Draw the line, and turn back time

It’s probably not as important for most of you, but for me story is the main reason I stick with a video game. If a game does not have a captivating enough story, it will lose hold of me and I’ll jump in and out of the game over a course of months; of course there are those games that don’t need story; but this isn’t one of them, for obvious reasons.

“Time Hollow” is my latest obsession, released here in America back in Sept of 08, I didn’t get my hands on it until yesterday, and you lucky (or not) PAL gamers will be able to get your hands on it on Friday Feb 6th, though I doubt many of you will for reasons I will surely mention.

“Time Hollow” is a graphic adventure game, though the “game” part can be up for debate. You play as Ethan Kairos, a clock-nut high-schooler who wakes up to find a portal near his bed and his cat having a mysterious pen stuck in its collar. You soon realize that your parents have ceased to exist as of 12 years ago; even though you swear you where eating breakfast with them just the other day. You take it upon yourself to figure out the reason behind your family’s disappearance using the magic pen you soon figure out can make portals into the past.

This game will play similar to that of Phoenix Wright during the investigation stages; only very simplified. You use your stylus to scope out the area, double tap to take a look at something, and every once in a while you’ll be making circles to open portals to do the actual work.

My circles weren’t even half this good.

The game will have you running all over town, mainly the library, your school and a coffee shop.  Though no worries, this is a time traveling game after all, so there will be slight changes in scenery whenever you’ve changed the space-time continuum, it’s actually kind of neat too spot the small differences.

Truth be told this game is so simple there’s not much to do but enjoy the amazing art (and it is amazing, anime-quality really) the great voice actors (They don’t shine until the cut-scenes though; which are amazing I might add) and the complementary music. Truth be told, I didn’t even notice the music until my second play through; but that’s a good thing. The music should complement the game without grabbing your attention.

If you’ve been paying attention you’ll have noticed a very important fact. I’ve had the game for a total of two days, and am on a second play through already. Congratulations on spotting it! This game is short. “Portal” short. A few hours and you’ll be done with the game. But unlike Portal, it doesn’t have much replayability. Which is disappointing; this is a time-travel game, and there aren’t even alternate endings! There could have been so much more to this game.

But let me explain why this game is so short: Flashbacks.

Why investigate anything when you’ve got such decisive clues?

This game is easy for this simple reason, you are only allowed to make a portal in the places you've had a "flashback" of. This really narrows down where you need to search and its basically like the game telling you how to beat the boss before you even get to it. You’re basically two steps ahead of the game at all times. (Sort of a nice change from randomly presenting evidence when I have no clue what to do in PW)

By now you must be wondering why I bothered with this game: other then the already mentioned amazing art, music and voice acting; it has one major redeeming factor: story. (I’d be shocked if it didn’t, it is a novel game after all.)

It sucks you in and doesn’t let go till you finish it; while I was playing the game I didn’t even mind how simple it was; in fact I enjoyed the game more because of it. I was able to advance through the story without hindrance to find that last clue, or figure out what to present exactly. I may not have been challenged but it felt to me like reading a good book; I couldn’t wait to turn the page, and last time I checked, turning a page wasn't supposed to be all that difficult.

I’ve been dragging this on long enough without giving you that much info so I think it’s about time for a run-down, anything I haven’t addressed yet will be addressed here:

Pros:
-Beautiful art
-Captivating story
-Lovable characters
-Wonderful music

Cons:
-Not much of a game
-Lack of alternate endings
-Too linear and simple
-Short (mainly because of the reason above this one)

I can’t give this game a numbered score as personally, I bet none of you would agree with what I’d put, even I wouldn't. Not since “The World Ends With You” have I loved a game this much. If there was one thing I could change about this game to make it better... it would be to turn it into an anime instead of a game. It all depends on what you’re looking for... if it’s a game... run along. If you’re looking for a great story; you’ll be hard pressed to find better.


For the record I was listening to the game’s theme song for the entire time I was writing this. Give it a listen. (I can't remember a game having a better theme song.)


Seriously, this would make one hell of an anime. Hell I'll settle for a manga. It'll definitely be better then the Zelda ones.

P.S. This feels more like a potential blog post then a review... meh. I don't have a blog so this'll have to do.

This post was last modified: 02-06-2009 01:23 AM by Rawrmander.

Keep the reviews coming! Witty comments, straight to the point facts, and an appreciation for the finer points in gaming make your reviews good.

Nice review.

Yes,it would make a hell of a anime.

So this game was good? I was always a sucker for games with good art!
Thans for the review!