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LTTP: 999 - 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (spoilers)

Amory

Amory

Member
Just unlocked the last (True) ending in 999. This was the first game in a long time that I played obsessively until I had seen everything. The concept is great, I love the branching storylines, the plot, most of the characters, the setting, and the creepy music.

Ironically my favorite character, until I learned his true identity, was Ace. Felt like he had shit under control, so I tried to stick with him whenever possible. On the other hand, one of the characters I was suspicious of from the beginning was Lotus, who ended up being one of the only characters who didn't have some shifty ulterior motive. My least favorite character was June. She played the typical damsel in distress in every scenario and never contributed much to the story besides fainting every 20 minutes and telling curse stories.

Couple complaints:

1) Even with the "skippable" (used extremely loosely, because though they allowed you to fast forward, I would've liked to be able to skip through them instantly) cutscenes, playing through each puzzle room over and over again got really tedious and boring. Also wish I could've sped up the text the first time I was reading it. It scrolled way too slowly.

2) The story gets convoluted as all hell. I enjoyed it for what it was, but I couldn't understand the True Ending at all. I understood the base concept, but looking back it seemed like there were a million unexplained plot holes that were created that they didn't bother addressing. Where did June end up in the present? She had a fever or something and then just disappeared... The final door was a lower case "q"? Really? Then it was revealed that Ace set up the whole experiment in an effort to cure his "I can't recognize faces" disease? What?

Overall I really enjoyed this game. I downloaded Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward and it should be waiting for me on my 3DS when I get home tonight so I can dive in.
 
The Horror the horror

The Horror the horror

Banned
I loved 999 to death but it was definitely one of those games in where I was more appreciative of the destination than the journey itself. I'm glad I finished it, but it was more of a task than an enjoyable ride.
 
A

Arcanine55

Neo Member
Yeah, the worst part of the game was that you must do the puzzles in each playthrough, but is easily my favourite VN, I have VLR in my Vita waiting to the end of my exams and I expect that at least they answer who was the lady that appear in the last sequence of the game.
 
W

Wichu

Member
Amory said:
2) The story gets convoluted as all hell. I enjoyed it for what it was, but I couldn't understand the True Ending at all. I understood the base concept, but looking back it seemed like there were a million unexplained plot holes that were created that they didn't bother addressing. Where did June end up in the present? She had a fever or something and then just disappeared... The final door was a lower case "q"? Really? Then it was revealed that Ace set up the whole experiment in an effort to cure his "I can't recognize faces" disease? What?
Click to expand...

June (and Santa) sneaked out while everyone was distracted by Ace/Lotus IIRC.

The 9/q worked much better in the original Japanese (9 = 'kyu'). 9 = q is more of a stretch, but the only thing you could really do in the translation.

The original experiment 9 years ago (bottom screen) was set up by Ace. The game Junpei is in (top screen) was set up by June to recreate that.
 
Sakura

Sakura

Member
I played the game myself for the first time this year. Being forced to replay the puzzles is really tiresome though, so after playing it through on my own 1 time, I just used a guide to get the true end on my second play through. Easier that way.
 
H

Hours Left

Member
Sakura said:
I played the game myself for the first time this year. Being forced to replay the puzzles is really tiresome though, so after playing it through on my own 1 time, I just used a guide to get the true end on my second play through. Easier that way.
Click to expand...
Eh, you missed a lot of cool stuff doing it this way.

Every ending it worth seeing IMO, even the "bad" ones.
 
T

TheSlySoul

Member
The Zero Escape series is great. Although if you had issues with the story being too convoluted, then Virtue's Last Reward's ending may rub you the wrong way since it is a mind****. It is a shame we will probably never get the ending to the trilogy because publishers cannot take a loss. I really wanted to see how the trilogy would have ended!

Sakura said:
I played the game myself for the first time this year. Being forced to replay the puzzles is really tiresome though, so after playing it through on my own 1 time, I just used a guide to get the true end on my second play through. Easier that way.
Click to expand...
All the ending are worth it, but I do agree it could have been done easier to avoid less replays. VLR's system was very refreshing since you did not have to play any part again to see all endings.
 
Amory

Amory

Member
Hours Left said:
Eh, you missed a lot of cool stuff doing it this way.

Every ending it worth seeing IMO, even the "bad" ones.
Click to expand...

The bad endings are depressing, but I agree they're definitely worth seeing.

It took me a long time to finally get the "Safe" ending, prior to that I just kept dreading leaving the third puzzle room because I knew I was gonna die and have to do the whole thing over again.
 
H

Hours Left

Member
Amory said:
The bad endings are depressing, but I agree they're definitely worth seeing.

It took me a long time to finally get the "Safe" ending, prior to that I just kept dreading leaving the third puzzle room because I knew I was gonna die and have to do the whole thing over again.
Click to expand...
Did you check out that link I posted above? It will answer a lot of your questions.
 
J

Jintor

Member
Amory said:
2) The story gets convoluted as all hell. I enjoyed it for what it was, but I couldn't understand the True Ending at all. I understood the base concept, but looking back it seemed like there were a million unexplained plot holes that were created that they didn't bother addressing. Where did June end up in the present? She had a fever or something and then just disappeared... The final door was a lower case "q"? Really? Then it was revealed that Ace set up the whole experiment in an effort to cure his "I can't recognize faces" disease? What?
Click to expand...

It's answered in the author q+a, but the gist of it is that Akane basically ran off after the fever (otherwise she would've hit the predestination paradox like in every other timeline), the 'q' was the best the translation could do since the point in Japanese is that it's spoken as 'kyu', but means 'q', and Ace's douchebaggery is... well okay, he's just a jackass.
 
Amory

Amory

Member
TheSlySoul said:
The Zero Escape series is great. Although if you had issues with the story being too convoluted, then Virtue's Last Reward's ending may rub you the wrong way since it is a mind****. It is a shame we will probably never get the ending to the trilogy because publishers cannot take a loss. I really wanted to see how the trilogy would have ended!
Click to expand...

That's a shame. They should consider a Kickstarter or even just put it out on iOS to reduce costs.
 
N

Nishastra

Banned
The 9/q thing really is unfortunate. It's clever in Japanese. All this focus on 9. 9 this, 9 that, 9 everything, and then the end isn't even actually a 9.

It's a shame that it becomes utter nonsense in English.
 
T

TheSlySoul

Member
Amory said:
That's a shame. They should consider a Kickstarter or even just put it out on iOS to reduce costs.
Click to expand...

I say if Nintendo pulled Bayonetta 2 out of development hell, then they could fund the next Zero Escape game. I mean 999 was a Nintendo exclusive at first. I think it is more JP Publisher Chunsoft than the western publishers.

Edit: Not to be mean, but Virtue's Last Reward had higher ratings and sold more than the original Bayonetta.
 
T

Tricky I Shadow

Banned
Best story ever told in a videogame and simply one of the best games ever made. A masterpiece.

It still pisses me off that a third game might never happen. This franchise deserves to be finished!
 
H

Holykael1

Banned
Tricky I Shadow said:
Best story ever told in a videogame and simply one of the best games ever made. A masterpiece.

It still pisses me off that a third game might never happen. This franchise deserves to be finished!
Click to expand...

Agreed.

OP VLR has a more complicated plot but if you loved at least the setting/soundtrack and characters in 999 you might still find something to enjoy in VLR.
 
R

random25

Member
One of the best VN + Adventure games out there. Right up there with the Ace Attorney series and Ghost Trick as my faves.

In my first playthrough, I actually got the safe ending, which basically unraveled most of the mysteries in the game. With that I basically got all the other endings with ease.
 
Amory

Amory

Member
Holykael1 said:
Agreed.

OP VLR has a more complicated plot but if you loved at least the setting/soundtrack and characters in 999 you might still find something to enjoy in VLR.
Click to expand...

I don't really mind a complicated story if it's clever and everything lines up and makes sense. I'm reading the "Answers" section on the game site and it's clearing up most of my questions, but a lot of the plot twists required a real stretch in logic, IMO.

The puzzle pieces don't fit together as well as I hoped they would. Or maybe they do and I'm just not getting it.
 
Amory

Amory

Member
Frost_Ace said:
Playing this game at 3AM with headphones on was the best thing. The axe ending was traumatic.
Click to expand...

The axe ending really pissed me off. Junpei SAW THE AXE jutting out of Clover's shirt and just said "Oh that's interesting. I should ask her about that later on!"
 
S

swnny

Member
One of the best things I really loved about the game (design/plot/etc) was the fact that the top screen is the present and the botom screen is the past. Was so well done it still blows me alway, when I think about it. Even more so, considering that I suspected it through the last playthrough and then got it confirmed.

I too have VLR waiting for me on my Vita, but with so much work atm and studying for my last exam, don't have much time to sit at night with headphones on and expierence it at its best (like Frost_Ace pointed out).
 
B

Basileus777

Member
Hours Left said:
Eh, you missed a lot of cool stuff doing it this way.

Every ending it worth seeing IMO, even the "bad" ones.
Click to expand...

Nah, many of the routes aren't worth seeing. The bad endings are tame and pretty boring, and there are several routes that offer no information not available elsewhere. The structure and pacing of the game is its biggest weakness. Not that anything Uchikoshi does is well paced, but 999 really suffers from all the repetition.
 
T

Thickstone

Member
I think VLR was more complex but better explained than 999. The twist in 999 was like 'omg what's happening i don't unterstand shit' because i totally did not expect the story to become insane.

Personally I prefer 999 but I enjoyed VLR as well. But I might be the only one who finds the stories completely ridiculous towards the end, especially VLR. The ride was way more enjoyable than its destination imo.

Don't really care for a third entry because the way VLR ended was just....yuck. all this enourmous playtime and everything you get is the realization that the story is nothing more than a convoluted prologue. Still exciting to follow though.
 
Falcs

Falcs

Banned
Awesome game. I made a LTTP thread last year while I played through it. Fricken amazing! I wish I could forget the whole game just so I could experience it all again for the first time.
It's probably in my top 3 story based games that I've played over the last 10 years.
 
M

Miker

Member
I thought the story was okay (wacky but fun), but the writing/prose itself was atrocious, and consistently took me out of the experience. It was so amateurish and overly dramatic I was rolling my eyes during scenes that were supposed to be intense. I have a longer post in another LTTP thread I can't find right now because I'm on mobile, but I might dig it out later.
 
K

Koriandrr

Member
I love this game and VLR.
I actually picked it up randomly at the local second hand shop for £3 just because I liked the cover, I had some time to kill and it was cheap. I didn't read anything about it beforehand and man, was I in for a surprise. This game seriously fucked with my brain on a whole new level. I got all the bad endings first. I wasn't using a guide and I was always choosing the wrong things, being super naive.

It was a great experience. After that I was more prepared for VLR and I loved the new timeline tree where you can skip stuff you've already gone trough - that makes it a lot easier.
 
B

Barrylocke

Member
Love this game. The mood and tension for it was very well done, the music is still listenable a couple of years later, and it was great getting to know the characters and seeing what role they had in the grand scheme.

My first ending was the coffin ending, and a lot of people suggest skipping it, but getting it on my own made for a great hook. You get all sorts of buildup and questions from looking into the the first 3 puzzles of the true ending, and then they To Be Continue you at just the right moment. Granted, you already kinda knew who was in the Coffin since in order to get this ending you have to comfort Clover and inadvertently inform her that her brother is still alive, but there's still the matter of what's behind the doors. It even worked well with the Safe Ending Trailer, because at some point they say "Actually I'm Santa" and the way Santa fake kidnaps June, it lead me to think that this was his line and we'd find out more about him being in on the scheme. Of course, we later find out that things play out very differently.

Still not sure whether I prefer this or VLR. I'd go into details but this is a 999 thread and a lot of my thoughts on ZE on a whole could spoil VLR. I will say that the models in VLR were pretty lackluster, and a couple of characters were notorious for having the same face for all sorts of situations. While I understand the reasoning for the change (budgetary reasons), it's really a shame that VLR couldn't have the beautiful spritework that 999 had.

acescary.gif


This one in particular was unsettling to the point of being disturbing to me, but I loved it when all was said and done.

tumblr_letqwbLlvt1qg39jwo1_250.gif


While this is nice and a lovely palate cleanser.
 
H

Holykael1

Banned
Amory said:
I don't really mind a complicated story if it's clever and everything lines up and makes sense. I'm reading the "Answers" section on the game site and it's clearing up most of my questions, but a lot of the plot twists required a real stretch in logic, IMO.

The puzzle pieces don't fit together as well as I hoped they would. Or maybe they do and I'm just not getting it.
Click to expand...

Well... I don't know, I felt like everything lined up and made sense.
The game has it's own established universe rules what with the Morphogenetic Field and such, under those principles the plot twists work and make sense.
Akane can use the morphogenetic field. The morphogenetic field transcends time and space, it's like a separate dimension of shared knowledge across all ages, a common consciousness between all matter in the universe.
She was under great pressure and danger 9 years ago in the incinerator. Under that danger and pressure she accessed the morphogenetic field and saw a future, a possibility, a timeline(whatever you wanna call it) in which she survived. After she was saved by Junpei in that possible "reality"(by communicating with him through the morphogenetic field) she made sure to make that "reality" actual reality by becoming zero and making preparations for saving herself(since she saw what happened, she was able to make a perfect recreation of what she saw) and avoid creating a paradox/dieing..
In the bad endings, paths that do not lead to her survival, she gets the fever and dies and it's theorized that the timelines are fixing themselves by eliminating the contradiction(her), she isn't supposed to exist in those timelines, so she dies and disappears. Akane is in sort of a limbo state, Schrodinger's Cat as an analogy would work. It's hard to wrap your mind around it but the key to understand it is that the morphogenetic field is not bound by time.
The 1st nonary game was created in the first place to prove the existence of this morphogenetic field and Ace has all sorts of absurd philosophies and ideas driving his actions, plus he is kind of insane.
It's crazy but it's clever.

VLR explains itself better and it might actually clear up some of the confusions with 999.
 
T

TheChaos0

Member
Great game, I'm glad I've played it, even though I'm not into VNs all that much (I've played some Katawa Shoujo, which was good as well but that's about it), I still need to play VLR, Danganronpa and Corpse Party.

True ending was pretty amazing in this game. That final sudoku puzzle, even though there was no time limit, I felt like I HAD to solve it as fast I possibly could.
 
Amory

Amory

Member
Holykael1 said:
Well... I don't know, I felt like everything lined up and made sense.
The game has it's own established universe rules what with the Morphogenetic Field and such, under those principles the plot twists work and make sense.
Akane can use the morphogenetic field. The morphogenetic field transcends time and space, it's like a separate dimension of shared knowledge across all ages, a common consciousness between all matter in the universe.
She was under great pressure and danger 9 years ago in the incinerator. Under that danger and pressure she accessed the morphogenetic field and saw a future, a possibility, a timeline(whatever you wanna call it) in which she survived. After she was saved by Junpei in that possible "reality"(by communicating with him) she made sure to make that "reality" actual reality by becoming zero and making preparations for saving herself(since she saw what happened, she was able to make a perfect recreation of what she saw) and avoid creating a paradox/dieing.. In the bad endings, paths that do not lead to her survival, she gets the fever and dies and it's theorized that the timelines are fixing themselves by eliminating the contradiction(her), she isn't supposed to exist in those timelines, so she dies and disappears. Akane is in sort of a limbo state, Schrodinger's Cat as an analogy would work. It's hard to wrap your mind around it but the key to understand it is that the morphogenetic field is not bound by time.
The 1st nonary game was created in the first place to prove the existence of this morphogenetic field and Ace has all sorts of insane philosophies and ideas driving his actions, plus he is kind of insane.
It's crazy but it's clever.
Click to expand...

Yeah I understand that stuff, the major plot points. It's more the smaller things where in a story with better execution you go "ohhhhhhhh" here you just kind of go "what?"

Like the switching of numbers near the end. I still for the life of me can't understand what the point of the "0" band that they found in the Captain's Quarters was. That dude wasn't even a participant in the game and the whole point was for Ace to murder him with the axe, so why did he have a band in the first place? Just to fool them into thinking it was Zero? His band wasn't even equal to zero, it was 6. But June was 6, except I guess it was on backwards and she was 9. And Santa wasn't Zero, but his band was equal to 0? Was there any reason for any of that crap?

Then the code to open the safe and the coffin, why even bother with that? If Akane could communicate directly with Junpei why didn't she just tell him the code in his mind instead of doing the watch button thing he found out by decoding a cryptic riddle?

If Santa was in on the whole thing, how does he ever let Ace get ahold of the revolver? Doesn't Santa know who Ace is, and that the revolver is stashed in the cargo room? Wouldn't Ace having access to the revolver seriously jeopardize the whole operation?

The more I think about it, the more little things don't seem to add up. But the point is that overall it was a fun ride.
 
O

ohlawd

Member
keep dem expectations low for VLR

It's a decent game but comparing it to 999, man I get depressed just thinking about it.
 
H

Holykael1

Banned
Amory said:
Yeah I understand that stuff, the major plot points. It's more the smaller things where in a story with better execution you go "ohhhhhhhh" here you just kind of go "what?"

Like the switching of numbers near the end. I still for the life of me can't understand what the point of the "0" band that they found in the Captain's Quarters was. That dude wasn't even a participant in the game and the whole point was for Ace to murder him with the axe, so why did he have a band in the first place? Just to fool them into thinking it was Zero? His band wasn't even equal to zero, it was 6. But June was 6, except I guess it was on backwards and she was 9. And Santa wasn't Zero, but his band was equal to 0? Was there any reason for any of that crap?

Then the code to open the safe and the coffin, why even bother with that? If Akane could communicate directly with Junpei why didn't she just tell him the code in his mind instead of doing the watch button thing he found out by decoding a cryptic riddle?

If Santa was in on the whole thing, how does he ever let Ace get ahold of the revolver? Doesn't Santa know who Ace is, and that the revolver is stashed in the cargo room? Wouldn't Ace having access to the revolver seriously jeopardize the whole operation?

The more I think about it, the more little things don't seem to add up. But the point is that overall it was a fun ride.
Click to expand...

I don't remember all the details because it's been a while since I played the game but there are answers for some of those issues.
The captain dude had the zero bracelet to deceive Ace and everything else was deliberately predicted and setup(since Akane had seen everything from the Morphogenetic field, she had to recreate thing as she saw it accurately, as not to have some kind of unknown variable change anything, furthermore having Junpei learn that Akane was behind everything earlier than expected could have led to unforeseen results and jeopardize the operation(that's why she never communicated with him directly, only in the incinerator when the original first contact happened.). As for the bracelet switcheroos, I don't remember the reason or if they even explained that in the game.
 
O

ohlawd

Member
TheSlySoul said:
At least it is not as bad of a dip as Ace Attorney 2 was to 1 (but 3 was the best of the series, so whatever!)
Click to expand...
is it bad I liked AA2 just as much as VLR?

but yeah lol if we ever get a 3rd ZE, I hope it's like AA3 where it's the best in the series.
 
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