Once More With Feeling- Again Review

After the critical success of Trace Memory (aka Another Code: Two Memories) and Hotel Dusk: Room 215, gamers might be expecting superiority from Cing’s next DS adventure title. After all, each of the Japanese developer’s two previous games incorporated a number of captivating elements- from maximizing the functionality of the two screens, offering an intriguing storyline, to having an inspired visual aesthetic. Initial previews seemed to indicate that Cing’s next title-Again, might have been their magnum opus. The ability to hold the DS sideways, presented players with a simultaneous viewpoint of the past and present, and seemed ripe for narrative exploration. In actuality, the title is a mixed bag that buries its ambitions in an ocean of insipid interchanges.

Before the game’s pace succumbs to a plodding tempo, Again offers players a promising premise.  Nineteen years ago, a serial killer prowled the East coast town of Clockford, leaving an enigmatic clue next to each victim. Now that same piece of evidence- a cutout of the Eye of Providence, is beginning to show up at murder scenes, leading authorities to speculate that the killer may be striking again.

The closed toilet seat may be hiding something also.

Players take the role of Johnathon Weaver, an otherwise straight-laced FBI agent who becomes overwhelmed by sporadic paranormal visions, which allow him to examine two concurrent time periods. During these sections of the game, players navigate around crime scenes with a combination of the direction pad and stylus swipes, as they scour the area for a visual dissimilarity. Although fans of ‘spot the difference’ titles like Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir might find the diversion appealing, many gamers might find the mechanic tiresome. With the DS’s relatively low resolution output, searching for a diminutive object can sees like finding a needle in a pixelated haystack. For a game that hinges on the use of analytic skills, expecting players to believe that objects like cars and books have remained unmoved for nearly two decades tests the threshold of plausibility.

Through the game, players will be encounter lengthy conversations between Johnathon and his partner Kate with belie the typical terse brevity of the genre. Those expecting Dashiell Hammett-esque prose will be disappointed by Again’s levels of loquacious formality- every suspect interview is preceded by a prolonged introduction, and occasionally banter between the two central protagonists. If each of these interchanges pushed players towards the game’s overarching enigma, the garrulous discourse might be able to be tolerated. Unfortunately, the game throws so many red herrings at players, they are likely to become dispirited long before the concluding act.

There might be one more soon-the salesman who suggested an outdated Razr phone.

While Again has a distinctive graphical style, it fails to measure up to the sulky neo-noir stylings offered by Hotel Dusk. Each of Again’s characters are portrayed by digital images of human actors, lending a realistic tone that might be difficult to forge with hand-drawn art. As protagonists speak, the game uses multi-frame animations to convey mannerisms and add some vitality to the proceedings. Woefully, certain gestures are presently awkwardly or are noticeably exaggerated, giving the game an unintentionally comic tone. 

Again has an interesting plotline and offers intermittent spurts of intrigue, but the game’s execution is hampered by tedious dialog and puzzles that seem tragically incongruent with the game’s heady aspirations. Most players will be able to ascertain the killer’s identity by the first half on game, forcing gamers to endure another five or six hours of tedium to substantiate their suspicions. Purchasers will likely find themselves exclaiming the game’s title at each instance of Johnathon and Kate’s vapid conversations, or the game’s quizzical cast portraits which bookend every chapter of the game. Clearly, Again’s ambition was trying to capture the energy of procedural crime drama. We suggest mystery-minded devote their time to a Cold Case or stints with the CSI team.  Although the acting may be overwrought and the plotlines might seem derivative, viewers won’t have to pay thirty dollars for the experience.