Time Hollow

"Time Hollow is not a game. Still worth playing... once."

I'll just point this out right now: Time Hollow is a visual novel. It tells a story. The point isn't to be "challenged" or to "prove your skill". The only way to get a Game Over in this game is to majorly screw up in the few brief time-travel sequences-- and even then, the way it works makes this impossible to do by mistake.

If you don't like that idea, then you do not want to purchase this title.

For those that do like visual novels, the question now becomes, "Will I like this one?" I think you will. Serious fans of the genre might not like it due to the very linear style, but those just looking for a story won't mind that.


Storyline
Ethan Kairos, our protagonist, is eagerly awaiting his seventeenth birthday. Every year, he asks his parents for a nifty new clock or watch. He brings the catalogue to the dinner table, hoping to discreetly (or overtly, if his parents bring it up) mention that it'd be a nice birthday gift.

This does not end well. Why, you ask? Well, the family arguments don't help anything-- but the big problem is that they vanish from existence shortly thereafter, as if they had never been.

Yeah. The majority of the game is devoted to preventing this one occurrence. Fight time travel with time travel, as they say. ... They do say that, right?

As Ethan doesn't know why his parents have vanished, he spends much of the meantime trying to solve other problems that crop up.

The storyline is very twisty and turny. This is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who you are.


Gameplay
As I mentioned before, Time Hollow isn't a game. Apparently, the devteam was not happy about this fact, so they tacked on a silly minigame to the time-travel portion. In all honesty, they could have left it out entirely and the title wouldn't be any less worth your time for it. It was dull and pointless, and provided no challenge whatsoever-- especially given that you can back out at any time with no penalty.


Replay value
1. The opening cutscene spoils a vital plot point. Skip it the first time.
2. It's not quite for nothing that the game asks you to save after the end credits roll.

With those two short sentences, I have maximized this game's replay value for you. If you put the game away for a few months and forget what happened, then maybe you'd have a reason to play it a second time. It works with regular novels, after all-- why not visual ones?


Overall
Not many visual novels seem to make it to the US (legitimately and in English, anyway). This and the Ace Attorney series are the only examples that come to mind. So if you're starved for a decent visual novel, by all means, buy Time Hollow. If you actually want a game, you're better off looking somewhere else.


Rent or buy?
Um... is it even possible to rent DS games? If it is, I suppose you would be better off renting it. It's fairly short (though there are quite a few ending fake-outs) and like I said, has little replay value until you've forgotten the story, which will take a while.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/06/09

Game Release: Time Hollow (US, 09/23/08)