12Riven ―the Ψcliminal of integral― is a Japanese visual novel developed by KID, Cyberfront, and SDR Project and that was released on March 13, 2008 for the PlayStation 2. There is a regular edition, and a special edition which included the game's original soundtrack. KID are known for producing the Memories Off series, and the Infinity series which includes Remember11 and Ever17. When KID declared bankruptcy in November 2006, production on the game was halted until Cyberfront took over and resumed production.[1][2]
The game had two different PC releases on April 4, 2008. It was released as a standalone product and as a part of the Infinity Plus pack (which includes PC versions of Never7, Ever17, Remember11 and 12Riven).[3]
Plot
Characters
Protagonists
- Renmaru Miyabidō (雅堂 錬丸 Miyabidō Renmaru)
- Narumi Mishima (三嶋 鳴海 Mishima Narumi)
Other characters
- Myū Takae (高江 ミュウ Takae Myū)
- Voiced by: Ai Nonaka
- Mei Kiridera (霧寺 メイ Kiridera Mei)
- Voiced by: Masaya Matsukaze
- Maina (マイナ)
- Voiced by: Rina Satō
- Ōtemachi (大手町)
- Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe
- Chisato Inose (伊野瀬 チサト Inose Chisato)
- Voiced by: Ai Shimizu
- Omega Inose (伊野瀬 オメガ Inose Omega)
- Voiced by: Naozumi Takahashi
Story
The story of 12Riven takes place on May 20, 2012 with Renmaru Miyabidō biking his way speedily towards the abandoned Integral (インテグラル Integuraru) building after receiving a message on his cellphone that Myū, an old friend of his, would die at the building's top level today at noon. When he gets there, he checks his wristwatch and sees that it is 11:24 AM.
Elsewhere, Narumi Mishima is on her motorcycle heading towards the same location. She has received a request from a friend and coworker asking her to help save a girl named "Myū" at Integral. Narumi must save Myū to prevent the execution of the "Second Eclipse Plan" (第弐エクリプス計画 Daini Ekuripusu Keikaku). Narumi has never heard of this phrase before, moreover, the message was sent with the "XXX Lv6" marking. This was a rating scale for the severity of a situation and a level 6 marking has never been used. Even a large scale terrorist threat was set at level 5. The message also indicated to Narumi that someone named Renmaru may be there, that he will be on her side.
Renmaru finds nothing at the observation deck of the building, but when he goes outside onto the opening of the building, he finds Myū injured on the ground. Renmaru also finds her attacker there but is unable to defeat him because every time Renmaru tries to connect a blow, he is thrown onto the ground himself by some unknown force. At this point, Myū's attacker draws out a gun, he takes Myū and threatens Renmaru to leave the place quietly after he counts to ten with his eyes closed. Renmaru does not know what to do, and stands there hopelessly. Right as the attacker counts down to one, Narumi arrives at the scene and points her gun at him.
Development
12Riven and Memories Off 5: Encore, another game that was under development by KID, was originally in danger of not being released when KID filed for bankruptcy in 2006.[4] Both games were resurrected in 2007 by CyberFront when they acquired KID's intellectual properties.[5]
Release history
12Riven was originally set to be released on December 6, 2007[6] but it was delayed to February 14, 2008.[7] It was once again delayed further to its final release date on March 13, 2008. Both the standalone PC version and the bundled version with the Infinity plus package was released on April 4, 2008.[3]
Music
12Riven's music is composed by Takeshi Abo. Both the game's opening theme, "Third Bridge", and ending theme, "Process" (プロセス Purosesu), are performed by Kaori. Both theme songs were included in a CD single that was sold on April 23, 2008[8] and debuted on Oricon at 144th place.[9] Chomaru Shikura composed and wrote the lyrics to both tracks and Kōji Ueno handled their arrangements. For the release on PSP, new opening and ending themes sung by Yui Sakakibara were recorded. The opening theme is named "Toki no Nai Sekai" (時のない世界) and the ending theme is named "Distance".[10]
Reception
On its first week of release, 12Riven garnered a respectable amount of sales by placing thirteenth in national game sales in Japan and third place for PlayStation 2 games.[11]
References
- ↑ Chris Winkler (2007-02-02). Kid is Back. Retrieved on 2008-05-28
- ↑ 12Riven's official website's "Reports" section (Japanese) (2007-05-21). Archived from the original on 2009-05-13 Retrieved on 2008-05-27
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 CyberFront's Infity plus website (Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-05-27
- ↑ Winkler, Chris (2006-12-01). Kid Files for Bankruptcy. RPGFan. Retrieved on 2010-02-13
- ↑ Chandran, Neal (2007-07-01). RPGFan Previews - Memories Off #5: Encore. RPGFan. Retrieved on 2010-02-13
- ↑ Famitu's 12Riven preview (Japanese) (2007-08-30). Retrieved on 2008-05-27
- ↑ 12Riven's demo campaign (Japanese) (2007-11-12). Retrieved on 2008-05-27
- ↑ Comments from Kaori, the singer to Process, ending theme to the PS2 12Riven, has arrived (Japanese) (2008-04-03). Retrieved on 2008-05-28
- ↑ Oricon Style's ranking information for Kaori's Process single (Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-05-28
- ↑ Yui Sakakibara's Official Website - Information section (Japanese) (2009-04-20). Archived from the original on 2009-04-29 Retrieved on 2009-04-20
- ↑ Weekly Sales Ranking for March 10th - March 16th (Japanese) (2008-03-20). Retrieved on 2008-06-16
External Links
Official website- Official website at TTime Technology
