Take the point-and-click mouse gameplay genre of pc games, replace the mouse with a stylus and touch screen, sprinkle in some simplistic player movement (i.e.-walking), mix it all together, bake on low at about 250 degrees for roughly 9 hours, and you will have yourself the lemon pie known as "Trace Memory".
The game starts strong with a wonderfully graphical presentation, cleverly displayed on both screens, of it's grizzly plot backstory. After the intro, the game relies heavily on text reading and more backstory. Once our hero is free to roam the land, the sharp graphics and witty use of the dual screen to display the terrain are worth noting. The game hits a pleasant pace as puzzles that require a gamer to touch the screen in different and unique ways are introduced, adding more appeal an expectation.
And then, seemingly prematurely, the gameplay begins to level out into repetitive blocks that break down into a basic formula: 1-find room, 2-locate items/plotline-objects within the interactive areas of that room, 3-solve puzzle for that room that allows access to the next room, 4 - see step 1.
What this game delivers with interesting touch-screen puzzles (i.e. - moving objects in unique ways via the touch screen) it loses with lack of action. Player movement is completely limited to walking. The lack of combat, jumping, rolling, crawling, and other aspects of player movement regularly included in adventure titles of the current genration reduces the player model to a glorified cursor walking around boring, unanimated environments. Consider that all non-walking aspects of the game require a cursor, and the point-and-click gameplay begins to reveal itself.
Each level culminates in a questionnaire to see how much attention the player was paying to the plot. This acts as a refreshing break from the repetitive gameplay, but adds weight to the text-heavy and somewhat simplistic dialogue.
The original gaming experiences created by "Trace Memory"'s utlization of the DS interface are a just reward for the optomisticly devoted gamer who is willing to trudge through the thorny stalk of a game to admire it's blossoms, but to an uninitiated spirit the morsals of this meal are too few and far between to appease one's appetite to completion. Perhaps pumpkin pie is for you?
OVERALL - 6
PROS - Original gameplay experiences, crisp graphics, intriguingly dark plot.
CONS - Touch-and-click interface disguised as an adventure game, repetitive gameplay, no stimulating action elements, simplistic dialogue.
YOU WILL LIKE IT IF - (a)you enjoy games heavy on plot dialogue and graphics, light on action.
(b)you are looking for unique ways to use the microphone and touch screen.
YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT IF - (a)slowly developing text-based plots turn you off.
(b)you like to shoot weapons, explore environments three-dimensionally, and avoid/battle dangers in real-time action format.
WHY I BOUGHT IT - The graphics and storyline seemed intriguing, wanted something with more depth than the fast-paced minigame oriented DS games I already own.
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