Game info: Wikipedia
Listening: extracted audio, YouTube
Credits
Sound: T’s MUSIC Co., Ltd. (Yuhki Mori, Satoshi Okubo)
Info
And now for the Wii sequel, which is a little more 3D but is still basically a point-and-click game. The first game was called Another Code in Japan and Europe but was renamed to Trace Memory in the U.S., but since this sequel was never released in the U.S., it’s only Another Code: R and there’s no Trace Memory: R. This is a bigger game than its predecessor with more unique locations, so it’s got a bit more than double the music.
Since this is a Wii game, we’ve moved up to streamed music. Given the larger scope of the game, there’s more variety in the styles and instrumentation, though there’s still a lot of keyboards/piano, strings, and mallets like in the first soundtrack. The main instrument you’ll hear a lot more of here is acoustic guitar, which makes since the setting of this game is a lakeside park and settlement and that gives you some calm nature/campsite vibes; there’s also a number of folkier-sounding and happier tunes to go along with that setting, so as a whole this soundtrack has a bit of a brighter mood than its predecessor. There’s more of a synth presence in this soundtrack as well, with a good number of tracks being primarily electronic in nature.
Compositionally I didn’t like this one quite as much as the first, as on average there’s a little bit less minimalist writing and unexpected chord changes. Both of those do definitely exist in this soundtrack, and when they happen they’re great, but they’re padded out more by tracks I don’t find particularly interesting. The tracks with cooler writing to me tended to be the synthier ones, which feels like it could just be a little confirmation bias on my part. This soundtrack does delve more into odd time, mostly just some 5/4 here and there though one track’s in 11, so that’s fun too. During my initial listen I was a little more negative on this, but while reviewing the tracks right now to figure out which ones to attach at the end, I’m feeling this one a lot more! I like a lot of the synthy tracks and there’s a good amount of them here. Good soundtrack.
The audio this time was done by T’s MUSIC; based on credits from other games, it’s extremely likely that all the music was by Satoshi Okubo and Yuhki Mori only did sound effects. I haven’t heard anything else by Okubo besides this game and its remake, so I don’t know what he’s like.
Recommended tracks:
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“Unkept Promise” is that track in 11, a smooth jazzy piece with a very aesthically cheap harp sample
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“Long Shadows” is the most ambient sound design track in the game
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“Light that Doesn’t Shine” has a nice detuned metallic plonking sound throughout
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“Locked Doors” fakes me into thinking it’s going to bust out into a much more energetic track than it actually does, the tense low-key vibe it actually stays in is great though
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“Fragments of Memories” starts off with a little bit of minimalism à la the first game before switching into 5 at 1:06 with this cool metallic popping sound and synth tangoing
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“Magic Mirror” gives me a little bit of a chill eShop theme vibe, I think?
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