Remember11 -The Age of Infinity-

[Matt122005]

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.

And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. --- 1 Samuel Chapter 18, Verses 10, 11

Remember 11 -The Age of Infinity- is the third title in the Infinity Visual Novel game series by KID. It was released after the second title in the series, Ever 17 -The Out of Infinity-

It has been released on the PC, Playstation 2, and Playstation Portable.

When a young woman boards an aircraft destined for northern Japan in 2011, she knows all too well that she is flying towards the emissary of death. Her reason for traveling is to interview a young girl who at the age of 17, went on a killing spree in one of Japan's hospitals. Soon declared one of the countries most shocking crimes, the girl was confirmed to have Dissociative Personality Disorder and was declared innocent by plea of insanity. Confined to a mental health facility known as SPHIA, she has not had contact with the outside world since. With this goal, the young woman on board the plane slowly reads over the confidential medical files, unaware that death is closer than she imagines. Without warning, the aircraft finds itself caught in a snowstorm and spiraling out of control. Crashing towards the sharp mountains below, the inside of the plane ignites on fire and the woman blacks out. Waking up, she finds herself in a strange cold room. How did she get there? What happened to the plane? Questions continue to barrage her as she explores her new surroundings and discovers something completely unexpected. The girl who she was traveling to see, Inubushi Keiko, is sitting across from her at a dining table. With a smile from the young murderer, she quickly comes to the realization that her world has changed forever. When it comes to Remember 11, there's only one thing you have to do to survive, and that is to remember, and to remember everything because the truth may be closer than you think.

[GundamAce]

Can't wait to play this- I've had my copy for some time now and I wonder what sort of surprises it has in store for us- hope it ends up just as shocking as Ever17!

I've also successfully managed to dodge all spoilers up until now- how about the rest of you?

[Matt122005]

Originally Posted by GundamAce

Can't wait to play this- I've had my copy for some time now and I wonder what sort of surprises it has in store for us- hope it ends up just as shocking as Ever17!

I've also successfully managed to dodge all spoilers up until now- how about the rest of you?

I'm playing the early patch release, the one without tips. I'm about 25% through.

My reaction so far........ EPIC.

Ever 17 took a bit to build up the mysteries because of the circumstances. But Remember 11 starts compounding the plot twists IMMEDIATELY and it just simply doesn't let up.

Did I mention this game is also REALLY LONG? lol

I think it probably clocks in at around 200,000 words with both routes. That's one long novel. So don't expect to finish it in a single day unless you're really fast at reading.

There's also only 2 routes, and you don't get to choose which one comes first.

So unlike how in Ever 17, there were 5 routes and each took around 5-6 hours to finish (and 2 of them could have their first half skipped since you already knew it), this time you can't really skip anything in either route if you manage not to get a bad ending.

About that....

There are a LOT of bad endings. There's one in the very first 7-8% of the game. So be careful with your choices or go read a walk through. lol

But to summarize, the first 25% through has been amazing. A truly gripping sci-fi suspense mystery that has so far lived up to the standards set forth by Ever 17. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

[GundamAce]

HUH!? There's a patch out already!? I know where the site is, but how do I install it?!

[Matt122005]

Originally Posted by GundamAce

HUH!? There's a patch out already!? I know where the site is, but how do I install it?!

On the translation wiki, on the Discussion page for the project. Just read up there.

[GundamAce]

Eh, think I'll wait for the full patch. I'm confused about how to install it, and I can wait a while.

[Matt122005]

Originally Posted by GundamAce

Eh, think I'll wait for the full patch. I'm confused about how to install it, and I can wait a while.

It's not that hard. If you have the Japanese PC game installed, and you downloaded the patch. Open up the file in that folder called "README". It has the instructions. Basically, just replace the specified files with the altered ones in the patch.

PS. I updated the description. It's only temporary. If anyone would like to propose a better one, I'm open.

[Matt122005]

Okay, I have to mention this. I'm 60% through the game and....

Spoiler for Sort of Spoilers...Kind of:

Okay, is Remember 11 a Christian Visual Novel? I mean seriously...

First it was the quote from the Bible at the beginning that the character described as "unknown words being moved by a spirit". Then it was the constant references to "miracles" and "prayer". Heck, you could have called all of Kokoro's route the "Prayer Route". Then there was the questions of "Is God guiding everything?" But now, I'm on Satoru's route and they have a chapter named "Sabbath Time". And guess what day it takes place on? The 3rd day. How many minutes can Satoru remain in the cabin? 33 minutes. How many circles are there in the logo? 3. The number 3 is a perfect number in the Bible. Another major perfect number is 7. Guess how many days in the game there are? 7. Also, the logo. 3 circles connected? There is a similar symbol used in Christianity to represent the Trinity (God).

I haven't read everything yet. Lots more to go. But still.... I can't help but wonder where this is all going. >.< lol

In case you haven't figured it out, I love this storyline. So good. Can't wait to see how it ends.

[Matt122005]

Ahem.....

I just 'finished' Remember 11. What will follow is my review. I implore all of you to read it before playing the game.

The review will remain for the most part spoiler free.

Okay... so where do I begin?

To start, it took 30 hours to complete the game. I used a walk through after I got the first bad ending 7% in. lol

I guess I can cut to the chase and just say what is most important...

DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME IF YOU WANT TO FINISH IT.

Seriously. Don't.

Are you a fan of Ever 17? Hoping for even more mind blowing stuff? Don't play. You're going to be terribly disappointed.

To explain. This story, this game, does NOT, I repeat, NOT, have an ending.

There is none.

There are only 2 final bad endings. No good. It ends with two massive cliffhangers (even more so when you play both bad endings) and ends with "THIS IS NOT THE TRUTH. YOU ARE IN AN INFINITY LOOP".

Great. I thought there would be a third route. But nope. Nothing.

Apparently, the game company KID, went bankrupt and the game was left unfinished. The director/main writer left KID and joined another company. Thus...an incomplete game.

Now, even though this should make me extremely mad and hate this game...it doesn't.

Simply put, it was awesome fun. The writing is gripping, the plot is fascinating, and you really get into it. It's one fun ride, even if the rest of the tracks end up missing.

If you want a conclusion. If you want to understand the story. If you want a good ending of any kind.

DO. NOT. PLAY. THIS. GAME.

If you don't care and just want to enjoy gripping and suspenseful writing, then enjoy it to your hearts content.

Just be warned. This game is unfinished. You will NEVER know how it ends.

Now for the semi-spoiler part:

Spoiler for About God and self -A-:

Okay, so, throughout the game as I pointed out above, there are references to God, the Sabbath, Miracles, and Divine Intervention. None of this of course leads anywhere.

However, at the end of the game, there is mention of "That Guy". I wonder, since Enomoto is quoting the part about Saul, as though he is Saul. I wonder if maybe "That Guy" is God. And that the game's plot would have later revealed that God had been intervening in the infinity loop and trying to mess up Enomoto and past Satoru's plans. An interesting possibility?

Also, if you didn't figure it out at the end, the third personality, the one that was destructive, was Utsumi's twin babies. Yea, I know, go figure.

I should also add that there is no real direct connection with Ever 17 in this game. It also takes place long before 2017. There is also no reference to CURE....except that ....

Spoiler for Yuni:

Could it be that Yuni is infected with CURE? Because in the game, he tells Kokoro "Do you want to see if I'm a child?" as though maybe Yuni is much older than he seems.

[GundamAce]

From what I've read, the whole "no ending" thing was fixed in the PSP version, where they added two new endings to finish up the story. I don't know the nature of them, but apparently, there was very positive fan response from the Japanese. I have the PSP version, so once I finish the PC version, I will go and check this out. If I find a satisfying conclusion, I will tell you all about it.

[Matt122005]

If that proves true, and I really hope it does, I hope someone will use the PC translation to create a PSP Remember 11 translation so that way we can play the game fully with an actual ending.

I really would love to know how it all ended. It feels like it needs a whole new route and 10 hours of gameplay. haha

[Elvin]

Sounds like Matt raged as much as I did when I finished it, lol. But I think what you posted about the ending qualifies as a spoiler :/ Telling people "don't play the game if" is depriving them of all the emotions it put you through, the good and the bad. There are games that make you cry and games that make you scared. This one just so happens to make you go "WHAAAT!?"
I was giving the writer a hard time in my mind when I finished it, but now he has my respect for being able to bring that level of emotion out of me purposely.
I'm pretty sure the open ending was intentional and not a result of being cut short due to the bankruptcy that happened 2 years later.

And if there is an extended PSP ending... then please, let us in on it D:
And Yuni only said that because he was hitting on Kokoro

[TJR]

I'm pretty sure the open ending was intentional and not a result of being cut short due to the bankruptcy that happened 2 years later.

Yeah, the ending seems pretty intentional to me. They went for a film noirish, WTF type of ending, and it works brilliantly.

As for understanding the story, we're expected to piece everything together through what we see in the two routes (including a few of the bad endings), the TIPS section, and in Ever17. They intentionally left hints all over the place to encourage the reader to reflect on what they've read after finishing the game.

[Matt122005]

You can't be serious......

You really believe that the same guy that made the incredible Ever 17, which solely relied on an ending that nearly explained everything, would make a game that NEVER told you how it ended or gave an actual explanation to almost ANYTHING.

I. Don't. Think. So.

There are far too many loose ends. There are far too many leads. Even with all the information gathered from the tips and bad ends, you still have NO ANSWERS to where all the leading was leading to.

This was NOT intentional. The guy that directed this is too good. He had a huge plot he was planning. That much is clear.

What most likely happened, is that he was told shortly before KID declared bankruptcy that they would not have the money to fund the project anymore. So the director probably did his best to create a plot twist ending like he did. It looks intentional slightly because he knew he wouldn't get to keep telling the story.

I really do hope that the PSP version has more to it.

Do we know if perhaps the director ever posted an explanation for the story online?

[GundamAce]

The problem with that is that KID didn't even go bankrupt until 2006, two years after the game was released. They just happened to run out of money for that certain project, that's all.

[Matt122005]

Originally Posted by GundamAce

The problem with that is that KID didn't even go bankrupt until 2006, two years after the game was released. They just happened to run out of money for that certain project, that's all.

That's strange, why would it run over its budget? It felt to me as though it had less of a budget than Ever 17 did.

[GundamAce]

Well, let's see. For one, the voice actors in R11 may have been more expensive than E17. In E17, the only "famous" voice actors at the time were Soichiro Hoshi, Yuu Asakawa, and Hiroko Kasahara (who also sang the ending). Kana Ueda's career had only started recently at that time, and Noriko Shitaya and Hisayo Mochizuki aren't that well known. Therefore, they probably had to pay less for the last three. By contrast, almost every voice actor in R11 was well known, meaning they cost just as much.

Another reason could be that the latest Memories Off game was in development with KID at the same time. Since the Memories Off series, from what I've heard, has been more profitable than the Infinity series, they spent more money on that game while giving R11 a lesser budget. I'll write more in a bit.

[Matt122005]

Oh wow....lol

I think I just realized what "That Guy", "The Shadow", and "Yuni" are.

Spoiler for BIG THEORETICAL ENDING SPOILERS:

Okay, so I was having some trouble trying to piece together the unfinished plot and such. I spent some time reading different TIPS from R11 and also reading a discussion on the ending at the translator wiki.

Why all the religion in the story? It had to mean something. I also didn't like the idea of The Shadow and That Guy being one person. It didn't seem to fit.

Then there was the fact that Yuni is more than he lets on. Though we never learn more, its obvious that he's hiding something.

But now, after reading the TIP on That Guy, and reviewing the story, I understand what these three might be.

First off, we must enter this hypothesis under the understanding that the director has approached the religious mythology of this story as Christian. We can gain this by the symbolism of the Trinity, mentioning of Virgin Mary, etc.

I had already guessed that GOD was probably "That Guy" earlier, but now I'm nearly sure of it. In the TIP for That Guy, it says that he is .....

For this person, there is no past. For this person, there is no future. To be more accurate, the concept of time does not exist for this person. For this person, the past, the present, and the future are all gathered into just one singular point. Point. Emptiness. 0th dimension. Three concepts that overlapped. This person exists in a place devoid of everything. That absolute will is the only thing there. An absolute will. According to them. If we were to come up with an example, this person would be David。 Without a doubt, this person was a "king" that ntirely ruled them. And.... To "him", a hateful enemy. "Him"——if we were to come up with an example, would be Saul。 11 years before 2012—— That's where it all began." -TIP 88 (That Guy)

God exists outside of time, because he created the very concept of it. God IS absolute will. His mere words created the Universe as recorded in Genesis.

To confirm that "That Guy" is God, it relates him to David.

If you are Christian, you will know that David plays an important role in the future of Jesus. It is through his seed and lineage that God's son comes to be. Jesus is referred to as the son of David as well.

So when you realize that "That Guy" is God, it makes sense why Kokoro and Satoru kept making statements throughout the game such as "Could someone be guiding this all?" "Is this all coincidence?"

Remember how Enomoto (Really Satoru) mentions that the plane crash cabin survivors weren't apart of the plan. In fact, everything had gone different than they thought.

At the end of the game, we see Enomoto angry at "That Guy" for interfering. He's angry because God is interfering in the Infinity loop and is trying to correct reality.

Then who is "The Shadow" and ultimately, "the enemy - Saul".

"Suppose there exists a "demon", that is, an entity that possesses the ability to know, at a certain moment, the state of all things in the universe. Then, no matter how brief this moment is, it would always be enough for the demon to unravel everything that happened in the past and will happen in the future." -TIP 14 (Laplace's Demon)

This enemy of God would be some random fallen Demon, or perhaps Lucifer?

Perhaps a better explanation would be that "The Shadow" is 'sin' itself.

The question "Where is self?" leads me to believe it might be.

Sin is selfishness. Sin is the result of looking at self for the answers.

Now...who is Yuni?

The Yuni on the plane and in 2012 is the real one. But the Yuni FROM 2012....well, something isn't right. Don't you agree?

He just HAPPENS to learn EVERYTHING about the events? He just happens to stay in control? He just happens to know the EXACT times they will have an exchange phenomenon. How could he even know that if he's not there to see exactly when something happens?

Then there's the fact that he's creepy. Some of his CG's at the cabin are weird. And he reacts strangely.

I believe that just maybe, Yuni is a dimensional being. Think about it. What if Yuni is like BW?

Or, or, maybe Yuni from 2012 is "The Shadow" itself and its trying to keep the loop going on in order to fight against "That Guy"?

What do you guys think? I mean, I doubt all that religious stuff was included in the story for no reason. The director obviously was going to tie it all together in some way.

We still don't know how the story ends, but now with this hypothesis, maybe we can figure out some of the mythology that was being created.

[u43368]

Finally getting around to reading this, on day 3 of Kokoro's route. So far, I like it a lot more than E17. The story is getting right to the mystery already and isn't wasting time (*cough*CHIKINSANDWICHES*cough*). Plus the Jungian references are kinda cool, no idea if they'll actually factor in to the plot like Persona 2 though.

But from reading some of the stuff written by people who've finished it... I just hope this isn't going to pull a LOST at the end... that would really, really suck.

[Eater of All]

There seems to be a little countdown going on these past few days for "imminent release" in the TLWiki page... and now it's at 1.