Time Hollow 0
A link to the past…?
By Jeremy Azevedo
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Konami’s Time Hollow for the DS won’t win any fans over in the action/adventure category, but fans of Phoenix Wright and Hotel Dusk will almost certainly find it to be a real treat. |
Typical of point and click adventures, Time Hollow places you in a mysterious setting and tasks you with unraveling the plot by playing detective over the course of several episodic levels. The anime style animation and writing adds a lot of character to the proceedings, which have a refreshingly sci-fi feel that is grounded in real life. If I had to compare it to anything, I’d say it was like a cross between “Quantum Leap” and “Saved by the Bell”.
The game opens when your main character, Ethan Kairos wakes up on his 17th birthday in some kind of alternate reality in which his parents have been missing for twelve years. He also discovers a mysterious gift that allows him to draw holes in time, through which he can alter the past. This mechanic, using the DS stylus as a pen that opens portals in the time space continuum, is both an excellent use of the DS hardware and a great setup for some really clever puzzles.
Throughout Time Hollow, you will be frustrated from time to time by an inability to figure out what to do next. At times, the next step is needlessly vague, and may require you to talk to someone you’ve never even met or find some tiny object hidden somewhere in the environment. However, you will also come to find that everything is related in some small way, and the sense of accomplishment you feel after solving a particularly hairy riddle is quite rewarding.
Again, I can really only recommend this game to people that enjoy story driven adventures, as the pacing is really rather slow. But if you have even a passing interest in science fiction, “Back to the Future” time anomalies, alternate realities and really, incredibly short skirts, you will no doubt have a mind-bendingly good time with Time Hollow.
Score: 7 out of 10
+1 if you are what is commonly referred to as an “Otaku”
-2 if you can’t read
