Reviews from

in the past


Still haven't played Zero Time Dilemma yet, but this duo was great to experience.

999 and VLR are high schlock, and I mean this as the highest compliment I can give. Both feel like the best kind of B movie—simultaneously completely absurd and incredibly endearing. both games take a vaguely Saw-esque plot—individuals kidnapped and forced to participate in a deadly game—but the miserable cynicism of the movies is nowhere to be found, replaced by intriguing characterization and a good heap of out-there pseudoscience for good measure. 999's more taut and thriller-influenced plot makes a natural progression to VLR's broader sci-fi setting—both offer a compelling narrative that's managed to stick with me for a long time (read: I may or may not cry when a certain song comes up on my phone).

The puzzles are fine-to-good: There's a couple of frustratingly obtuse solutions but the games, especially the second one, are good about doling out hints to the frustrated. the other gameplay sections—the visual novel parts—get a fair amount of flak for repetitiveness- it's certainly there but I've never had a major problem with it—the skip-text function works well to ameliorate the issue. (Note that this re-release comes with a modification to the first game that significantly mitigates repetition).

One final note is that the soundtrack to both games makes a great alternative soundtrack to any other puzzle game—there's something about Digital Root that makes it the best song to solve something to that I've ever heard.

999 is great, VLR is not. I wish i played 999 on the ds

My score is mostly only for the 999 remake because the full package is perfect due to having both 999 and VLR (which is unchanged). 999 however, is a bit of a sidegrade of the DS original. It adds generally pretty good voice acting (Junpei's VA is kinda spotty though) and a very very helpful flowchart.

However, the "redone" art is inconsistent and usually inferior to the DS' pixel art (Ace in particular looks fucking awful for some reason). The DS version also handles some story elements better as it divides text between both screens, which this version split into "ADV" and "NOVEL" views for no good reason. Novel view also obscures the artwork and places text on top of it, so I generally stuck with ADV, but novel is the "full experience" basically. I have no idea why they handled that so badly, it's not like 999 is the only VN that has descriptions cut in inbetween dialogue, but this is honestly the biggest flaw of this remake to me. I'm sure it could've been handled better.

Still, everything else is the same and it's still great, but I recommend the DS version of 999 over this one (hell emulate it on your phone if possible) unless having voices is that big a deal. Then again, this comes with VLR too, so it's 2 for 1.

Uchikoshi Koutarou is a weird author: he has a knack for writing some engaging character driven dialogues and a vast knowledge about physics and philosophy that he loves to implement in his games, although he tends to recycle a good deal of its own ideas and tropes. And by that, I mean all of them. Always.
Yet it is rare to found an author with a knowledge so vast and so little clue as to what to use it for.

The Zero Escape series is probably one of the better examples of this duality.

As for the gameplay, each one plays like a classic point and click adventure with minigames, investigation and logic to be used to solve progressively challenging rooms to find clues to solve the immediate puzzles and the overall mystery. Be aware though Monkey Island it is not, and every enigma in each game will prove less challenging the more the players are proficient at remembering easy details and checking the in-game encyclopaedia. It feels rewarding solving these puzzle rooms on your own but the challenge bar is set very low and accessible for everyone who doesn’t like being stuck thinking too much.

What really buggers these games although is the absurdity extremes to which the plot and the characters are being constantly driven to, often writing themselves into a corner that progressively gets narrower at each game. The premise isn’t even that bad, without spoiling anything the first title, 9 Hours 9 People 9 Doors, is very engaging, the outset might be silly and cliched – group of people trapped in a death or life situation and restrained in a close environment surrounded by the sea, the Infinity series is calling and wants their synopsis back – but still it presents a serious life or death situations with different colourful and charismatic characters. They are memorable and the banter is great between some of them, you are invested and want to discover what they hide under the surface: why they were kidnapped and brought here?, how come they know so much about complex scientific and philosophical topics?, is one of them secretly helping the mastermind villain and if so why?, what are the ultimate motives to bring some apparently unrelated people together and constantly try to murder them but always leaving a fair chance to escape unscathed? The finale is silly but it revolves around these same characters the players have grown attached to, so even if the story leaves some holes, unfinished plotlines, weird narratives and cliff-hangers, there isn’t any real feel that any of these questions need to be answered to feel a proper closure.


Then Virtue’s Last Reward happens. It seemingly starts in a very similar vein to 999 but despite some more challenging puzzles and complex multi-layered plot structure, it goes where the story shouldn’t have never gone: focusing on the sci-fi mumbo jumbos rather than the likable characters. There is still some hilarious banter and relatable moments thorough the story but, rather than with the purpose of escaping and survive, everything is now done for the sake of playing with a straight face through absurd plot twists and world-threatening menaces that never feel real or immediate, as the characters are still trapped in a locked environment with only newspapers and some scattered info about what has happened outside, far from them.

The recurring characters are underused or completely different from what they were in 999, most of the cast is either expendable or plain useless to the story, being there just for the sake of being there, and the unlikeable ♥♥♥♥ that looks like the villain since the beginning of the game is, in fact, the villain. At a certain point it is clear that all seemingly importance given to the characters is being replaced by the exaggerated need to surprise the players but the punchline is akin to having someone set up a surprise birthday party so meticulous and contrived that they eventually get the date wrong.

Moreover, VLR also throws away a great deal of the charm from 999 by replacing simple but detailed 2D sprites with horrendous 3D models with comically hilarious and stiff expressions and stock movements that resemble more underproduced robots than animated characters. You can turn off the voice acting, which is amazing in both games, but you can’t turn off those models from showing at every turn and being still in idle animations with an unconcerned face about their death or life situation.

I still recommend both games because the immersion is equally strong in both of them – until the latter stages of Virtue’s Last Reward at least – and, even if it doesn’t mean much as a compliment, in no part of that game they will sunk as low as in the third instalment, Zero Time Dilemma.


In general, I enjoy visual novels, even replay some of them 3 or 4 times. But the reason I replay 999 and play for the first time VLR in this collection is the same reason which I play some of the Level-5 games:

1. To see the limits of absurdity that the plot can reach

2. Like Level-5, Spike Chunsoft made games that are my guilty pleasures.

What I find most interesting about both games is how they explore the dynamics that most visual novels follow: The ramifications in history caused by the decisions made by the players. And it is integrated as the main motive of the plot and how it is played with this idea. I think it is more successful on VLR than in 999. In the case of 999, the path we choose through the game only serves to reveal more or less of the plot (in fact, it can happen to you as it did to me the first time I played it and end up with 2 or 3 endings and that's it) and the different interactions they can have with the characters. In the end, how this interrelate with the plot seems to me much less forced than its sequel, but also with much less sense.

Actually, the feeling I have is that throughout the game the different characters expose you to different themes and facts that are relevant to the plot in such an unnatural way that it shows the poor writing and cohesion that everything has, and no wonder the sequel decided to move on to full sci-fi. At the same time, I don't find the characters particularly interesting or charismatic (like every Spike Chunsoft game, they try to do likeable characters). And the story it's a mess with too much exposure to justify the last quarter of the game. The gameplay? Well, just the same of other novel-puzzle DS games, nothing special.

As for VLR, is a more pretentious game and one with more ups and downs. The general consensus is that it is worse than 999, even so I like this one more.

The extent of absurdity in the plot and the situations the characters are led to are worthy of stopping and thinking whether you are dreaming or something. But in a strange way, everything makes much more sense within the absurd. The decisions here are less arbitrary than those of 999 and narrative more logical. It is also much more fun to reveal parts of the story piece by piece and use them to continue on the other paths, gradually getting a bigger picture. However, each one of these paths are character focused and fulfilling them is necessary to beat the game. And some of the characters here may be less important to me than those in the previous game (I also find some more interesting).

For the other aspects of the game I don't have much more to say, it just carries over bad habits from the previous one (more exposure, of course).

At the end of the day, I don't think both games tell you anything, not even a bit. They are just empty games of any meaning that take advantage of the graphic novel format to experiment with it, but that's all that's left, in an experiment that like the nonary game doesn't end very well.

Virtue's Last Reward remains the exact same game from before, but this port of 999 sacrifices a lot of what made it unique in order to feature on these platforms, including bizarre negative changes to puzzles, but the VA work is good and the inclusion of a flowchart is welcome, so I can concede this might be the jaded opinion of a hyper-fan of the original

It's both of 'em, they're both great

both include great games but what makes it suffer the most is the sacrifice it made of removing the dual screen feature and shoving 2 types of vn modes in 999 and a major change in the final puzzle that ruins the challenge and mood of it. it's great seeing these 2 games being ported so people can experience it, but the sacrifice shakes the experience a little

at the very best this game inspired me to play the original 999 on ds

It's two of the greatest VN/ADVs that you'll ever experience in one package together. It's just simply a no-brainer to get this if you like hard sci-fi stories with an emphasis on philosophy and quantum physics themes.

WHY DOES IT START YOU IN ADV MODE AETREWEFRGSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Both games in this collection are amazing. 999 is better but both are very good.

sigma is hot he is the sigma male

A package of two of some of the best visual novels in the history of the genre.

This review contains spoilers

really felt like the reveal in 999 deflated a ton of the original tension, even though it makes sense. VLR feels more clever and satisfying with its twists but it's also padded as hell. But on the whole really good games with great atmosphere and twists and characters.

Two excellent games that tell a wild and wonderful story. I loved the twisting and surprising storylines, and really enjoyed the puzzles.

Two really high quality visual novels with some fun puzzles to solve.

The ending of this ostentatious, tedious piece of shit is a fucking joke.

This review contains spoilers

I want off Uchikoshi's wild ride. I don't wanna hear about the Titanic, I don't want a robot to sass me on the concept of consciousness, and I don't want a massively convoluted experiment just for the big reveal to be that Sigma's never heard of a mirror. Yes, I am playing Zero Time Dilemma now bc I hate that I love Uchikoshi's madness

999:
~4/5.~

Really Good. The plot is really interesting, and it probably has one of the best stories in the medium for me. The cast is pretty good, and the final twists were pretty well-done. The mechanics were enjoyable and it had a good gameplay. A really good first entry for an amazing duology.

Virtue's Last Reward:
~5/5.~

One of my all time favorites. My 2nd favorite game as of ever. I loved it, the story, plot, continuation of the first game, plot-twists, mechanics, gameplay... Gosh, I loved this game, everything from it. All the endings were superb, the cast it's one of my favorite, and I loved playing it. My favorite duology of all time.

I WILL BUY THIS FOR YOU ON THE STEAM SALE IF YOU DON'T OWN IT

The best experience I had during quarantine hands down. More of this PLEASE

I only played this for the 999 remaster tbh and it's pretty good despite lacking the dual screen twist in its intended fashion

if you play this version of 999 i will find you and i will beat your ass


999 is great, VLR is even better.
If you can play the DS version of 999.

This game changed my life. Play it without being spoilered.

"Recommanderiez-vous ce jeu à d'autres personnes ?" OUI OUI OUI ET OUI

SPOILER FREE

Tout d'abord Zero Escape: The Nonary Games est une duologie composé de 999 et Virtue's Last Reward. A peu près 20h de jeu chacun. Je parlerai des 2 séparés.


Synopsis
Enlevés et placés dans un lieu inconnu, 9 personnes se retrouvent forcés de participer au jeu "Nonary Game" par un mec appelé "Zero".

Gameplay
- 999 -
Alors il faut savoir déjà que la meilleure version pour 999 c'est la VN version car les scènes sont bien plus détaillés qu'avec seulement les textes en bas d'écran. Le jeu est en 2D, des sprites vraiment plaisant et des décors vraiment sympathiques. C'est le jeu qui m'a le plus plu au niveau de l'esthétisme. On joue le personnage "Junpei" et le but du jeu c'est de sortir d'ici (yes merci j'avais pas compris). Dans l'histoire on sera amené à plusieurs choix qui donneront lieu à plusieurs routes, voir fins. Bien sûr, pour avoir la véritable fin il faudra faire toutes les autres avant. Aussi, les personnages seront souvent bloqués dans des salles et il faudra résoudre l'énigme en triffouillant un peu tout et n'importe quoi pour résoudre l'énigme de la salle entière. Prenez votre temps, lisez bien les dialogues quand les personnages vous aident et ça ira tout seul. YOU FOUND IT!

- VLR -
Concernant VLR, le 2D est abandonné et laisse place au 3D. Au début, la transition est HORRIBLE mais au fur et à mesure de l'histoire on s'y habitue. On s'y habitue trop vite même ahaha. Comparé à 999, VLR est un peu différent au niveau des règles du jeu mais c'est facile à comprendre promis !! Prenez votre mal en patience et vous y arriverez. VLR est plus long que 999 mais sa longueur en vaux son contenu. Une masterclass on a rien pu faire.

Ce que j'ai le plus aimé
-999 et VLR-
L'histoire super bien construite et les personnages très bien développé. Ni trop court, ni trop long. Des arguments qui se tiennent et des plot-twist très ingénieux.
Les OST sont iconiques et les voix japonaises sont superbes. Les seiyuus retranscrivent correctement les émotions vouluent et nous mettent dans le bain très facilement. J'ai beaucoup aimé.
Les différentes fins étaient toujours une surprise. Impossible de prévoir et toujours plus de questions après chaque fins.
Les énigmes étaient trop trop bien. J'ai jamais autant aimé faire des énigmes que dans Zero Escape: The Nonary Games !
Vraiment aucun sans faute. Peut être le format qui a été changé de la 2D à la 3D mais même avec on réussis à s'immerger et être hypnotiser par ce magnifique jeu.
Aussi ce que j'ai plutôt aimé dans VLR c'est que pour skip certaines scènes c'était plus rapide que dans 999. Parce que oui parfois on se retape les mêmes scènes mais ce qui est INCROYABLE c'est que ça arrête de skip quand les dialogues n'ont jamais été lu !!!!!

Overall
Je ne regrette absolument pas avoir fait cette duologie fantastique. J'aimerai le conseillé à tout mes amis si seulement j'en avais ahaha. C'est bien pour ça que je fais des critiques. Pour que, vous, lecteurs puissez lire ce que j'aime et que vous y prenez plaisir aussi. Une saga dont je ne tairais jamais le nom. Qui ne sera jamais oublié par mo-même. Mesdames et Messieurs, Zero Escape : The Nonary Games.


Il y a un troisième jeu qui se nomme Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma que j'ai commencé, je vous en dirais des nouvelles. Voilà. Merci. SEEK A WAY OUT!