In spite of it's age, Ever17 proves to be a very charming visual novel, though not one I can easily recommend to anybody but people well-versed in visual novels or Uchikoshi's work.
As one of Uchikoshi's earlier works, this game marks the start of a lot of concepts that would come up in later games. If you are familiar with Remember11, 999, or Virtue's Last Reward, you probably will be familiar with a few plot elements or themes that will show up in this VN. More than anything, it just feels really interesting to see how these ideas would evolve from this game to later titles.
Takeshi Abo, who many might recognize from his work on the SciADV games, does an amazing job with the soundtrack with many standout tracks that define the game's atmosphere. Personally, I think the game's soundtrack might be one of the aspects of this game that's aged the best, as I find myself listening to it outside of the game when just working on stuff.
However, with it being an early work, there are definite flaws. For one, I cannot say that the game itself has an incredibly hard-hitting story outside of its subversive twists, and most players will likely forget about most of it after a month. There are plenty of interesting details, but it is hard to say that it leaves as much of a lasting impression compared to plenty of other visual novels. Of course, being such an early game in the medium, its extremely hard to fault Ever17 for this, and if anything it is extremely commendable that they were able to accomplish everything they did with this game.
My second biggest gripe with the game is that I cannot say I enjoyed the entirety of this game's cast. I personally thought that Takeshi, Kid, Tsugumi, and You all proved to be extremely likable, though the same cannot be said for Coco and Sara. Coco is just an incredibly annoying character in spite of her route having the best story, while Sara just feels like a bland character that is just kind of exists to service Kid's backstory. It certainly is not as consistent of a cast as Remember11 which the same studio would drop just two years later, but a lot of games would fall flat when comparing them to Remember11.
Ever17 is a very important game, not just for all of the people involved in bringing it together, but the entire medium of visual novels as a whole. It's absolutely not a perfect game, I'm very happy it exists, as I found myself very engaged and charmed by the atmosphere, the wacky characters, and the godlike soundtrack. Absolutely give it a shot if you're interested, but do not expect a life-changing experience.
As one of Uchikoshi's earlier works, this game marks the start of a lot of concepts that would come up in later games. If you are familiar with Remember11, 999, or Virtue's Last Reward, you probably will be familiar with a few plot elements or themes that will show up in this VN. More than anything, it just feels really interesting to see how these ideas would evolve from this game to later titles.
Takeshi Abo, who many might recognize from his work on the SciADV games, does an amazing job with the soundtrack with many standout tracks that define the game's atmosphere. Personally, I think the game's soundtrack might be one of the aspects of this game that's aged the best, as I find myself listening to it outside of the game when just working on stuff.
However, with it being an early work, there are definite flaws. For one, I cannot say that the game itself has an incredibly hard-hitting story outside of its subversive twists, and most players will likely forget about most of it after a month. There are plenty of interesting details, but it is hard to say that it leaves as much of a lasting impression compared to plenty of other visual novels. Of course, being such an early game in the medium, its extremely hard to fault Ever17 for this, and if anything it is extremely commendable that they were able to accomplish everything they did with this game.
My second biggest gripe with the game is that I cannot say I enjoyed the entirety of this game's cast. I personally thought that Takeshi, Kid, Tsugumi, and You all proved to be extremely likable, though the same cannot be said for Coco and Sara. Coco is just an incredibly annoying character in spite of her route having the best story, while Sara just feels like a bland character that is just kind of exists to service Kid's backstory. It certainly is not as consistent of a cast as Remember11 which the same studio would drop just two years later, but a lot of games would fall flat when comparing them to Remember11.
Ever17 is a very important game, not just for all of the people involved in bringing it together, but the entire medium of visual novels as a whole. It's absolutely not a perfect game, I'm very happy it exists, as I found myself very engaged and charmed by the atmosphere, the wacky characters, and the godlike soundtrack. Absolutely give it a shot if you're interested, but do not expect a life-changing experience.