Point and click adventure games was probably one of the genre that seems so suited for the DS even during the first wave of games such as Phoenix Wright and Trace Memory. Now Konami brought out their own point and click adventure game. Time Hollow was originally released in Japan in March this year and wasn't long before it finally made it's way to the west but is it even worth your time playing this?
Story
Ethan Kairos parents went missing when he was a child. One day on his birthday he was given a Hollow Pen which allows him to open a portal to the past to put the wrongs of the past right.
Kinda cool I thought when I heard about this game when it was first announced until I played it. The story itself just plodded along fairly slow. First chapter was the usual tutorials and how to use the pen. Then came the next chapter which still never got the story going. It isn't until probably near the end that somehow the story kicks into a different gear but by this point it's pointless. The game is over by then. Another thing is the fact that every character seems so accepting about the fact that there is somehow a way to open portals into the past which, even though it is about time traveling portals, never seems that believable.
Maybe I'm being unfair that I'm comparing the story aspect for this with the Ace Attorney series but that's probably because it set the bar in my opinion for story telling in a point and click game.
Overall, so so story. Just not that gripping.
Graphics
The style is much like the hundreds of visual novel games in Japan (ah who am I kidding. Hentai games more like) where the characters are very detailed and so is the background. There are also moments when you can see FMV during the game but everything is compressed that it seems fairly blocky when watching it which doesn't surprise me since I wasn't expecting DVD quality. Overall I give the graphics a thumbs up.
Sound
I wouldn't say that the game has a massive selection of music. In fact, I would probably say that you can count the number of background music without even using all your fingers. Also, it's not the fact that the music is terrible, it's more the fact that if you don't find a way to progress in the game, you will be hearing the same music over, and over, and over again and it does happen. A lot. In fact, I'm really sure that they only have a selection of 5 music which they play over. Overall, decent first time listening to it. Not after the 10th time.
Gameplay
As mentioned before, this is a point and click game. Point at an item, location, character to get clues, conversations etc. Unfortunately in the first chapter, when the main character discovers that a portal had opened in his room, I thought the reasonable thing would be to click and check the actual portal. Nothing. It was after several minutes of random clicking about that I discovered that to actually progress to the next scene... I had to click on the carpet. Yes. The main character is more concerned about how his carpet changed to a different color than a HUGE FREAKIN' PORTAL IN HIS ROOM. This is an example of how you'll spend most of the game clicking about because the thing you have to click on is either too small or out of sight until you have to move the background picture to see it.
Anyways, the game is split into 2 parts. The information gathering for something like an accident and the actual use of the hollow pen to travel to the past to do general things like putting out fires, putting memos in a locker room or trying to prevent people getting into accidents as seen in a flashback from the main character.
Just like the Phoenix Wright games, this game also suffers from constant walking about to different locations and the game not giving you an "A to B" route but instead making you go through 2 or more scenaries just to go to the room you want to go. It only adds a few seconds but the fact is that it feels like an eternity when you want to get to your next location as soon as possible.
Lifespan
This is a very short game for a point and click adventure. I played about an hour of it a day and it was over after about a week. This is also game you would be very hard pressed to replay again so the replay value is pretty much nil.
Conclusion
Time Hollow could've been a good game but is let down by fairly forgettable characters, short lifespan and below average story. A rental at most but not for one to purchase at full price.
6.0/10
