I've always loved adventure. When I was a kid I was a minor fan of Enid Blyton and Alan Garner, two novelists with different approaches to their writing style and themes, but always centered around children getting into exciting tales of danger. The idea of a game based on a book by either author, whether Blyton's The Adventurous Four (I preferred them to The Famous Five... far tougher and not as "icky") or Garner's excellently spooky Moon of Gomrath, still excites me to this very day. Naturally, I could be missing a few titles out, or even overlooking examples of AG's that use these licenses (that'd be awesome - let me know!), but until now I haven't played an adventure that has really got me into the same giddy spirit of pluckiness these books imbued in me as an impressionable young muppet...

Trace Memory is a great break from the usual PC adventure titles... and a surprisingly refreshing game to boot. For one thing, it's not on the PC. Oh, no, dear reader, this fun little title is on the Nintendo DS. It's actually one of the reasons I bought it in the first place, as I knew I had to try out an adventure made specifically for a handheld, plus I'd read that it used the stylus and touchscreen to help solve puzzles during your adventure. The idea of, well, physical interaction with the gameworld gave me interest, plus the presentation looked unique, but it was the games seemingly simple story that initially caught my eye.

You play as a young Japanese/American girl named Ashley, on her way with her sister Jessica to meet her estranged father on the mysterious Blood Edward Island. Ashley's mother died in mysterious circumstances when she was young, and Ashley's memory has faded to block those events. As such, she's excited not just to see her father, but to piece together what she remembers to see if she can uncover the mystery of her past. From the off, the game has a strong character with a solid back-story to get into, providing the player with enough drive to see them through to the very end. After the pair dock at the Island, Jessica goes missing and Ashley heads off to search for her and her father, on the way bumping into a young boy ghost named D. Much like Ashley, D can't remember much about his past, so together they agree to push on into the centre of the island and try to help each other regain their memories.

Trace Memory is not your average adventure - for one thing, it uses both first and third person perspective to survey your surroundings. The stylus controls the action from an overhead view on the touchscreen, whilst the areas are displayed in first person in the top screen. You can zoom in on these in order study a room closely, using the pen as a mouse pointer to hover about, chat to people, look for hotspots or get a good look at an interesting object. Fortunately, the games crisp graphics and clean, effective presentation never gets in the way of looking about your surroundings, and anything important has a wide margin for error to click on. The backgrounds are detailed and atmospheric, the characters seemingly hand drawn in an ethereal anime style, with limited animation but strong poses and gestures to effect emotion. Even better, the translation is very well done and reads very well, each person in the game being memorable and the script allowing for genuine feeling. In fact it's easy to get involved in Ashley and D's search for the truth and when things start being revealed, you're right there with them.

OK, so all good so far... but what's the game like? Well, it's intuitive and logical. The more traditional puzzles are well made and, although not taxing, always satisfying. There is a little bit of going back and forwards between areas at one time which can be aggravating, seeing as it's only needed to be done a couple of times as each section generally solves itself. Having to revist a previous one sometimes feels a little superfluous. Where Trace Memory does shine is in its use of the stylus to interact with the environment... and the joy discovery and physicality that goes with it. It's one thing clicking something with a mouse, it's another actually affecting it - and better yet for those with poor reflexes, nothing requires too much flexibility. Chances are if you can do it in real life, you can do it in this. It's a great way of getting the player into the game and works to involve you with the onscreen action to a great degree.

So, Trace Memory has all the elements of a great little adventure. The only problem with it, really, is that it is a little adventure. As in...really, really small. It took me a while to complete, but that's only because I was playing it bit by bit at the end of the evening before shipping myself off to sleep. Ultimately, any hardcore adventurer - hell, any person with half a brain - could finish this title in around 5 hours or less. The game and its world is teensy and linear, not allowing for any deviation from the plot or any reason, really, to go back to the game once you completed it... other than if you really got into the story the first time around. Plus, DS games aren't exactly cheap, so it doesn't offer much value for money in terms of completion time.

What it does offer, though, is a game that takes advantage of the full capabilities of the Nintendo wonder-machine. It couldn't exist on anything else in anything other than a truncated form, unless you want to fork out for a tablet PC with two monitors! So, if you're looking for some old-school adventuring with a new twist, own a DS (and there are more and more reasons to own one every week, it seems), enjoy the idea of a Nancy Drew-esque story with a supernatural/sci-fi twist and can put up with the short running time, head out to the shops this weekend and pick it up. It's guaranteed fun for young and old alike.

Final Grade: B+
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