The ability to change the past has never been easier in Konami’s Time Hollow for the Nintendo DS. It is a 1st person mystery style game, in the vain of the popular Phoenix Wright series. It’s essentially a point and click adventure that takes advantage of the DS’s touch screen. Some may not care for this type of gameplay, but it, coupled with the great storyline, works well.
Ethan Kairos, the main protagonist of the game, is one day away from his 17th birthday. His parents discuss giving him something special on the day he becomes 17, though Ethan has no idea what that may be. He ends up fighting with his parents that night before going to bed. As he sleeps he has a nightmare, which is told through an OVA, and awakens to find himself in a new bedroom. His parents are now gone, and he instead lives with his uncle. He also has a mysterious item called the “Hollow Pen” which he must use to find out what happened to his parents, thus thrusting him into an adventure of time travel.
There are a total of five chapters plus the epilogue where Ethan will basically have to find clues on his parent’s mysterious disappearance. He’ll be trying to change the past over and over again until he makes it right for his benefit and his friends’ as well. The story is great, but like most stories involving time travel, it eventually works itself into quite the paradox. The ending will have you scratching your head about a few things, and the 2nd ending doesn’t do much to answer anything. Still, it is very engaging, not as good as Hotel Dusk, but better than the very similar Trace Memory. Think of it as a playable graphic novel.
Throughout the game, you’ll be helping Ethan find clues in order for him to open a hole where he can go and change the past. With the stylus, you’ll have to draw a circle to the place where Ethan thinks he might be able to change the past. Things will get frustrating if you don’t pay attention throughout the game. Analyzing the flashbacks and the scene will really have to get into your mind to have a successful time in Time Hollow.
When it comes to the graphics in this game, it’s not the greatest you’ll ever see, but in fact they are pretty bland. It mostly consists of still character images and comic book panels, though there are a few OVA quality cutscenes. These scenes are few and far between, one at the beginning, a few in the middle and one more at the end. But you don’t play a game like this for the graphics, you play it for the storyline. As for the art, it’s pretty good, the character designs are very well done. Unlike Hotel Dusk, the game doesn’t have a unique art style all of its own; just the usual anime style art, so if you aren’t a fan you probably won’t appreciate it.
The soundtrack of the game can be considered mediocre, but there aren’t a lot of tracks, so you’ll constantly be hearing the same music. Also, none of the tracks are very long, so they loop. This usually isn’t a problem, but when you find yourself stuck(and you WILL get stuck) it can get kind of annoying. After a while, you’ll find yourself turning the sound off and just playing in silence for a while. The voices are well done, though only a few characters have voice actors. For the most part, Ethan is the only one we will hear, though some scenes, especially the OVAs, are fully voiced, so any and all characters involved have a voice.
Time Hollow is a pretty decent game if you are in love with games such as Phoenix Wright. You’ll be spending time finding clues and reading character conversations that can lead into a shocking event where you’ll say wow and want to play more. The game can be finished in less than six hours but it all depends if you don’t have any idea where to go next. For the price of $29.99, Time Hollow can give you the same experience as with the Phoenix Wright games.
SCORING BREAKDOWN
STORY - 8/10
The story certainly is fun, and keeps you guessing to the end. Unfortunately, it deals a lot with the idea of time travel, and a character using this power to make changes to the past. This brings up a lot of inconsistencies, continuity errors, and a paradox of time within the game’s universe. You just kind of have to let it go and play through it, ignoring these glaring problems.
GAMEPLAY - 7/10
The gameplay is decent, similar to Hotel Dusk or the Ace Attorney games. Still, this is a point and click adventure game, so you won’t be doing anything too strenuous; mostly touching an area to walk to, or touching an item to examine. The most you actually do is drawing the time portals. The gameplay is mostly based around the storyline and the puzzles.
GRAPHICS -5/10
The graphics are nothing special, save for the OVAs. This game mostly consists of character portraits, floating heads, and comic panels. This is ok for this style of game, but sometimes, things are SO integrated into the painted on background, that you don’t see them. This often leads to overlooking important clues, and getting stuck. You have to really look at EVERYTHING while playing through.
OVERALL - 7/10
Time Hollow is a decent romp for someone looking for a more story focused game. It won’t be winning any awards, and it most certainly will only appeal to a niche crowd. However, if you’re a fan of the Ace Attorney games, Time Hollow may be a nice way to kill a weekend. It’ll run you about 5-10 hours, adding maybe an extra 30-40 minutes for the 2nd ending. Despite its shortcomings, Time Hollow is an interesting playable novel and a nice way to kill some time if you’re on a long train or plane ride.
