One of the major reasons we started AGG is because we are really unhappy with how the conventional metric system of game reviews has developed into, and how much they actually affect sales — and the fact is that, like it or not, a game getting good metric scores IS sometimes the deciding factor of the fate of certain smaller studios. Again is Cinq’s 3rd entry into the Nintendo DS adventure space, following the quite juvenile yet utilizes amazing features of the NDS Trace Memory, and one of our personal favorites — the atmospheric stylish detective noir Hotel Dusk; At a glance, Again seems a step back from earlier titles — looking quite unpolished with its limited animation of photo-realistic stills instead of the welcoming pencil sketches from hotel Dusk, its game play is a crap-shoot — detective guesswork of comparing the past and the present side-by-side in a 3D room amounting to a lot of guessing what the developers actually want you to do instead of the most logical choices — that is what reviewers out there took points off dropping it from an 8 to a mediocre 4. You can’t have a good game while the gameplay actually sucks right? This is totally untrue when you are dealing with a plot and text heavy adventure. If the actual 3D exploration phase of the game is only 20% of the game, then people you can freaking deal with it (this isn’t a FPS). What you are left with is the core of the game, where you are spending talking to various characters, reading a lot of text, understanding the story, chasing the killer, solving the mystery, savoring the unfolding of the plot.
The plot of Again is freakishly brilliant, if we are allowed to call it that, like an award-winning Michael Connelly novel, if you don’t know who that is, shame of you, read a book and grow a brain or something. The plot is a bare-bone serial killer who-dun-it, with a little psychic element thrown in (you can see the past in which the violent crime occurred), and it doesn’t constantly feed you world-breaking plot holes unlike Heavy Rain. Sure this isn’t necessarily a better game than the stellar Hotel Dusk, but it is a step forward from the mediocre tale of Trace Memory. If Hotel Dusk was about retirement and regret of a seasoned private-eye, Again was the embodiments of adrenaline-pumping excitement of the cat-and-mouse dance of FBI agents and demented serial killers. If we threw the marred presentation aside, it was a plot worthy to be experienced for any gamer and mystery fans, even a step forward from what Cinq has previously done.
Just like we won’t see any more of the revolutionary Alpha Protocol, we won’t see any more excellent titles from Cinq. Again is the classic excellent game gone wrong wrapped inside poor presentation and totally murdered by the word-of-mouth of ignorant journalists. We lament the fact that many won’t be playing this game after seeing terrible reviews. Gamespot’s tag-line for this game’s review is: You’re better off reading a book than playing this flawed interactive crime novel; but is that statement even remotely true? Again is better written than anything James Patterson could come up with ever, sure its not great literature and there are tons of top novels better than Again, but is there a reason for a mystery aficionado to not read and play adventure games both out of his busy schedule? To make that kind of sweeping statement is simply irresponsible. Our final advice: do your research , and by research we mean researching the reviewer whom you base your trust on — know his favorite games, know his biased, know his integrity, and don’t be fooled by people who get paid to write after booting a game up for 10 minutes. Go to Adventuregamers for honest opinions about adventure games, and of course we always welcome you at AGG, where we value cultural impact and a good script over graphics and gameplay. If you are a DS owner, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of Again, today.
