Retrace: Memories of Death springs to life on consoles

Written by Jack Allin — February 27, 2021 at 10:29

If you missed out on the pixel art adventure Retrace when it was launched on PC early last year, you've now got a second chance as the game has been ported and rereleased as Retrace: Memories of Death on consoles. 

Second chances (and third, and fourth, and many more) are integral to this game, in which a young woman named Freya and three of her friends are on a ghost tour that goes "horribly wrong," resulting in them ending up in a "strange and unforgiving alternate world, one that desires their death." Here in this parallel dimension that seems "almost designed for her," Freya must open all the locked doors she finds by solving the logic puzzles within them, but "the consequences for getting them wrong can be ... unpleasant." Fortunately Freya discovers the "ability to rewind time, giving her a chance to test new paths and make different decisions in a bid for their survival."

Blending a top-down pixel art presentation with hand-painted character portraits, Retrace promises a blend of exploration, puzzle solving and some "pulse-pounding action sequences" along the way. Fortunately death "does not mean the end" but rather a new opportunity to "use what you learn on one path to explore further down another." With experience you will "find shortcuts, piece together clues and study patterns" that help you progress, but you'll also need to make choices that impact the complex LGBTQ-friendly relationships between the survivors. In the face of such adversity, "will the terror of their experience bring them closer together, or tear them apart?"

Originally launched on Steam in January 2020, Retrace: Memories of Death has since been ported to consoles and is now available to download for PS4, Xbox One and Switch.