Time Hollow

Time Hollow
Studio	Tenky
Publisher	Konami
Erstveröffent- lichung	March 19, 2008 September 23, 2008 February 6, 2009
platform	Nintendo DS
genre	Adventure
Game mode	Single player
language	Japanese, English, German
Age rating	USK PEGI

Time Hollow ( Japanese TIME HOLLOW 奪 わ れ た 過去 を ​​求 め て , Time Hollow: Ubawareta Kako o Motomete , Eng. "The search for lost time") is a Japanese-style adventure game developed and published by Konami for the Nintendo DS . The game was released in Japan on March 19, 2008, in North America on September 23, 2008, and in Europe on February 6, 2009. The story was written by Junko Kawano, whose PlayStation 2 game Shadow of Memories also revolves around a young man who uses a time travel machine to change the future.

The main theme was composed by Masanori Akita and was even for the Japanese PlayStation 2 version of the game Dance Dance Revolution Supernova 2 used and for the North American PlayStation 2 version of Dance Dance Revolution X .

Gameplay

Time Hollow is a graphic adventure game in which the player takes control of Ethan Kairos, who is looking for his missing parents. With the help of the “hollow pen” he can open circular portals into the past after experiencing a flashback from a certain location. By opening these portals, he is able to change something or place objects, as well as investigate the past. Although time stops when a portal is open, certain characters can interact with Ethan. The player has to draw these portals with the stylus and when a portal is closed again a certain amount of time is lost, similar to hit points . Pieces of time called "Chrons" can be restored if Ethan's cat, Sox, finds them in the game world. The game is with animated scenes supplemented; they show important events or flashbacks. The backgrounds are static and overlaid to create a 3D effect when moved from side to side.

action

Time Hollow tells the story of Ethan Kairos , whose parents, Timothy and Pamela Kairos, mysteriously disappear on his 17th birthday. Ethan realizes that due to a change in the temporal dimension in this new reality, his parents have passed away for 12 years. A little later he finds a note that asks him to look at the garbage cans behind his school. There he finds a "Hollow Pen", an extraordinary pen with the unique ability to open time portals to the past, and a corresponding note from his parents. Ethan uses the pen to solve problems that suddenly arise and change the present, but he can remember all these parallel worlds himself . In the course of the game he meets Kori Twelves, a girl whose memory of the chronological divergences is also not erased. Ultimately, Ethan realizes that someone else's past has been changed with a "hollow pen". It turns out that the perpetrator is Irving Onegin, who claims to want revenge on Ethan for allegedly killing his mother. After a final confrontation, Irving steps through his own portal and steals the identity of Ethan's teacher in order to carry out his plan. Ethan, who succeeds several times in preventing Irving's efforts to murder his friends as well, finally succeeds in saving the lives of his parents, who were killed in an explosion in a restaurant 12 years ago, by passing them through a time portal promoted from the past to the present. He confronts Irving again, who this time falls off a cliff. Ethan finds out that Irving's mother took her own life with the help of her hollow pen, as she was unable to prevent her son's murder of Kori Twelves despite several attempts. It turns out that the kori that Ethan got to know was promoted to the present day by his father through a time portal at another point in time, as there was no other way to save her. Ethan's uncle offers to help save Kori, preventing Irving from ever carrying out his plans, which brings the present back to normal. At the end of the game, Ethan sends the pen and note back to himself in the past to avoid a time paradox.

Characters

Note: All of the characters' last names are related to numbers or time.

Ethan Kairos ( 時 尾 歩 郎 , Tokio Horō , spoken by Johnny Yong Bosch (English))

The protagonist of Time Hollow , a regular high school student who lives with his family. On the morning of his seventeenth birthday, he discovers that the world has changed so that his parents have been missing for 12 years. To uncover the secret, he uses the "hollow pen", which has the power to change history.

Tokio Horō is a play on the Japanese pronunciation of the word hollow and toki no horō ( 時 の 歩 廊 , "time corridor "). His English surname is Latin for the fullness of time. Kairos (καιρός) is an ancient Greek word and means the right or appropriate moment. The ancient Greeks had two words for time, Chronos and Kairos . The former applies to chronological or sequential time and the latter to a time in between, a moment of indefinite duration in which something special happens. What is special depends on who is using the word.

Timothy Kairos ( 時 尾 亘 , Tokyo Wataru , voiced by Yuri Lowenthal (English))

Ethan's father. On his son's 17th birthday, he and his wife disappear. He was investigating the death of a mother of his classmate, Mary Onegin.

Timothy's Japanese name is a homonym for toki o wataru ( 時 の 渡 る , "crossing time")

Pamela Kairos ( 時 尾 秋 , Tokyo Aki )

Ethan's mother. She has a happy personality and is not very focused on difficult problems, but she is a caring mother, her family comes first. It is said that she and her husband Timothy disappeared 12 years ago.

Aki means "autumn".

Derek Kairos ( 時 尾 保 , Tokyo Tamotsu , voiced by Patrick Seitz (normal Derek) / Sam Riegel (young Derek))

Ethan's uncle and Timothy's younger brother. A freelance writer investigating the incident from before. He is brusque and very serious. Although he doesn't seem to get on well with his older brother, he takes in Ethan after Timothy and Pamela disappear. He was the original owner of the Chronos Cafe.

Derek's Japanese name means toki o tamotsu ( 時 の 保 つ , "to save time").

Sox ( フ ォ 郎 , Forō )

Ethan's house cat who is very fond of Ethan and often sleeps on his bed.

Irving Onegin

The antagonist. He used to own an antique shop, but now he's trying to influence the time to harm Kairo's family and Ethan's friends. He later replaces Mr. Twombly.

Mary Onegin

Irving's mother, who also has a "hollow pen", which means that she can move around while a time slot is open. She died in a bus accident 35 years ago, prompting Irving to take revenge on the Kairos family. Trying to save her from the accident always ends up with her dying in the same way.

Jack Twombly

Ethan's teacher. He also tutored Derek and Timothy. Irving replaces him in an alternate present.

Vin Threet (, voiced by Sam Riegel )

One of Ethan's friends. He was once a basketball star, but he broke his ankle. He often annoys his sister, but he is worried if something happens to her.

Ashley Threet (voiced by Michelle Suzanne Ruff )

Vins younger sister. She and her friend Emily both appear to be in love with Ethan. She gets into trouble a lot because Irving interferes.

Ben Fourier

One of Ethan's friends. He has a problem with dogs as Shiloh died in a thunderstorm when he should have looked after him.

Morris Fivet

One of Ethan's friends. He takes studying extremely seriously and is easily concerned about his grades. Ethan gives him a brief introduction, but he forgets again after reality is rewritten. In an alternate present, he has to leave high school early and he starts walking dogs.

Eva Sixon

The new owner of the Chronos after Derek sold it. She likes to gossip. Towards the end of the game, she considers opening a takeout near Kako High School.

Aaron Seven

Olivia's friend. In chapter three, he and Ben get into a fight.

Olivia Eights

Operation in Chronos. Ben is in love with her even though she's dating Aaron. She parks her bike in front of the Chronos every day.

Emily Niner

Ashley's shy, bespectacled friend. She is clairvoyant and can determine the places where incidents happen for Ethan. She also seems to be in love with Ethan.

Sara Tenneson

Librarian at the Kako library. Often times, she helps Ethan out by finding articles for him.

Jacob Eleven

A young boy who is often involved in incidents. He owns a dog named Lucky.

Kori Twelves

The mysterious girl that everything revolves around. Timothy pulls her through a time hole in time to keep her from falling off the roof of the school building so that Derek doesn't commit suicide. Ethan and Derek both have feelings for her. Because she was dragged through time, she also gets flashbacks and can move around while time holes are open. When she is finally rescued, she marries Derek and has a daughter who looks very much like her.

Shiloh

The dog that was kept at the secret hideout. After Ethan rescues him, Ben adopts him and he is often taken out by Morris.

reception

Time Hollow received mostly mediocre reviews from critics. The game got a 65% rating on Metacritic . Gamespot praised the "great concept" and the "lively graphics", but rated the gameplay as "too simple" and "restrictively linear". IGN praised the plot, but criticized that "only a handful of characters are interesting enough to care about them".

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Konami ships Time Hollow for the Nintendo DS to retail stores nationwide . GameZone. Archived from the original on November 2, 2008. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Matt Casamassina: IGN Time Hollow Review . IGN. December 11, 2008. Retrieved January 5, 2009.

Web links

• Official Website (Japanese)
• IGN preview