Yes, former Cing staff worked on Another Code: Recollection

As I worked on my review for Another Code: Recollection, one concern I kept coming across for the then-upcoming title was whether or not anyone from the original developer, Cing, was involved in the project.

It’s understandable. Cing was a niche but celebrated developer, having been behind Hotel Dusk and Little King Story. If you were a fan of the Another Code series, you probably want the folks behind it to be working on it. What would the games mean to anyone else? However, Cing went bankrupt in 2010, and the staff were scattered to the wind. Nintendo, for their part, gave no indication that any of the original creators were working on the remakes of their games.

At the time of my review, I actually wasn’t allowed to talk about the credits. But now that restriction has passed, and I can say yes, a few former Cing staff were reunited for Another Code: Recollection.

Rika Suzuki, credited with game design/scenario in the original versions, remains as the sole credit under Scenario & Story. Taisuke Kanasaki retains the role of Art Director, though the title of Lead Director went to someone else. The CEO of Cing, Takuya Miyagawa, took the role of Technical Supervisor.

As far as I could find, that’s about it for returning staff. That’s not a lot of people, but they are significant in the creation of the original games. It should be noted that credits don’t give us the big picture. While we know these folks were involved, we don’t know how much they contributed. For all we know, these could be ornamental roles. On the other hand, they could have been steering the ship. Video game development is a collaborative process, and that means roles like “Director” mean different things to different projects.

However, I feel it’s safe to assume that the listed staff members did something. Nintendo did the same gross thing they did with Metroid Prime Remastered and listed everyone else who worked on the original games as “Based on the works of the ‘Another Code’ series development staff.” It might be a smidge more reasonable here since the games in Another Code: Recollection are completely rebuilt and redesigned, whereas for Metroid Prime Remastered, the game was just reskinned. But, c’mon, space on the end credits isn’t real estate. It doesn’t cost more money to have a longer staff roll. Just list the original staff!

Another Code: Recollection is available now on Switch.