for how early this game came in the DS's life cycle it's majorly impressive that cing were able to come up with such imaginative puzzles and creative uses for the DS hardware. they really had a knack for that, and they even repeated some of the puzzle ideas from this game in hotel dusk, too. additionally, the story you uncover gradually as another code progresses is actually pretty damn good and quite emotionally affecting. obviously, it's easy to draw parallels between this and hotel dusk, with this arguably feeling a bit rudimentary to play after the latter, but it's still a very good game all around.

i just wish we got to spend more time on the island itself and less in the mansion, though. the cosy vibes were immaculate! that's another thing cing had a knack for; ambience and atmosphere.