Adventure Corner ~ Ever 17: The Out of Infinity

Welcome to Adventure Corner, a column where members of the RPGamer staff can give their thoughts, impressions, and pseudo-reviews for various adventure titles that don’t come under our usual coverage. Adventure Corner is aimed at delivering opinions on a wide range of titles including visual novels, point-and-click adventures, investigative mysteries, and so forth.

In this edition of the column we take a look at MAGES. Inc.’s Ever 17: Out of Infinity on Nintendo Switch.

Ever 17: The Out of Infinity

Visual novel writer Kotaro Uchikoshi has an unique eye for tying together the most outlandish of sci-fi plots and making them seem plausible in a far-fetched manner.  Ever 17: The Out of Infinity has a real unfettered feel to the story that goes through many motions before everything begins to fit in place, though this version being based on the 2011 remake helps make things a little easier to follow and streamlines the journey.  Unlike the first game in the Infinity series, Never 7: The End of Infinity, there’s much less direct romantic plot in this standalone sequel.  There are still well-written characters and a penchant for unravelling layers of information to see a larger picture that stands up as a thought provoking and expansive adventure that’s hard to not see through to the end.

The game begins as Takeshi Kuranari heads out on a Golden Week break from college with two friends to an amusement park on Insel Null that feels futuristic even in this more modern setting.  Insel Null is an artificial island that is home to LeMU, which could be considered similar to SeaWorld if it weren’t for the fact that it is some 50 metres underwater.  After exploring the upper levels on the island’s surface, Takeshi is separated from his friends while entering the underwater portion via a pressurized elevator.  During this time he becomes acquainted with the tour guide Sora and energetic high schooler Coco, before later also bumping into part-time employee You, the mysterious Tsugumi, and an amnesiac teenager they end up simply calling Kid.  As Takeshi and Tsugumi walk through a corridor, the doors shut, alarms start to go off, and the underwater complex begins to flood.  This group of strangers have to find a way out of the collapsing theme park before it is fully engulfed by the ocean in 119 hours.  The amount of twists and turns beyond this premise are numerous.  There’s nuance in how each character acts, bonds, and what mysteries are uncovered as it is all incredibly detailed in a way that a single playthrough cannot fully capture.

Just a typical moment at any theme park really.

The first playthrough largely sets the tone for how each of these characters are going to interact with one another, playing upon a sense of familiarity to want to see their survival.  Each character has something that adds to the mysterious puzzle of this underwater theme park.  Despite the sci-fi twists, Ever 17: The Out of Infinity tends to take a rather realistic route with its characters.  They have all been through something that won’t make them open up to one another fully.  This means that piecing together the full picture from the individual moments needs to be done intricately to avoid conflicting details.  However, this is accomplished with aplomb, and every choice leads players down a different rabbit hole that helps them piece things together a bit more.  The dialogue is quite heavy on the pseudoscience, so there are definitely some explanations that can easily cause confusion, but the hearts of the characters shine through and creates a beacon to focus since understanding the sci-fi elements doesn’t get in the way of events playing out the way they do.

Player urgency unfolds more in how they interact with the characters around them, with players ideally focusing on responses that get them closer to one individual on each playthrough.  There are nine routes in total and each one weaves into the others to uncover more of the puzzle.  The setup of who to connect with and bonding with the group feels a little long as Ever 17: The Out of Infinity takes its time to showcase the personalities of every character.  This pays off with the variety of secrets that are uncovered, with every character leading to interesting moments that keep players wondering how everything fits together.

It’s difficult to go too far into the details without treading upon some clue that is best discovered going in blind, but the “a-ha” moments that come from figuring out what propels these strangers through the ticking clock of a sinking theme park beyond simple survival are well-worth understanding.  Some of the routes have a few moments that heavily foreshadow future twists, but how they actively intertwine is only accomplished by fully playing through multiple routes.  This isn’t a story where everything is led by breadcrumbs to shocking moments, but rather by following threads slowly to understand what has already been laid out.

No one wants to see a sad Coco.

While the focus is on a surreal science-fiction story, there are many tender moments between the characters that show how closely they’re able to bond during a disaster.  With a few of them at ages close to one another, they do fall in love, and even make time to go on dates as a way to pass time while fixing portions of the theme park to make sure they are able to escape in time.  While everything is caked in tension, there are moments of levity that add in bits of comedy and romance to avoid everything feeling like a non-stop thriller.

As the second title in the Infinity series, there are some overarching themes and terms originated in Never 7: The End of Infinity, but these are just fun tidbits and aren’t necessary to the enjoyment or understanding of the plot here.  Ever 17: The Out of Infinity is more focused on the science-fiction themes, and while there is still romance, it takes more of a back seat.  Experiencing the titles as if they were connected adds a new layer of familiarity to how the characters are built that can’t help but add to the camaraderie.  Where the first title portrays the protagonist’s feelings more, this sequel lets the player feel more like a backseat driver to the events unfolding before them.

Karate chops are extra dangerous in underwater theme parks.

Ever 17: The Out of Infinity has some interesting stylistic choices on the visuals.  The 2D character models are still as robust as ever, but it feels like they have fewer expressions than some might anticipate with the game’s longer run time.  There are some more cutaway backgrounds that are found mostly during climactic or comedic scenes that are always a treat to see and lend to the thrilling adventure focus.  There are some odd CG cutscenes that are always jarring due to being 3D moments captured on a 2D plane and don’t blend in well with the rest of the backgrounds and never feature any characters.  Musical composition is set to the location and urgency of the situation and are well crafted to fit the mood.  However, the sound levels are poorly balanced sometimes, with voice lines occasionally getting lost in the music or coming out sounding like a whisper.  When it works well, the voice acting is wonderfully done with the nuances brought to each role are easily applauded as more sides to their characters are learned.

The science fiction storytelling of Ever 17: The Out of Infinity makes this an extended thought provoking adventure that is full of many layers.  Despite how packed the story is, things are presented in a manner that is generally easy to follow, which helps broaden the scope in a wonderful way.  Unfortunately, some of the slower moments in the beginning, odd CG scenes, and sound balance do take the player out of immersion preventing it from feeling truly excellent.  While the slow burn may be off putting at first, the character building it provides makes the thrilling moments hit that much harder and seeing the mystery evolve from each playthrough is just addicting to see through to the end.

Disclosure: This article is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.