One of the greatest regrets of my life is that I will never be able to make my friends appreciate the incredible acting that is Tom Hanks. The complexity and depth of movies like Philadelphia, Forrest Gump and The Terminal have given me more food for thought than possibly any class or lecture I’ve ever attended. And yet, every Friday as I sit down with my friends for movie night, I realize that we’re always stuck with subpar, Michael Bay style action flicks like The Expendables, or Transformers. Not that there is anything wrong with these, but occasionally I’d like to watch something more intellectually stimulating than say, the equivalent of solving a 1x1x1 rubix cube.
Long since have I come to accept that there are many things in life that can’t be appreciated by everyone. However, being the self imposed hypocrite that I am, I have still tried hard to sample every movie, music or book thrown my way by my friends in spite of myself. Ergo, when my good pal ImperialX passionately demanded me to play a certain visual novel, claiming something along the lines of “best story ever written by mankind and I will feel very sorry if you die without ever playing this”, I felt it was at the very least my moral obligation as a friend and an appreciator of the arts to see what all the fuss was about.
Thus during a long weekend, after a tedious period of exams, I decided to set aside my plans and marathon the game. My original plan was to finish 2 arcs on Friday, 2 on Saturday and the final arc on Sunday with enough time to cram homework late into the night if need be. As it turned out, by 8 am on Monday I was red-eyed, extremely sleep-deprived, almost late for school and starting a 3rd play-through of the game. As hard as it is to imagine, it really did turn out to be just that good. So much for my brilliant plan.
Ever17 tells the tale of a series of events at the underwater theme-park LeMU. When an unexpected accident occurs, depressurization causes massive flooding, submerging escape routes and trapping several people inside the structure. You play through the perspective of either college student Kuranari Takeshi or a mysterious teenager known only as ‘Kid’ as they with others try to find a way to escape to the surface. Communications are down, rescuers show no sign of showing up, and the group faces an increasingly dire situation as LeMU’s structure begins to crumble under the strain of severe water pressure. Through this journey of communal survival, love is formed, lost connections discovered, and the dark secrets of LeMU slowly unveiled.
My very first impression was that the game was that it was old. As someone who was more accustomed to perfectly rendered hair strands and properly proportioned character models, I found that the character sprites in this game were rather…ancient looking. This impression was rather quickly remedied however, by vivid CG, detailed backgrounds, convincing voice acting and an impressive 26 song soundtrack. All too soon I found myself immersed in it’s atmosphere, sketchy sprites all forgotten. I guess the artist who did the character models went on holiday, found a loving wife, married and never came back.
I had to admit that my first impression of the game being old only made me more impressed at how well the game seemed to be put together for a 2002 title. The design team had clearly delivered a mammoth effort into polishing the game up as best they could with the limited resolution and music format they had to work with, and the game for the most part is beautiful and atmospheric. There were various bumps and hiccups along the way, but I would sooner stop reading a book because I didn’t like the font, than stop playing a visual novel because the art occasionally slipped.
Besides, we’re only an hour in, and the story just started to get interesting.
It soon became apparent Ever17 was no pushover when it came to narrative either. The story’s pacing is done extremely well, with character development so seamlessly woven into the plot that it was a while before I even realized I was becoming more and more attached to each character. Even more impressive however, was the diversity of all the different arcs. Despite essentially being a replay of the exact same event, the game manages to give enough variety to each separate storyline such that when crossovers do occur, they feel more like ‘deja vu’ moments rather than the same plot repeating over and over again. Playing from two perspectives also gives interesting additions to the plot. Many mysteries that were unsolved in one storyline become obvious when viewed from another perspective, and these little discoveries keep the game all the more fresh and interesting in subsequent play-throughs. It was no wonder why the game had like a bajillion save slots. You sorta needed that many if you were crazy enough to double check every reference the game made to past and alternative story lines.
And if this wasn’t enough work for your fun, Ever17 also had the habit of making you think. Hard. Intertwined within the core story were philosophical elements that kept emerging and nudging at the back of the player’s mind. How do we define time? How can we prove our existence? Can there be life without death? These questions, while on the surface seem abstract and isolated, were spun into the narrative in a engaging and purposeful way which I had thought not possible. By Saturday night, I was mentally beat, but thoroughly pleased with the game’s progress, for it had already earned itself a place in my good books as an intellectually stimulating and enjoyable experience. Only a few lose plot threads were left hanging which I assumed would be tied up in the final arc.
Hah. How naive I was.
If I were to transcribed my thought process while playing through through the final arc, it would probably turn out to be a mixture of holy shits! and fucking awesomes! Unfortunately my friend wouldn’t be very pleased if I cussed excessively on his blog, so I’ll refrain from doing so. =3
I felt almost silly knowing that I was almost satisfied at the point of finishing only the first 4 arcs when they quite literally shrivel and cower in awe in comparison to the full story, like fangirls kneeling before a 6 foot golden Justin Bieber statue. To rate my experience after 4 arcs on a scale of 1 to 10, and then rerate the game after I finished it would cause the scale would explode because there wouldn’t be enough room fit all the awesome. Without spoiling too much, (thought you’d probably have guessed by now), Ever17 has an epic EPIC, plot twist. It’s the sort of plot twist that is so well crafted, so ingenious, so awesome and yet so simple that it deserves me devoting two entire paragraphs to just talking about it.
If a good plot twist is one you never saw coming, and can make a mediocre story interesting, then a great plot twist is one you totally should have saw coming, but didn’t, and can make any good story, amazing. Ever17’s plot twist is of the latter category. It has the sort of interwoven narrative that will continually hurl clues at us, the unsuspecting audience, without us ever realizing their significance until it hits us like a ton of bricks being towed by a jet plane. Think Sixth Sense (yes, I’m pulling out the age old reference). I’m willing to be that at least half the people who’ve liked it have watched it more than once. Why watch a movie again when the plot twist is already spoiled? It’s because the most exciting part isn’t actually the twist itself, but the scenes leading up to that point. Every camera angle, every line of dialogue and every character interaction is delicately planned to carefully hide, yet at the same time blatantly hint at the fact that Bruce Willis is actually *Major Spoilers* dead *Major Spoilers*. To be able to go through and pick out these scenes that make you wonder “why didn’t I see that last time?” makes the film enjoyable no matter how many times it’s watched.
Ever17 is just like that, except instead of a 2 hour movie, its a full on 30-40 hour game. The sheer amount of attention to every minuscule event, the way the story is constructed and the elaborate lengths which the game goes to in order to suggest at and yet hide the final conclusion from the player itself is a staggering achievement in itself. The game is like a beautifully built card tower, it’s brilliance lying not only in it’s finished form, but the intricate role of each individual card showing the careful attention to detail in it’s construction. Every card is important, just like how every character, every scene, even every room in Ever17 will contain something more than just what meets the eye. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed Ever17, for it has definitely lived up and exceeded to the hype of my rather overzealous friend. My only two regrets now is the countless hours I will spend replaying this game instead of doing my homework, and the fact that I have another masterpiece in my knowledge which I know will go unnoticed to so many.
I could go on and on… but I find that this is one of those rare occasions where the thoughts I wish to convey in this article are at many a times beyond the scope of my literary abilities. Ever17 is one of those rare works whose merit cannot be expressed as simplistically as finding synonyms for the word “amazing” and thinking of witty analogies or clever expressions. Hence I will close with the words of a fellow reviewer, whose conclusion I feel is far more fitting and powerful than any I could ever conceive.
“Ever 17 is an ageless masterpiece. It has already entered the realms in which its staggering brilliance cannot be fully expressed in the form of human linguistics. It is truly a work of art that only few with the utmost patience can fully come to appreciate. Will you be one of those who choose to read forth, and hear of a tale of wonderment that will surely snatch itself a place in your mind, heart and soul for the rest of your life?” - ImperialX
Very good review, thank you! I played this game a few years ago and I have exactly the same feeling as you: Ever17 is a masterpiece forever! I am glad at least some people in the world can understand the value of this game. In fact, I entered this website just by accident, generally I will leave after reading without posting any comment. But this time I decided to say something, because this review really reminds me of the great memories of playing Ever17. Thank you for your good review again!
Posted by key | February 24, 2011, 4:39 AMI sign up just 2 say, nice review. It touches on everything ever17 and i hope many will read it. As surely it would convince them 2 play this god-like masterpiece
Posted by Z3phyra | February 25, 2011, 2:51 PM“Only a few lose plot threads were left hanging which I assumed would be tied up in the final arc.
Hah. How naive I was.
If I were to transcribed my thought process while playing through through the final arc, it would probably turn out to be a mixture of holy shits! and fucking awesomes!”
I totaly felt the same when I played the final route. ‘Holy shit!’ ‘WTF??’ was all I thought during the play. I never ever saw that plot twist coming!!
Hopefully many more people will read your review and play this game.
Posted by Mirai | March 25, 2011, 12:36 AMI will start playing Ever17 post-haste. It has been on my Laptop for a few months now, but I kept putting playing it due to, life, work, other games, etc. Luckily, I stumbled upon this finely written blog post a few minutes ago, and suffice to say you have utterly convinced me that I must play this as soon as humanly possible.
Posted by Cormac | April 11, 2011, 6:08 PMI dont play this game… but I’m really interested. EPIC plot twist… mmm I think I will delight it!
Posted by carlos | April 23, 2011, 7:51 AMI really need to your read your posts more often. I’ve been missing out on some great reads.
Posted by catchercatch | April 23, 2011, 3:56 PMLikewise. I’ve been following your blog ever since IPX showed me the beginning of your Ever17 deconstruction. Very disappointed that you can’t find time to follow it through, but that’s how life is eh?
Posted by Ryhzuo | April 23, 2011, 4:01 PMI agree Seung. Where is that Ever17 deconstruction?
Posted by ImperialX | August 19, 2011, 7:21 PMWhenever I learn to write more concisely.
I’m getting there.
Posted by catchercatch | August 20, 2011, 5:09 AMI must say, you sure know how to create some hype.
After reading this review some time ago, I got curious and decided to give Ever17 a try. Considering I´m a bit of a greenhorn in this visual novel biz, I was a bit concerned I wouldn´t have what it takes to enjoy this game.
Just finished You´s good End and I´m allready baffled for the ammount of new plot / “wtf” you get in the first minutes by playing it a second time
Thanks for the nice review. On to the final Arc!
Posted by Akumatafur | June 8, 2011, 10:31 AMI’ll be the first to admit I totally went overboard with hyperbole in my review, but that’s only to emphasize how much I really want people to try this game.
Enjoy yourself with the final arc, and make sure you come back and post your thoughts after you have your mind blown.
Posted by Ryhzuo | June 8, 2011, 6:46 PMWell, that was a heck of a positive review. Normally I’d ignore it (too much hyperbole makes me distrustful), but the tsundere essay impressed me enough that I’m willing to try ever17. After a bit of searching, would I be correct to think that http://www.demonoid.me/files/details/1443018/007725407464/ is the torrent to use/
Posted by gwern0 | July 15, 2011, 10:12 AMHi again, sorry for the delay. I just finally finished the game and couldn´t wait to share my thoughts about it. There may be some spoilers (!) in the way, so please be warned by reading…..Like I said in my last post, I´m a newbie in visual novels. Therefore, my play behaviour and judgment wasn´t allways the sharpest. Still, the positive hype from your review and the “great plot twist” you were selling us all along had such power that I was decided to do ANYTHING to achieve that goal. What does that mean? Let´s go by each girl arc to find out:
You´s arc: My first gameplay and (by sheer begginer´s luck) first good end. Curiously, reading your review made me suspicious about everyone. I felt I couldn´t trust any of the words coming from the characters (not even from myself!) from a beggining, I felt there was a huge conspirancy trying to get me apart from the “Truth”, leading me into dead ends, confusing me each step. At the end I got a great play experience (a mix of tender You scenes, philosophical ramble, and delicious double entendre), but the doubts in my head/general plot holes were still big and numerous. So I played again.
Tsugumi´s arc: I loathed this girl and despised this route, I really did. It didn´t help that Tsugumi had one of the bitchiest personalities I´ve ever seen, but the cast (I´m looking at you kiddo) achieved to piss me off at least once. Naturally, my foul spirits combined with the murky atmosphere got me a well deserved Bad End. After trying once more and heading to the Good End, a bit of my hate vanished in thin air. Maybe I was too tired/sad to get angry, maybe there wasn´t place for hate in the last scenes I witnessed. The rage may have gone, but the unanswered questions and mindfucks kept piling up more and more….
Sara´s arc: eeeeehhhh….more mindfucks, I guess? One big doubt got lifted off my shoulders as I played this path, but it gave me in exchange other puzzle pieces to play with. At first I thought it was useless ramble….until I started remembering my last two game sessions. Shortest path, but also imo one of the most esential to get the big picture unfolding at the final arc.
Sora´s arc: If I could go back in time, I would have tried to go for this path first. It´s really weird, but in the other arcs I acted like a rational (almost unfeeling) machine under the motto “The end justifies the means”. I was aware that in order to get to see the “awaited TRUE ending with the definitive FINAL PLOTWIST”, I had to achieve the other 4 paths. That would technically mean; go for target girl, say some pretty stuff that suits her (although the half of the time I would be personally strictly against the options given) and win her heart. No biggie. Sora was for me a special case, since being conscious for a certain plot twist you get to know early in the game SPOILER ALERT AHEAD———–She isn´t “real” but an A.I hologram system part of the LeMu Park——-SPOILER ENDS, I pretty much thought from a beggining. “Meh, why should I waste my time fraternizing with her, I would be beating a dead horse “. Big mistake. She was one of the greatest characters from this whole experience and playing her path was a journey full of joy and sorrow which I would gladly repeat again. Still a bit mournful I started once again and followed the new unlocked path….
Coco´s Arc: Just go play Ever17. DO IT.
The hours you spent in the other arcs are totally worth it and it will not only answer all your doubts and inquiries, but will make you gasp at the sheer awesomeness of its final surprise. I was a bit skeptical about your hyperbole Ryzhuo, but now I can´t really blame you. I can also see why you (or was it Imperialx?) mentioned this game at the Madoka article. This was a hell of a month and I can only thank this review plus reccomend this game for other
newcomers.
There may be one or two questions about the plot/minor complaints, but I ´ll let my head cool down a bit and post them another time.
ps. I don´t want to see a chicken sandwich again. EVER.
Posted by Akumatafur | July 22, 2011, 10:35 AM@Akumatafur
It’s great to know that I wasn’t the only one to play through the whole story in this month. And even in the same order ^^ Finished just yesterday and obviously, my opinion in not even an inch different than all of yours
It wasn’t playing a game, wasn’t reading the book, it was more like an experience, amazing one, touching, mind-blowing at the same time. The way all arcs tie together at the end in astounding plot twisting final is just perfect. Masterpiece. Just try and see yourself everyone. And just in case, don’t forget handkerchief, it may come in handy, even if you consider yourself tough :]
@Ryhzuo
“best story ever written by mankind and I will feel very sorry if you die without ever playing this” – Best sum up. From now on I’ll be using that phrase to convince my friends to try it ^^
Posted by Ilian | July 26, 2011, 8:01 AMBest script and character development. Ever. And the 8 ends are valid. And the last arc is a WTF and holy shit and OMG set.
Posted by Carlos | August 20, 2011, 6:23 PMCoco Path was very interesting.
I have completed all the Good End and You’s Bad End.
But there’s still various things I missed.
Can you guys enlighten me?
(SPOILER)
First, a masterpiece, but please tell me, why Takeshi revived, that made it completely illogical.
The story itself was based on logical plot, but the piece to make it logical isn’t logical. How can a human
who drowned for several minutes, even if infected with “Cure, which requires 5years to replace the cells” revive?
It just outrageous.
Second, Pipi suddenly becomes active after the “taxi” gets to the surface, I don’t know why, did i miss something?
Could it be suddenly Tsugumi pressed that button to turn it on? If so, it should be more clearer
Okay, now for the real question
Coco’s drawed on the statute-pointing to the ceiling- on 2017
Coco “ghost” drew on the statute -pointing east- on 2034
So can someone explain to me the meaning behind them or tell me information I have missed.
The “Kick the Can” game
From what I have gathered, it seems that the can used for the game itself was not kicked,
but someone produce the “can kicking” sound.
There’s several possibilities i came up with.
1. Tsugumi kicked some other can, meaning she joined the game
2. Sora produced it, however that would not explain why she would do it during 2017, furthermore not 2034 since her memory is NEW
3. Coco??? Maybe in 2034? but surely not 2017 since she was hiding in the food stand with Sora
The Sora Maintenance
It feels deliberate, in both 2017 and 2034 as it feel like it is hinting something. I don’t remember was it 2017 or 34, but one of them Sora had a maintenance and was fixed, and the other year she wasn’t fixed. The “noise” was referred to in both, but 1 was fixed , and another time it wasn’t. I’m not clear of the reason for this. Can someone explain.
Pipi obtaining the Serums
In 2017, whether it is Sora or Tsugumi path, Pipi magically finds the orange serums. If this was in 2034, i would understand as You would plan it. However this is 2017, Pipi found 1 before entering HIMMEL, and found i think 4 more after entering IBF. Again, I am wondering if I had missed something.
Tsugumi knowing the generator/pipe room and Tsugumi placing the Myum(The Costume) on the Kid
At the time of 2017, Tsugumi placed the costume on the Kid(Kaburaki), is there a reason behind this?
Then at 2034, Tsugumi placed the costume on the Kid(Hokuto/BlinkWinkel), now from the information I have heard, Tsugumi shouldn’t know You’s/Blink Winkel plan to recreate the incident of 2017. So why is she helping or doing the same thing was 2017? It was said that Tsugumi came back because Kaburaki told her she would find her son or something similar. But still.. it doesn’t make sense.
Tsugumi of 2017 who wasn’t a worker of Lemu, shouldn’t know the position of the generator/pipe room.
Disappearance of the hotdogs — Kid Route(You/Sara)
Takeshi(Kaburaki) at time 2034 said there were hotdogs however they disappeared. Now considering he was part of You/BlinkWinkel plan, could it be he was lying? to attempt to make Blink Winkel appear?
I didn’t really focused on this part(the hotdogs) as much for both 2017 and 2034. Can someone explain/recount the hotdog plot, such as whether there some cross-dimensional hotdog stealing happening or just plainly Kaburaki lying or something else.
Sara argument with Tsugumi and the pendant(Sara/You path)
It seems ultimately the issue wasn’t really made clear. Can someone tell me what they were arguing about.
Thank you for reading my concerns. Please comment and enlighten me.
Posted by HolyHawk | October 12, 2011, 11:06 PMNevermind… Basically after google’ing…
It seems, basically, Blick Winkel turns perceptions into reality……
Posted by HolyHawk | October 13, 2011, 12:11 AM