the PSP, but be warned: it may give you horrible tunnel vision and there aren’t many games for it. Trace Memory follows the story of Ashley who, on her birthday, is invited to Blood Edward Island by her father, who walked out on her after her mother died. He sends her the DTS, a device that looks suspiciously like the DS. She must use the DTS to find her way to the laboratory and meet up with her father to discover why he left and whether or not he murdered her mother. Along the way, she meets a ghost named D, whom she has to help to recover his missing memories and figure out the circumstances of his death. You can complete the game without recovering all his memories, but it is actually more satisfying to play the game and read the story in its entirety.
Trace Memory is a bit like Myst, in that you wander around solving puzzles and putting together facts to figure out why your dad invited you here and who D was. It requires a lot of reading which can occasionally be tedious, and often you’ll figure things out before Ashley does. On the good side, TM uses all of the DS features, forcing you to think outside the box, which makes it so enjoyable but also a bit of tech demo for the DS’s abilities. On the bad side, the puzzles are dead easy; for instance, turning a crank is a puzzle. I kid you not. The only time I got stuck on a puzzle was when I forgot about a feature on my DS. When I got tired of trying, I had a ‘eureka!’ moment and figured it out. The music is well fitting, but there are only three or four songs, so I played with the music off for the most part.
The game is quite relaxing and perfect to play on a long flight with a long stopover. It’s a bit like reading a book with little puzzles attached, so if you like games with a little more action, this really isn’t for you. The game will only take about 7 hours to finish at the maximum.
I would really like to see more games like this one the DS, but I would like a little less reading and more challenging puzzles.
