First thing I wanna note with AITSF is that I played the switch version. This is quite possibly the only switch port I've played to date that is genuinely bad (instead of just the usual "portable console has compression" complaints I've often seen). Area and new day transitions grind the frame rate to a halt, and both Aiba's AI sight images and flashback scenes in dialogue take several seconds to load at almost every occurrence beyond midgame. This is tolerable up until endgame where there's... a LOT of flashbacks and AI sight usage to recite the entire case and half of its backstory, which unfortunately did lead to some frustration as I was playing.

That being said... AITSF is still a great game, and I really enjoyed my time with it! I wasn't big on the QTEs, I felt the porn jokes got a bit repetitive (I'm fine with them, some are genuinely funny, but the same ones get used a little too much imo) and I definitely started with the wrong ending for good narrative progression, but it didn't prevent this from being a blast. The somniums are weird and wonderful, the characters shine through with their absurdist yet endearing attitudes, and the mystery itself was as grisly as it was compelling! I thought a couple of plot points could've used more exploration but it didn't have a significant impact on my enjoyment or anything. Soundtrack is also a hell of a banger, really nails the atmosphere every time. I also wanna mention that despite sharing certain staples, AITSF moves away from some of Kotaro Uchikoshi's commonly known tropes, which I personally liked as it freed up the narrative for him to test some new ideas (and even make a lighthearted parody of his old ones!)

So yeah, love this game, and tbh I'd say if the switch is your only option, it's still playable and most content runs fine, especially the somniums which are the most important due to time sensitive navigation. Just... if you have any other console or a PC that can run it, please play it on literally anything else.

A complete mess in regard to tone, but the narrative and the mystery is engaging with some lovable characters (except Ota) and the voice acting is good.

Although I am not in love with it, it may strike a chord with you, and if you're a fan of Zero Escape, other Spike Chunsoft titles, or Ace Attorney, I'd recommend giving this a shot.

The kills are also shockingly brutal.

characters: 9/10
The characters are one of the selling points making the game stand out IMO. What hinders the characters from being 10/10 is Dante's perverseness. I thought it was quite fine, however, I can see others thinking poorly of the MC due to it.

Story: 8.5/10
The mystery part of the game, and unlocking the story as you progress are all very good. What deducts points from the story are two things: 1) Spontaneous comedic moments appearing which can break immersion. 2) Depending on the order you play chapters you could get heavy implications of the truth behind the mystery, which otherwise would be seen near the ending.
As I think the characters are one of the Big points of the game, the spontaneous comedic acts although they did break emersion, were in line and reinforced the characters' personality.

music: 8/10
As stand-alone music, I would rate the general OST as 4.5/10, however, if we combine it with the story and characters in mind then the OST fits in perfectly with the game and helps the game to stand out.

Summary: 8/10
Quite a good game, but if you want a 100% immersion mystery game this is not for you as there are scenes that break the immersion from mystery/seriousness to comedy.

Terribly underrated and even a little too hated from what I've seen on Steam. It's not perfect but none of the game's flaws are real deal breakers unless you have Beth Wilder's ever dwindling level of patience. Gamers whine about everything these days and can't simply have fun anymore without constantly feeling the need to overly scrutinize every single pixel they come across.

I mean, come on... you can manipulate time in this game (!!!), it has some genuinely impressive level designs, you get a fun little TV Show with Lance Reddick and Aidan Gillen (who unintentionally turns out to be kind of hilarious as Paul) and while the writing fluctuates and strays a bit from "peak Remedy" it has some really great moments. Which are especially present in the details, aka. all those scattered notes, emails and documents.

Some of you guys just need to take a step back and approach games with a little more whimsy again because that is what gaming is essentially all about! :)

(oh you died to the boss 50 times on hard? stop crying on the internet, thats a skill issue. get good. hop on a souls game and then we'll talk. nerd lmfaooo)

RAPID REVIEW💨

Mors certa, hora incerta

► Time Dilemma is the most ambitious in the Zero Escape series to date. Its intricate narrative treads similar ground to 999 and Virtue's Last Reward that fans of the series are sure to love, but at times ZTD can't seem to escape its own labyrinthine constructions...

B-B-B-Breakdown 🕵️‍♂️

► Narrative🪓
Fans of Uchikoshi will find themes in Zero Time Dilemma they've come to adore. Morphogenetic fields, The Monty Hall Problem, and The Sleeping Beauty Paradox all make appearances, as do time machines, world eradicating viruses and serial killers. At roughly 20 hours of gameplay, ZTD ends with more loose ends than it tidies, tackling the more complex narrative questions but leaving the simple left unsaid. The game itself is so preoccupied with impressing us with its complex structure that the treatment of characters like those on Q team, (Mira, Eric and Q), are notably absent of a satisfying motivation by the Endgame. Believability is, obviously, thankfully, left at the door when you start any Zero Escape game, and because of this they're able to sink you deeper and deeper into their unique worldbuilding. Even then, Zero Time Dilemma presents us characters who turn their personalities on a dime in order to fulfill narrative goals or provide red herrings, neither of which ever really land on their feet.

► Audio🔪
Perhaps one of the most frustrating aspects of Zero Time Dilemma is the audio mixing. The game is reliant on its eerie, mechanical music gelling with some of the incredible voice acting talent, but the highs of both are undermined by some choice audio mixing. There's an option in-game to change these manually, but losing key audio in early game moments is disappointing. In general, the music sells the "underground bunker" environment, and appropriately guides the player through the emotional moments. The voice cast supports this by cutting through the wooden character models to breathe humanity back into the experience.

► Visuals🩸
The change to 3D was met with some pushback from Zero Escape fans and it's easy to see why. The 2D character sprites of 999 cut the shape of a diverse cast with bright colours and unique silhouettes which started us on our Zero Escape love affair. 2D artwork is of course a staple of visual novels, but the 2D models of 999 and the more basic 3D models of VLR were perhaps usurped by the siren call of the new uncanny valley sprites in ZTD in an attempt to modernise. Writing this in 2024, there's going to naturally be an issue with dated graphics, but comparing it to the previous two games in the series, it's a notable downgrade in charm and polish, both in character sprites and environments.

► Gameplay⚰️
Time Dilemma's pacing issues have similar resonance in its gameplay. Most of the puzzle rooms take roughly 15 minutes, and are somewhat routine. Once you figure out the first piece of the puzzle, the rest will be a case of following the thread to the next puzzle in the queue. The most challenging were mathematics based, and their difficulty came from the intricacies of their calculations, rather than any sort of complex logical thinking involved. Choosing between two (or more!) narrative options and potentially altering the future was initially very fun, but as the impressive story threads became more interlocked with this mechanic, it became apparent that at some point you would end up having to see every option anyway, which undermined the stakes of your decisions as the game progressed. Unfortunately, it's a puzzle that's baked into the game design of Zero Time Dilemma that couldn't be solved with some clever thinking alone.

► Final Thoughts⏲
I had a great time with Zero Time Dilemma as a massive fan of previous works in the series and also as a writer. Uchikoshi throws away all decorum and unleashes himself in this iteration which is just a joy to watch. Technically speaking, he is what can only be described as a master of plot structure, but loses softer moments of characterisation to enact ungraceful lore dumps. This isn't Uchikoshi at his pinnacle, but fans of his works have come to learn the fun is in getting battered and bruised in the many paths he winds for us, not in leaving through the X door totally unscathed.

Plaudite, acta est fabula.

so THIS is how the series ends :[

egh. anyway, apparently this game was supposed to clean up loose ends. it answered next to nothing and glossed over what it does
its also the most boring aesthetic by far (almost all grungy grimey or super clean white future tech) and even the puzzles were less interesting. easily the worst zero escape, and a damn shame for such a good series thusfar. it's still not BAD persay but both of the games sweep this one extremely hard and the first game swept the second like a professional so its insane