This game's marvelously intricate plot line follows Ethan Kairos, a fairly typical high school student save for his peculiar interest in collecting clocks. On the eve of his seventeenth birthday, Ethan's parents tell him they have something they want to discuss with him the next day. Only, they never have the chance, because when Ethan goes to sleep that night, he has what seems to be a bad dream, and when he wakes up, he finds that there's now a strange portal in his room and his pet cat is carrying a mysterious pen. Not only that, but he has a strange image flash into his mind. Ethan discovers that his mom and dad had disappeared more than a decade ago, and that he now lives with his Uncle Derek. Yet he has memories of living with his parents. Which life is reality?
To uncover the truth, Ethan learns he needs to use the pen he found on his cat. It turns out it is called the Hollow Pen and it has the ability to open holes in time. As Ethan investigates his own situation, he also finds that he must use the Hollow Pen in order to manipulate the past and prevent present tragedies for others as well. But is he the only one with the ability to alter the past? And what role will the mysterious Kori Twelves, a girl he does not remember yet seems to be the only person aware of the pen and Ethan's newfound power, play? It is an absolutely riveting story that had me so hooked I couldn't put it down, and wound up playing through the game, start to finish, in a single day. Not that it's incredibly long, but it is incredibly good. My only issue is that sometimes you can figure out exactly what you need to do to proceed, but because Ethan himself hasn't figured it out, you need to follow him as he takes baby steps towards the correct conclusion. It is bothersome, but not nearly bad enough to prevent me from awarding five stars to Time Hollow for its exceptional writing.
