Ever 17/Never 7 Double Pack from Spike Chunsoft and MAGES brings us remakes of the visual novel classics from KID now on PlayStation 4. Learn more about it in our Ever 17/Never 7 Double Pack review!
Ever 17/Never 7 Double Pack from Spike Chunsoft and MAGES brings us remakes of the visual novel classics from KID now on PlayStation 4. We’re getting reworked and updated versions of Never 7 – The End of Infinity and Ever 17 – The Out of Infinity. The first one was released back in the year 2000 on the original Sony PlayStation console, the SEGA Dreamcast, and even the Neo Geo Pocket, remaining as a Japan-only game until this remake. As for Ever 17 – The Out of Infinity, it was released a couple of years later on Sony’s PlayStation 2 and the SEGA Dreamcast. Both games were written by Kotaro Uchikoshi. If that name rings a bell, it’s because he’s also the writer for the beloved Zero Escape series! You can check out the_nmac’s review for Zero Escape: The Nonary Games – which includes 999 and Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last in a single package – as well as ThaRaven403’s review for Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma. Both games in this double pack are part of the Infinity series.
Games in the visual novel genre focus on the story as you experience the different twists and turns, with a visual presentation of each character’s actions in the different locations on offer, hence the genre’s name. Some of them feature voice acting – as is the case for this pair of games and their Japanese voice acting. You can also end up making some choices along the way that will determine which story branch you end up on, with your actions opening the way for some of the different endings that you can reach. This increases replay value since you won’t be able to have all interactions in a single run.
Going back to this double pack, for Never 7 – The End of Infinity, you’ll be taking on the role of Makoto Ishihara, a student who finds himself in a peculiar scenario. He wakes up after having a dream that felt very, very real. In that dream, a girl dies a tragic death right in front of your eyes. It was April 6. That was the day everything changed. You wake up on April 1st, thinking about the dream and realizing that, if said events are to indeed take place, there are only five days ahead. You’re on a Seminar Retreat, which sounds like a very relaxing activity, but things are certainly not what they seem!
And what happens after you end up reaching the sixth day in Never 7 – The End of Infinity? Once April 6 rolls around, tragedy strikes, but the good news is that you’re sent back in time to April 1st. Since you now know what happens along the way, you can use this additional information to try and make different choices over the next five days so that you can hopefully have an effect on what is set to happen on April 6, thus effectively changing the course of time. And yes, this does mean that you could end up reaching a bad ending or finding a way to break the loop so that you can make your way toward the good ending.
Sequel Ever 17 – The Out of Infinity features protagonist Takeshi Kuranari. You’re an ordinary college student who ends up visiting LeMU, an underwater theme park. Unfortunately, a terrible accident takes place, and you end up trapped in LeMY alongside 6 other people… 51 meters below the surface! Since no one is coming to rescue your new group, it’s up to you to work alongside mysterious girl Tsugumi and part-time employee You, in order to find a way to make it back to the surface before it’s too late. There are some wild twists in this game’s story that will definitely keep you hooked from start to finish, and I really can’t say anything else without jumping straight into spoiler territory.
And now… let’s talk about the trophies! Since this release features two games in one go, that means you’ll be working on separate trophy lists, and each one will have a shiny Platinum for you to try to add to your collection. The list for Never 7 – The End of Infinity is split into 8 Bronze trophies, 2 Silver trophies, and 9 Gold trophies. The list for Ever 17 – The Out of Infinity is split into 3 Bronze trophies, 15 Silver trophies, and 6 Gold trophies. The trophies for each of the games are tied to reaching the different endings – good and bad – on offer, which is why I won’t be spoiling things here.
Ever 17/Never 7 Double Pack brings us remakes of the visual novel classics from KID now on PlayStation 4. We’re getting reworked and updated versions of Never 7 – The End of Infinity and Ever 17 – The Out of Infinity. The first one was released back in the year 2000 on the original Sony PlayStation console, the SEGA Dreamcast, and even the Neo Geo Pocket, remaining as a Japan-only game until this remake. As for Ever 17 – The Out of Infinity, it was released a couple of years later on Sony’s PlayStation 2 and the SEGA Dreamcast. Both games were written by Kotaro Uchikoshi. If that name rings a bell, it’s because he’s also the writer for the beloved Zero Escape series! Both games in this double pack are part of the Infinity series. The Ever 17/Never 7 Double Pack launches on March 6 and is available with a $44.99 price tag. You can also buy Never 7 – The End of Infinity for $19.99 and Ever 17 – The Out of Infinity for $29.99.
Disclaimer
This Ever 17/Never 7 Double Pack review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by Spike Chunsoft.
