A little over a year ago I was able to get a new copy for $100. That involved checking the 3rd party vendors at Amazon regularly. After playing it off and on for that time I finally got the final ending in June while on vacation in Europe. And
…(covers face and cries)…I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but I was somewhat disappointed in the ending. (Retains composure.)
Okay, first the bad.
Well, I was mainly disappointed because there were a few moments that slightly insulted my intelligence. That and my favorite couple were Takashi and Tsugumi and there were too many things the messed up them staying together.
First of all, the Tsugumi ending:
I rolled my eyes when the sub’s battery died so soon after the warning. When was the last time you used anything that gave you a low battery warning (of things that actually give a low battery warning) five seconds before the battery dies? It doesn’t work that way! It defeats the purpose of a warning which is to give you time to resolve matters with the battery before it dies. I, however, can let this slide if it was broken or sabotaged.
But not this: how would Takashi know that only about a 50kg difference would make the sub float? A sub would weigh at least a ton and a person’s weight would be almost insignificant in comparison. And even if it were, Takashi’s weight (as well as of the buoyancy of the air in the airlock) would have been replaced by the weight of the seawater. So, I am sorry but I can’t really see his sacrifice accomplishing anything.
I also shook my head at the swimming robo-dog and Takashi suddenly coming to life with his lungs full of water (no, the cure virus cannot defy the law of conservation of mass/energy). True, I wanted him to live, but still…
One other big problem with the Coco ending is that if Coco and Ryogo Kaburaki are still a couple that would make him a pedophile and her a lolita. Otherwise, even with Tsugumi, 17 years is a long time: plenty of time to find someone else. I was also disappointed that Tsugumi and Takashi’s first reunion wasn’t depicted.
The main reason I was disappointed in Coco ending was that Blickwinkel essentially chickened out by thinking Takashi and Coco had to staying hibernation to be saved. He was so afraid of the paradox that he doomed Tsugumi to be separated from her kids, for her kids to have a s**tty childhood, as well as for thousands to die of the virus as well as of course complications of Takashi and Coco of adjusting to the future. Particularly since,
there are at least two ways to avoid the paradox.
One, granted, is theoretical and evolves parallel universes. On one episode of the History Channel’s “The Universe,” physicist Alex Filippenko said regarding the classic kill-your-grandfather/preventing-your-parents-from-meeting paradox: if you go back and time and change the past, then a new universe would just branch off of the original. In other words, going back and time and preventing your parents from meeting would be just like going back in time to a parallel universe where they never met. I know this is really out there
, but they did slightly touch on this when Kid is able to remember both swimming up to the surface with Sara and the siphon escape with You. So, why couldn’t he remember the continuity of which Coco and Takashi were rescued?
The other way to avoid the paradox is actually easier and more realistic than BW’s plan. First of all, there is one big obstacle against leaving Coco and Takahashi in hibernation, big as the entire world. In fact, that is just it. For them to stay undisturbed, the entire world would have to cooperate. If the conspiratorial pharmaceutical company would go to the trouble of hunting Tsugumi down, surely they would check on the status of the lab to make sure if it was destroyed or not, of which they would discover it was generally intact and that two people were sleeping in their beds. And if not them: others concerned with the worldwide known event such as the media, engineers, the USN, the JSDMF, the Deutschmarine, National Geographic, ect.
In any case, there does not have to be a paradox. If the whole point of repeating the incident is to trick BW, then do just that. Everyone can get rescued, Tsugumi and Takashi can raise their kids in a nuclear environment, and then they can all fake the incident together (USS Buttercup style).
I am sure most of you are thinking that I am putting way too much thought into this, but it does deal with some complicated, scientific details which is supposed make the player think and thus shifts my scientifically minded mind into high gear. Also, I wanted Tsugumi and Takashi to get together with as few complications as possible.
Speaking of which, my only other real complaint was the lack of romantic pics of Tsugumi and Takashi. For those that know me, I rather not have explicit sex depicted, which was one thing I like about Ever 17, however I would have liked to have a kiss or at least an embrace depicted as an image and not just described in text.
Finally,
I found the final breaking of the fourth wall a tad cheesy.
Now that I ripped the game to shreds, now is the stuff that I liked. Despite, the times that my mind shot ahead, for the most part the story was very well written. The plot was very intelligent and I thought
that Protagonist B actually being Protagonist A’s son was very clever right along with seven characters actually being nine.
Also, all of the characters were very enjoyable including Tsugumi (despite her being somewhat sadistic). Also even though Coco was the character I liked the least (mainly because she was 14 but acted like she was 5), I never wished for her to die or any other ill will of her (unlike some other anime characters that I really hate), and I really felt sorry for her when
she was left behind.
Also, although I was originally somewhat disappointed when I found out Takashi could not seek a romance with You and Sara
was the Kid’s sister
, I eventually appreciated the official (true love) pairings of
Takashi/Tsugumi and Hotaku/You Jr.
After all, as Py pointed out, the story is primarily a sci-fi mystery story with romantic elements, and despite the faults I already pointed out, it was a very intriguing and entertaining story. And although, the ending was not quite what I wanted, the journey getting there was worth it on its own.
So, I have no regrets buying it, and I hope someone else tries to market professional non-H games.
BTW, there are still a few questions I have at the end, such as:
who was that male character (with glasses) with You Sr. that talked to You Jr.?
I also had a technical problem. Most of the game I played on my laptop without music or voice to save space, but after I installed everything on my desktop, the game runs like molasses in January uphill. I mean it took like a full minute for one word to scroll out. Any ideas folks?
In the mean time, I will do the customary thing someone does when the ending of a anime or the like does not end the way they wanted: write a fanfic.