It's hard to say for me. The DS version did some really cool storytelling things with the dual screen setup, but the unchangeable slow text speed and tedium of having to redo the puzzle scenes on replays was agonizing and kept me from finishing it for years.
They're visual novels with a mix of puzzle solving involved. They're really good and you should probably at least look at a walkthrough of at least the first 15 minutes to see if you'll like it. The series never got a third game so no proper ending. Be aware of that if you decide to jump in,
They're visual novels with a mix of puzzle solving involved. They're really good and you should probably at least look at a walkthrough of at least the first 15 minutes to see if you'll like it. The series never got a third game so no proper ending. Be aware of that if you decide to jump in,
I'd tell people to just play the first game because it has a self-contained story and is a great experience, but VLR is too good to not recommend, even if it ends on a huge cliffhanger.
Just pretend the universe blew up shortly after the events of VLR. That ties up the game's loose ends much more satisfyingly than the 3rd game does.
No, you're right. As always with the internet, a small amount of very vocal people completely disregard ZTD because it didn't reach lofty ideals of what they dreamed up.
I'd tell people to just play the first game because it has a self-contained story and is a great experience, but VLR is too good to not recommend, even if it ends on a huge cliffhanger.
Just pretend the universe blew up shortly after the events of VLR. That ties up the game's loose ends much more satisfyingly than the 3rd game does.
Also, because of that, the often used argument of 999 being so much "darker" doesn't really hold water for me. Sure, it starts with a gore scene. Yet then you're back to
goofy sex jokes between Akane and Junpei
. And while I wouldn't have had anything against more gore in VLR, some of the fates in its story are actually bleaker to think about than simple murder. Like even the basic premise of
being trapped forever for an unknown reason if you fail the game, often alone when everyone else has died
really quite haunting. The music really helps those moments a lot. I also prefer VLR's soundtrack too, the puzzle room themes are fantastic and the visual novel sections have some really creepy music placed at just the right moments
finding Dio in the sleep chamber dead, for example.
The game also had more layers to its plot, I think, whereas 999 really all revolved around
all of the characters being connected to Akane's fate in some way, VLR it's more about the bigger picture.
It just came out 9 months ago and is on 2/3 of the platforms here.
I wonder if the PS4 might get a standalone version somewhere down the line since now it's the only one of the four systems which can't play the whole series.
VLR gets ten extra points alone for having a main character that isn't 'high school animu wimp lusting for quirky childhood waifu' for once. There's still Clover distracting from the atmosphere sadly, but you gotta let that pass - best game in the series.
I actually skipped VLR at launch because of the lukewarm reception by the community. I only got it later and...it was amazing. Honestly one of the best successors to an outstanding first game I've seen. I found it a better sequel than Portal 2 was for Portal for instance.
Aside from the fact that the launcher doesn't support 1440p, the port seems good! Thankfully, it's easy to edit the game's config file for 1440p (in Documents/My Games).
Price seems a bit high for games I've already finished but it's nice to have on PC. Crazy to hear voice acting in 999 too!
The European price is really fucking gross at £55. For two remastered handheld games?
I've already played the series but I wanted to replay them. I'm passing until a sale happens or a physical edition that's not double the price it should be.
Theres only one problem with this releasing on any platform other than ds: 999 ENDING SPOILERS:
if I remember correctly, the twist at the end is that everything on the bottom screen is akane from the past right? Doesnt putting it all on the same screen diminish this? Esp when you have to turn the ds upside down to control the past to change the future? Its been a few years so I'm a bit hazy on the details, but I always thought of this as being one of the only games that managed to use the two screens for story in a really cool way
