A potentially dark story that limited itself by being written for kids. Ashley in particular has a pretty weak voice and will oscillate between what feels like her natural voice & an entirely neutral, semi-disinterested observer, which was a major disappointment. Characters also generally behave kind of strangely and the climax of the game felt a bit "just trust me bro". The captain's final conversation & D's farewell did get me right in the emotions, though, and I appreciate that.
I really enjoyed taking photos of setpieces and potential clues & being able to overlay them & rotate them in order to reveal hidden details or codes- a very cool idea that I haven't seen before.
While the game has pretty nice portraits & decent environments overall, its soundtrack & sound effects are lackluster.

Overall, Another Code is a bit greater than the sum of its parts, but it doesn't hold a candle to Hotel Dusk and Last Window.

I was eager to give Super Mario 3D World another shot after trying it out at a friend's house and enjoying the characters' increased speed. While this is no doubt superior to the Wii U version, it still falls desperately short in a few ways.
First, and probably least important, is that even though the game boasts technically impressive graphics, the game's art direction and tendency to lean on large rectangular platforms and extremely contained playspaces makes me feel as though I am playing a Mario knockoff.
Second, and also in the sphere of graphics, is the fact that the glare from reflections of the sun on certain materials obfuscate the action and can lead to unavoidable hits. The end of the water section in Champion's Road is a particularly cruel example of this- especially because the clear pipe that you're supposed to exit that section through cannot be seen through the water you ride over to it.
Finally, and the most generalized and damning of my criticisms, is that the game just seems to have problems with handling the player's depth perception. I probably took upwards of 30 hits through the regular game that simply didn't look like they were going to end poorly for me. Certain enemies' hitboxes, such as the sleeping piranha plants, seem to give the game a lot of difficulty in determining which actor is supposed to take damage unless approached from directly above.

Overall, this was a good experience, but it's probably still my least favorite of the 3D Mario games.