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Virtue's Last Reward SPOILER Thread

M

Midou

Member
I asked in main thread but I guess this is the right spot:

Why did Sigma have that trigger of Phi speaking quickly, as part of the Radical-6 effects, and Quark and Alice trying to kill themselves, but not everyone else? And why only that time for Sigma? If they were infected equally from the start, why did they not all have suicidal thoughts and all that? Plus I was pretty sure Sigma had mentioned he was a college student, but would people not have made comments about his age?

Also I suspect the [Tagged cause of ever17 spoiler.]
'?' at the end is similar to the blink winkle or whatnot in ever17, which blew my mind in ever17, but not as much this time around. :p
 
W

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Plus I was pretty sure Sigma had mentioned he was a college student, but would people not have made comments about his age?
Click to expand...
Alice at one point goes "How long have you been working on your degree?". But, then again, there are old people in college.

But, imo, you have to have sort of a suspension of disbelief with Sigma never realizing he was in an old man body...perhaps that, because he had his young consciousness, his brain somehow filled in all the illogical gaps and it wasn't till he saw his younger face that the disconnect became clear.

Wii Tank said:
I actually started suspecting that Quark was Dio's kid or another clone of sorts immediately after I saw Quark's attempted suicide. I had already seen Dio's ending so I knew about his story. Once Quark started going on about purification and freeing the soul from the body I felt they had to be related. They even had practically the same hair color. I guess it's too early to say though as it may be relevent to the sequel. Who knows?
Click to expand...

I'm watching the Hard Ending, and in Tenmyouji's Biker example explaining how the split-timelines work, he gives two examples of what might have happened during the route where only 10 bikers survived...the second one is basically Tenmyouji and Quark (finding an orphan) but before that he mentions one of the bikers falling in love and having a child.

I thought that was interesting, lol.
 
T

Thommunist

Member
Watch Da Birdie said:
Was Free the Soul mentioned in 999 at all?

I didn't really like the retcon (the only one, iirc) with Ace being simply a Free the Soul pawn. It seemed...kind of weird to turn the central villain of the original game into just a lackey for some secret society.

I also find it interesting with the termite analogy going on with Zero Sr., the name "Myrmidon" means roughly "ant-people".

EDIT: Oh, and why did Sigma choose a rabit motif for Zero III (besides the Japanese mythology reference, which helped me guess the moon twist like an hour into the game)? I was kind of disappointed that Zero III just disappeared except for two or so plain lines when speaking to Akane, and they never explained exactly why he was so wacky and weird.
Click to expand...

I have a theory for why they picked the rabbit: the reason the 'king' of the game is a rabbit is because the character for the imperial crown is 冕，while it's not completely etymologically correct because the lower radical of the character is 免 (to avoid) and not 兔 (rabbit), they're similar enough to warrant a choice like that. In my opinion it also explains why Zero Usagi is wearing an imperial crown and other imperial regalia. I really wonder if this is the actual motivation for the developer's choice of a rabbit to represent the overseer of this time's Nonary Game, because I felt pretty damn smart when I thought of that, haha.
 
E

Eusis

Member
I brought up in the OT how the Sigma Cat tic file entries are probably safe enough to read.

I now just realized how hilarious it must be to see this 65 or so year old man with the somewhat intimidating cyborg eye speaking in cat puns.
 
W

Wii Tank

Member
Eusis said:
Man, she always gets the most violent endings, doesn't she? Though the closest she got to having an axe was her nickname from Zero III, and even that's a stretch.
Click to expand...

When I got to the lock where you have to explain Alice's death wasn't murder I was sure that Clover was about to go axe ending on everyone. Kind of disappointed there was no similar axe ending for her in this game.
 
W

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Oh, and Alice...I can't believe that the weirdest character in 999 (the supposed hitch-hiking un-meltable mummy) ended up being, probably, the most normal character among the VLR cast.

I was kind of disappointed that all the Titanic Mythos was just a red-herring since I loved that part of 999, and it disappeared here apart from Tenmyouji joking about Alice being THE Alice.

EDIT: Also, did anyone notice the, uh, "eye-problems" they hinted at with Dio? There were two parts I remember where it seemed like he was either dyslexic, or color-blind. In one time-line I did, when K found the Astronomy Magazine in the Louge, Dio seems to not understand what it says (he's like..."oh yeah, it does say that, doesn't it) and another time he seemed surprised when he was told the color of a door. But none of this pans out, so it's just weird.
 
T

Thommunist

Member
I really wonder why Dio calls Tenmyouji 'kuso jiji' (probably translated like damn old man in the English translation?) all the time, but not even once calls Sigma that despite the fact that he looks just as old as Tenmyouji. We're reminded several times of the fact that Tenmyouji is an old man, but all Sigma gets is a couple of subtle nudges from Alice and Phi. Upside from this is that the twist was totally awesome though!
 
E

Eusis

Member
Thommunist said:
I really wonder why Dio calls Tenmyouji 'kuso jiji' (probably translated like damn old man in the English translation?) all the time, but not even once calls Sigma that despite the fact that he looks just as old as Tenmyouji. We're reminded several times of the fact that Tenmyouji is an old man, but all Sigma gets is a couple of subtle nudges from Alice and Phi. Upside from this is that the twist was totally awesome though!
Click to expand...
It'd be interesting if there was a mental block that took being directly confronted for him to break past. Certainly I think I'd notice if I couldn't blink one eye, nevermind the fact it's a PIECE OF METAL JUTTING OUT OF MY SKULL. Probably would've allowed for Sigma VA too if they ran with that, switching to the Zero II voice once he realized.
 
W

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Yeah, it was a bit goofy that not only was Sigma in an old man's body, he had the body of like an anime super-villain.

EDIT: In fact he basically becomes General Stronheim from JoJo.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Watch Da Birdie said:
Yeah, it was a bit goofy that not only was Sigma in an old man's body, he had the body of like an anime super-villain.

EDIT: In fact he basically becomes General Stronheim from JoJo.
Click to expand...
I actually sort of wonder if that may be why Dio didn't say that to Sigma. He has muscular robot arms, and looks like a super villain (albeit one dressed like a mechanic?), you don't want to go throwing "old fart" insults at someone like that. Not to their face anyway.

Does explain Phi's shock at his claims at being 22 though, and makes the drug joke even funnier.
 
T

Thommunist

Member
Eusis said:
It'd be interesting if there was a mental block that took being directly confronted for him to break past. Certainly I think I'd notice if I couldn't blink one eye, nevermind the fact it's a PIECE OF METAL JUTTING OUT OF MY SKULL. Probably would've allowed for Sigma VA too if they ran with that, switching to the Zero II voice once he realized.
Click to expand...

The mental block would make sense, it also fits the fact that Sigma has no voice acting nicely. We are looking at the game from his perspective after all, it wouldn't be strange that we're 'overlooking' the things he is overlooking. It also wouldn't surprise me if this was planned in advance by Akane and Kyle and they deliberately did something to Sigma to make sure he wouldn't realize his actual condition unless they were unlocked by something, say Akane's reminder. I wish the game would've elaborated on this a bit more, since now we're just guessing for something which could have been explained rather easily..
 
W

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
It does explain why Tenmyouji was so ready to fight him though...it seemed weird that he was picking a fight with a muscular 22-year old to me.

"The last guy that I fought went home in an ambulance!"
"Maybe you shouldn't pick a fight with a paramedic next time?"

The whole game becomes pretty silly when you imagine Sigma Sr. making all those jokes though, lol.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Thommunist said:
The mental block would make sense, it also fits the fact that Sigma has no voice acting nicely. We are looking at the game from his perspective after all, it wouldn't be strange that we're 'overlooking' the things he is overlooking. It also wouldn't surprise me if this was planned in advance by Akane and Kyle and they deliberately did something to Sigma to make sure he wouldn't realize his actual condition unless they were unlocked by something, say Akane's reminder. I wish the game would've elaborated on this a bit more, since now we're just guessing for something which could have been explained rather easily..
Click to expand...
Might simply be a case of the mind ignoring something too absurd to be real, nevermind that he and everyone else IS feeling groggy from Radical 6 and waking up from being put to sleep, or even thawed out in the case of Clover/Alice/Phi.
Watch Da Birdie said:
The whole game becomes pretty silly when you imagine Sigma Sr. making all those jokes though, lol.
Click to expand...
It's why I brought up the cat puns. Though there's also the fact it makes him look like an especially audacious dirty old man frequently.
 
T

Thommunist

Member
Eusis said:
Might simply be a case of the mind ignoring something too absurd to be real, nevermind that he and everyone else IS feeling groggy from Radical 9 and waking up from being put to sleep, or even thawed out in the case of Clover/Alice/Phi.

It's why I brought up the cat puns. Though there's also the fact it makes him look like an especially audacious dirty old man frequently.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that does make sense, Radical 6 (it's 6 right, or is this a difference between the Japanese and English version?) slows down the information processing speed of the brain, so it would make sense that these kind of absurd things would take much longer to dawn on someone.
 
W

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Thommunist said:
Yeah, that does make sense, Radical 6 (it's 6 right, or is this a difference between the Japanese and English version?) slows down the information processing speed of the brain, so it would make sense that these kind of absurd things would take much longer to dawn on someone.
Click to expand...

Actually, it speeds up the processing speed of the brain, irc. That's why people commit suicide, because they become overloaded by information...I wonder if the SKIP option is actually meant to kind of play with this too.

But I imagine that comes into play as it probably helped Sigma feel like a young man still.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Thommunist said:
Yeah, that does make sense, Radical 6 (it's 6 right, or is this a difference between the Japanese and English version?) slows down the information processing speed of the brain, so it would make sense that these kind of absurd things would take much longer to dawn on someone.
Click to expand...
It's 6, I just slipped up due to the 9 motif of the series. But yeah, while the virus put everyone on an even field I could see it screwing up even more in processing certain things, especially when you're pre-occupied with finding ways out or solving puzzles, or whatever predicament popped up.
Watch Da Birdie said:
Actually, it speeds up the processing speed of the brain, irc.

But I imagine that comes into play as it probably helped Sigma feel like a young man still.
Click to expand...
No, it slows down. It's why we had the bit with Phi speaking at super speed, and why everyone whose in a critical situation starts acting groggy and talking slowly.
 
T

Thommunist

Member
I guess that explains why everyone in the game is constantly so surprised by how time flies, the actual flow of time and the flow of time they are experiencing are different. It must be hilarious to see them doing their stuff in the facility from the viewpoint of a person unaffected by the virus, seeing everyone do everything so slowly..
 
E

Eusis

Member
Thommunist said:
I guess that explains why everyone in the game is constantly so surprised by how time flies, the actual flow of time and the flow of time they are experiencing are different. It must be hilarious to see them doing their stuff in the facility from the viewpoint of a person unaffected by the virus, seeing everyone do everything so slowly..
Click to expand...
Nah, they adjusted for that actually. But yeah, someone unaffected, possibly already TREATED for it, would probably feel like the whole thing was surreal.
 
L

Lumination

'enry 'ollins
28 hours, 17 minutes. Gat Damn.

While playing, I made the observation that my face was never shown in the scoring scenes when everyone present would be represented with a single-color image. That, and there's the one room, (the pantry? it involved using a sink) where the only mirror you find is too dirty to use. My measly brain could only think, "oh, well I guess it makes sense to never really see yourself, as you're in the first-person.

I took the rightmost paths first, so like 5hrs into the game, it made me think I was a robot. Then, I was tricked into thinking they were gonna pull some 4th wall stuff with the player being the one controlling Sigma-bot. Didn't help that Sigma kept wondering why he picked what he picked in the AB rooms, dammit.

Finally, I really, really appreciated the fact that young Akane was not a 3d model. That whole scene being in 2d really made it felt like a nod to us 999 players. Felt nice. =3

Now, I think I'm going to let my brain recompile itself...

PS: Those Vita images look leagues better than the 3ds. Damn. I guess it's time to buy a vita, since I double dipped for the watches anyway!
 
E

Eusis

Member
Lumination said:
Then, I was tricked into thinking they were gonna pull some 4th wall stuff with the player being the one controlling Sigma-bot. Didn't help that Sigma kept wondering why he picked what he picked in the AB rooms, dammit.
Click to expand...
Well, they sorta pulled that at the end anyway. Then there's the fact his conciousness DOES keep jumping around, at least half of those betrays can be chalked up to curiosity to see what happens on another path. The other half are either due to known betrays or Dio.
 
M

Midou

Member
Based off my previous post, I guess to simplify it a bit, is there a reason quark and alice had suicidal thoughts while no one else had them?
 
E

Eusis

Member
Midou said:
Based off my previous post, I guess to simplify it a bit, is there a reason quark and alice had suicidal thoughts while no one else had them?
Click to expand...
They got deeper into the infection than the others did... on most routes. Clover's ending is when EVERYONE got hit (except for Luna who just played along I'd assume).
 
W

Watch Da Birdie

I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Midou said:
Based off my previous post, I guess to simplify it a bit, is there a reason quark and alice had suicidal thoughts while no one else had them?
Click to expand...

Well, Alice was like a genius, wasn't she? She already seemed to have a lot of information stored up in her brain (like the prime integer stuff she solves), so maybe she suffered from the information overload faster?

Quark's brain would've been still developing, so I guess he was more susceptible due to his age.
 
B

Busaiku

Member
So as far as this game goes, they've gone through the same cycle, over and over, and they're basically trying to break that cycle?

Why does it have to be Sigma and Phi.
Time travel will never make sense.
 
M

Midou

Member
Busaiku said:
So as far as this game goes, they've gone through the same cycle, over and over, and they're basically trying to break that cycle?

Why does it have to be Sigma and Phi.
Time travel will never make sense.
Click to expand...

Because they have magical powers.
 
R

Roto13

Member
Kazerei said:
So I started replaying 999, and wow, this game is scarier than I remembered. Even though I finished 999 long ago, I'm still getting creeped out by it. The atmosphere is filled with fear, uncertainty, and darkness, and the characters seem to feel it too. Especially since the first death was shockingly gruesome. Some of the other endings are pretty crazy too.

By comparison, VLR feels more laid-back. Even though the characters have to compete against each other in the ambidex games, there actually seems to be less conflict in VLR than 999. Overall, there just seems to be less negativity.

Anyone else feel that way? VLR is more expansive, but 999 is more intense. It's one helluva ride.
Click to expand...

Not one single person explodes. :(
Esura said:
So, I'm confused as hell.

So Sigma, Old Sigma, Phi, and Kyle are going backwards and forward through time to save the world? And Akane is like, Obi Wan or Yoda or something and knows everything except the stuff that happens in that base. And why out of all people in the entire world they base a plan only around Sigma and Phi? Who the hell is Phi? Why is Old Junpei so pathetic? Why does 22 year old Akane in English sounds hot? I don't understand anything. :(

Anyone have a feeling the third game will take place in that base? I wanna know what happens in it.
Click to expand...

Judging from the TRUE true ending, I think that's pretty clear.
 
B

Busaiku

Member
Also now it kind of makes sense why Sigma was never able to escape in a bad ending.
I guess Junpei would be better equipped to handle that stuff, so him escaping makes slightly more sense.

It was still stupid that Sigma never existed during group shots.
 
L

Lumination

'enry 'ollins
Oh my god, I didn't realize there was the hidden hard mode ending...

So.... anyone have an idea who the person inhabiting Kyle's body could be?
 
B

Busaiku

Member
Ok, but my next question is...
How was Quark very clever and quite analytical?

Nobody answered me in the main, so I need them.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Busaiku said:
Ok, but my next question is...
How was Quark very clever and quite analytical?

Nobody answered me in the main, so I need them.
Click to expand...
Might be naturally smart, though I think the kind of environment he and everyone else has to grow up in undoubtedly contributed to it.
 
L

Lumination

'enry 'ollins
Midou said:
It's you.
Click to expand...
I thought that, but... can't ever be 100% sure.

I just remembered a quote from Phi. Something along the lines of "You [Sigma] look old as hell for a 22 year old. You must have been on some crazy drugs to look like that."

...This game.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Lumination said:
I thought that, but... can't ever be 100% sure.

I just remembered a quote from Phi. Something along the lines of "You [Sigma] look old as hell for a 22 year old. You must have been on some crazy drugs to look like that."

...This game.
Click to expand...
REALLY crazy drugs if he needed that robot eye.
 
B

Busaiku

Member
There were also a number of times where other characters referenced the fact that Sigma's an old man.
Dio in particular.
 
E

Eusis

Member
The greatest part about the OT is the amazingly, sometimes hilariously off predictions. I can't wait to see how some of these people react when the truth comes out.
 
E

Esura

Banned
Roto13 said:
Judging from the TRUE true ending, I think that's pretty clear.
Click to expand...

Which makes me wonder how fucked up that base was to the point that Sigma lost his eye and arms. Since I assume that will be the final entry of the Zero Escape, stuff is gonna get crszy.

I wonder also if they succeed in saving the world and make an alternative time line, what will that Akane do? Because...there wont be anything for her to go all vigilante on then and she is still young during that period. Maybe Akane will stop being crazy as hell and get some of dat Junpei or something.
 
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