On Completionism

So, five days and just under 15 hours of playtime after picking up Another Code: R, it has officially become the second Wii game I've managed to complete, the first being Sam & Max Season 1 (with the aid of a walkthrough because some of its puzzles were completely daft).

AC:R is clearly aimed at a younger demographic, but anyone can appreciate a well-crafted piece of interactive fiction like this. By the end of it, I think my only real gripe would be that, for once, I kind of wished there was spoken dialogue rather than just the text... So much of it was slow and ponderous, I was begging for some sound other than the pips and bleeps and the - admittedly very good - music. The characters were well-crafted and visually expressive and, in many ways, the average quality of videogame voice acting could have completely ruined the story. But, still, a bit of spoken dialogue (other than the groans and sighs of two specific characters right near the end) would have been nice.

There was probably nothing truly surprising in the game's Nancy Drew-style narrative twists, but there's certainly plenty of scope for a follow-up (AC:R is actually the follow up to Another Code: Two Memories for the DS) featuring the same - very compelling and likeable - protagonist, Ashley Mizuki Robins. The presentation is excellent and, while I'd question the 'improvements' to the player interface between the DS and the Wii, it's certainly functional and fairly fluid. I only found myself stumped by a few of the TAS-related puzzles and, once I saw the solution, I was kicking myself for not spotting it sooner. That said, there was one where even the solution left me stumped until I really paid attention to what I was seeing on screen - it's all very cleverly done.

And modeling the in-game TAS after the Wiimote leads to all kinds jiggery-pokery that would otherwise have been impossible, or at least very difficult to achieve. I particularly liked the one-and-only usage of the Nunchuk, right near the end of the game, which unlocks the full potential of the TAS.

There are supposedly some subtle differences on the second playthrough... so I may give it another go, just to see if I can improve my time - some of the 15-hour playtime was purely the slog of getting through the dialogue, and it'll be interesting to see how much... Also, while I got the special token from one of the recyclers, I didn't get the mythical red gumball...

Now I just need to decide what I'm going to (try to) finish next... Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is the obvious choice since I'm more than halfway through that already... but I'm still terrified of continuing from the point I'm at right now...