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Aksys Games posts survey about Zero Escape / Visual Novels
- Thread starter webrunner
- Start date
Other: noneThe poll is broken. It forces me to put something I didn't like about VLR.
timetokill
Banned
It's a lot easier for me to put things I didn't like about vlr than 999...
There's some irony in how "improving" the game my allowing immediate time jumps ended up making it feel absolutely inconsequential.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
They disabled saving in the pec room.
Firstly, that's not a fix, that's a workaround. But it would have been fine if it was the only place the game can be corrupted...but it's not, and eshop version owners have reported their saves being corrupted.
InfiniteNine
Rolling Girl
Ooops forgot to put in the horrible looking CG movies and stills.
At least the transitions only took up a tenth of the overall play time.
flatearthpandas
Member
Yeah... yeah.
I had to think for a bit to determine what the thing I disliked most was since there was only one other box.
Overall love the games though. Until Pokemon, VLR was my longest play session on the Activity Log
meltingparappa
Member
Forcing you to sit through the credits in VLR every time was rough.
Though I liked the black mirrored screen forcing you to stare at your shocked face after some of the routes.
Though I liked the black mirrored screen forcing you to stare at your shocked face after some of the routes.
Put me in the camp that wants the return of horror elements. The sad thing is that, atmosphere wise, we would have probably gotten a more ''999-like'' experience if it weren't for the meddling of sales people.
EDIT: I used outdated numbers. Thanks to BlackLagoon for bringing this to my attention.
999:39,653 39,653 + 4,714 (budget rerelease)
--------------------------------
44,367
3DS VLR:7,890 17,913
Vita VLR:6,133 15,454
---------------------------
14,023 33,367 + unknown digital sales (NOTE: Japanese are not crazy about buying games digitally)
VLR's Japanese sales were lower than 999's so hopefully the 3rd instalment will be another nerve wrecking experience.
EDIT: I used outdated numbers. Thanks to BlackLagoon for bringing this to my attention.
999:
--------------------------------
44,367
3DS VLR:
Vita VLR:
---------------------------
They should ask more people who don't care about the series how they should change things. Maybe if there were dating sim options the games would be better.
It is. It just asks you what you (dis)liked.
Not going to lie, I'm not a massive fan of her's, but she was amazing in VLR. My original plan was to switch back between Japanese and English as I replayed routes, but I just left it on Japanese all the time because I couldn't imagine the game without her voice.
SteveWinwood
Member
the puzzles all sucked in both games
i want this series to have good puzzles in addition to the crazy story
i want this series to have good puzzles in addition to the crazy story
The Puzzles in VLR were pretty decent compared to 999 at least.
I agree though, there's room for improvement there.
Matt Attack
Member
Survey complete. I made sure to mention how much I love the music of the series. Hopefully we get a ZE3, especially if it does bring back the 999 feel.
I actually want less puzzles, lol
pissed me off even though it didn't affect me. No company should just get to sit on something like that :T
JUMPY WHAT IS THIS I HAVE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE HOW DO I DO IT
<me> it's sudoku. let me do it
JUMPY OMG HELP I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO
<me> it's sudoku. let me fucking do it
PLS
*rage intensifies*
<me> it's sudoku. let me do it
JUMPY OMG HELP I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO
<me> it's sudoku. let me fucking do it
PLS
*rage intensifies*
Same. I just feel like they get in the way, and they're only ever tangentially related to the main story anyway.
If the escape segments tied in with the plot better, I'd like them a lot more.
Yeah, now that you guys mention it there were so many more things I could have complained about. The confusing puzzles, the secret documents that spoil things you shouldn't know yet, the useless characters like Quark, Sigma taking forever to understand simple concepts...
I guess those are all just nitpicking though.
If the puzzles are the same quality as VLR or 999, I'd take fewer puzzles and more story branching. If they get better, I'd like the same amount. I honestly don't want more puzzles at all.
SteveWinwood
Member
thats another alternative
although at the point i might just say fuck it and read a real book
SoulUnison
Banned
I posted that I found Virtue's setting to be far less dark than 999's, and it made the game feel far less urgent and, ultimately, less interesting.
Also, Clovers character is nonsensical and annoying, yet the plot seems to constantly revolve around her.
Also, Clovers character is nonsensical and annoying, yet the plot seems to constantly revolve around her.
I would be happy with all puzzles and no story.
But then you'd be at risk of reading a well written story.
meltingparappa
Member
Runs through the back of my head for every story-based game I contemplate playing.
The ability to make choices in visual novels is pretty powerful though. Ever 17, Uchikoshi's magnum opus, didn't need no puzzlin' and making choices was enough to feel immersed in the story.
SMH at those saying they want less or even no puzzles. Playing Corpse Party and Corpse Party: Book of Shadows made me realize how much better it is to have some sort of meaningful gameplay; pure visual novels are too boring and I would rather just read a book.
You made me realize that I forgot to complain about Clover, aka, stupid fanservice character. Hopefully she gets brutally murdered within five minutes if she appears in the sequel.
PhantomOfTheKnight
Member
For a poll about both Zero Escape and Visual Novels, it really only asks about the former.
Even when the plot revolved around her, I can't think of anything interesting she did. She was just kinda there.
I think the VLR Q&A said she returned because she was on top of the popularity polls or highly requested. Or it seemed implied at least.
VLR Q&A said:
I'd buy DLC for VLR that was just this. Which arbitrary personality Clover has each time is randomly determined each time you start over.
I feel like many of the shortcomings that VLR had were due to Chunsoft wanting more sales (refer to Atmej's post above). After ZE3 Uchikoshi should round up his own small team and do a Kickstarter for another PC VN written by him without any publisher interference.
Gameplay was a big improvement over 999. Puzzles were more challenging, and not having to repeat the same paths was great. Though, I still feels the puzzles felt overly artificial (though that kind of fits within the context of the story). The story was an absolute unbelievable mess, though. And sorry, can't really vote on appealing character designs when Alice is wearing a friggin' toilet seat.
Oh yeah, and you guys just reminded me about the shift in tone frmo 999 to VLR. 999 was phenomenal in setting such a sombre tone right from the start. VLR felt far too relaxed by comparison. The soundtrack also felt much stronger in 999.
Oh yeah, and you guys just reminded me about the shift in tone frmo 999 to VLR. 999 was phenomenal in setting such a sombre tone right from the start. VLR felt far too relaxed by comparison. The soundtrack also felt much stronger in 999.
BlackLagoon
Member
You're compairing first week sales for VLR with life time sales for 999. Here are the most recent Famitu numbers:
3DS: Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - 7,890 / 17,913
PSV: Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - 6,133 / 15,454
NDS: Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors [Chun Selection] - ?? / 4,714
NDS: Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - 16,967 / 39,653
VLR still sold less at retail, but the gulf is much smaller and it was available digitally. And keep in mind a lot of visual novels don't break 10k, so even while the Zero Escape games presumably have higher production costs due to the puzzles, these are probably still fine sales figures for both games.
SoulUnison
Banned
Please, yes. Her death could serve several purposes. For Japanese players, they'd realize how high the stakes are now that their most popular character has been killed off. For American players we'd see a character we dislike finally get what's coming to her, and similarly know things are serious by the fact they offed a main, legacy character.
Also, it's spur some action from Snake, who was really by the far better half of that sibling pair, anyway.
M
Macapala
Unconfirmed Member
I gave them very positive feedback, but I did complain about one thing in 999's story.
MASSIVE SPOILER ->
<-MASSIVE SPOILER
Everything else is brilliant.
MASSIVE SPOILER ->
the fact they're in the desert the whole time was way to predictable
Everything else is brilliant.
michaelius
Banned
Sorry, I was using Garaph's figures. I guess it hasn't been updated yet.
VLR is a much bigger game, has tons of VA, and was developed for 2 platforms, so even if it manages to crawl up to 999 it is still, relatively speaking of course, a failure. They certainly didn't increase the budget and expand the platform selection just to sell what 999 did, they must have had bigger plans and they got burnt.
Man, I sure hope the guy from Aksys is reading this thread and forwards your comment to Uchikoshi.
I too preferred Snake, though the game kind of exaggerated his abilities; like him being able to effortlessly run around the ship and saying that he would win in a fight with Jumpey. I'm not saying that he should be totally useless just because he's blind but a heightened sense of hearing can only help you so much.
What tipped you off? I was really surprised by the revelation.
Haha, definitely. I should've put that down.
Ya for reals! I remember doing their VN survey a couple years ago but gave up on this one cause I never played these games. On the maybe bright side I learned these ZE games are VNs? I thought their first one was Hakuoki. Is the ZE series really as gory/gross/icky as some people in this thread is making them (or at least the 1st one) out to be? Cause I generally shy away from stuff like that.
Herb Alpert
Banned
Sooooo... When can we expect the third episode to release? I was hoping for next year in Japan.