Trace Memory -- Final Opinion.

Lite is what I wanted, and lite is what I got. Six hours and forty-five minutes of gameplay and the credits were rolling. Trace Memory is essentially exactly what I was expecting it to be. A point-and-click style adventure with touch screen applications.  The bottom screen is the active screen and the top screen is essentially the view. The game uses a weird mix of polygons and 2D art. You'll see what amounts to an artists' take of area in the top screen and the world to move around in on the bottom screen. As you move around the bottom screen the view in the top screen will change allowing you to focus in on specific areas and a magnifying glass icon on the bottom screen will light up. Clicking on the that brings the view into the active window where a pointer will show up so you can click on the objects in the close up view. You can pick up only specific items and usually only after you've triggered the need for it, even though you personally already know you're going to need whatever it might be. The game allows for full touch control, or a combination of traditional control and touch control where the touch control is mandatory. For example, if you need to cut a rope, you'll have to actually use the stylus and make the sawing motions on the touchscreen. Most of the puzzles have this sort of touch application. It controls well enough. There is no combat. There is no threat. There is no chance of death. The game is all story and puzzles. The puzzles are a mixed bag. They're all over the place from simple uses of the touch screen just to be sure the touch screen is being used type things to one puzzle that makes you do something that is entirely illogical and unnatural. There are a decent amount of puzzles in the game and some will make you think for a little bit. That leaves the story. The story is amazingly straightforward. So straightforward in fact that you know where it's going for sure about halfway through it. The story is decent for what it is. A Japanese anime type soap opera level mystery. The sound and music aren't anything special. The graphics are a strange blend of realism and anime. I probably would give the game a much lower score had I bought it for the original $30 asking price, but it's an okay experience at the $9 clearance price I got it for. There isn't really anything bad in Trace Memory, you're just not going to remember it down the line. I'm giving Trace Memory a 7.0.