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Another Code (Video Game) - TV Tropes
Memory is the key.
"I've never felt like this before. I just found out that...my father is alive."
Another Code is a duology of adventure games originally developed by Cing and published by Nintendo. The games share the same universe as the studio's other adventure series, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, taking place decades later.
The first game, Another Code: Two Memoriesnote (Trace Memory in North America) released for the Nintendo DS in 2005. The story follows Ashley Mizuki Robins, a white-haired Tomboy living in the suburbs of Seattle, who receives a package from her father Richard in the days leading up to her fourteenth birthday, containing a birthday card and a game console-like device. Ashley finds this very peculiar: mostly because both of her parents were presumed dead after disappearing when she was a toddler. With the device containing a message urging her to meet him on Blood Edward Island, her Aunt Jessica convinces her to take the trip and figure out what happened to her old man all those years ago. A quest that becomes all the more strange when she finds herself encountering a ghost named D, who is trying to uncover the secrets of his own past as well.
The second game, Another Code: R - A Journey Into Lost Memories released for the Wii in 2009. Taking place two years later, Ashley receives a new package in the mail towards the end of summer vacation. This time, instead of a demand to venture to an abandoned island, it's an invitation to visit the resort town of Lake Juliet: a scenic locale that also happens to be the location of a mysterious trip Ashley's mother Sayoko made years ago. As Ashley begins her investigation into her mom's secrets, she once again befriends a kindred spirit (albeit less literally this time): a young runaway named Matthew who is on his own search for a missing family member.
A remake of both titles, Another Code: Recollection, was released on January 19, 2024 for the Nintendo Switch. Developed by Arc System Works, Recollection completely overhauls the gameplay to be a third-person adventure title, as opposed to the top-down and side-scroller presentations of the original DS and Wii games, respectively. The remake also introduces several major narrative changes and an updated visual style courtesy of the original creative team, in addition to voice acting, entirely new puzzles, and new music. A playable demo of Two Memories Chapter 1 was made available on December 14, 2023.
Ashley makes a few cameo appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series; she appears in Brawl as a trophy and two stickers alongside stickers of Jessica and the Captain, and later appears in Ultimate as a spirit.
Not a sequel of Avalon Code.
Another Code provides examples of:
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General
- Adaptation Deviation: In addition to visual/gameplay overhaul and nearly every puzzle from the original releases being replaced in Recollection, there are several narrative changes made to both games, ranging from minor dialogue tweaks to entire swaths of story being completely rewritten, mostly in the service of streamlining the story.
- Two Memories:
- The game now starts In Medias Res, with Ashley in the forest walking towards the graveyard, before cutting to the boat ride from earlier in the day.
- The Captain's boat is named the Rosa, after his wife Rosa Fox, instead of the Martina. The island's dock is also now at the base of a cliff, instead of across a drawbridge.
- Captain no longer gives Ashley candy as a treat.
- Ashley only hears Jessica's scream after she approaches the gate of the Edwards' Mansion, having followed due to seeing her walk out of sight, as opposed to hearing her scream from the docks.
- The mansion's layout is redone, now boasting multiple floors and a courtyard.
- Ashley's father or, rather, Bill Edward posing as him appears earlier in the story and has her search for the ANOTHER keys.
- After entering the lab, Ashley doesn't assume Richard is Bill and interrogate him, as just seeing him allows her to recall that he looks far more like what she actually remembers her dad to appear.
- Since Recollection essentially restructures the duology into one long story, the ending of this game sees a short interlude that segues into the beginning of the sequel.
- R - A Journey into Lost Memories:
- The name is shortened to Journey into Lost Memories.
- Dan Maxwell and Janet Rice are race-swapped from Caucasian to African-American.
- Janet was originally a classmate of Ashley's who also ended up vacationing in Lake Juliet during the summer. Here, she's a local resident who Ashley has never met before.
- Sam Hillman and Lucy Graham were removed, with their roles integrated into other characters; the former has their role as the band's drummer taken over by Janet, while the latter has what little importance they did serve (explaining how to interact with Charlotte) taken over by Bob Fox.
- In the original Wii game, Matthew's subplot is Left Hanging, to be completed in a spin-off title that never happened. Here, it's resolved by the end of Chapter 6, with it being revealed that Matt's father is alive. He had spent the past few years trying to rebuild his life before attempting to request custody of Matthew back, while his friend Greg continued work on the Lake Juliet pollution story in order to clear his name. After a work accident, he had recently been left in a coma, but manages to recover just as Greg is explaining all of this (presumably thanks to the intervention of his late wife and daughter's spirits). At the end of the chapter, Ashley and Matthew part ways, with Greg taking Matt to see his dad.
- The main antagonist's backstory, motivations, and even actions are completely overhauled from the Wii game. In Recollection, being the first test subject of a prototype ANOTHER caused Ryan to die, rather than become completely emotionless; the Ryan that Ashley interacts with throughout Recollection is a Living Memory clone born from the memory backup stored in liquid memory, interacting with the world by using the lab's technology to affect people's perceptions. He never manipulated Bill to kill Sayoko as he does in the Wii game, instead being horrified and saddened when he learns about it after the fact, and he certainly never attempts to kill Richard or delete his memories (he doesn't even know Richard, as Ashley's father had nothing to do with that original experiment). His desire to overwrite Ashley's memories are purely motivated by a desire to see Sayoko one more time before he passes on, rather than revenge over what her parents did to him. And rather than an attempted suicide and going to jail, deemed an unquestionable villain, Recollection dies a sympathetic death from the lake itself diluting his being, after having a heart-to-heart with Ashley over his existence as a Living Memory and their shared love for her mother.
- When the ANOTHER is used on Ashley, in the Wii original, she rejects the overwriting of her memories purely through her own willpower. In Recollection, the RAS activates, allowing her meet the liquid memory version of her mother, who guides and encourages her throughout the process.
- The end of the game following your final confrontation/conversation with Ryan. In the Wii game, this is a long cutscene depicting Ashley walking to the bus stop and various characters meeting her on the way to say goodbye. In Recollection, this is a playable segment where Ashley can explore the town one last time and say goodbye to everyone themselves.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Richard is fair-haired in the original games, but has brown hair in Recollection.
- Adaptational Modesty: Played with. In Recollection, neither of Ashley's outfits show off her midriff anymore, but 16-year-old Ashley now boasts a pair of mid-rise denim shorts instead of jeans. The original "Two Memories" outfit with exposed midriff can be unlocked at the end and used for future playthroughs.
- Adults Are Useless:
- Justified in the first game, where Ashley is literally the only one capable of helping D precisely because she's a child.
- Zig-Zagged in the second game. Ashley is the only person willing to help Matt learn what happened to his father, but it ultimately turns out that most of the information uncovered over the course of narrative is information that Greg Davis already knew, but feared sharing out of concern over Matt's trauma-induced amnesia. In Recollection, after they are assured that Matt can handle the truth, they freely explain everything that the duo couldn't piece together before taking Matt to see his father. Likewise, much of Ashley's half of the story is her playing catch-up with what most of the adults already know, after which she and the scientists start working together.
- Adventure Game: With all the examining, inventory management and puzzle-solving involved. The original Two Memories and Journey into Lost Memories are of the Point-and-Click-variety, while Recollection overhauls both titles to be third-person exploration.
- All in a Row: Anybody traveling with Ashley usually does so in this manner, with the exception of D in the original DS release of Two Memories. It's most obvious in the second game, where you have both Matthew and Princess following behind you at one point.
- All-Loving Hero: Ashley, especially in the second game, where she goes out of her way to help both Matthew and the Marmot Cub Troop with their personal problems.
- Arc Words: "Even though facing the truth can be hard, in the end it's always for the best" is repeated throughout Recollection in order to hammer home the Aesop that it is necessary to confront uncomfortable and uncertain situations in order to gain closure and grow as a person.
- Biological Parent Reunion:
- The plot of the first game is about Ashley reuniting with her father after thirteen years.
- A subplot of the sequel is Matt trying to find his dad who went missing years ago. In the original release, he's left with some closure and a possible lead, but the reunion doesn't happen. The remake sees him succeed.
- Boyish Short Hair: Ashley shares this hairstyle with her mother Sayoko.
- But Not Too Foreign: Ashley is half-Japanese on her mother's side.
- But Thou Must!: During all the sequences in the original DS and Wii releases where Ashley repeats the plot points so she can remember later, if you choose the wrong option, she chides herself for misremembering, then goes back to try again. Especially obvious in the final one for Two Memories, where Bill asks you to remember the face of the killer.
- Collection Sidequest:
- Recollection has Richard's origami cranes, which are scattered through both games in locations that he frequents, from the various rooms in the Edward estate to his friends' offices at work. Finding and scanning them with the camera app on the DAS gives you journal entries where Richard discusses everything that has occurred prior to Ashley's visit, as well as any other stray thoughts he may have about his family and his past.
- The soda cans in Journey into Lost Memories function as this in the remake. Collecting all ten (three from buying soda at the store, seven as litter scattered around Lake Juliet) and trading them all in will net you a Gold Lake Juliet Token. Furthermore, trading in all the remaining silver tokens will get you Rainbow-Colored Gum; showing this to Tommy when he's at the guesthouse will have him gift you the Eco-Master Badge.
- Company Cross-References:
- In Recollection, when trying to hide Matthew's identity from her father, she claims the boy's name is "Mario".
- The library in the DS version of Two Memories has two books referencing other Nintendo franchises, entitled "Path of Radiance" and "The Legend of Zelda Chronology".
- A rather easy-to-miss Zelda example in Another Code R with "It's dangerous to go alone."
- There are several towards Cing's other adventure game series, Hotel Dusk: Room 215. In all versions of Journey into Lost Memories, Ashley's pouch/bag has Pinkie Rabbit on it and characters are shown to enjoy a soda brand called Cool Pop. In the Wii game, the photos in the abandoned cabin show various characters from that game visiting Lake Juliet. In Recollection, it is revealed that Thomas Edward's mystery novels feature a detective named Kyle Hyde, with it version of Two Memories also adding the Pinkie Rabbit character to the Captain's jacket.
- Console Cameo: The Dual Another System (DAS) in the original games resembles a Nintendo DS, with the second game upgrading it to a DSi); meanwhile, the True Another System (TAS) introduced in the second game looks like a Wii Remote, even coming with a module that resembles a Nunchuk. Recollection redesigns the DAS to look like a Nintendo Switch Lite with a camera, while the TAS — now the Reboot Another System (RAS) — is now a hi-tech bracelet.
- Cool Aunt: Jessica is the younger sister of Ashley's father Richard, and raised Ashley since she was three years old. In Recollection, Ashley isn't shy about calling the woman her surrogate mother, and Jessica continues to serve as her caretaker even after the events of the first game.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You:
- In the first game, he desired to complete his late wife's work on the ANOTHER and knew he couldn't do so publicly if he wanted to keep his daughter safe. The DS version also had him uncertain about whether he killed his wife or not, and wishing to use the completed ANOTHER to learn the truth.
- In the second game, Richard's absence for the past six months was because a former colleague alerted him that someone has gotten a hold of ANOTHER's source code and is trying to revive the project. He joined J.C. Valley to help prevent this.
- Daddy Didn't Show: Twice, Ashley starts the game going to meet him and twice he's not there (despite being the person who scheduled the meetup). In the first game, he has the understandable excuse of having been drugged and left unconscious by a backstabbing partner. When it happens again in the second game, it's because he just forgot, which frustrates an already peeved Ashley.
- Demo Bonus: The demo for Recollection covers the first chapter of the first half of the game. Completing it lets you carry your save data over to the full game.
- Disney Villain Death:
- Two Memories: After being startled by D, Bill stumbles backwards and falls into the chasm below the island.
- Journey into Lost Memories: Ryan throws himself off an island cliff upon having his plans foiled. It's a subversion as Richard saves him and convinces him to turn himself in. This sequence only occurs in the Wii version.
- Driven to Suicide:
- In the first game, Henry after killing Thomas and indirectly causing Daniel's death.
- In the original Wii version of Journey Into Lost Memories, Ryan Grey, after Richard refuses to kill him. Richard ends up saving his ass.
- Dialogue Tree: As characters speak, they will occasionally touch upon certain topics in Rainbow Speak that are turned into this, after which you can choose the order in which you want to hear about these topics.
- Extremely Short Timespan:
- The first game occurs in the span of one day, the day before Ashley's 14th birthday in the year 2005, though the precise date varies depending on the version. In Recollection, the game takes place on February 24, 2005. The DS version has Ashley and the player share a birthday and thus it takes place on whatever day is before the one set on the console, otherwise defaulting to February 24.
- The second game takes place on August 24, 2007 — the 25th in the Wii game — and ends the morning of the following day.
- Fake Memories: The ANOTHER can implant these by way of transferring memories. In the DS version of the first game, it works well enough that Richard spends years convinced that he might have killed his wife. In the remake, the system is imperfect and the victim develops harsh migraines as a result of the conflicting memories, meaning he immediately knows something is wrong and figures out Bill must have done something to him shortly after knocking him out.
- Family Disunion: Both games kick off with Richard trying to reconnect with Ashley. Then out come the secrets and inventions and the murder attempts.
- Family Eye Resemblance: Ashley has her mom's black eyes, a fact which several characters comment on in addition to complimenting their beauty.
- Flashback Cut: You can expect to see a few of these per chapter. The original releases used purely Monochrome Past, while Recollection combines it with film grain, a vignette effect, and the occasional pan.
- First-Person Snapshooter: The DAS has a camera function, used for puzzle solving and (in the Wii game) unlocking extra conversation options.
- Ghostly Goals:
- In Two Memories, D is unable to enter the afterlife until you help him remember his past and the events that led up to his death. Unfortunately for him, it is possible to complete the original Nintendo DS release of the game without accomplishing this.
- In Journey into Lost Memories, Kelly is unable to pass on until Matthew remembers her death, allowing her to assure her brother that the accident wasn't his fault.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Ashley loves teddy bears and even gets one as a birthday gift from her father at the end of the game, with the most adorable picture of her hugging it at the end of the game. She even has said teddy bear in her backpack in the sequel.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Ryan Grey is this, being the reason why Bill aimed to steal Richard's research work on the ANOTHER. Downplayed in Recollection, where Ryan is still colluding with Bill and Sofia but doesn't directly influence their actions.
- Guinea Pig Family: By the end of the second game, Sayoko, Richard, and Ashley have all had their brain run through the machine at least once.
- Hyperspace Arsenal: Naturally. Usually justified in that the stuff she carries is of reasonable size, and the remake of Two Memories even gives her a small pouch, but it's still more than you could reasonably expect someone to carry. The most notable instance is in the second game, when she pulls a suitcase out of nowhere to return it to the owner.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Ashley's last name varies between "Robins" and "Robbins"; the original PAL releases and the international version of Recollection uses the former; meanwhile Trace Memory and the various Japanese releases use the latter, with this spelling carrying over into her appearances in other games, such as her Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
- Informing the Fourth Wall: Ashley's constant stream of "that doesn't seem to work" and the like.
- Internal Monologue: Ashley frequently has internal monologues in both games. In the original Two Memories, it's lampshaded via Ashley constantly forgetting that D can read her thoughts while she's having them (something he can't do in the remake). In the Wii game, Matt comments on how often Ashley stares vacantly into space in her own little world.
- I See Dead People: Ashley is the first person in 57 years who's been able to see D. It later becomes I See Them, Too with Bill and the Captain at the end of the first game, and Matt is also able to see the ghost of his sister Kelly in the sequel alongside Ashley.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: Zig-Zagged. D doesn't seem to have any clothing as a ghost, but his Ghost Amnesia suggests he might have forgotten what he was wearing when he died. On the flip side, the sequel shows Kelly is wearing the outfit she wore when she died.
- Just Between You and Me: The bad guys have something of a tendency to give monologues when you encounter them, partially because Ashley and her dad keep asking questions. At least one of them lampshades this.
- Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: You can find tidbits about the plot and character by exploring the environment; interacting with objects and scanning your dad's origami cranes for new information.
- Kidnapped Scientist: Richard becomes a victim of this in both games.
- Kleptomaniac Hero: Ashley is like any good adventure game hero in that aspect in the first game, but she gets away with it since the original owners of the location all died. In the DS game, D lampshades this by calling her strange for taking charcoal. It's toned down in the second game; especially in the remake, where she chides herself at one point for absent-mindedly stealing from Elizabeth's room.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia:
- One of the original intentions of the ANOTHER. Richard sees it as something altruistic, as a means to remove traumatic memories from people suffering from PTSD, but is ultimately forced to come to terms with the fact most people would rather weaponize such a device.
- In the Recollection version of the second game, the liquid memory spill into Lake Juliet was used to invoke this on the residents of the town, with Judd manipulating their thoughts in order to protect J.C. Valley and his memory research via security cameras.
- Lead You Can Relate To: These Japanese-developed games are set in the US, but feature a half-Japanese heroine in order to make it more relatable to its home audience.
- Locked Door: Not a whole lot of these, but they're there. Only a few require a traditional key hunt, while the rest require either inputting a code or (if it is a secret passage) activating a mechanism.
- The Lost Lenore: Sayoko. Richard always decorates his work areas with pictures of his late wife, and one of the messages you can find in the remake have him unable to imagine remarrying while one of his friends plans to because his heart is still held by Sayoko.
- Mood Whiplash:
- In the original DS game, you can eat the candies the Captain gives you at any time, even right after Ashley finds out her mom is dead, resulting in Ashley gleefully exclaiming, "I love candy!"
- The Recollection remake presents the duology more-or-less as one long game with a short interlude in-between. Meaning that in mere minutes, the player goes from an optimistic 14-year-old Ashley who is ecstatic to have her father back in her life to a moody 16-year-old who wishes he never bothered to come back since he's never around anyway.
- Mysterious Parent: Richard takes this role for the first game, as finding him on Blood Edward Island is the main objective. Sayoko then takes this role for the second, with both Richard and Ashley trying to figure out why she came to Lake Juliet all those years ago.
- No Infantile Amnesia: Ashley has this, being able to recall things from when she was little more than three-years-old with stunning clarity. The fact that her brain myelinated so rapidly as a child serves as a minor plot point in the second game.
- Neutral Female: Ashley may solve all the puzzles, figure out the bulk of the mysteries, and help pull her dad's fat out of the fire, but she just kind of stands there in the more violent confrontations. In that, she's stuck trying to figure out a distraction and/or waiting for the calvary to arrive. Justified in that she's a normal teenage girl with no combat training to speak of; not much she can do when she has a gun in her face.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Justified in the first game and the remake of the sequel; in the former, the ANOTHER is a secret research project where they only really need the single machine, and in the latter, the ANOTHER being used is an upgraded version of the original prototype that predates the one seen in the first game. Averted in the original version of the sequel, when it turns out there actually are two of the darn things.
- Non-Human Sidekick: D, Ashley's ghost sidekick.
- Now, Where Was I Going Again?: Played straight in the DS original. Averted in the original Wii game (which gives you a reminder when loading your save file) and Recollection (which gives you access to a "backlog" showing all the dialogue and environmental interactions you've done for the past two chapters).
- Parental Substitute: Jessica, Ashley's aunt whom she stayed with. Ashley even says she's like a mom to her.
- Parents as People: A recurring theme, especially in Journey into Lost Memories. Richard struggles to be there for Ashley despite his love for her; D's father was a struggling author so desperate to provide for his son that he was willing to murder his own brother for the inheritance money; there's a rift between Rex and his daughter after his divorce that he's unsure how to breech; Charlotte's desire to protect her daughter from heartbreak partially led to her daughter deciding to elope; the remake reveals that Michael accidentally ignored his deteriorating family situation and was unwilling to face Matthew until he could make things right somehow; and the antagonist of that game was subjected to ANOTHER under Judd's misguided belief that altering his son's memories would help him recover emotionally from his mother's death.
- Parents in Distress:
- Jessica is kidnapped early in the first game and Ashley ends up saving her during her exploration. Richard is also found stashed away and having been made into a test subject for ANOTHER.
- Towards the end of the second game, Richard is kidnapped. Depending on whether you're playing R or Recollection, he's either subjected to Another 0 in Ryan's attempt to force Ashley to get what he needs, or simply tied up in the basement by Sofia to act as a distraction so she has enough time to try steal all the research.
- Parrot Exposition: Ashley sometimes begins conversation points with others by repeating a statement they said earlier.
- Phony Relative: When Ashley first meets Bill, he successfully passes himself off as Ashley's estranged father Richard in order to trick her into helping him reactivate the DAS. His gruff attitude and single-minded obsession with fixing the DAS infuriates Ashley (who's already mad at Richard for abandoning her all those years ago) to the point where she openly doubts he's her father at all, but it's only when she stumbles across the real Richard Robins in the climax that she realises she's been duped.
- Photographic Memory: Ashley has ridiculously good memorizing abilities, able to recall things from the age of three, albeit with some sort of trigger.
- Pixel Hunt: Mostly in the first game. The second game and Recollection are better about it by highlighting what you can examine.
- Plot Parallel: Both installments pair Ashley with someone whose plight mirrors her own.
- In the first game, Ashley's goal is to find out about her family's history and how it lead to their current situation, while D's goal is to find out more about his family's past and use it to regain his own memories.
- For the second game, Ashley is learning about what happened to her mother while Matthew is trying to find out what happened to his father.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Sayoko's death kick-starts the events of the games.
- Plot-Powered Stamina: Ashley at least grabs a bite to eat at times, but can generally go for hours without a break or snack.
- Point of No Return:
- In Two Memories, you are unable to return to the rest of the mansion after entering the lab.
- In R - A Journey into Lost Memories, you are unable to return to town after entering J.C. Valley. Downplayed in Recollection, as while there is a long stretch of time where you're stuck in the location, you can explore most of the town the following day, though some of the collectibles still remain permanently missable.
- Pop Quiz: Done at the end of each chapter in the DS and Wii games, justified by way of Ashley trying to keep track of everything that's going on. In the Recollection remake, there is only a single question given towards the end of each title: "Who killed Sayoko?" in Two Memories and "Why did Richard come to Lake Juliet?" in Journey into Lost Memories.
- Posthumous Character: Sayoko in both games, with her life and death serving as major factors in both; and the entire Edward family except Bill in the first game.
- Precious Photo: While he has several different pictures, Richard always keeps a specific photo of his late wife Sayoko holding an infant Ashley framed on his work desk, both at Blood Edward Island and J.C. Valley.
- Pun-Based Title: Recollection has two meanings behind its title; the theme of the games concern recollection of memory and the fact it's a collection of two remakes.
- Rainbow Speak: Key descriptive terms and conversation choices are given colored text.
- Relationship Chart: Recollection adds this to both games. In addition to lines denoting characters as spouses, relatives, and acquaintances, they are also grouped by family and other significant affiliations (for example, Elizabeth's character portrait is displayed in an overlapping colored square denoting her as both an "Alfred" and a member of the band "Marmot Cub Troop"). Details on each character are written from Ashley's perspective and regularly updated with new thoughts and observations after major cutscenes.
- Satellite Family Member: Jessica Robins, Ashley's aunt, who has been raising the girl since she was a toddler. While she does receive some light characterization thanks to scattered comments and observations Ashley makes throughout the games, her principle role in both stories is to help push Ashley and Richard into developing a good father-daughter relationship. Both games begin with Ashley acknowledging that a major factor in her traveling to that game's given location is because Jessica either encouraged (Two Memories) or outright forced (Journey into Lost Memories) her to make the trip and see her dad.
- Save the Villain:
- Two Memories: Attempted. Richard manages to grab Bill's hand as the latter falls, only for Bill's hand to slip loose and for him to fall.
- Journey into Lost Memories: Richard pulls it off this time, grabbing Ryan and hauling him up after the latter jumped. This only happens in the original Wii version.
- Story Breadcrumbs: You can find several hints about the history behind the Edwards family, Richard's life alone on the island, and later, his life in Lake Juliet. In the original DS and Wii titles, some of this information was only conveyed when restarting the game on a cleared save file.
- Story to Gameplay Ratio: As with most adventure games, it's high on story with a fair bit of puzzles. The second game is a bit higher on story, due to the larger number of people to interact with.
- Talk to Everyone: Whenever you run into someone, you have to go through all the conversation options to continue.
- To Be Continued... Right Now: How the Recollection remake presents the two games. After completing Two Memories, there is a brief interlude that leads directly into the opening of Journey into Lost Memories.
- Trademark Favorite Food:
- Richard is a bit of a chocoholic, something he and Ashley share. One of his office drawers is loaded with chocolate bars.
- One of Richard's notes in Recollection reveals that Sayoko was a big fan of black tea.
- Transferable Memory: Yup, the machine can do that too, with there being points where you have to either undo or prevent the process.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia:
- Ashley after witnessing the events of her third birthday, believing the events to be a nightmare until the start of the first game, after which she slowly begins to remember the details.
- Matthew developed a case of this five years prior to the events of the second game as a result of witnessing the death of his younger sister who, depending on the version, drowned in the lake (R) or fell off the top of the clock tower (Recollection).
- Troubled Teen: Ashley has to deal with a deceased mom and a dad who only came back into her life when she was fourteen and is still struggling to be a proper parent.
- Tsundere: Ashley has a bit of Type B in her. She's normally a very nice person, but she's prone to hissy-fits when she gets mad; something she points out herself when Elizabeth tries to label her as being Wise Beyond Her Years at the end of a conversation in Recollection.
- Undeath Always Ends: D is finally laid to rest at the end of Two Memories. In the sequel, Kelly is able to move on after seeing her brother again and having him give her her old doll.
- Unlosable: You can retry puzzles as much as needed without penalty and Ashley is never in any real danger until the climax when it's time to confront the Big Bad, who is taken care of in a story sequence. This makes some sense as you spend the games exploring areas and talking to people, not engaging in a truly dangerous activity until you find out there's even a bad guy at all.
- Welcome to Corneria: Played straight in the first game, where you can endlessly select conversation options. Averted in the second game and the remake, as they disappear after you choose them.
- Video Game Remake: Recollection is this for both games. In addition to overhauled visuals, presentation and voice acting, the remakes contain new completely puzzles (with an overwhelming majority replacing the original ones), new music arrangements, and several changes to the narrative (ranging from minor dialogue tweaks to outright adding, rewriting, and reordering several scenes). In regards to the narrative changes, Journey into Lost Memories deviates completely from the original Wii release starting in Chapter 6.
Two Memories / Trace Memory
- Adaptational Explanation:
- In the DS version, Jessica seems to just guess that the DAS is coded to Ashley's biometric data, apropos of nothing. The remake explains that she discovered this by trying out the device after it arrived, and has her explain it when Ashley asks her to take a photo of her.
- In the remake, D outright explains that he is unable to consciously phase through walls and other solid objects, helping explain why he's been unable to extensively explore the interior of the mansion for so many years.
- Adaptation Explanation Extrication: While the story still makes sense without it, Recollection removes one of the details explaining why D's father was desperate enough to rewrite his father's will and attempt to kill his own brother; that being that D had a heart condition that required expensive treatment.
- Adaptational Jerkass: The US release of Two Memories made Ashley more moody, angsty and more resentful of Jessica hiding the truth from her. The Recollection puts in her line with the other releases by keeping her understandably irked by the revelation, but less whiny.
- Adaptational Villainy: It's revealed in the original Journey into Lost Memories that Ryan manipulated Bill into stealing ANOTHER by preying on his unrequited feelings for Sayoko. In Recollection, Bill was never manipulated by Ryan, whose role has changed dramatically in this version, and tried to steal ANOTHER for the sake of profit.
- American Kirby Is Hardcore: The North American boxart for the DS release has shades of this. While the Japanese◊ and European◊ are simply an image of Ashley with the island in the background, the the North American cover◊ almost frames it as a horror mystery game.
- And I Must Scream: D has been stuck haunting Blood Edward Island for 57 years by the time Ashley meets him, with nothing to do, no one to talk to, and no memories of his past. In the original DS game, it's possible to get a bad ending where you fail to help in regain all his memories; while he seems optimistic about maybe getting the rest on his own, it's clear that he's most likely stuck haunting the island forever.
- Birthday Beginning: Subverted. While Ashley coming to Blood Edward Island to begin with is thanks to receiving a letter from her father (who she was told was dead) with a request spend her 14th birthday together, the entire game actually takes place the day before said birthday.
- Bizarrchitecture: An admittedly mild example, but the Edwards' mansion features things like hidden doorways that respond to certain sounds and a wall that opens up when the candles on it have been lit the right way. Rather impressive when you consider that these things were already there by the early 20th century.
- Bookcase Passage: The Edwards' manor has a few of these; the DS version has even has one that's behind an actual bookshelf.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Bill, when describing “Bill” to Ashley while pretending to be her father, calls Bill “brilliant”.
- By the Eyes of the Blind: D originally posits that ghosts like him are only visible to children, because kids are more innocent and have a less rigid belief in what is and isn't possible. At the end of the game, it turns out that anyone with an open mind about the supernatural can see ghosts, as the Captain casually greets him when coming to keep up Ashley and her family.
- Call-Forward: The remake adds a few.
- Sayoko can been seen wearing the Memento MacGuffin in a flashback, which is crucial to the second game's plot.
- A keychain found early on has the animal mascots of Lake Juliet.
- Demoted Memories: Jessica inadvertently invokes this when she tells Ashley her Flashback Nightmare couldn't be a real memory, well before either knew that wasn't true.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: This is how Sayoko died, cradled in Richard's arms as she begged him to protect ANOTHER.
- Doing In the Wizard: In the DS version, D is seemingly able to read Ashley's mind, doing so on multiple occasions during their initial conversation (for example, responding to her panicked thoughts about moving his gravestone by assuring her that she didn't). The remake excises this, with Ashley instead thinking out loud to herself.
- Don't Celebrate Just Yet: Just when it seems Ashley and her dad have managed to reconcile, the bad guy basically reminds them he's still there and they go off to confront him.
- Door to Before: A number of the doors in Recollection are intended as shortcuts to ease backtracking, with Ashley simply unlocking them from the other side after having gone the long way around.
- Easter Egg: In the DS release, if you get 100% Completion and restart on that same save, there are a lot of differences, including the bird on the zoetrope being replaced with a ninja, and the written notes on the DAS cards being Richard's findings regarding the Edwards' family instead of a personal journal about his time on the island.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mommas: Bill carries a childhood photo of himself and his mother in his notebook.
- Evil Smells Bad: Downplayed in Recollection: when Ashley meets her father for the first time, she notes that he smells of cigarettes. It is soon revealed that her "father" is actually Bill pretending to him in order to get the ANOTHER keys. When Ashley meets her real father, she notes that he smells like chocolate.
- Facial Recognition Software: In the remake, the DAS acquires this of Ashley in order to activate the memory restoration function of ANOTHER.
- 15 Puzzle: The DS game has one that is also randomized each time.
- Flashback Nightmare: Ashley recalls the night of her third birthday this way. It takes a while before she realizes she's recalling an actual childhood event.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Bill is a chronic smoker and out to steal ANOTHER from Richard.
- Hates Being Alone: D's pal Frannie. He thinks the same is true of Ashley, which she denies.
- Hesitation Equals Dishonesty: Your first clue the man Ashley meets isn't her dad is just how much this occurs whenever Ashley asks him any personal questions not pertaining to ANOTHER or Bill.
- I Can't Reach It: The DS game has an instance of this. So there's a trunk up on a shelf too high to reach? So how about you pick up the baseball hidden in the corner and throw it at the large piece of luggage!
- Impostor All Along: Ashley's goal in the first game is to reunite with her father, Richard Robins. Midway through the game, she succeeds, but can't help feeling that something's not quite right about him; in the remake she goes as far as to declare that he can't possibly be her father. Towards the end of the game, she finds the real Richard Robins locked inside his laboratory and learns that the man she met earlier was actually the Big Bad, Bill Edward, passing himself off as Richard to try and trick Ashley into furthering his plans.
- In Medias Res: The remake of Two Memories inserts a short prologue at the beginning, with Ashley already on Blood Edward Island and searching for Jessica, before flashing back to her on the boat. When it catches up with itself, it briefly recaps the prologue's events rather than making you play through it a second time.
- Interface Spoiler: In the DS version, there are five buttons on the DAS; you can use four from the start, but the fifth doesn't work until The Reveal. The remake averts this by only have the panels appear once a function is unlocked.
- Lame Pun Reaction: At one point in the DS version, D refers to himself and Ashley as "kindred spirits". Ashley lampshades how lame that was.
- Love Makes You Evil: In the DS game, it's all but said Bill was in love with Sayoko, which didn't really make this mess any better. The sequel would later confirm this when Ryan admits he used Bill's unrequited affection to convince him to attempt his plan. This isn't present at all in the remakes.
- Mistaken for Name: When D asks for her name, Ashley (still rattled by the fact that she's talking to a ghost) stammers "A-Ashley". D mistakes the stammering for part of her name and replies, "'A-Ashley'? That's a funny name".
- Moon Logic Puzzle: Normally averted, but the DS version has a few that involve manipulating the system in some obtuse manner.
- There was one puzzle where you had to close the DS just enough so you could see the reflection of one of the screens on the other without closing it so much it went into standby mode. It also had no hints other then the fact that it was simply a photo frame that folded the same way. Should you be playing on an original DS without a backlight on, good luck seeing the reflection. To say nothing of if you're playing it later hardware revisions of the system, or the 3DS and any of its revision, in which case the two halves of the clue will not line up properly. Fortunately, simple brute force also works for solving the puzzle.
- There is one puzzle where you have to complete a picture using a pair of stamps; this is done by closing the DS twice.
- Multiple Endings: There are two in the original DS game; the "good" one where D recovers all his memories and moves on to the afterlife and the "bad" one where he doesn't get back all his memories and continues to wander the island. The remake eschews this by rewriting the narrative to have finding all of the memories tied into the main plot.
- Mythology Gag: According to one of Richard's messages in Recollection, the main character of Thomas Edward's detective novels is named "Kyle Hyde", which is also the name of the protagonist of Hotel Dusk: Room 215, which shares a universe with Another Code.
- The Namesake: The ANOTHER (or "TRACE", in the North American DS version) device, with Ashley possibly serving as the "code" by way of functioning as a living key to some aspects of the device.
- New Game Plus: Beating Recollection allows you to play Two Memories with Ashley's original outfit.
- Not Too Dead to Save the Day: D during the confrontation with Bill.
- Offscreen Villain Dark Matter: Bill is able to finance Richard's operations by enabling the construction of a state-of-the-art memory research lab in the basement of an abandoned island manor over the course of ten years without any explanation as to how he managed the money and supplies. It might be handwaved with the fact that as the last of the Edward family, he might have some old money left over from before the family mining business went under.
- One-Letter Name: D, because he can't remember his real name, only the one-letter nickname. His real name is Daniel.
- Only in It for the Money: In the DS version, this is initially given as Thomas' reason for attempting to murder his brother was to get his hands on their grandfather's inheritance. It is actually a subversion, as he needed the money to pay for his son's medical bills. Recollection simply states he needs the money to support his son in general, since his career as a writer is going nowhere.
- Only Smart People May Pass: A lot of the Blood Edward mansion doors require puzzle-solving to pass. Downplayed in the remake, where most rooms have normal locks and keys, but finding the key is the puzzle.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: It's not quite clear what exactly D's powers are, but in the first conversation with him it seems like he can read your mind. This is never mentioned again and excised from the remake.
- The other difference is that only people who can perceive things beyond what's in front of them can see or hear ghosts.
- Apparently, they have working olfactory preceptors as well, as Ashley is surprised when D comments on the smell of one room.
- The remake also shows he can't phase through walls or interact with objects, presumably to handwave why he couldn't just go in the mansion to look for clues all this time.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Justified. Bill doesn't make any attempt to disguise himself when impersonating Richard, reasoning that Ashley was never told or shown what her father looks like. Indeed, while Ashley does admit to D that things felt a bit off during that first conversation, she passes off any uncertainty she feels as her still processing that she actually has a dad. Downplayed in the remake, where Ashley and Bill get a second conversation, during which his single-mindedness about ANOTHER causes Ashley to repeatedly insist afterwards that a man like that can't be her dad; however, she's only being metaphorical and continues believing she's met the real Richard Robins until The Reveal.
- Parrot Expo-WHAT?: In the remake, Ashley responds to Jessica's mention of biometrics with "Bio...whatrics?" Happens again later on when D shows her a zoetrope and she replies, "A zoe...whatsit?"
- Phone Call from the Dead: The plot is set in motion when Ashley receives a birthday present from her father, who she thought was dead.
- Recollection Sidequest: Going through the mansion and triggering D's memories of his time alive is essential to getting not only the full story of the Edwards family, but (in the DS release) also to unlock the good ending of the game.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Thomas Edward as a result of World War II, which eventually caused the tragedies of Blood Edward Island.
- Situational Hand Switch: The eldest of the Edward brothers, Henry, used to be a painter. However, he lost his right arm (the dominant one) when he fought in World War II, and stopped painting for a while. He eventually managed to transfer his talent to his left hand to make a few new paintings, but unfortunately it didn't last.
- Skyward Scream: Bill lets one out in the remake when Richard chooses to self-destruct ANOTHER rather than let it fall into Bill's hands.
Bill: Richard... what have you done?!
- Solve the Soup Cans: One particularly baffling case in the DS game is when Ashley can't open a bottle with a message in it. You have to retrieve a hammer from another room and then use it to break the bottle. Can't she really smash a bottle any other way? How about throwing it against a wall or something?
- Songs in the Key of Lock: In the DS game, one early area has you play the piano to open a secret passage, and later has you use a music box to open a fireplace passage. Recollection removes the music box and changes the piano puzzle to opening a hidden compartment.
- Supernatural-Proof Father: Richard is as unable to see D like most of the rest of the cast, but he does believe Ashley when she tells him she's been hanging with a ghost for the entire game.
- Suspicious Video-Game Generosity: One of the last rooms in the DS version is full of objects, all with plot relevance, but no major puzzles.
- Tell Me About My Father: Ashley inquires Jessica about both her parents at the start of the game.
- Together in Death: The last time we see D in Recollection shows him as he was when he was alive, meeting his father in an Afterlife Antechamber.
- "Too Young to Die" Lamentation: Ashley spouts this when meeting D in Recollection, thinking he was going to attack her for disturbing his rest.
- Tragic Intangibility: Ghosts in this world are only visible by certain people, which has left D rather isolated and made it harder for him to remember anything. He's quite happy when Ashley is the first person to see him in a while.
- Traitor Shot: The remake adds a couple of brief ones to foreshadow the reveal that the man claiming to be Ashley's dad is an impostor, such as him smirking when Ashley agrees to hand over the ANOTHER keys.
- Turning Into Your Parent: One of Richard's messages in Recollection has him sadly note he's turning out like his own dad, who was always buried in his work and never home for the kids.
- Unexpectedly Realistic Gameplay: In the DS game, one puzzle asks you to press two maps together, one on the top screen and one on the bottom screen. To do so, you have to close and open the DS. This can be extremely confusing to players utilizing a Nintendo 2DS due to the fact that they don't close the same way a regular DS does, and players who don't know/remember that turning on sleep mode is the 2DS' equivalent of closing a DS would likely get stuck.
- Vagueness Is Coming: A message you find in Chapter 2 reads "Bill will come" (or simply "Bill [is] coming" in the remake). Nothing else about Bill is explained until Chapter 4.
- We Used to Be Friends: Discussed in the remake, regarding Richard and Bill.
Ashley: You've been doing research here with Bill for a while, right?
Richard: Yes, I have.
Ashley: So are you... friends?
Richard: We were, once.
- What Are Records?: At multiple points in the remake, Ashley expresses unfamiliarity with the 1940s technology scattered around the Edwards' mansion. When she encounters a small TV with a dial interface, she wonders where the remote is, and when she encounters a zoetrope, she has no idea what it is.
R - Journey into Lost Memories
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