Trace Memory and Lost in Blue

[vegeta1215]

Anyone here played Trace Memory or Lost in Blue for the Nintendo DS?

These were games I was looking forward to on the DS - Trace Memory because it's an adventure game that uses the unique features of the DS, and Lost in Blue cause it's a sequel to one of my favorite GBC games (Survival Kids). However, now I'm not so sure if I want to get either of them, mainly because they've received so many mixed reviews.

Nintendo Power gave them both good reviews, but everywhere else has given them average or poor reviews. (X-Play gave Lost in Blue a 2 out of 5 for instance). What do you guys think of these games?

[Gerudo]

well, i have played Lost In BLue, and KingArthur has as well. i'm not particulary fond of it because the stats go down very quickly. other than that, its a decent survival type game.

[AtmaWeapon]

Trace Memory is pretty cool but a bit easy. It is worth a playthrough for the story.

Be warned though; my first playthrough took 5 hours, which seemed fairly decent for an adventure game. The second playthrough took a little more than 2 hours and would have been faster but the game will not let you pick up a plot item until you have triggered certain events.

For example, I know from adventure games that if I look in a toolbox and the description reads "You see a lot of rusty tools. There is a hammer that seems cleaner than the other tools" that my next move should be "Take Hammer". In Trace Memory, you will be met with "What would I want a hammer for?", so you assume the item is insignificant. Then you find some object that needs a hammer to break it and you have to backtrack to pick up the hammer.

Also a few of the puzzles were only difficult to solve due to poor hit detection. The first puzzle in the game took me 30 minutes to solve and I had to consult a walkthrough. My guess about what to do was correct, but the area that responded to the stylus was so small that in several attempts I had managed to miss it. Another issue arose from what I believe to be an oddity in my particular DS; there was a puzzle that required a unique action and it was impossible for me to do with my DS.

If only the story is considered, Trace Memory is a very good game, perhaps an 8 or a 9 out of 10. As point-and-click adventure games go, it is too short. There aren't any mind-bending Myst-difficulty puzzles in the game, but the ones that require interaction with the DS's features might take a while to figure out. So in all, a 6 or 7 is a fair rating, though I would recommend Trace Memory more than most games I would give a 6 or a 7.

To give you an idea, I beat it twice and each time was a single sitting. So yeah, even though it loses points I really liked it.

I guess what causes the mixed reviews is that it is really a niche genre that is not explored often. Since a game like this is kind of rare, it is hard to review it against similar games.

[DarkDragoonX]

Atma's description of Trace Memory is spot-on. It has a few issues, but in the end turns out to be quite fun.

Lost in Blue is excellent, if you're the type of gamer who enjoys, for example, Harvest Moon. It's basically a deserted island survival simulation game. Very entertaining, although some of the routine tasks you must perform can become a bit repetitive.

[Brasel]

I had no idea what Trace Memory was when I bought it. I really enjoyed it though, and as DDX said, Atma had a very good description. I recommend it if you have the extra cash to spare. Its not really that worth the money though since its so short, unless you don't have time to beat it in a single sitting.

[KingArthur]

i hear trace memory is a pretty good game, the downside however, like nearly all games of its genre, is that it has virtually no replay value, its basically like re-reading a book, a GOOD book mind you, but still