Time Hollow

The best way to think of Time Hollow is to enjoy it as interactive storytelling. If you’re comfortable with that, you’ll probably have a great time with the game, as I did.

Whatever the root cause, the story is solid on the whole, and these few foggy moments didn't detract from my overall enjoyment.

While Time Hollow doesn't necessarily bring a ton of new ideas to the adventure genre, it does provide a satisfying, if somewhat short, experience for fans of investigative gameplay and time travel story lines.

Time Hollow offers an enticing story, cool cinematics, and a nice soundtrack. It's possible some players will be bored after a while, especially with things constantly changing back and forth. Others might be left wanting for more, especially because there's only one game mode available. However, this is a quality title that some of you should explore.

The story was good enough to keep me playing through to the end to see what happens next, and told well enough so that I actually cared what happened to the characters.

If you enjoy story-based adventure games, you will really enjoy Time Hollow. There are plenty of twists and surprises along the way that you will want to see how it ends. The game is relatively easy but the hand-holding will disappoint the older crowd who will look for a challenge.

Thankfully, the satisfaction you feel when the pieces start falling into place makes it worth the effort – providing you don’t expect any real action out of the gameplay.

With the ability to alter the past literally at your fingertips, you should be able to solve problems in a myriad of ways, yet the game's mostly linear storytelling rarely lets you use your powers creatively. [Nov 2008, p.102]

Time Hollow is a refreshingly different action/adventure game for the DS, and one that's quite worthy of your attention.

If Phoenix Wright is a TV season boxset, Time Hollow is an HBO miniseries. It all feels quite minor, but it's certainly intriguing while it lasts. [Dec 2008, p.74]

Everyone loves a nice time paradox, but we'd like more freedom. [Christmas 2008, p.84]

Time Hollow is a terrific premise that I would love to see explored further in sequels.

A very clever concept broken by a game that's so linear, you could use it as a ruler. [Feb 2009, p.82]

The problem with the game is that it really isn’t a game at all. We’re not just saying it’s too linear – what little (very little) gameplay you’ll find smattered throughout is completely spoon-fed to you.

Entirely a typical adventure game with attractive time shifting. Strong story can fill parts of the game which are somehow …hollow. [Nov 2008]

While Time Hollow fills a Phoenix Wright-shaped hole in our lives, we do prefer our chaos theory a little less tidy. [Apr 2009, p.123]

Time Hollow may be light on gameplay, but the story's competent enough for fans of point-and-tap adventures.

There's a cool time-bending story to this adventure, but the simplistic gameplay saps much of the fun.

Time Hollow clings to mediocrity until the last hollow pen hole, and I can guarantee you won’t be compelled to ever pick it up again upon finishing it.

There is very little challenge. And even when you do start ‘digging’ into the past with the Hollow Pen, this involves simply drawing a circle with the stylus and carrying out an obvious action. [Christmas 2008, p.116]

It truly is the story which carries Time Hollow. The gameplay itself is shallow, overly repetitive, and offers no challenge that a six year old couldn’t overcome.

It's a missed opportunity, because we like the story as well as the sharp and colorful graphics, but hunting for clues had us falling asleep.