Huge fan of Kotaro Uchikoshi (999, Virtue’s Last Reward), so I wanted to check out his earlier work: Ever 17, which many people had recommended to those who enjoyed the Zero Escape series.

I actually first played this months ago, got a bad ending, then left it alone for a while. This past week, I felt compelled to power through the other routes to finally unravel the many mysteries. I would definitely recommend using a guide on your second and subsequent playthroughs, so that you know about the key dialogue choices which can alter the ending.

So the biggest twist - that the two major routes actually take place in different years - was actually spoilt to me as I was skimming through the Ever 17 wikipedia page. However, that didn’t make the game any less enjoyable. Other mysteries like the relationship between Tsugumi, Sara and Hokuto I definitely did not see coming, and the reunion was a great moment.

Other highlights for me include:

  • Sora
  • Sara and shounen’s background
  • the many discussions on memory and self
  • different perspectives on living vs. dying
  • the real life lore and the stories that the characters told
  • the mirror freakout
  • Takeshi and Tsugumi on the jellyfish
  • shounen trying to insert his pen inside You’s pen lid :3
  • Blick Winkel, you son of a bitch!

Kind of wish that the skip text feature could go even faster, it’s a pain to go through certain scenarios multiple times (i.e. the damn hide and seek). The shortcuts are somewhat convenient but they don’t beat a flowchart.

My favourite part of the game is arguably the soundtrack, it is so damn good! Every track seemed to fit the scenario that it was played in. You could feel the sadness, joy, confusion, tension and all other kinds of emotion just by reading and listening, it’s a great experience.

The completion stats are available in the extras, which is very handy for checking which endings you’ve yet to see. You can also view the artwork and listen to the music there.

If you don’t enjoy reading, then Ever 17 probably isn’t for you, as it’s a true visual novel. There are no puzzles to solve like in Zero Escape, the only gameplay is choosing between dialogue options. If you love a good mystery with interesting characters, however, then I can’t recommend Ever 17 enough.

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Ranking:

  1. Sora (don’t care!)
  2. Tsugumi
  3. You
  4. Sara
  5. Coco (just nope)