One of the few openings I've always watched every time I started up the game.OverviewThe story of Ever17 follows six characters as they are trapped in the underwater theme park 'LeMU', being left behind as it was being evacuated due to water leakage. The first floor is completely flooded, cutting off any possible escape, and they only have seven days before the park presumably implodes and everyone dies, so they are left with nothing other than to hope for help to arrive before that. But will help for them really come? After all, there is reason to believe that the entire accident was set up specifically to trap them there.The catch with Ever17 is that there are two main routes which tell a nearly identical story, albeit from a different character's perspective. In the beginning the POV constantly shifts between two characters until eventually you make a choice which makes either of them the permanent POV.
2020-3-9 Ever 17: The Out of Infinity is a visual novel video game developed by KID. It is the second entry in the Infinity series; it is preceded by Never 7: The End of Infinity, and followed by Remember 11: The Age of Infinity, 12Riven: The Psi-Climinal of Integral.
The other character is still there, but the whole experience ends up being rather different depending on whom you pick.Structure. Ever17 has an interesting structure. A very early choice decides which POV path you go down.
The story paths branch further with choices made in late May 3rd or early May 4th. In the Kid's POV you can end up in Sara's or You's routes, and in Takeshi's you can end up in Sora's or Tsugumi's routes. Once you have completed all of them, you can then enter Coco's route from either POV, which leads to the true end.The X's indicate Bad Ends. Ever17 keeps track of which endings you've reached so if you want 100%, you'll have to get the three bad ends as well. With the Kid-POV routes, the two bad ends are gotten by simply failing the final choice, but the Takeshi-POV bad end is gotten by having too few affection points for whoever's route you are in. Affection points towards certain characters are gathered throughout the game by picking appropriate choices.With Sara and You, having perfect affection points also leads to an extra epilogue with them, although simply clearing their route will also permanently unlock the epilogue for any future playthroughs.Characters.
The cast of Ever17 is great. I very much liked both main protagonists each when they're the POV character.
They were both interesting characters and the development they go through is quite notable. Surprisingly, they're both somewhat forgettable when they're not the POV character, which is a bit of a shame.Now for the girls. You - a nickname, her full first name being Youbiseiharukana - is the cheerful girl who always makes sure things are going well in the group. Sora is the assistant chief at LeMU and makes most of the effort in trying to find a way out and surveilling the situation. Sara is a friend of You's and is exceptionally skilled at programming and hacking. Tsugumi is very cold and introverted, being certain that their trapping was no accident, but she does eventually warm up to the group. Finally, Coco is a fourteen-year-old girl who looks ten and acts six, and has possibly the squeakiest voice I've ever heard in a visual novel.My favorite of the female characters is Tsugumi, who undergoes a total change in demeanor especially in her character route.
While she is a somewhat typical tsundere in the beginning, I started liking her the moment it turned out she was secretly keeping a pet rat. SoundtrackEver17 has a rather defining OST style that does a good job capturing and amplifying the atmosphere. It's not one of the best OSTs I've ever heard, but it's far from bad.Notable tracks are the opening theme (see top of post), of course, as well as and a track called. Besides that there are a lot of tracks that really fit the scenes they're placed in incredibly well. There's just not that many tracks that stand on their own as really great tracks.SummaryEver17 is a great visual novel. It has a loveable cast with a good dynamic and an amazing plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat as it unravels. The story has an overall feel reminiscent of another visual novel called and I very much recommend Ever17 to anyone who enjoyed that one (or its anime adaptation).The Takeshi-POV bad end and Tsugumi's story route are what ultimately got me completely hooked.
Also notable is Ever17's good use of foreshadowing to make the plot twists in Coco's route not seem out of left field, but rather satisfying. And with its unique structure and overall design, I find it hard to imagine Ever17 in any other form than as a visual novel. Again, a good representative of what the medium is capable of that other media just cannot imitate.And with that, I give Ever17 an overall score of9 / 10A thoroughly enjoyable read I won't forget anytime soon.
Ever17: The Out of Infinity is a visual novel made produced by KID that was originally released in 2002 for the Playstation 2 and Sega Dreamcast. In 2003, KID released the novel on PC and Hirameki International brought the game to the United States 2 years later. Thank goodness they did. The VN is part of a larger series called the Infinity series. Other novels in the series include, Never7: The End of Infinity, Remember11: The Age of Infinity, 12Riven ―the Ψcliminal of integral―, and Code_18 (Code_18 was not made by KID, nor written by any of the KID staff.). The series is made up of separate stories with recurring themes and theories. Of the entire Infinity series, Ever17 is the only one that ever made it over seas to the United States, though fan translations exist for Never7, and Remember11. Ever17 begins with you, the player, attending an underwater theme park called LeMU run by Leiblich Pharmaceutical, which is located 51 meters under the ocean. During a normal day at the park, an accident takes place and the park is evacuated as half the park is flooded. Everyone makes it out, except for a few individuals who become trapped in the theme park. LeMU is now under constant threat of implosion due to the water pressure which is slowly, but surely crushing the complex. The trapped people now have to hope for a timely rescue to come from the surface. However they soon discover that there is more to LeMU than meets the eye.
During the opening scene (up to the moment of the accident), the players perspective will change between Takeshi Kuranari and a nameless character called Kid. Once the accident takes place, the player will choose whose perspective they want to follow, Takeshi’s, or Kid’s. Both share some characters in common, but have some major differences between them. While playing the routes, the player will choose between one of two girls to find out the back story of (Sora and Tsugumi for Takeshi, You and Sara for Kid.) and discover more of the mystery surrounding LeMU. The characters begin to unravel the different mysteries as the novel goes on, including the true nature of existence itself. Being a sci-fi mystery, Ever17 throws out some complex terminology at times, from the Archimedes Principle, to the Third Eye. The novel does a good job explaining all of the concepts thrown out, but sometime delves a little too deeply into the explanation. For example, there is a hologram that is something of a key story piece and we are treated to a long explanation of how the hologram works. While it adds depth to the story, it also breaks the flow of the narrative somewhat. This is a minor complaint though since the explanations are still helpful regardless. Fans of sci-fi should thoroughly enjoy all of the explanations as well.
This brings me to my next point on Ever17. The writing. In short, its fantastic for the most part. Each of the 4 main arcs start off in very similar fashion. Takeshi’s arcs both start off the same, as do Kid’s. This is a bit of a problem as the stories remain the same for 75% of the routes resulting in re-reading or flat out skipping previously read text. However, the last 25% of the 4 main arcs is completely different and usually filled with all sorts of plot twists, twists that set up for the true arc of the novel. The endings of each arc are extremely well-written and full of hints and clues allowing the reader to try and come up with his/her own theory of what is taking place.
Once each of the 4 main arcs are completed, a 5th arc is unlocked. Unlike the first four, the story shifts back and forth between Takeshi and Kid. The 5th arc also features a much different set of events as we finally see the mysteries of LeMU come to light in spectacular fashion. One mystery after another is solved, and yet more pile up. Impressively enough, these plot twists and answers make perfect sense. They don’t simply come out of thin air. The first four arcs drop hints and clues the entire time, and the answers come in the final arc. You won’t usually be blind-sided by a mystery being solved. In the end, it makes sense. It’s simply great writing by the KID staff in creating a complex mystery that doesn’t rely on random assumptions and unexplained plot devices. Tying into the solid writing are characters. The interactions between all of them are great, and they make for a highly intriguing read as you try to piece together what each character may know about the events surrounding them. As you read, more and more questions about them pile up, and luckily, you aren’t left hanging on very many of them. It is plenty of fun to attempt to guess the answer to many of these questions the characters’ motivations.
But all of this would be for nothing if our two main avatars, the characters you play as, weren’t equally as interesting. I’m happy to report that both Takeshi’s and Kid’s perspectives are very interesting. Takeshi’s is a little bit more focused on the people around him, whereas Kid is more focused on himself and his apparent amnesia. Takeshi is simply visiting LeMU for the day with his friends while Kid simply doesn’t know why he is at LeMU. His memory starts from sitting on a bench at LeMU. He doesn’t even remember his own name. That caused me to have more interest in Kid’s story and perspective, while Takeshi’s was more of an emotional perspective. In the end, Ever17 is a fantastic experience. A great cast of characters, coupled with a deep, complex mystery easily made it one of the most engaging, thought provoking stories around. While the early and middle parts of the first four routes can be monotonous, the end pay off is much more than worth it, and the final route is a mind blowing experience full of twists and turns sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. Ever17: The Out of Infinity is a visual novel that will keep you guessing and leave you with a great deal of satisfaction upon completing it.
Our Score:
- Batman's Score
Summary
Pros:
+ Engaging, well written characters
+ Suspensful mystery
+ Very satisfying conclusion
Cons:
- Some long winded science explanations
- Minor, unresolved plot points
5.0