28:25 I remember how I hated Elizabeth at first (as the game wanted you to) but as we learned more about her and she loosened up and I got more and more attached to her, when the time came to say goodbye to people you had met at the end of the game, she was the ONE character I hoped, more than anyone else, would show up to bid me farewell. If a game can make me feel that about a character I was initially supposed to hate, then you've got one hell of a good story. My god, I am crying just typing and recalling this.
4:52 - SON OF A B- I spent all of my playthrough of Another Code remembering the part when you spin the canister thing to see the animation. When it didn't happen or had a different form, I thought I must have been misremembering. But nope, there it is, exactly like I remembered it. Grr at you, Recollection, for toying with me like that.
Okay now I'm actually upset about Another Code R. Never got to play that one because it wasn't released in the US. So I was happy to finally get to play it. But of course it turns out to not be as faithful as it should have been. Ugh, fine, guess I'm hacking my Wii to get rid of the region lock.
I've played these games for the first time via the collection, before watching this video, all I knew about the changes made to second game was that they removed some sections, and I thought that it wasn't nothing major, but after seeing this video, I saw just how much was removed and/or changed, I really enjoyed the remakes and the story, but I might watch trough the original R, because it seems like a completely different game, not just gameplay but story-wise.
I've never played the original games either and I am considering buying the Recollection. Did you like them when you played them? Do they stand on their own feet? Note: I have not watched this video, just the first 30 seconds or so as I don't want spoilers Thank you.
@julianjuez yeah I quite like them, I think they are pretty good on their own, my only shock after watching the video was just how much of the second game was changed. But I still recommend the collection.
I'm new to this whole series and had no idea the remake cut out so much stuff from the originals. What a bummer, but can see why when the originals were made around specific hardware. Great video!
9:40 This was a dick move and a huge change to the captain's character. In the original he opts to go look for Jessica himself, but Ashley insists to go instead. Also he is not seen sailing away.
So as a player who never even heard of this franchise before I'll say this. I don't know how the originals were, but I personally found this one to be great. It was the first time I wanted ro 100% complete a game and I immediately wanted to replay it when it was done. Some of the puzzles were about carefully looking at everything, but others were quite tough. Not too tough that it would get frustrating though. Maybe the originals are more beloved, but to me this remake is one of my favourite games of all time.
3:45 How does it feel to miss out? Still, the amount of J-RPGs we in Europe got cheated out of in the PS1 era is staggering. We are still nowhere near even.
Just finished playing the remake in Japanese, the voice acting is much better that what is shown here (in my opinion). Interestingly I see the game everywhere here still, at game stores of course but even the code is provided as a card at the convinience store here. Maybe it still doesn't compare to the originals but as I haven't played them I don't have a comparison point and really enjoyed the remake. The only thing that really frustrated me was entering the codes for the doors 😂 I would love to hear the differences between the endings of the Wii port, will see if I can find a breakdown on the Wii game somewhere.
Having played Recollection as my first experience, I really liked it. I definitely can agree with some of the complaints (such as voice acting being a mixed bag and gameplay gimmicks being lost), but I can't say those things really hampered my experience much. Personally I appreciated the consolidation of the story and characters in order to make the game a more streamlined experience. I also really liked the music in the remake actually
I guess I really do need to get the Another Code R Wii game and get it to work on my US Wii. It's a shame there's a ton of cut content. (Also have to agree with the lack of puzzles. That needed more work.)
Interesting to look back on this game only some months later and get others' thoughts on it, especially with seemingly so little discussion about it in general. Hard to get much of a general consensus on it, but I suppose as much of a cult following as the original had, it was still technically niche, and the sequel having never come stateside didn't help even as they tried to use it as a selling point. Personally, I really enjoyed this remake despite all its issues, and I guess perhaps for me its a case of being more forgiving for its flaws and looking at it as more than the sum of its parts. Always worth taking another look at and reevaluating, or in cases like these, catching smaller details I hadn't noticed prior. I think many of the major gameplay elements feeling a bit more bland stem from them trying to develop these as one overall consistent experience, which may make sense in some ways, but causes many other smaller issues unfortunately. That and, as you said, designing it with the Lite model in mind and either not wanting to bother with differing puzzles or solutions or just being unable to. Given how the stool puzzle works at the beginning, I feel it's pretty telling of the developers' inadequacy with the system's motion controls. Love the art style, but for the more technical aspects of the graphics, I do feel it must have been some budgetary issues and/or time constraints, because Nintendo themselves have shown the system is still far more capable than this or what people at GameFreak have put out. My only caveat is that seemingly no developers have taken much advantage at all of the Switch's more unique features, often not supporting much motion controls beyond aiming, and even then half the time games are still relegated to janky control stick aiming for whatever reason. Skyward Sword HD being one of the few games to actually use motion controls as much as any Wii game in the past makes me have to worry that they might not bother with motion controls in Prime 4, if it actually makes it to the Switch. So it's really hard for me to completely fault these devs when it's not really an exception to the norm. All the story details and changes are another thing entirely, and something I have more of a hard time grappling with as someone who much prefers when remakes stay as true to the original material as possible. Funny enough, I really disliked many of the changes with the first game's story, even if there really wasn't as much to change other than the order of some events and tying it more closely to its sequel, the original Trace Memory having stuck pretty well in my mind even with how short it was. I never played the sequel, only having watched a longplay here on youtube maybe once or twice and not being as engaged with it, so I only really remembered larger events and set pieces vaguely and didn't really notice when anything diverted other than the ending to Matthew's story. One bigger element I'd like to touch on is Lake Juliet feeling smaller, of which I think is still very much a limitation but also a consequence of the devs wanting to keep a more consistent style between the two and striving for that sort of generic over the shoulder, 3D style many remakes go for now, so getting rid of the more fantastical transitions and such and making the areas feel smaller was an unfortunate concession. Really, a ton of stuff I feel in the second game seemed to be a consequence of trimming what they might have thought of as fat, and conversely adding fluff to the first game to extend it a bit I guess to try and even it out? It's hard to discern their design process, but I guess they wanted to make it all feel balanced, flawed as their execution turned out to be. Lastly about the sequel in particular, I won't spoil anything exactly, but will simply say I much prefer the changed ending, if only for the reason that I feel the one in the original version felt like just a rehash of the first game's finale, but I can totally understand anyone who would hate it or dislike it. At least as far as these twists tend to go in other remakes, I don't feel it was done simply to have some twist or out of spite or whatever other shallow reason and that there was a lot of artistic merit behind it that had value in and of itself - something I really can not say behind others such as what kind of garbage they are doing with the Final Fantasy 7 stuff now, as a very prominent example of what I don't like at all, and I'm not even particularly a fan of the original version of the game. As far as character redesigns go, totally agree on Richard, and personally I don't like what they did with Bill, though he's much closer to the original design for sure, and I guess maybe they just wanted him to fit in more with the modern IT crowd. Honestly, that's the way I feel about a lot of the redesigns, fitting more to a literal "modern audience" than most other games try to, and I don't necessarily imply a negative connotation to that term in this specific case. It's really a mixed bag for me, not even having recalled that Janet was totally different and feeling she stood out better now, even if more of that was due to her simply having a bit more room to shine in this version. But yeah, things like having Richard be brunette instead...I just don't understand why they bothered when it was and still is a significant enough plot point to mention and thus a sort of a plot hole. The voice acting goes a long way into conveying these characters as well, and I don't think this title would have worked without it so much without changing much of the style of story presentation, but yes, a lot of it is really wooden or kind of too anime, really depends. A lot of performances I just don't remember. Ashley was mostly how I imagined her sounding, and I think she got better into the later parts, liked D as well, the captain I think was somehow one of the better ones, couldn't stand how dweeby Bill sounded for someone who was supposed to be mysterious and intimidating, Jessica I remember thinking she sounded too deep but kind of grew on me as she at least sounded more natural than most of the others. Really wish they could have picked better or got a better director or something, I know budget is not always the reason but it kind of felt like a lot of them they just picked off the street. It's just too bad. But even having tried switching to the Japanese version at first, there's many titles I play in Japanese to avoid English versions I can't stand but even here I could sort of tell it wasn't very good. Lastly, just small nitpicks but I just don't agree on either the music or atmosphere being worse in the remake of the first game. Certainly different, and I wouldn't even say they're better either, but I feel they are still aspects that are very much worth having the remake for. Overall I'm glad we got something, though it does make me a little wary of a potential remake of Hotel Dusk/Last Window as I feel keeping closer to the original feel of those games would be far more important to their quality. I can't see being satisfied with them of their are any large changes to their tone or story details.
Man, we Americans missed out on so much from Another Code R! I don't know how to mod or emulate, so I knew pretty much nothing about Journey Into Lost Memories until watching a few videos, and those puzzles you highlighted, especially the Nunchuk and Home button ones, blew my mind when you described them, and it makes me very sad that the remake's puzzles never even came close to such ingenuity! To my knowledge, the closest Recollection gets is when it asks Ashley to take a selfie to register her data into the Another, but compared to the original game, it's still pretty weak. Thanks a bunch for taking the time to make this video! It makes me respect Cing even more than I already had and adds a lot of much-needed context. My verdict of Recollection upon finishing your video is mostly unchanged from when I originally beat it, but now with new context. I had formerly said that the Trace Memory portion was serviceable, but at the same time, didn't replace the original, while Journey Into Lost Memories was a frustrating experience I never wanted to relive. Now, I stand by those statements, but with even more disgust at the Another Code R experience, knowing how much we lost in the process, and how what replaced it were those nearly unplayable button sequences that almost got me to rage quit...
For me, it was more so whenever I was required to rotate one of the sticks as an input. For some reason, it hardly ever worked for me. The motion control during the RAS sequences seemed fine, but I was also playing in handheld, so that might have helped. RIP that stool puzzle, though, which is horrible in both methods...
SPOILERS FOR BOTH GAMES AHEAD! Very interesting video, especially since despite having watched a playthrough of Two Memories and playing R, I had completely forgotten most of the plot, so this remake was almost like playing through them for the first time. After reading and seeing some critiques, I can appreciate how frustrating the changes are, the depth that was lost, and it saddens me that they took the approach they did. One of the selling points I’d read was that they used a localisation more faithful to the original japanese script, but there’s so many minor changes that harm the story in big ways. I was thrilled to be back in the world of Another Code but throughout the game I was aware that the whole thing felt like it had an extremely limited budget, from the graphics to the animation and voice acting, as if Nintendo wanted to simply throw something together to test the waters for a potential, higher production value Hotel Dusk remake. I’m glad they tried to tie up the plot with Matthew’s dad, even though the whole “Kelly is watching over him and now that she has closure he can wake up” thing is messy and not great. The two things I appreciate the most are 1. The character redesigns (aside from Richard and the blonde hair problem) which make the character designs less 2000s-y (Janet Rice in particular, literally any redesign was going to be an upgrade, don’t understand why they changed her backstory though) and 2. The ending of Journey into Lost Memories, such as the meeting with Sayoko and in particular Ryan’s story. It’s so out there and interesting as a concept, and I much prefer it over the original game’s twist of “Ashley meets her mother’s killer… again” which i just never liked in the first place. Again, watching this video helps me appreciate what was actually missed out on and I think it’s a shame. Given the choice, I think I would rather go for a remake of the richer original than my preferred ending in Recollection. I hope Nintendo gives more care and resources to Hotel Dusk, especially as I’ve never played those games. I also hope that Nintendo see that there is an audience for Another Code and we get more adventures with Ashley, but I shan’t hold my breath.
I checked Janet Rice's designs, and she went from strawberry blonde to a black chick. Bruh. Redhead erasure, convinced me not to get this game. ESG strikes again!
The irony that this video arrived today, just when I've just received my DS copy of Two Memories, lol. I'm absolutely gonna comment later because BOY, do I have a lot to say about this Recollection, both good and bad; especially on Two Memories, since I'm the one I'm most familiar with, but I am currently playing R on the Wii too (perks of being European). So, I'm gonna be back in a few hours and write the biggest critique in my entire life.
@@HikikomoriMedia I'm writing it, I'm writing, but it'll probably come out tomorrow (or at least in seven hours, since now it's midnight where I'm from). Just wait patiently.
@HikikomoriMedia Ok, so I've decided to split the critique in more parts because I wrote a lot of text. This part is about the plot of Two Memories. (FULL SPOILERS FOR THE ORIGINAL TWO MEMORIES) Ok, let's get my overall opinion on the game out of the way first: I'm glad this game exists, if nothing else because it allows new generations of players to experience Ashley's formative journey (and it still can suckerpunch you when you least expect it, so that's a plus). HOWEVER, I'm also not thrilled of how the narrative has been changed in some ways from the original. This critique will mostly be about the plot, because I haven't actually played Recollection since I don't own a Switch, but I've looked a good number of LP of it. Also, for context sake, I wasn't really a fan of the Another Code series until the remake was announced on September: then, out of curiosity, I played the original DS game and was very hooked. As such, I can guarantee I won't be as biased as an hardcore fan. Anyway, let's start. So, the first thing to say is that, contrary to how most perceive it, the Re!Two Memories was changed quite a bit from the source material, but whereas Re!R was changed by deviating from the Wii counterpart, Re!TW was changed by omitting things left and right. Especially when it comes to the Edward side of things. Now, I enjoy this D way more than the one on DS because back then it almost felt like D didn't really react to the tragedies of his family, he's never scared of finding out the truth, he doesn't freeze when he sees his father's blood in the Silver Bird Room, he just isn't all that invested in it; that also affects his friendship with Ashley, where I feel like it's mostly him helping her and caring for her than the opposite. Re!TM instead puts the two of them in equal position and the whole goal of Chapter 4 for Ashley is to reunite with D, instead of finding Jessica: I really love the scene where she cries for both of their stolen childhoods, hands down the best moment if Recollection. I also enjoy this Bill a lot and this time his whole masquerade is given more weight because it hampers the relationship between Ashley and Richard and from her POV it's sensible that her dad is an uncaring and obsessed father. Shame though that Ashley's mistrust for real Richard only lasts for one second before immediately recognising him... at least you could've waited until she saw their family picture! That said, this Bill is more cryptic that the DS!one and I appreciate that, it makes you think whether or not Sayoko's murder was an act done out of orders or out of personal betrayal (since this time it was all his will, and no one else's). But then we come to the big sore spot of this remake: Henry Edward. Why was he stripped down of everything that made him an immensely tragic character?! The thing that I love about his portrayal as a war veteran amputee is how much it subverts your expectations. In the first chapters of DS!TM he is put in the worst light possible: Thomas' diary entries stating he's looking at him weird, Marie's letter telling he swings knives at them, the stamp puzzle where is represented as a terrifying man (giving child abuse vibe). Hell, even D's first memory of him is a picture of an irate expression of him. But then you find his suicide letter where he says that Thomas' murder was an incident, and then D remembers the entire conversation before the murder, and THEN you discover that the last thing Daniel saw, the mark ETCHED on his ghost form, is the lonely hand of the uncle trying to save him. And it hits, guys, it hits like a goddamn TRUCK! Because you know now that Henry shooting Thomas was an accident and that coupled with Daniel's death sent him spiraling and he isolated himself from everyone and finally he killed himself out of guilt! AND NONE OF THAT IS KEPT HERE! First of all, why, this time the rating is Pegi 12 and we aren't allowed to talk about suicide and mentions of child abuse? Seriously?! When the original was only a Pegi 7 and could?! Second of all, I've noticed how they transferred Henry's deteriorating habits onto Thomas and Richard's admiration for one the brothers was moved from Henry to Thomas. And, like, I get it to an extent because Thomas IS the father of our deuteragonist so it makes sense to give him the spotlight. But at least you could've kept the suicide letter, if everything else was to be cut, you at least should've kept THAT because without it THE NEW FANS WON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE EDWARD SITUATION IS SO TRAGIC! Why were the butler and the mine workers given a voice before one of the victims of this entire mess?! *breathes* Ok, I'm gonna end here part one.
@HikikomoriMedia Here we go, part 2! This time, I will talk more about Re!R. Because I still haven't finished the Wii game (I'm currently at the start of Chapter 3), every opinion on plot and characters in comparison to the original is pending. (FULL SPOILERS FOR THE REMAKE OF JOURNEY INTO LOST MEMORIES) To start off, let's start with our dear Matthew. He has the opposite problem of D, aka the dynamic between him and Ashley is uneven, and it's more about her helping him than the both of them helping each other. The fact that he continuously ran away from her also didn't help matters (though I do know that happens in the original too); by the end of their time together I was struggling calling them friends even when the game insists it is so. Like, he doesn't even appear in the finale when Ashley says goodbye to everyone, and while I get the intention of "the two are in each other hearts, even if they're apart" (very KH-esque, I know) it all feels hollow. They could at least have had Greg show up in the end and give Ashley a message from him where he thanks her and tells her his phone number/email so the two can get in touch, but no, not even that. It's a pity, because there were the premises of a good friendship built from initial animosity since he stole her bag, and in the source material Ashley went to bat for this kid so much: if someone started bothering him she would go "Shut your mouth or I will" and that's just delightful. Here, nothing of the sort. Speaking of his resolution, I have kind of accepted it, on the basis that I prefer a concluded story, even if it's horrendous, to an incomplete one. It was clear Arc System wasn't going to end his story on a cliffhanger since the possibility of creating a third game is low: I can suspend my disbelief enough to imagine the ghosts of Emily and Kelly slapping him away from the coma or something. However, my ideal ending would've been either a)Greg is actually Micheal in incognito, and so Ashley could've chastised him for being a negligent parent just like Richard, or b)Micheal doesn't wake up in that instant, but Matt decides to go to visit him hoping that his support will wake him up. I do think Kelly's backstory was good here: from what I know she fell from the pier of the boathouse in Wii!R and, no offense, but the water isn't so deep that she could drown, while a fall from the tower would absolutely be lethal. Let's move on to the other subplots: Charlotte's was hands down the best one in the game, so really, no complaint there; the absence of her niece also accentuates her loneliness, so it was a good move on their part (I'm curious to see the original version, but I'm satisfied with the Recollection take). Regarding Elizabeth, this might be a take, but from what I've seen from Wii!R I prefer the remake version: the original Liz feels more like the cliché of the mean girl, while this one is more clearly someone who's in a bad space mentally and explodes because of it; already in their second meeting you can see Re!Elizabeth calming down while talking to Ashley and then she accuses Matt for a more noble reason than "I think you're a thief and you're dirty". Though, I'll wait until I've completed Wii!R before giving my final judgement. Just one more thing about the secondary characters: I wish Re!Janet had actually been called Sam, since it's clear she is substituting him more than her original namesake (who was defined by being pushy, Ashley's classmate and Liz's cousin). Sam is an androgynous name, so they could've simply made Re!Sam a black girl and be done with it. I'm also confused about Bob being either the son or brother of the Captain, maybe once I've cleared Hotel Dusk and Wii!R, everything will be clear. So, onto bigger plot beats: Ryan. Again, I might change my mind as I proceed with the original iteration, but, knowing me, I'm still gonna prefer this Ryan. His nature as a construct of memories stored in liquid memory is very fascinating and fitting for a saga all about memories. (Also, I swear, someone on the new writing staff is a fan of Nomura because this concept is the same one behind Xion from KH!) The only problem is that... well, the more you analyse it, the more plot holes and inconsistencies start forming. Like, how did he enter the JC Valley security program, how did he contact Bill and Sophia; and especially HOW DID THE MEMORY OF SAYOKO KNOW HE WAS THE ONE TRYING TO OVERWRITE ASHLEY'S MEMORIES?! Why does the RAS react to him when he starts fading out? Is it because they're made from the same material?! Fuck if I know! The final meeting with the recreation of Sayoko is touching, but it lacks the urgency that it wants to instill in the player, since her whole memory is being wiped out as we speak. I think a more efficient approach would've been to have Ashley not able to recall certain events and so the whole puzzle about erasing her mom's memories would have restored her own memories of the people she met in the two games. Like, I dunno about you, but I would've bawled at her restoring the memory of D's farewell, or her hug with Matthew, conversation with Jessica, all of it. What we got instead was very lazy. That's it for part two of the critique. The last one will be about gameplay and then I'll have said everything I wanted to. I hope the next one is shorter, though...
I finished the first remake & halfway through the 2nd and completely agree. So much was taken out during the transition with almost no thought as to what else they could get the players to do to solve puzzles. That & the whole 3D world transition which does absolutely nothing except look pretty
Seems like a lot of nitpicking from a nostalgic point of view. I mean of course many unique puzzles from DS could not be brought over for obvious reasons. Also, many were just gimmicks at best and whole traversal in originals are dated badly now being annoying rather than good actual flowing movement. Just be freaking thankful rare gems like these are getting a second chance to shine as they failed disastrously on original release. These cult classics getting remakes were completely unexpected and I loved them :-)
Oh no, don't nitpick a remake that's capitalizing on the originals. Just forget they existed. You should only enjoy this new slop that has less content, bad story changes and skips a lot of important character development.
Well some people argued that the pacing on the original game was too slow, that Ryan at the end was too similar to Bill…so I can see why they made this reimagined version
man.... Its worst than I expected considering Another Code R was already a 3D game unlike the first one the changes done for the remake make it weird I had the impression they were going to go with the style of the Sequel to remake the first one
I really gotta buy a copy of the first game and play it on my DS. I hate paying 30+ dollars for games from 20 years ago, unless it's like this where you get more than one. but I'm sure it's worth it here. It's unfortunate this collection's so lame but I don't have a switch to play it on anyway.
Oh man, I wasn't sure what I expected from the recollection. To be frank, it probably was something very similar to the end product. I enjoy voting with my wallet, but in this case I think Im happy I kept the 60 yuros. Thanks for playing it so I dont have to :')
With Two Memories, I felt that the remake surpassed the original, since imo, most of the puzzles in the original game kind of sucked and were just kind of Cing shoving random clunky puzzles into situations that really didn't call for it, like I think Cing mastered using the DS gimmicks in cool and unique ways in the Hotel Dusk games, but for Another Code, it just felt really forced for me and didn't add much to the experience. I also just really like how the remake expanded on Bill's character and offered more context into the mansion and why it has all these puzzles installed in it. However, Another Code R, I don't feel the same way about, it felt like a pretty rushed job, the remake's artstyle is really great at portraying the musty decrepit environments which works great for the first game, while Another Code R REALLY suffers for it, since the remake's engine doesn't feel like it's suited for R's outdoor, open environments and the game just doesn't look good visually, especially compared to the OG game (since imo R is one of the best-looking Wii games) and I also think that the removal of so many of R's puzzles is a massive shame, since R's puzzle quality is on par with Hotel Dusk and Last Window's, and this is all ignoring the many plot and character changes and removals which I wasn't a fan of to put it mildly. Like it feels like they spent most of their time working on Two Memories with them having to seriously rush R's development. Like I don't think Recollection did a bad job with a R, I think it's serviceable, but I really hope if they remake the Hotel Dusk games they don't just shaft Last Window.
The second remake feels like someone put a walkthrough of the Wii game in 4x playback speed. A while back someone said that Super mario rpg was the most faithful remake that they ever played, and I think this game is the most unfaithful remake ever created. Also, what are the new character models?? The Wii version actually had characters that looked like I could see exist in real life, in the remake, the makeover of everyone's model was completely unnecessary, and unrealistic..
A shame that these remakes seem so striped down and budget. The character models imo look really great and the concept art is of course amazing but way too much was lost in translation to the switch. I hope that if this does lead to more Cing-like projects in the future, they retain the charm of the original better than this.
I just finished playing the recollection today, having only played the original Trace Memory for the DS. I was very very satisfied with the first part of the game (except for a couple of minor changes, such as Richard’s hair being brown and there being water at the bottom of the pit during the final chapter). I binge played it and loved every second of it. The environments, characters and interface were great, maybe the puzzles were a bit simple but I was there for the plot so no big deal for me. The second part though did not do much for me. I never played the original on the Wii so I can’t make comparisons, but the story felt... lukewarm. I didn’t feel the mystery. The first game had so much buildup, but this one had barely any tension at any time. Bit of a disappointment. TL;DR: Two Memories was fantastic, Journey into Lost Memories was a bit of a flop.
I admit, using hardware in the kind of way originals do is unique, fun to try on original hardware and using it to 100% of its capabilities(seemingly). Sadly, from what you are showing, remake instead of using Switch gimmicks in new, unique ways nobody thought of before, would rather skip most of stuff. Would’ve been cool if they reinvented stuff or add new stuff specifically for Switch, but instead they went easy way, if it isn’t easily done on Switch then it’s not here at all. Way less, lazy content, overpriced. Sadly I think it’ll flop even harder than it already would since it’s niche series to begin with.
Switch lite exists and that’s why they couldn’t implement some motion control puzzles, for example. Plus what crazy uses are you gonna make of the switch?it doesn’t have the characteristics the original consoles had
I'm glad I didn't buy the remake before watching this. Between the unnecessary ESG influence (no doubt courtesy of Arcs System Works), and the lame gameplay compared to the originals, I see no reason to support these remakes. The fact that they couldn't substitute the clever uses of the DS and Wii features unique to those consoles, with something equally brilliant for the Switch, is disappointing. There's no way they could recreate the games 1-to-1, but if the alternative isn't worthwhile, then why bother? And that's not to mention the cut content and inferior stories with plot-holes now introduced. It sucks that those who never played the originals or who don't own a DS and Wii can't experience these games the way they were intended anymore (unless they emulate them, and even then, there are concessions), but these remakes simply aren't a worthy replacement. They never would've been, but at least they could've made some great new, different games with the same story. I wasn't at all impressed by the demo, and I'm glad I never delved further than that. If this is the level of quality we can expect for the Hotel Dusk and Last WIndow remakes, then count me out. I don't see them fairing any better, and instead of butchering the past, I'd rather the former Cing devs at Arcs just made a new game in these series, with a recap for past games included (preferably with no ESG mandates this time). Games that were built from the ground-up to utilise the joycons and dock in clever ways. Also, the notion of buying a lesser game I don't want just to get a game I theoretically do is asinine to me, and I don't recommend anyone ever do this. Seriously, if you're reading this and you've done this, stop doing it. Let's say supporting half-arsed remakes does greenlight a proper sequel. If the remakes did well, the risk of its flaws that weren't present in the originals then carrying over to the sequel will increase exponentially. The success of the remakes will send mixed/wrong messages to the developers that "oh, these crappy parts of the game ARE what people like about them! Well, let's put them in the new one!" Thus, the originals are surplanted in the public consciousness, along with every merit they had, and the series will fester and decay until its inevitable demise. Sure, the sequels to Another Code and the Kyle Hyde games COULD be everything I've ever wanted, and COULD succeed in every way the remakes failed. But I'm not buying more compromised remakes to make that happen. If the people in charge want to hold the sequels hostage over the sales of the remakes, then I'm fine with the series dying. I don't negotiate with terrorists, nor do I want "the game I asked for, on paper" at all costs. Ashley's story ended on a conclusive enough note to where a sequel isn't necessary. And while Kyle Hyde could still have run-ins with Nile, I don't want a sequel if it's of poor quality. Are we forgetting the time Kensuke Tanabe held Chi-bi Robo hostage, and told us if we didn't buy a sub-par sidescroller with nothing we liked about the franchise to begin with, we'd never get a new game? Who's to say those new games wouldn't end up as tone-deaf and downright awful as Zip Lash? People rightfully ignored the game.
Ah yes, the two characters who were originally white before they turned black-it was because of ESG and not because the Japanese game developers wanted to avoid any suggestion that their game supports KKK propaganda. Do you even listen to yourself when you mention ESG? That stance makes you look like an unapologetic racist. It's just a video game, not based on real life events. Just chill. Moreover, ESG has been around since the 1950s. It's not a new concept; it's older than your parents. I understand people can be misinformed, but do you embrace misinformation intentionally just to criticize the game based on two race-swapped characters? It really isn't that deep, man.
Ah yes, the two characters who were originally ice cream before they turned chocolate -it was because of ESG and not because the Japanese game developers wanted to avoid any suggestion that their game supports Cookie propaganda. Do you even listen to yourself when you mention ESG? That stance makes you look like an unapologetic scumbag. It's just a video game, not based on real life events. Just chill. Moreover, ESG has been around since the 1950s. It's not a new concept; it's older than your parents. I understand people can be misinformed, but do you embrace misinformation intentionally just to criticize the game based on two ice cream-swapped characters? It really isn't that deep, man.
@@NitwitsWorld Why did you post this a second time except you changed white and race to "ice cream", black to "chocolate", KKK to "cookie", and racist to "scumbag"?
@@abrahamicreligionsbowbefor3585 1. Weird thing to be upset about, considering she's 13. 2. The midriff costume is in the game. You can even see the OG costume @0:18 of the video. It's an unlockable costume.
It's funny to me how this kind of remake gets announced and gets its fanbase, small as it might be, get all hyped-up and gassing up the release as a big comeback And then, very shortly after it comes out (might be months, might be weeks, might be _days)_ all of the sudden everyone goes quiet, in part because since it's such a niche IP its reach was always going to be limited, but even among that vocal minority who was so excited about it _goes surpringly quiet about it_ 🤔 But when look closer into it and how botched these are, it's just no coincidence why it didn't made that much of a splash in the end, regardless of whether is too obscure to succeed
@@NitwitsWorld Again, that has nothing to do with anything because no one ever was talking about The Last of Us or Neil Druckmann in this video (or this channel at all since it's solely dedicated to Japanese games) or in the comments section outside of you rn
@@DeepWeeb Yes, but again, it could have been a much worse game if someone tried to add a twist to it. I mentioned The Last of Us 2 because it effectively destroyed any remaining reputation that Naughty Dog had as a gaming studio, and Druckmann retconned the first game by making Joel appear to hate his wife and by killing the wrong race doctor. The poorly executed revenge story arc ruined my respect for that video game company, so I can understand why you might think I nitpick over a different console company. But please respect my opinion, as I wasn’t trying to be rude. I have been respectful in my comments towards you, kind sir.
If you're worried about spoilers, they don't start until @14:54 and I do verbally warn you when they're coming.
This is the series that made me realize Europe & America got completely different translations for DS games.
2:29 Thanks for recommending that video. Of Cing's games I had only played Hotel Dusk and didn't know the connection to Riverhill Soft.
28:25 I remember how I hated Elizabeth at first (as the game wanted you to) but as we learned more about her and she loosened up and I got more and more attached to her, when the time came to say goodbye to people you had met at the end of the game, she was the ONE character I hoped, more than anyone else, would show up to bid me farewell. If a game can make me feel that about a character I was initially supposed to hate, then you've got one hell of a good story.
My god, I am crying just typing and recalling this.
Sweet intro slide, here's hoping somehow hotel dusk still gets remade closer to it's original incarnation
4:52 - SON OF A B-
I spent all of my playthrough of Another Code remembering the part when you spin the canister thing to see the animation. When it didn't happen or had a different form, I thought I must have been misremembering. But nope, there it is, exactly like I remembered it.
Grr at you, Recollection, for toying with me like that.
Okay now I'm actually upset about Another Code R. Never got to play that one because it wasn't released in the US. So I was happy to finally get to play it. But of course it turns out to not be as faithful as it should have been.
Ugh, fine, guess I'm hacking my Wii to get rid of the region lock.
I've played these games for the first time via the collection, before watching this video, all I knew about the changes made to second game was that they removed some sections, and I thought that it wasn't nothing major, but after seeing this video, I saw just how much was removed and/or changed, I really enjoyed the remakes and the story, but I might watch trough the original R, because it seems like a completely different game, not just gameplay but story-wise.
I've never played the original games either and I am considering buying the Recollection. Did you like them when you played them? Do they stand on their own feet?
Note: I have not watched this video, just the first 30 seconds or so as I don't want spoilers
Thank you.
@julianjuez yeah I quite like them, I think they are pretty good on their own, my only shock after watching the video was just how much of the second game was changed. But I still recommend the collection.
@@Yelleo thanks, mate!
that intro screen was sick
I've always wanted to pay homage to the DS.
Thank you hikiko
I'm new to this whole series and had no idea the remake cut out so much stuff from the originals. What a bummer, but can see why when the originals were made around specific hardware. Great video!
Finally a video about the another code re-collection!
I was not aware of the remakes (actually, I totally forgot about them), as always, very comprehensive and informative. Thank you :)
Thanks for checking it out
Wow! Epic video hikiko! This was truly fascinating
Amazing work yet again, thank you :)
You can see a Loch Ness Monster type thing at the end of remake R. Haven't played the original so not sure if that was supposed to replace the dragon.
29:33 I don't know if it's brought up later but isn't a guy left from Richard a blonde and plays a guitar?
9:40 This was a dick move and a huge change to the captain's character. In the original he opts to go look for Jessica himself, but Ashley insists to go instead. Also he is not seen sailing away.
Looking forward to finishing the remake so I can watch this vid!
Loved the Steve Rambo clip.
funny story I bought Another Code R on wii like a week before it got announce on switch
I'm glad for you. You're not missing out on anything with the remakes. Enjoy the Wii version in its original glory.
@@NintendanGX I played the remakes and liked it but I'll try another code R soon
I didn't knew CING's history!
Thanks for that
So as a player who never even heard of this franchise before I'll say this. I don't know how the originals were, but I personally found this one to be great. It was the first time I wanted ro 100% complete a game and I immediately wanted to replay it when it was done. Some of the puzzles were about carefully looking at everything, but others were quite tough. Not too tough that it would get frustrating though.
Maybe the originals are more beloved, but to me this remake is one of my favourite games of all time.
I like the music in the remake
Looking forward to watching this!
Your thoughts at the end summed up mine perfectly.
what a bizarre set of changes for both games but specially the Wii remake
3:45 How does it feel to miss out? Still, the amount of J-RPGs we in Europe got cheated out of in the PS1 era is staggering. We are still nowhere near even.
Just finished playing the remake in Japanese, the voice acting is much better that what is shown here (in my opinion). Interestingly I see the game everywhere here still, at game stores of course but even the code is provided as a card at the convinience store here.
Maybe it still doesn't compare to the originals but as I haven't played them I don't have a comparison point and really enjoyed the remake. The only thing that really frustrated me was entering the codes for the doors 😂
I would love to hear the differences between the endings of the Wii port, will see if I can find a breakdown on the Wii game somewhere.
Having played Recollection as my first experience, I really liked it. I definitely can agree with some of the complaints (such as voice acting being a mixed bag and gameplay gimmicks being lost), but I can't say those things really hampered my experience much. Personally I appreciated the consolidation of the story and characters in order to make the game a more streamlined experience. I also really liked the music in the remake actually
Are you going to make a video on the kyle hyde series?
If there's interest I will!
@@HikikomoriMediathere’s interest that’s for sure
I guess I really do need to get the Another Code R Wii game and get it to work on my US Wii. It's a shame there's a ton of cut content. (Also have to agree with the lack of puzzles. That needed more work.)
Interesting to look back on this game only some months later and get others' thoughts on it, especially with seemingly so little discussion about it in general. Hard to get much of a general consensus on it, but I suppose as much of a cult following as the original had, it was still technically niche, and the sequel having never come stateside didn't help even as they tried to use it as a selling point. Personally, I really enjoyed this remake despite all its issues, and I guess perhaps for me its a case of being more forgiving for its flaws and looking at it as more than the sum of its parts. Always worth taking another look at and reevaluating, or in cases like these, catching smaller details I hadn't noticed prior.
I think many of the major gameplay elements feeling a bit more bland stem from them trying to develop these as one overall consistent experience, which may make sense in some ways, but causes many other smaller issues unfortunately. That and, as you said, designing it with the Lite model in mind and either not wanting to bother with differing puzzles or solutions or just being unable to. Given how the stool puzzle works at the beginning, I feel it's pretty telling of the developers' inadequacy with the system's motion controls. Love the art style, but for the more technical aspects of the graphics, I do feel it must have been some budgetary issues and/or time constraints, because Nintendo themselves have shown the system is still far more capable than this or what people at GameFreak have put out.
My only caveat is that seemingly no developers have taken much advantage at all of the Switch's more unique features, often not supporting much motion controls beyond aiming, and even then half the time games are still relegated to janky control stick aiming for whatever reason. Skyward Sword HD being one of the few games to actually use motion controls as much as any Wii game in the past makes me have to worry that they might not bother with motion controls in Prime 4, if it actually makes it to the Switch. So it's really hard for me to completely fault these devs when it's not really an exception to the norm.
All the story details and changes are another thing entirely, and something I have more of a hard time grappling with as someone who much prefers when remakes stay as true to the original material as possible. Funny enough, I really disliked many of the changes with the first game's story, even if there really wasn't as much to change other than the order of some events and tying it more closely to its sequel, the original Trace Memory having stuck pretty well in my mind even with how short it was. I never played the sequel, only having watched a longplay here on youtube maybe once or twice and not being as engaged with it, so I only really remembered larger events and set pieces vaguely and didn't really notice when anything diverted other than the ending to Matthew's story. One bigger element I'd like to touch on is Lake Juliet feeling smaller, of which I think is still very much a limitation but also a consequence of the devs wanting to keep a more consistent style between the two and striving for that sort of generic over the shoulder, 3D style many remakes go for now, so getting rid of the more fantastical transitions and such and making the areas feel smaller was an unfortunate concession. Really, a ton of stuff I feel in the second game seemed to be a consequence of trimming what they might have thought of as fat, and conversely adding fluff to the first game to extend it a bit I guess to try and even it out? It's hard to discern their design process, but I guess they wanted to make it all feel balanced, flawed as their execution turned out to be. Lastly about the sequel in particular, I won't spoil anything exactly, but will simply say I much prefer the changed ending, if only for the reason that I feel the one in the original version felt like just a rehash of the first game's finale, but I can totally understand anyone who would hate it or dislike it. At least as far as these twists tend to go in other remakes, I don't feel it was done simply to have some twist or out of spite or whatever other shallow reason and that there was a lot of artistic merit behind it that had value in and of itself - something I really can not say behind others such as what kind of garbage they are doing with the Final Fantasy 7 stuff now, as a very prominent example of what I don't like at all, and I'm not even particularly a fan of the original version of the game.
As far as character redesigns go, totally agree on Richard, and personally I don't like what they did with Bill, though he's much closer to the original design for sure, and I guess maybe they just wanted him to fit in more with the modern IT crowd. Honestly, that's the way I feel about a lot of the redesigns, fitting more to a literal "modern audience" than most other games try to, and I don't necessarily imply a negative connotation to that term in this specific case. It's really a mixed bag for me, not even having recalled that Janet was totally different and feeling she stood out better now, even if more of that was due to her simply having a bit more room to shine in this version. But yeah, things like having Richard be brunette instead...I just don't understand why they bothered when it was and still is a significant enough plot point to mention and thus a sort of a plot hole. The voice acting goes a long way into conveying these characters as well, and I don't think this title would have worked without it so much without changing much of the style of story presentation, but yes, a lot of it is really wooden or kind of too anime, really depends. A lot of performances I just don't remember. Ashley was mostly how I imagined her sounding, and I think she got better into the later parts, liked D as well, the captain I think was somehow one of the better ones, couldn't stand how dweeby Bill sounded for someone who was supposed to be mysterious and intimidating, Jessica I remember thinking she sounded too deep but kind of grew on me as she at least sounded more natural than most of the others. Really wish they could have picked better or got a better director or something, I know budget is not always the reason but it kind of felt like a lot of them they just picked off the street. It's just too bad. But even having tried switching to the Japanese version at first, there's many titles I play in Japanese to avoid English versions I can't stand but even here I could sort of tell it wasn't very good.
Lastly, just small nitpicks but I just don't agree on either the music or atmosphere being worse in the remake of the first game. Certainly different, and I wouldn't even say they're better either, but I feel they are still aspects that are very much worth having the remake for. Overall I'm glad we got something, though it does make me a little wary of a potential remake of Hotel Dusk/Last Window as I feel keeping closer to the original feel of those games would be far more important to their quality. I can't see being satisfied with them of their are any large changes to their tone or story details.
Man, we Americans missed out on so much from Another Code R! I don't know how to mod or emulate, so I knew pretty much nothing about Journey Into Lost Memories until watching a few videos, and those puzzles you highlighted, especially the Nunchuk and Home button ones, blew my mind when you described them, and it makes me very sad that the remake's puzzles never even came close to such ingenuity! To my knowledge, the closest Recollection gets is when it asks Ashley to take a selfie to register her data into the Another, but compared to the original game, it's still pretty weak.
Thanks a bunch for taking the time to make this video! It makes me respect Cing even more than I already had and adds a lot of much-needed context.
My verdict of Recollection upon finishing your video is mostly unchanged from when I originally beat it, but now with new context. I had formerly said that the Trace Memory portion was serviceable, but at the same time, didn't replace the original, while Journey Into Lost Memories was a frustrating experience I never wanted to relive. Now, I stand by those statements, but with even more disgust at the Another Code R experience, knowing how much we lost in the process, and how what replaced it were those nearly unplayable button sequences that almost got me to rage quit...
I forgot to mention how the new button sequences with the RAS incorporated unresponsive motion at times. Bizarre choices all around.
For me, it was more so whenever I was required to rotate one of the sticks as an input. For some reason, it hardly ever worked for me. The motion control during the RAS sequences seemed fine, but I was also playing in handheld, so that might have helped. RIP that stool puzzle, though, which is horrible in both methods...
SPOILERS FOR BOTH GAMES AHEAD! Very interesting video, especially since despite having watched a playthrough of Two Memories and playing R, I had completely forgotten most of the plot, so this remake was almost like playing through them for the first time. After reading and seeing some critiques, I can appreciate how frustrating the changes are, the depth that was lost, and it saddens me that they took the approach they did. One of the selling points I’d read was that they used a localisation more faithful to the original japanese script, but there’s so many minor changes that harm the story in big ways. I was thrilled to be back in the world of Another Code but throughout the game I was aware that the whole thing felt like it had an extremely limited budget, from the graphics to the animation and voice acting, as if Nintendo wanted to simply throw something together to test the waters for a potential, higher production value Hotel Dusk remake. I’m glad they tried to tie up the plot with Matthew’s dad, even though the whole “Kelly is watching over him and now that she has closure he can wake up” thing is messy and not great. The two things I appreciate the most are 1. The character redesigns (aside from Richard and the blonde hair problem) which make the character designs less 2000s-y (Janet Rice in particular, literally any redesign was going to be an upgrade, don’t understand why they changed her backstory though) and 2. The ending of Journey into Lost Memories, such as the meeting with Sayoko and in particular Ryan’s story. It’s so out there and interesting as a concept, and I much prefer it over the original game’s twist of “Ashley meets her mother’s killer… again” which i just never liked in the first place. Again, watching this video helps me appreciate what was actually missed out on and I think it’s a shame. Given the choice, I think I would rather go for a remake of the richer original than my preferred ending in Recollection. I hope Nintendo gives more care and resources to Hotel Dusk, especially as I’ve never played those games. I also hope that Nintendo see that there is an audience for Another Code and we get more adventures with Ashley, but I shan’t hold my breath.
Well, at least it’s not The Last of Us 2 so don’t worry about jumping the huge shark yet 🦈
I checked Janet Rice's designs, and she went from strawberry blonde to a black chick. Bruh. Redhead erasure, convinced me not to get this game. ESG strikes again!
I love remakes that completely sanitize everything. I think I'll wait for... Another remake
Good joke 😂
This video made me very interested in these ds games, I wonder if there's a good letplay videos of them.
The irony that this video arrived today, just when I've just received my DS copy of Two Memories, lol. I'm absolutely gonna comment later because BOY, do I have a lot to say about this Recollection, both good and bad; especially on Two Memories, since I'm the one I'm most familiar with, but I am currently playing R on the Wii too (perks of being European).
So, I'm gonna be back in a few hours and write the biggest critique in my entire life.
looking forward to reading your critique!
@@HikikomoriMedia I'm writing it, I'm writing, but it'll probably come out tomorrow (or at least in seven hours, since now it's midnight where I'm from). Just wait patiently.
Lol I'm just leaving this here so I get notified when you post it!
@HikikomoriMedia Ok, so I've decided to split the critique in more parts because I wrote a lot of text. This part is about the plot of Two Memories.
(FULL SPOILERS FOR THE ORIGINAL TWO MEMORIES)
Ok, let's get my overall opinion on the game out of the way first: I'm glad this game exists, if nothing else because it allows new generations of players to experience Ashley's formative journey (and it still can suckerpunch you when you least expect it, so that's a plus).
HOWEVER, I'm also not thrilled of how the narrative has been changed in some ways from the original. This critique will mostly be about the plot, because I haven't actually played Recollection since I don't own a Switch, but I've looked a good number of LP of it. Also, for context sake, I wasn't really a fan of the Another Code series until the remake was announced on September: then, out of curiosity, I played the original DS game and was very hooked. As such, I can guarantee I won't be as biased as an hardcore fan.
Anyway, let's start. So, the first thing to say is that, contrary to how most perceive it, the Re!Two Memories was changed quite a bit from the source material, but whereas Re!R was changed by deviating from the Wii counterpart, Re!TW was changed by omitting things left and right. Especially when it comes to the Edward side of things.
Now, I enjoy this D way more than the one on DS because back then it almost felt like D didn't really react to the tragedies of his family, he's never scared of finding out the truth, he doesn't freeze when he sees his father's blood in the Silver Bird Room, he just isn't all that invested in it; that also affects his friendship with Ashley, where I feel like it's mostly him helping her and caring for her than the opposite. Re!TM instead puts the two of them in equal position and the whole goal of Chapter 4 for Ashley is to reunite with D, instead of finding Jessica: I really love the scene where she cries for both of their stolen childhoods, hands down the best moment if Recollection.
I also enjoy this Bill a lot and this time his whole masquerade is given more weight because it hampers the relationship between Ashley and Richard and from her POV it's sensible that her dad is an uncaring and obsessed father. Shame though that Ashley's mistrust for real Richard only lasts for one second before immediately recognising him... at least you could've waited until she saw their family picture! That said, this Bill is more cryptic that the DS!one and I appreciate that, it makes you think whether or not Sayoko's murder was an act done out of orders or out of personal betrayal (since this time it was all his will, and no one else's).
But then we come to the big sore spot of this remake: Henry Edward. Why was he stripped down of everything that made him an immensely tragic character?! The thing that I love about his portrayal as a war veteran amputee is how much it subverts your expectations. In the first chapters of DS!TM he is put in the worst light possible: Thomas' diary entries stating he's looking at him weird, Marie's letter telling he swings knives at them, the stamp puzzle where is represented as a terrifying man (giving child abuse vibe). Hell, even D's first memory of him is a picture of an irate expression of him. But then you find his suicide letter where he says that Thomas' murder was an incident, and then D remembers the entire conversation before the murder, and THEN you discover that the last thing Daniel saw, the mark ETCHED on his ghost form, is the lonely hand of the uncle trying to save him.
And it hits, guys, it hits like a goddamn TRUCK! Because you know now that Henry shooting Thomas was an accident and that coupled with Daniel's death sent him spiraling and he isolated himself from everyone and finally he killed himself out of guilt! AND NONE OF THAT IS KEPT HERE!
First of all, why, this time the rating is Pegi 12 and we aren't allowed to talk about suicide and mentions of child abuse? Seriously?! When the original was only a Pegi 7 and could?! Second of all, I've noticed how they transferred Henry's deteriorating habits onto Thomas and Richard's admiration for one the brothers was moved from Henry to Thomas. And, like, I get it to an extent because Thomas IS the father of our deuteragonist so it makes sense to give him the spotlight. But at least you could've kept the suicide letter, if everything else was to be cut, you at least should've kept THAT because without it THE NEW FANS WON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE EDWARD SITUATION IS SO TRAGIC! Why were the butler and the mine workers given a voice before one of the victims of this entire mess?!
*breathes* Ok, I'm gonna end here part one.
@HikikomoriMedia
Here we go, part 2! This time, I will talk more about Re!R. Because I still haven't finished the Wii game (I'm currently at the start of Chapter 3), every opinion on plot and characters in comparison to the original is pending.
(FULL SPOILERS FOR THE REMAKE OF JOURNEY INTO LOST MEMORIES)
To start off, let's start with our dear Matthew. He has the opposite problem of D, aka the dynamic between him and Ashley is uneven, and it's more about her helping him than the both of them helping each other. The fact that he continuously ran away from her also didn't help matters (though I do know that happens in the original too); by the end of their time together I was struggling calling them friends even when the game insists it is so. Like, he doesn't even appear in the finale when Ashley says goodbye to everyone, and while I get the intention of "the two are in each other hearts, even if they're apart" (very KH-esque, I know) it all feels hollow. They could at least have had Greg show up in the end and give Ashley a message from him where he thanks her and tells her his phone number/email so the two can get in touch, but no, not even that. It's a pity, because there were the premises of a good friendship built from initial animosity since he stole her bag, and in the source material Ashley went to bat for this kid so much: if someone started bothering him she would go "Shut your mouth or I will" and that's just delightful. Here, nothing of the sort.
Speaking of his resolution, I have kind of accepted it, on the basis that I prefer a concluded story, even if it's horrendous, to an incomplete one. It was clear Arc System wasn't going to end his story on a cliffhanger since the possibility of creating a third game is low: I can suspend my disbelief enough to imagine the ghosts of Emily and Kelly slapping him away from the coma or something. However, my ideal ending would've been either a)Greg is actually Micheal in incognito, and so Ashley could've chastised him for being a negligent parent just like Richard, or b)Micheal doesn't wake up in that instant, but Matt decides to go to visit him hoping that his support will wake him up.
I do think Kelly's backstory was good here: from what I know she fell from the pier of the boathouse in Wii!R and, no offense, but the water isn't so deep that she could drown, while a fall from the tower would absolutely be lethal.
Let's move on to the other subplots: Charlotte's was hands down the best one in the game, so really, no complaint there; the absence of her niece also accentuates her loneliness, so it was a good move on their part (I'm curious to see the original version, but I'm satisfied with the Recollection take). Regarding Elizabeth, this might be a take, but from what I've seen from Wii!R I prefer the remake version: the original Liz feels more like the cliché of the mean girl, while this one is more clearly someone who's in a bad space mentally and explodes because of it; already in their second meeting you can see Re!Elizabeth calming down while talking to Ashley and then she accuses Matt for a more noble reason than "I think you're a thief and you're dirty". Though, I'll wait until I've completed Wii!R before giving my final judgement.
Just one more thing about the secondary characters: I wish Re!Janet had actually been called Sam, since it's clear she is substituting him more than her original namesake (who was defined by being pushy, Ashley's classmate and Liz's cousin). Sam is an androgynous name, so they could've simply made Re!Sam a black girl and be done with it. I'm also confused about Bob being either the son or brother of the Captain, maybe once I've cleared Hotel Dusk and Wii!R, everything will be clear.
So, onto bigger plot beats: Ryan. Again, I might change my mind as I proceed with the original iteration, but, knowing me, I'm still gonna prefer this Ryan. His nature as a construct of memories stored in liquid memory is very fascinating and fitting for a saga all about memories. (Also, I swear, someone on the new writing staff is a fan of Nomura because this concept is the same one behind Xion from KH!) The only problem is that... well, the more you analyse it, the more plot holes and inconsistencies start forming. Like, how did he enter the JC Valley security program, how did he contact Bill and Sophia; and especially HOW DID THE MEMORY OF SAYOKO KNOW HE WAS THE ONE TRYING TO OVERWRITE ASHLEY'S MEMORIES?! Why does the RAS react to him when he starts fading out? Is it because they're made from the same material?! Fuck if I know!
The final meeting with the recreation of Sayoko is touching, but it lacks the urgency that it wants to instill in the player, since her whole memory is being wiped out as we speak. I think a more efficient approach would've been to have Ashley not able to recall certain events and so the whole puzzle about erasing her mom's memories would have restored her own memories of the people she met in the two games. Like, I dunno about you, but I would've bawled at her restoring the memory of D's farewell, or her hug with Matthew, conversation with Jessica, all of it. What we got instead was very lazy.
That's it for part two of the critique. The last one will be about gameplay and then I'll have said everything I wanted to. I hope the next one is shorter, though...
34:08 sauce
Just type Steve Rambo Hackerman
At least they gave it another shot, unlike Hotel Dusk.
I finished the first remake & halfway through the 2nd and completely agree. So much was taken out during the transition with almost no thought as to what else they could get the players to do to solve puzzles. That & the whole 3D world transition which does absolutely nothing except look pretty
Seems like a lot of nitpicking from a nostalgic point of view. I mean of course many unique puzzles from DS could not be brought over for obvious reasons. Also, many were just gimmicks at best and whole traversal in originals are dated badly now being annoying rather than good actual flowing movement. Just be freaking thankful rare gems like these are getting a second chance to shine as they failed disastrously on original release. These cult classics getting remakes were completely unexpected and I loved them :-)
Oh no, don't nitpick a remake that's capitalizing on the originals. Just forget they existed. You should only enjoy this new slop that has less content, bad story changes and skips a lot of important character development.
I assumed Another Code R would have been a straight port of the wii version... All those changes were unnecessary...
Well some people argued that the pacing on the original game was too slow, that Ryan at the end was too similar to Bill…so I can see why they made this reimagined version
man....
Its worst than I expected
considering Another Code R was already a 3D game unlike the first one
the changes done for the remake make it weird
I had the impression they were going to go with the style of the Sequel to remake the first one
But the movement was side scrolling though…
I really gotta buy a copy of the first game and play it on my DS. I hate paying 30+ dollars for games from 20 years ago, unless it's like this where you get more than one. but I'm sure it's worth it here. It's unfortunate this collection's so lame but I don't have a switch to play it on anyway.
Oh man, I wasn't sure what I expected from the recollection. To be frank, it probably was something very similar to the end product. I enjoy voting with my wallet, but in this case I think Im happy I kept the 60 yuros. Thanks for playing it so I dont have to :')
reggie killed cing.
We're never gonna get a Kyle Hyde collection, aren't we?
Can't imagine this is gonna sell worth a damn. Like the Famicom Tensei remasters.
I wouldn't believe in rumors from Emily Rogers given her CP support years ago…… 😂
I hope we do get a Kyle Hyde collection!
With Two Memories, I felt that the remake surpassed the original, since imo, most of the puzzles in the original game kind of sucked and were just kind of Cing shoving random clunky puzzles into situations that really didn't call for it, like I think Cing mastered using the DS gimmicks in cool and unique ways in the Hotel Dusk games, but for Another Code, it just felt really forced for me and didn't add much to the experience. I also just really like how the remake expanded on Bill's character and offered more context into the mansion and why it has all these puzzles installed in it.
However, Another Code R, I don't feel the same way about, it felt like a pretty rushed job, the remake's artstyle is really great at portraying the musty decrepit environments which works great for the first game, while Another Code R REALLY suffers for it, since the remake's engine doesn't feel like it's suited for R's outdoor, open environments and the game just doesn't look good visually, especially compared to the OG game (since imo R is one of the best-looking Wii games) and I also think that the removal of so many of R's puzzles is a massive shame, since R's puzzle quality is on par with Hotel Dusk and Last Window's, and this is all ignoring the many plot and character changes and removals which I wasn't a fan of to put it mildly. Like it feels like they spent most of their time working on Two Memories with them having to seriously rush R's development. Like I don't think Recollection did a bad job with a R, I think it's serviceable, but I really hope if they remake the Hotel Dusk games they don't just shaft Last Window.
0:35 No fuck the Hotel Dusk series. I want more Another Code. Ashley > Kyle.
Terrible take.
The second remake feels like someone put a walkthrough of the Wii game in 4x playback speed.
A while back someone said that Super mario rpg was the most faithful remake that they ever played, and I think this game is the most unfaithful remake ever created.
Also, what are the new character models?? The Wii version actually had characters that looked like I could see exist in real life, in the remake, the makeover of everyone's model was completely unnecessary, and unrealistic..
A shame that these remakes seem so striped down and budget. The character models imo look really great and the concept art is of course amazing but way too much was lost in translation to the switch. I hope that if this does lead to more Cing-like projects in the future, they retain the charm of the original better than this.
Reminds me of an old Clerks quote. "What's a good plate with nothing on it?"
I just finished playing the recollection today, having only played the original Trace Memory for the DS.
I was very very satisfied with the first part of the game (except for a couple of minor changes, such as Richard’s hair being brown and there being water at the bottom of the pit during the final chapter). I binge played it and loved every second of it. The environments, characters and interface were great, maybe the puzzles were a bit simple but I was there for the plot so no big deal for me.
The second part though did not do much for me. I never played the original on the Wii so I can’t make comparisons, but the story felt... lukewarm. I didn’t feel the mystery. The first game had so much buildup, but this one had barely any tension at any time. Bit of a disappointment.
TL;DR: Two Memories was fantastic, Journey into Lost Memories was a bit of a flop.
We gonna cook this game are we? 😅
I have a hacked 3ds, I can play the superior original anytime
Did you use a potato to hack your 3DS? 😂
I admit, using hardware in the kind of way originals do is unique, fun to try on original hardware and using it to 100% of its capabilities(seemingly). Sadly, from what you are showing, remake instead of using Switch gimmicks in new, unique ways nobody thought of before, would rather skip most of stuff. Would’ve been cool if they reinvented stuff or add new stuff specifically for Switch, but instead they went easy way, if it isn’t easily done on Switch then it’s not here at all. Way less, lazy content, overpriced. Sadly I think it’ll flop even harder than it already would since it’s niche series to begin with.
Switch lite exists and that’s why they couldn’t implement some motion control puzzles, for example. Plus what crazy uses are you gonna make of the switch?it doesn’t have the characteristics the original consoles had
Oh these remakes are trash lmao. I didn't realize how downgraded they are
I'm glad I didn't buy the remake before watching this. Between the unnecessary ESG influence (no doubt courtesy of Arcs System Works), and the lame gameplay compared to the originals, I see no reason to support these remakes. The fact that they couldn't substitute the clever uses of the DS and Wii features unique to those consoles, with something equally brilliant for the Switch, is disappointing. There's no way they could recreate the games 1-to-1, but if the alternative isn't worthwhile, then why bother? And that's not to mention the cut content and inferior stories with plot-holes now introduced.
It sucks that those who never played the originals or who don't own a DS and Wii can't experience these games the way they were intended anymore (unless they emulate them, and even then, there are concessions), but these remakes simply aren't a worthy replacement. They never would've been, but at least they could've made some great new, different games with the same story. I wasn't at all impressed by the demo, and I'm glad I never delved further than that.
If this is the level of quality we can expect for the Hotel Dusk and Last WIndow remakes, then count me out. I don't see them fairing any better, and instead of butchering the past, I'd rather the former Cing devs at Arcs just made a new game in these series, with a recap for past games included (preferably with no ESG mandates this time). Games that were built from the ground-up to utilise the joycons and dock in clever ways.
Also, the notion of buying a lesser game I don't want just to get a game I theoretically do is asinine to me, and I don't recommend anyone ever do this. Seriously, if you're reading this and you've done this, stop doing it.
Let's say supporting half-arsed remakes does greenlight a proper sequel. If the remakes did well, the risk of its flaws that weren't present in the originals then carrying over to the sequel will increase exponentially. The success of the remakes will send mixed/wrong messages to the developers that "oh, these crappy parts of the game ARE what people like about them! Well, let's put them in the new one!" Thus, the originals are surplanted in the public consciousness, along with every merit they had, and the series will fester and decay until its inevitable demise.
Sure, the sequels to Another Code and the Kyle Hyde games COULD be everything I've ever wanted, and COULD succeed in every way the remakes failed. But I'm not buying more compromised remakes to make that happen. If the people in charge want to hold the sequels hostage over the sales of the remakes, then I'm fine with the series dying. I don't negotiate with terrorists, nor do I want "the game I asked for, on paper" at all costs. Ashley's story ended on a conclusive enough note to where a sequel isn't necessary. And while Kyle Hyde could still have run-ins with Nile, I don't want a sequel if it's of poor quality.
Are we forgetting the time Kensuke Tanabe held Chi-bi Robo hostage, and told us if we didn't buy a sub-par sidescroller with nothing we liked about the franchise to begin with, we'd never get a new game? Who's to say those new games wouldn't end up as tone-deaf and downright awful as Zip Lash? People rightfully ignored the game.
Ah yes, the two characters who were originally white before they turned black-it was because of ESG and not because the Japanese game developers wanted to avoid any suggestion that their game supports KKK propaganda. Do you even listen to yourself when you mention ESG? That stance makes you look like an unapologetic racist. It's just a video game, not based on real life events. Just chill. Moreover, ESG has been around since the 1950s. It's not a new concept; it's older than your parents. I understand people can be misinformed, but do you embrace misinformation intentionally just to criticize the game based on two race-swapped characters? It really isn't that deep, man.
Ah yes, the two characters who were originally ice cream before they turned chocolate -it was because of ESG and not because the Japanese game developers wanted to avoid any suggestion that their game supports Cookie propaganda. Do you even listen to yourself when you mention ESG? That stance makes you look like an unapologetic scumbag. It's just a video game, not based on real life events. Just chill. Moreover, ESG has been around since the 1950s. It's not a new concept; it's older than your parents. I understand people can be misinformed, but do you embrace misinformation intentionally just to criticize the game based on two ice cream-swapped characters? It really isn't that deep, man.
@@NitwitsWorld Why did you post this a second time except you changed white and race to "ice cream", black to "chocolate", KKK to "cookie", and racist to "scumbag"?
bad cos censored!
This but unironically.
What was censored?
@@HikikomoriMedia her midriff
@@abrahamicreligionsbowbefor3585 Sweet Baby strikes again!! /s
@@abrahamicreligionsbowbefor3585
1. Weird thing to be upset about, considering she's 13. 2. The midriff costume is in the game. You can even see the OG costume @0:18 of the video. It's an unlockable costume.
I did not play the original but honestly I found this so terribly boring... and I am into visual novels so I am not an action game fanatic...
It's funny to me how this kind of remake gets announced and gets its fanbase, small as it might be, get all hyped-up and gassing up the release as a big comeback
And then, very shortly after it comes out (might be months, might be weeks, might be _days)_ all of the sudden everyone goes quiet, in part because since it's such a niche IP its reach was always going to be limited, but even among that vocal minority who was so excited about it _goes surpringly quiet about it_ 🤔
But when look closer into it and how botched these are, it's just no coincidence why it didn't made that much of a splash in the end, regardless of whether is too obscure to succeed
Well, at least it’s better than The Last of Us 2 😅
@@NitwitsWorld What does that even have to do with anything?
@@DeepWeeb I’m saying it could have gotten much worse if Drunkman was involved oof
@@NitwitsWorld Again, that has nothing to do with anything because no one ever was talking about The Last of Us or Neil Druckmann in this video (or this channel at all since it's solely dedicated to Japanese games) or in the comments section outside of you rn
@@DeepWeeb Yes, but again, it could have been a much worse game if someone tried to add a twist to it. I mentioned The Last of Us 2 because it effectively destroyed any remaining reputation that Naughty Dog had as a gaming studio, and Druckmann retconned the first game by making Joel appear to hate his wife and by killing the wrong race doctor. The poorly executed revenge story arc ruined my respect for that video game company, so I can understand why you might think I nitpick over a different console company. But please respect my opinion, as I wasn’t trying to be rude. I have been respectful in my comments towards you, kind sir.