Customer Reviews

Time Hollow

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked Time Hollow up because I was such a fan of the creator's (Junko Kawano) previous effort Shadow of Destiny for the PS2. Both games deal with time travel and the effects of changing the past. Shadow of Destiny and Time Hollow have some similarities but the latter has a much different story and gameplay. In the game you open holes into the past to change certain things in order to create realities that fit your objectives, while in Shadow of Destiny you physically traveled back in time. Neither game has deep gameplay, though both games' strong point is their story. I'll admit that at first I didn't like the anime art style of the game, but eventually it didn't matter because the story was so enthralling. While the story does suck you in, it doesn't last very long, which is a bummer. I played the game for about an hour a day and finished it in a week and a half. One thing I enjoyed about the game besides the story was the music which is very effective and creepy at times. Time Hollow is obviously marketed towards teens with its anime art style, adolescent main character, and simple puzzles, but I still found it enjoyable as a 24 year old. One thing that was disappointing was the lack of replay value since Shadow of Destiny had loads of it. There's a few things that can be done on replay but not much. I recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of the adventure/detective point-and-click type gameplay as well as Junko Kawano's previous effort Shadow of Destiny.

I am a big fan of point and click style adventure games, so I don't usually complain about "lack of gameplay" in the usual sense for these types of games. Time Hollow, however, literally has no gameplay-and that is one of it's huge flaws.

You click around on a map to visit locations, but you never have to explore because the game almost always tells you exactly where to go. Dialogue consists of clicking on various question bubbles until the exchange has ended, but there is no real interactivity here; just move down the list.

The main hook of the game is supposed to be the hollow pen, a tool that lets you "dig" through certain points of time to alter the past. You will be presented with a scene and it's up to you to find the right place to dig a hole. Mess up too many times and it's game over. Unfortunately, none of these digging sessions encourage you to solve anything on your own-the answers are so obvious that the whole thing is over in a minute or two.

Now all of this excessive hand-holding and linearity might be forgiven if there were a good plot underneath it all-after all, adventure games like these are played for their storyline more than anything else. Time Hollow doesn't deliver here either. While the initial mystery got me interested, (what happened to Ethan's parents and who is behind it all?) by then end I found that I really didn't care what happened. The characters have little to no backstory, so you don't really care when they are put in danger. The plot feels somewhat bland and unoriginal, but the weak characters are really what pulls it down the most.

So far this has been pretty negative, but there are good points to Time Hollow: The interface is slick and fun to use. The artwork and music do a great job of setting the mood, and the plot does have some moments (it's definitely not terrible). What it comes down to is this: Time Hollow is a decent adventure game that is held back by uninteresting characters and complete lack of challenge. Also keeping in mind that it's quite short, I'd say this one is a rental.

I loved the story. I found myself wanting to keep playing, just to see what happens next. However, the game play elements are severely lacking. It's not very challenging, although it pretends to be. Time Hollow is like the opposite of Professor Layton and the Curious Village. The former has better story but bad puzzles, whereas the latter has great puzzles but only a mildly entertaining story. All in all, it is definitely worth playing once through. Just don't expect it to be any more than a manga.

I didn't know what to expect when I purchased this game, but was definitely surprised how good it was. The graphics are great and the cinematics is a nice touch. The game is rather short, but it keeps you wanting to play to find out how the story unfolds. A great game overall and would recommend this to anyone.

Time Hollow is a point and click adventure for the DS rated teen. To start with there are violent images and events that lightly warrant the rating but not by much.

The game premise is fairly simple you are presented with a mystery (I don't do spoilers) in game and use a magic pen to draw holes to other times to effect current situations and solve the puzzle. The game progresses through chapters during which the game's events get more serious. All in all my game took about 15 hours to get through which isn't bad play time for a DS title.

There are flaws though: For one the game plays like a novel. This sounds like a good thing but it lacks the charm, variety, and style of games like Hotel Dusk, and at times dialogue drawls on too long. The characters seem shallow and poorly written, at times I was questioning the antagonist's motivations and the secondary characters are more plot devices than people. Also other than making time holes there was nothing to do. To find the next bit of plot I'd just check all of the areas until something looked unordinary. Investigate. Rinse, repeat. Make time hole, move on to the next chapter. There was ample room for minigames or special tools but they settled for the same old thing every chapter.

It was still kind of entertaining and good for anyone that absolutely loves point and click games but for the rest of us some more substance would be good. Try it before you buy it is the verdict! ^_^

I got this game for Christmas and loved it. I love the characters and story line. I was shocked to find the main guy (Ethan Kairos) had Ichigo's English voice actor from the anime of BLEACH. But none the less, good game.
You go through a few chapters changing people's past with your hollow pen doing what's best for them and to make them happy. It can be quite confusing at points but once you go through a routine throughout the game then you'll get it and pass through it with ease.


The only thing that wasn't pleasing about this game...it was too short. I beat it in like practically a day. It might have possibly different endings but looking at Wikipedia on this game basically says "not really". So don't spend TOO much on this game cause it wouldn't really be worth it. Good story and characters through out the game but like I said don't spend too much on it. To me, it has a feel of Japanese visual novel that got pretty popular and made into a game but not sure of this. So enjoy this game and have fun and take your time on it, don't do what I did and just played it all day long until I beat it.

This game is a great adventure game. The graphics are beautiful, and I actually enjoyed the story of the game. I found many of the puzzles challenging, and the charascters were interesting. The feel is very much a DS video game, the two screens are used and lots of stylus gameplay. If you are looking for a solid DS adventure game, I highly recommend this one.

Time Hollow follows along Ethan Kairos, whose just turned seventeen. On the wake of his birthday, Ethan discovers that his parents have gone missing; and, apparently, have been missing for the past twelve years. You follow Ethan as he unravels the mystery behind his parents disappearance. Armed with the Hollow Pen, a mysterious family heirloom left to him by his father, and a collection of flashbacks, Ethan can travel back in time and change the past.

Gameplay: 5/10. This is really where the game is a let down. Time Hollow is a visual novel/graphic adventure game, and most of the game is spent following around Ethan and doing what he wants to do. the player has limited choice in the matter; Ethan's flashbacks dictate where you need to go, the Hollow Pen only works in certain areas, and almost all items you need to progress in the game are thrown at you. It's extremely difficult to 'die' in the game, as when you start to run low on energy you can simply find your cat, Sox, around town and refuel. The game is split into six chapters, and most of the chapters are divided between talking to people and watching cut-scenes. Time Hollow follows an interesting concept when dealing with Ethan's time changing, and in some cases, his actions have horrid consequences. However, the player has no choice but to follow Ethan, and cannot make their own mistakes/correct Ethan's. The game is also very short, taking between 5-10 hours for the average player.

Graphics: 8/10. The graphics in this game are amazing; all of the characters are vivid, and the scenes are different enough where you could never confuse them. The cut-scenes are eye-catching and captivating.

Story: 9/10. This is where Time Hollow really shines; the entire game is essentially a mystery novella, with the player trying to work towards what happened before they're told. Unfortunately, the story is rather anticlimactic and doesn't really challenge the player.

Characters: 6/10. There are a number of different characters (I believe the game ends with twenty-one different character biographies) and while you can easily tell who is who, they often lack depth. Many of their actions go as unjustified, and the player is left guessing why certain events happened the way they did. The character biographies are short, and although the game says they change often, the change is rare and minute. Ethan doesn't seem to grow as a character, and I never felt connected with him, or any of the other characters, during the story.

Replayability: 4/10. After completing Time Hollow, you have the option of replaying it. You may then either go for the 'secret/alternate' ending, which will take as most ten minutes to unlock, or you may replay from start, with minor changes in the game (you have the option of messing with a few more items then you did last time). Overall, the game isn't really worth replaying. There are no changes in the overall storyline, so once you beat the game once, you know how to get through it for all future plays.

Overall: 3.5/5. Time Hollow is an intriguing game with a great storyline. Unfortunately, the game is too short to properly give the characters depth, and the limited choice of actions leave the player as taking on the role of a third-party observer. Overall, it's a great game if you can find it in the bargain bin, but I wouldn't pay more then $15 for it.

This game was pretty good, there was a lot of running in circles, and a lot of confusion. However over all it was fun to play and the dialogue and problems are both realistic and sometimes funny. I would play it again.

I picked up this game not knowing much about it except for the reviews. It never got much press despite the fact that the gameplay is similar to Hotel Dusk or Phoenix Wright. If you love these two games, you'll love Time Hollow.

The game has you navigating through different locations (similar to Phoenix Wright), talking to people, and figuring out how to correct the past with your Hollow Pen. The story is enjoyable and you'll have fun sending items into the past to correct the present or figuring out how to prevent events from happening.

The game is pretty short, I beat it over the course of two plane trips and a day of off and on playing (5 hrs?) And there's not much replay value. But finding games like this is hard and if you love this type of game, it's definitely recommended.