Trace Memory

About

Trace Memory is a point-and-click adventure puzzle game built around a mystery story. You play as Ashley, a teenager who travels to a remote island after receiving a cryptic message from her presumed-dead father. The game blends exploration, dialogue choices, and environmental puzzles solved using the DS touchscreen microphone and motion controls. Switch between a 3D top-down view for navigation and pre-rendered backgrounds for scenes. Progress relies on uncovering fragments of a ghost’s forgotten past while piecing together your own family’s secrets. The game stands out for its creative use of early DS hardware features. Puzzles often require drawing symbols on the lower screen or using voice commands through the microphone. While its 2005 release date makes it a niche title, fans highlight its atmospheric story and inventive gameplay mechanics. A smaller but dedicated audience appreciates how it weaves personal mystery with supernatural elements without relying on combat or action.

Storyline

Two days before her fourteenth birthday, Ashley Mizuki Robbins receives a package from her father, Richard Robbins, whom she thought was dead. The package contained a small handheld device called a Dual Another System, or "DAS" (Dual Trace System, DTS in the American release), along with an invitation to meet him on Blood Edward Island. The following day, her and her aunt , Jessica Robbins, set off for the island. While there, Ashley meets "D", a ghost with no memories, who has been wandering the island alone for decades since his death. Ashley attempts to aide D in uncovering his lost memories, while also uncovering the truth about her father, the murder of her murder, and the mysterious project, code named "Another".