The Infinity series is making a comeback, with both Never 7 and Ever 17 being ported to modern consoles. As a mix of science fiction and romance, the series is an obvious inspiration for newer visual novel series, such as the Science Adventure series (Chaos;Head, Steins;Gate, etc.). It’s always a good thing when older games are accessible to play on modern consoles. But of course, bringing back an older visual novel has the potential of feeling too dated, whether it’s its visuals or its storytelling beats. Does Never 7 hold up 25 years since its initial release?
The story stars Makoto, a college student who is on a week-long retreat to get to know other students in his school year. As the week progresses, he gets to know his classmates Okuhiko, Yuka, and Haruka, restaurant workers Izumi and Kurumi, and island resident Saki. However, what should have been a simple school trip turns into something darker, with weird events occurring around the students as the days pass.
Written by Uchikoshi, the writer behind the Zero Escape and Ai: The Somnium Files games, so you can definitely see inspiration for his later works. When it comes to satisfying both genres that Never 7 falls into, however, the game does fall a bit flat. The science fiction aspect is sprinkled through every route, but it’s not until the later routes that things build up. As for the romance, it’s cute to see the infatuation between the students, but it is a bit strange to see characters mention loving each other only after a couple of days hanging out with each other (although, to be honest, it is par the course for visual novels). As a result, you’re left in this weird in-between where sci-fi fans may wish for a plot that’s a bit more exciting while romance fans are left with a taste that isn’t as deeply explored.
There are five love interests and seven individual routes, each with its own good and bad ending. Only a few routes are available at the beginning of the game, and as you complete more routes, you’ll be able to progress to the latter routes. Because of this, the “true route” is blocked off until players finish other routes first. Thankfully, the common and individual routes aren’t too long. With the ability to skip through text that’s already been read, completing newer routes is a quick process.
You’ll play through the common route, which takes place through the first five days, until the game splits out into separate routes depending on which character you’ve bonded with the most. Some routes are more interesting than others, especially when it comes to the routes that lean more into the strange nature of the characters and the things happening around them. But at the same time, there is going to be a lot of scenes where nothing big or interesting is happening. It’s almost a bit like a slice-of-life scenario.
As Never 7 is a visual novel, there are occasional dialogue options that pop up. Some options don’t affect the story, outside of displaying different lines of text. But others will have hidden values attributed to them that are associated with certain characters. To end up on a specific character’s route, you’ll have to make sure that you have a value high enough. Most of these choices are easy to pinpoint, but there is some leeway (in that you don’t have to get every choice correct). But, on the off chance that you don’t have any luck getting the route that you were aiming for, the game automatically quick-saves before every dialogue choice.
As this is a visual novel from the early 2000s, the visuals reflect that time. Large anime eyes, simple character designs, minimal backgrounds, and barebones UI. For those nostalgic for the anime style prevalent in that time, it’s a blast to the past. But in the same vein, it is a product of its time. There are some CGs that hold up even by today’s standards, while others are a bit more unfortunate.
Much like the artwork, the music and, specifically, the sound quality are very dated. While you do eventually get used to it, the audio sounds inconsistent across the board, as though some of the voice actors weren’t all recorded in the same place or edited similarly. And that’s not even touching on the music audio. While a bit clearer, the looping aspect of the songs isn’t great, and there are only a handful of tracks. So you’ll be hearing the same music over and over again, and it will quickly wear out its welcome. The voice actors themselves are fine, although there isn’t a standout among the cast.
Never 7 is a product of its time in both a good and bad way. For those used to modern-day visual novels, the art and audio will probably take some people out of the story in general. But in cases where the story should shine, unfortunately, the writing falls flat a lot of the time. Only a few of the characters truly shine throughout the story, especially when it comes to their own routes. And when things should get interesting, unfortunately, Never 7 never truly leans into its sci-fi leanings, playing it safe. As a result, there really isn’t anything that would encourage someone to go out of their way to play this visual novel as opposed to other titles.
Never 7 – The End of Infinity gets a 5/10.
