* AngstWhatAngst: In ''Two Memories'', the discovery that [[spoiler:Sayoko was murdered and Richard was the initial suspect]] was a major turning point that nearly caused Ashley to give up until D gave her a pep talk. ''Recollection'' sees Ashley become shocked, but she recovered quickly, even not bothering to inform D until the subject came up in a conversation with another character. While it was indicated early on that she was aware [[spoiler:her mom was dead even before the trip, she only frets over her dad possibly being a murderer when discussing it with others.]]
* HilariousInHindsight: During the mid-2000s, debates raged amongst ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' fans about what the series' timeline looked like, as it was unknown at the time. The original version of ''Two Memories''/''Trace Memory'' references this by having Ashley be able to find a book in the mansion library titled "The Legend of Zelda Timeline"... [[{{Troll}} but you aren't allowed to read it]]. Fast-forward six years later, and Nintendo would actually release a book (''Literature/HyruleHistoria'') that fully explained the timeline up to the release of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword''.
* IronWoobie: Ashley. She goes through a lot of emotional trauma and just keeps at it.
* {{Moe}}: Ashley, especially when she's feeling sad or happy.
* MoralEventHorizon: The original version of ''R - Journey into Lost Memories'' lets you take your pick with [[spoiler:Ryan. Was it manipulating Bill into killing Sayoko in the first place? Threatening to MindRape Richard if Ashley didn't cooperate with his plan, and then doing it anyway when he thought she was taking too long and making Ashley break down in tears? Trying to screw with her mind and make her choose between her own memories and her mom's to further his goals? Or how about when he decides to just shoot her when she doesn't play along after that? And all of this just to get back at his dad for not only [[FreudianExcuse erasing his memories as a kid, but also possibly didn't do anything to save his mom from her death]] possibly as well as Richard, Sayoko, & Bill for participating the memory erasure project with him as the test subject & even possibly Ashley [[DisproportionateRetribution for having a mother that was still alive & giving the motherly love to her as a toddler]].]]
* NarmCharm: The Lake Juliet theme is pretty silly, but it's still very catchy.
* NightmareFuel: If you fail to get the [[MultipleEndings good ending]] in the DS version of ''Another Code'', [[spoiler:D will be doomed to haunt the island for the rest of his afterlife. He will never find out how and why he died and since it's very unlikely that anyone would ever visit Blood Edward Island after the events of this game, he will be completely alone. ''For all eternity.'']] Doubles as a PlayerPunch, as getting the good ending can be a ''real'' GuideDangIt.
* PlayerPunch: Non-lethal version in ''Another Code R'': [[spoiler:You're forced turn around manually for the first time in the game rather than just pressing a button and swiveling 90 degrees to see the ghost of Matt's sister, Kelly, after he tells you to look. And then you realize that Matt doesn't realize she's dead and thinks she's really standing there.]]
** D's fate in the bad ending when you get just how bad it is for him.
* RemadeAndImproved: The original ''Two Memories'' for Nintendo DS and ''R - A Journey into Lost Memories'' for Wii are niche, but nevertheless beloved entries within the Japanese adventure game genre. ''Recollection'' manages to take these two games on two different platforms and weave them into a cohesive whole, elevating much of the presentation. All the puzzles are redone to have them fit in more naturally to the setting, both games are overhauled to have fully 3D explorable worlds with far less backtracking, the music was redone, there is now voice acting to help add more life to the dialogue, the original director returned to grant the games a brand-new art style, and the original writer also came back to [[AdaptationDeviation streamline and rewrite the narrative]], changing things up just enough to both surprise long-time fans and provide a greater sense of closure to the series.
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Another Code R'' at times has more in common with ''VisualNovel/HotelDuskRoom215'' than the first game. Probably helps that both series are set in the same universe.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The Lake Juliet theme sounds a lot like the [[VideoGame/Persona4 Junes]] theme.
* TearJerker: A few times, notably when [[spoiler:Ashley's mom is revealed to be dead]] and the "good" ending.
** ''Another Code R.'' Chapter six. ''[[spoiler:Kelly.]]'' The fact they suddenly play the "reunion theme" from the first game when [[spoiler:Matt remembers]] doesn't help.
* ThatOnePuzzle: The original DS version of ''Trace Memory/Two Memories'' has a puzzle where Ashley is looking at a picture frame. In order to figure out the clue you need from this, you have to tilt the DS in a manner like you're tilting a picture frame... to cause a reflection on the ''lower screen''. Clever? Yes. Unintuitive? Also yes, because [[ViolationOfCommonSense why would you want to partially close your DS]]?
* ToyShip: Ashley is a day shy of 14 in ''Two Memories'', and D was somewhere near that before he died. That doesn't stop them from being perfect for each other!
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