Retrace: Memories of Death from eastasiasoft is a Rated M for Mature visual novel on PS4. Learn more about it in our Retrace: Memories of Death review!

 

Retrace: Memories of Death from eastasiasoft is a new Rated M for Mature visual novel adventure game on PlayStation 4 in which you will play as Freya. Something supernatural happens to Freya and her friends, teleporting them into a bizarre and deadly alternate world. The twist is that while death is around every corner and none of Freya’s friends will survive, she will gain a very important power at what seems to be the end of her journey: the ability to rewind time! As you can expect, this can allow her to change the fate of those around her – more on this in a bit.

There is no voice acting for this visual novel adventure game, so you’ll be doing a lot of reading by pressing the X button to move the conversation forward. As you interact with other characters – or the shadows left behind by those no longer in this world for one particular sequence – you will be able to press the Square, Triangle, Circle, X, or L1 button to make a choice, depending on how many options there are available to you for each specific interaction. The decisions you make will have an impact on what story branches you can take.

 

As you play through Retrace: Memories of Death, interacting with other characters, collecting items, and making choices along the way, you’ll also find some small books that will allow you to save your progress. The first page of the book will be very clear about it: “Record in me your struggles. When you return from your rest, I will recall them for you”. Saving your progress is certainly advised since you can end up making a wrong choice that can lead your friends towards their death.

There is more than one ending in the game. You’ll learn that there is more than one path you can walk through once you meet an entity known as Matemna. While she does not have all of the answers you seek, she will let you know that you’ve managed to escape death, which is certainly not an easy task! Her job is to help to facilitate your return. Thanks to her, you’ll be able to retrace the path that led to your death, hence the name of this game! As long as you wield the power and have the will to use it, you’ll be able to retry as many times as you wish.

 

Behind Matemna will be five tomes, which keep records of your journey. Once you get the choice, you can select one of these tomes to jump back in time. For example – and as to not spoil everything – if at the start of the game you decide to take Lucas’ hand, you’ll be transported to a mausoleum. Once you reach an ending and go to Matemna, if you check the rightmost pedestal, the green book on top of it will read “I took Luca’s hand and woke up in the mausoleum,” which lets you know exactly to what point you’ll be returning to. But wait, there’s more! There will be different pages in the book, and you can select any of them to be even more specific as to where you’ll end up at.

 

As you’ve probably guessed by now, the trophies for Retrace: Memories of Death will be tied to getting the different endings there are for the game. There are twelve trophies in total for this one that you will need to unlock before you can add a new Platinum trophy to your collection. One you will get for leaving Freya’s house at the start of the game, another one will pop for returning to the scene at the bus station at the start of the game, and the rest will be unlocked as you get the endings for the game.

If you’re a fan of visual novels with a dark twist, then Retrace: Memories of Death could be a good option on PlayStation 4. It’s not a long adventure, but since you’ll be doing multiple runs to get all of the endings – and a new Platinum trophy – as you learn from your mistakes and try to change the fate of your friends, this won’t be an issue. Retrace: Memories of Death is out on PlayStation 4 with a $7.99 asking price.

Disclaimer
This Retrace: Memories of Death review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by eastasiasoft.