Let’s get this out of the way up front:Ever 17: The Out of Infinitycomes highly recommended. Part of the Infinity series of visual novels, this title is where the series picks up its stride. Leaving the awkward Never 7: The End of Infinity behind, the writers on this one created a disaster narrative that could have been a blockbuster movie, injected it with a good dose of anime flavor and then got weird with it. Since this is a remaster of a game from 2002, one can be forgiven for expecting tired tropes that might have seemed fresh at the time, but this is a title that stands out and still works well 23 years later.
The tale found in this one fills the role of a near-future sci-fi thriller. Takeshi managed to luck into a free ticket to the destination amusement complex, LeMU. An artificial island created as a landing site for a giant park located deep underwater, LeMU has become a vacation spot to be envied, replete with shopping, restaurants and rides, all built into the depths of the ocean. The offerings the attraction provides cannot be found anywhere else on Earth. Because of the unique design behind the park, the safety mechanisms and precautions are meant to be foolproof. We all know how that goes.
After sucker-punching a kid in a case of mistaken identity, Takeshi helps get the victim to the nurse’s station. As he’s leaving, all hell breaks out. Doors shut and bolt and water begins flooding the station. After a harrowing escape, with the assistance of a mysterious woman who seems to know more than she lets on, he meets up with a couple of employees and other park guests. The group works to gather information about what’s going on and learns that the water pressure is going to crush the remains of the complex in just over a week. Failure to escape is sure death, and it’s not like someone can swim out at that depth.
Water… ah… ah… finds a way
This just touches on the basic set up ofEver 17. There’s a real fear of spoiling too much as the twists and turns introduce plot elements that range from reasonably predictable to just plain bonkers. UnlikeNever 7, which had strange elements but felt like they didn’t slot into the story being told, the narrative beats feel like they belong in the world that the characters are inhabiting. It’s also nice that this title stands on its own; there’s no need to go through Never 7 first.
Regarding the art, it’s well done and varied. Based on the nature of the genre, it can be common, and even expected, for corners to be cut with the art. WhileEver 17was never a high-budget AAA style game, one can tell that real work and love was put into it. The backgrounds all have nice details and everything blends together to create an artistically-cohesive whole.
The writing is also great. Many visual novel games, especially the pure stuff from Japan, can run into awkward turns of phrases or decisions and explanations that don’t always make sense. That doesn’t happen often here. Solutions are brought up and knocked down or explored. Character interactions feel like actual interactions. The cast members on display are likable or annoying in ways that go with the character. This all gets put together to create an experience of reading a fun interactive comic book that nails the pacing. It’s a thriller with thinky parts. A popcorn experience that allows for player choice.
It’s a thriller with thinky parts. A popcorn experience that allows for player choice.
That player choice does feel more substantial than one could reasonably expect from a visual novel originally created so long ago. It’s also the point that locked me in. Very early on, the player is given a choice: either to pay attention to the orientation as the elevator descends into LeMU proper, or let a bored child tell the protagonist an “ame-joke”. When the disaster started happening, I found myself, as a player, regretting listening to the joke, as having a better idea of the layout would have allowed me to make smarter decisions. The fact that a visual novel could cause that feeling is an achievement.
If it was a park for cats, it’d be called LeMEW.
Compliments need to be made all around for the remaster work. I am someone unfamiliar with how this looked when it originally came out. Playing this as a neophyte, I see crisp edges where they need to be, bright vibrant colors and backgrounds that appeared sharp on the Switch, whether in docked mode or on the tablet. The character designs are also a major step up from Never 7. The only knock to be made is that those prerendered movies are showing their age, with a bit of the chunkiness that is typical of early CGI. They’re clean looking and appear to have been touched during the remaster process, but still dated. I don’t know if it would have been worth the time and expenditure to completely remake these, but it is noticeable.
Finally, we have to mention the music. While this isn’t a score that will cause folks to go hunt down the soundtrack, the tone vacillates between a languid retro-future elevator music vibe, to a pumping, energetic tone when tension is mounting. UnlikeNever 7, the music adds to the ambiance instead of just being…present.
Closing Comments:
For visual novel fans, or the curious,Ever 17: The Out of Infinityis an absolute must-play. It takes the disaster movie template from the ‘90’s and early 2000s and adds to it, creating a thematically-diverse, gripping story. While player choice isn’t going to yield wildly divergent results, it feels like it matters to both the story and to the player, which is a feat for a game that was created so long ago. This is one where avoiding spoilers is for the best, as this title has some surprising twists and turns. Even when a story beat relies on a trope, it evolves the trope into something new and interesting. It’s also a lengthy story that takes a bit to see the final ending, but never overstays its welcome.
Ever 17: The Out of Infinity
Description Disaster has struck and Takeshi is trapped in an underwater theme park with no real hope of escape in Ever 17: The Out of Infinity.
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