"As an adventure; this is poor. As a DS game; this is the way forward."

I really wanted to love this game. I want it to become one of the most successful DS games, to sell millions of copies, and to become one of the best-loved DS games available. It's too late for that to happen now, but I hope the cult appraise this game has got doesn't go unnoticed, because as a format, Trace Memory is definitely the direction DS games should be going in. Unfortunately, as a game, it fails in a lot of areas.

Trace Memory is a point and click adventure in the traditional style. You take control of a character and progress through a storyline, interacting with other characters, and solving puzzles. It's a simple formula, and requires intelligence instead of skill. The essence of good point and click adventures, however, is in their style, plot and characters. Unfortunately, this is where Trace Memory falls short.

Firstly, it should be said that Trace Memory transfers point and click adventures (games designed for PC's) to the DS fantastically. The interface is fantastic, technically the graphics are detailed, and the puzzles actually integrate the DS into their design, which is very cool. This game also contains the best use of dual screens to portray things that I have seen yet on the DS.

The problem with Trace Memory though, is that where it achieves the difficult task of transfering point and click to the DS with aplomb, the adventure itself is poor, unengrossing, and painfully short.

The characters are fairly boring, usually quite emotionless, and only seem capable of looking sweet on a rare occassions. The dialogue is very functional and doesn't contain any of the wit or humanity of Phoenix Wright's. The story is also quite patchy and uninteresting. It's a pretty dull premise, 'girl goes to island looking for missing father' and contains so many random and poorly-implemented elements like paranormality, sci-fi, family drama; that it fails to have a real momentum, and never really engrosses or interests you. The plot here is more like a daytime, soft-focus, movie for housewives than a super cool DS game.

The style is also a big let down. The game is very short, clocking in at about 5 hours, although it will feel more like 2 because most of the game takes place in the same sort of surroundings; a large mansion, which at various times tries to be creepy, homely, mysterious, or fantastical. It fails, and instead just feels like a bland background. The atmosphere in this game always feels detached, and rarely draws you in, which for a 5 hour game is unforgivable.

Overall, playing Trace Memory is like reading a book that's short, and not particularly brilliant, but still has a couple of great ideas that you're interested in. If this had been over 12 hours long instead of just 5 hours, it would probably stand alongside Phoenix Wright as one of the best adventure games around, but the average gameplay coupled with the shortness are flaws too big to ignore, and make this feel flimsy and inconsequential as a video game.

Despite all this, I can still recommend Trace Memory (if you can find it very cheap). You won't get much gameplay out of it, and hardly memorable gameplay at that, but until the fantastic adventure format created here is utilised in other games that also employ deep and witty stories, this is still the best example of how adventure gaming can be done with the DS.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 09/25/06