Jolt reports:
''Just when you think you've seen every form of time manipulation gameplay possible – Braid offering several good examples by itself – along comes a new one. Time Hollow is a point-and-click adventure game for the DS, with the exceptional twist that instead of investigating and solving puzzles in the present, you do so by alternating between the present and the past.
In the game, which was written and designed by Junko Kawana (Shadow of Memories), you play a boy named Horo Tokio (or Ethan Kairos, if you're in North America). On his 17th birthday, Horo wakes up to discover that his parents disappeared 12 years ago, which is news to him. It soon becomes apparent that someone or something is trying to rewrite history, and would probably get away with it were it not for the fact that you soon discovers a Hollow Pen – a device for creating portals to the past.
Unfortunately the Hollow Pen doesn't quite give you carte blanche to go around changing history – in fact, make too many mistakes in trying to set the timeline right and it'll be game over. Much in the manner of the Phoenix Wright games, you have to investigate clues, interrogate characters and only then 'form a conclusion', or in other words work out what needs to be changed, where and when. The Hollow Pen allows you to focus on the history of specific objects and characters and then go back and change things.''
Siliconera - We’ve seen a number of video game makers shut down last year.Others like Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja developer, Ninja Studio, quietly fade away, but we’re glad to say that Tenky is still around.
Nintendo Life writes: "Those who place a value of gameplay over storyline above all else will find Time Hollow a shallow and sometimes empty experience, yet in some ways they would be missing the point. This is a game that focuses tightly on character development and a gripping storyline exploring time travel that is hard to stop experiencing until the end sequence. There is little in the way of replay value asides from a short episode following a load of a previously completed game, but while it lasts, the tale of Time Hollow is compelling from start to finish".
VGC writes: "Imagine if you will, that tomorrow when you wake up, you possess the ability to alter your past. You accidentally overcook breakfast? Not anymore, simply open a small portal to the past and take the pan off of the burner so that breakfast was never burnt to begin with. Later at work you then accidentally spill your ridiculously hot coffee all over your keyboard. No problem though, as you can open a portal to the past and move that coffee to a shelf that is nowhere near arm's reach. But let's say you really go off the deep end this time and happen to carelessly sideswipe a pedestrian during your speedy drive home from work. Once again, didn't happen, you quickly open a portal and move the once blindsided pedestrian out of harm's way."
