Support NeoGAF

[AniHawk]

Thanks a lot for answering my questions! It's good to see that a lot of you seem to not know some of the answers. It makes me feel a little smarter LOL!



Yeah.....in Door 3 a flashback happens and June and Junpei hide behind the bunny cage hoping that the people who killed the bunnies in elementary school would come back again, but they never did.

Yet at the end when they are both sitting on the hill it's hinted that Junpei saw some kids pouring gasoline on a cat and they were the one's who killed the bunnies. So yeah, I don’t really understand it.

IIRC, they never caught anyone, but after he got the shit beaten out of him, he strongly suspected that they were the guys who killed the bunnies. It was just never some definitive thing.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

IIRC, they never caught anyone, but after he got the shit beaten out of him, he strongly suspected that they were the guys who killed the bunnies. It was just never some definitive thing.

Junpei said something like "They said they would come back to the school and kill you" to June

 

[abstract alien]

So you have a sock with a hole. Then you fix it and there's a patch, and if it kept getting holes and you kept fixing it, you would have a sock that consisted entirely of patches. So that sock consisting entirely of patches couldn't be the same sock that it originally was. The point behind her explaining this was to explain the biology behind the morphogenetic field.

This stuff caused me to think about star deaths and how the are inherently linked to human life. Things mixing and combining until something completely different becomes of it. Not sure why that was the first thing that popped into my head though.

 

[AniHawk]

Yes, young Akane was the narrator on the bottom screen

Spoiler

so sayeth the source

Can't overstate how good the way this was revealed. Kudos to the designers/writers for something so awesome.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

Can't overstate how good the way this was revealed. Kudos to the designers/writers for something so awesome.

Indeed.......I actually thought that when the bottom screen started with the 'I' business I thought 'I' was the actual player playing the DS and that you were the one who was feeding the information to Junpei.

I thought that for a while until it clicked that it was June doing all that. Was I the only one who thought this? Early I even thought that Junpei was going to end up being Zero! I had some pretty crazy theories!

 

[The Technomancer]

Yes, but the chances of the previous Nonary game staff members dying was much higher than everyone else dying since they all had bombs in them while the rest of the game players were safe, at least from blowing up. In fact, the guy in Snake's clothes was pretty much guaranteed to die and Santa and/or June were well aware of this. Ace might've been the one to directly kill him, but it's the same thing as throwing some guy into a hungry lion's den. They're still guilty.

Let's not forget something: June (and therefore Santa and Seven) know how everything is going to play out. They know that in order to save June, those guys have to die. Maybe they couldn't plot it in cold blood, but if the only way to save her also happens to kill some fairly evil men, are you going be that torn up over what you have to do?

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Junpei said something like "They said they would come back to the school and kill you" to June

But they never knew it actually was, they only threatened it after he said what school he was from IIRC.

 

[hamchan]

Hmmm I don't know whether I'd be pissed at June if I was in Junpei's position. When you think about it she is probably the most devious and manipulative person in the entire game.

Also it's kinda disturbing that there are 4 alternative realities where they get horribly murdered.

So what was up with June's fevers? Is it just her in bad health?

I wanted a reunion scene at the end with those two, I'll just believe Junpei caught up with June, shared hugs and kisses, get married, have kids and live happily ever after.

 

[Akselziys]

Hmmm I don't know whether I'd be pissed at June if I was in Junpei's position. When you think about it she is probably the most devious and manipulative person in the entire game.

Also it's kinda disturbing that there are 4 alternative realities where they get horribly murdered.

So what was up with June's fevers? Is it just her in bad health?

I wanted a reunion scene at the end with those two, I'll just believe Junpei caught up with June, shared hugs and kisses, get married, have kids and live happily ever after.

Her fevers happen when you start to stray from the correct path AKA negating her very existence in the current time line.

And this end pic from the 999 novels may make you happy

http://bit.ly/i67MyO

Spoiler

I can totally see Junpei and Akane getting married and Junpei and Santa becoming best friends haha

 

[abstract alien]

Her fevers happen when you start to stray from the correct path AKA negating her very existence in the current time line.

And this end pic from the 999 novels may make you happy

http://bit.ly/i67MyO

Spoiler

I can totally see Junpei and Akane getting married and Junpei and Santa becoming best friends haha

Wooooooooooooooooooooow

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

When you think about it she is probably the most devious and manipulative person in the entire game.

Oh absolutely! After her would be Ace, followed by Santa and Seven. If I were Junpei I'd be pretty damn pissed off.

But eventually I’d understand. Also, I wish that reunion between Junpei and June happened at the end of the game!

 

[Akselziys]

Oh absolutely! After her would be Ace, followed by Santa and Seven. If I were Junpei I'd be pretty damn pissed off.

But eventually I’d understand. Also, I wish that reunion between Junpei and June happened at the end of the game!

I also like how Nona appears to reunite with Lotus !

Santa looks pretty smug there and Seven is patting Junpei on the back as if saying, "Go get her champ!"

Spoiler

Except how did Nona get there? lol I need to find someone to translate the ending of the novels haha

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

Spoiler

Except how did Nona get there? lol I need to find someone to translate the ending of the novels haha

LOL! No need for spoiler tags in here dude!

But yeah....how the hell did Nona get there is what I want to know too.

I love the expression on Junpei...but especially on June's face. Perfect!

Do you have anymore pictures from the novel? I'd love to see more...

 

[Akselziys]

LOL! No need for spoiler tags in here dude!

But yeah....how the hell did Nona get there is what I want to know too.

I love the expression on Junpei...but especially on June's face. Perfect!

Do you have anymore pictures from the novel? I'd love to see more...

Yeah, I have scanned the pics and covers from both novels But I'm not sure if an official representative should be passing them out leisurely, so I recommend to buy them ! (though they're in Japanese XD; )

I also got the phone card, which I'll show a sample of as a consolation

http://yfrog.com/71999p2j

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Yeah, I have scanned the pics and covers from both novels But I'm not sure if an official representative should be passing them out leisurely, so I recommend to buy them ! (though they're in Japanese XD; )

I also got the phone card, which I'll show a sample of as a consolation

http://yfrog.com/71999p2j

Are they light novels or actual novels? Just curious.

 

[Akselziys]

Are they light novels or actual novels? Just curious.

Umm, AFAIK they're "novels"? Though I guess maybe they're light novels?

The novels are called "Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors Alternative".

They were released by Chunsoft a few months after the Japanese release of the game with art by Kinu Nishimura.

The novels have 9 chapters altogether and each have about 280+ pages with illustration pages scattered among the pages.

Chapters 0-4 are in the first novel and 5-9 in the second.

I did find some smaller scale pics of the the novel cover + back cover art, so I'll post those

Novel #1 Cover

Novel #1 Back Cover

Novel #2 Cover

Novel #2 Back Cover

You should be able to get both novels off of Amazon Japan. That's where I got my set

Novel #1:

http://amzn.to/ibzxer


Novel #2:

http://amzn.to/f7mnqt


Probably could have asked Chunsoft for them, but I wanted to support 999 as much as possible

 

[Korigama]

Let's not forget something: June (and therefore Santa and Seven) know how everything is going to play out. They know that in order to save June, those guys have to die. Maybe they couldn't plot it in cold blood, but if the only way to save her also happens to kill some fairly evil men, are you going be that torn up over what you have to do?

The past Akane after finally viewing all possibilities of the field to gain the knowledge necessary to guide Junpei to the true ending, maybe. The fact that things go so horribly wrong in the majority of scenarios suggests a lack of awareness on the part of anyone in the present of how things will ultimately play out, despite being fairly organized otherwise. And since June's fevers were indeed an indication of straying from the right path and negating her very existence, that means things were going wrong from the moment the 9th Man was killed (it wouldn't make much sense to knowingly compromise one's own existence, after all).

EDIT: Very interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing, Akselziys.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

Nice! Thanks a lot for sharing all that new art Akselziys! Really love it!

Edit: Can someone make me a 90 x 120 avatar of ‘Novel #1 Cover’?

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Would they ship to the US? I can't read the website.

 

[Akselziys]

Would they ship to the US? I can't read the website.

Yes, they ship to the US

I order from Amazon Japan all the time for all my import book needs

 

[RedSwirl]

Got the true ending, still have two questions. I just need to know if they are answered by getting the other endings.

1. Do they ever explain the apparent time paradox presented by Akane existing in the present with not only her body, but also enough of her mind to recognize Junpei AND become the next Zero? Even if it is some kind of predestine thing where Junpei will always have rescued Akane, that still presents a time paradox.

2. Do we ever figure out why Lotus was there in the first place? She was the only one for whom I haven't seen a backstory explaining any connection to all this. All I know is that she is a leet haxor, she's dressed like an Egyptian chick, and she has the same hairstyle and color as one of the girls from Seven's flashback.

Lastly, technically Akane has become a murderer. Well, not technically. There's probably some law against her tricking someone into murdering three people. Even if Genhou doesn't testify that party and takes all the blame himself, Akane still had intent to murder. If I were Junpei I don't think I could live with someone like that.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Got the true ending, still have two questions. I just need to know if they are answered by getting the other endings.

1. Do they ever explain the apparent time paradox presented by Akane existing in the present with not only her body, but also enough of her mind to recognize Junpei AND become the next Zero? Even if it is some kind of predestine thing where Junpei will always have rescued Akane, that still presents a time paradox.

2. Do we ever figure out why Lotus was there in the first place? She was the only one for whom I haven't seen a backstory explaining any connection to all this. All I know is that she is a leet haxor, she's dressed like an Egyptian chick, and she has the same hairstyle and color as one of the girls from Seven's flashback.

1. It's not really a paradox, more like a stable time loop: actions in the future caused Akane to be saved in the past, and Akane's actions between the two periods ensure that the necessary situation will exist for that to happen. It's been suggested that when Akane becomes sick or disappears, it's because Junpei made the wrong choices that would break the stable time loop.

2. That is addressed, kind of, by one of the other endings:

Spoiler

Lotus had two daughters who were part of the first Nonary Game. She never asked them what happened when they were kidnapped, so presumably Akane included her to help her learn the truth.

 

[Hours Left]

Got the true ending, still have two questions. I just need to know if they are answered by getting the other endings.

1. Do they ever explain the apparent time paradox presented by Akane existing in the present with not only her body, but also enough of her mind to recognize Junpei AND become the next Zero? Even if it is some kind of predestine thing where Junpei will always have rescued Akane, that still presents a time paradox.

2. Do we ever figure out why Lotus was there in the first place? She was the only one for whom I haven't seen a backstory explaining any connection to all this. All I know is that she is a leet haxor, she's dressed like an Egyptian chick, and she has the same hairstyle and color as one of the girls from Seven's flashback.

Lastly, technically Akane has become a murderer. Well, not technically. There's probably some law against her tricking someone into murdering three people. Even if Genhou doesn't testify that party and takes all the blame himself, Akane still had intent to murder. If I were Junpei I don't think I could live with someone like that.

1. What the goal of the second nonary game is to insure the future, not change the past. You are on the path to close the paradox by default, so Akane is still alive and present with all her faculties. It's only when you stray from the true path that she starts to physically deteriorate. (ie. Her fevers.)

I'll spoiler the second answer, even though this is a spoiler topic.

2.

Spoiler

The girl from Seven's flashback is Lotus's daughter Nona. Nona and her twin sister were a part of the first nonary game. When they returned, they didn't want to speak of the experience, and Lotus didn't want to push them for answers. Despite this, Lotus still felt deeply troubled by not knowing what her daughters were subjected to.

Considering Nona was the other child that stayed behind with Light, Akane and Aoi in the first game, and the fact that Lotus's computer skills were an asset to Junpei during the second game, she was able to play an integral part in the second game. It gave her closure, and it also helped Akane and Junpei achieve the desired result.

3. It wasn't really intent to murder, she gave all four of the Cradle Pharmaceutical execs an opportunity to confess to their crimes. She just provided the means to two different ends, and Ace just happen to choose the more gruesome one.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

1. It's not really a paradox, more like a stable time loop: actions in the future caused Akane to be saved in the past, and Akane's actions between the two periods ensure that the necessary situation will exist for that to happen. It's been suggested that when Akane becomes sick or disappears, it's because Junpei made the wrong choices that would break the stable time loop.

Time loops, stable or not, are paradoxes. We can't determine a starting point, so it's definitely a paradox.

 

[Akselziys]

Got the true ending, still have two questions. I just need to know if they are answered by getting the other endings.

1. Do they ever explain the apparent time paradox presented by Akane existing in the present with not only her body, but also enough of her mind to recognize Junpei AND become the next Zero? Even if it is some kind of predestine thing where Junpei will always have rescued Akane, that still presents a time paradox.

2. Do we ever figure out why Lotus was there in the first place? She was the only one for whom I haven't seen a backstory explaining any connection to all this. All I know is that she is a leet haxor, she's dressed like an Egyptian chick, and she has the same hairstyle and color as one of the girls from Seven's flashback.

Lastly, technically Akane has become a murderer. Well, not technically. There's probably some law against her tricking someone into murdering three people. Even if Genhou doesn't testify that party and takes all the blame himself, Akane still had intent to murder. If I were Junpei I don't think I could live with someone like that.

1. See Hosanna's reply. Yeah, it's very chicken or the egg haha

2. I believe she talks about herself in the knife ending? Specifically the torture room. You find out her last name and that she had twin daughters who took part in the last Nonary game. One of which you see in the flashbacks.

3. Akane gave Gentarou and his subordinates a way out by confessing to the world via the Camera in Room #1. Zero would free them if they did so, however, Ace chose murder instead.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Time loops, stable or not, are paradoxes. We can't determine a starting point, so it's definitely a paradox.

It's only a paradox because we have a strict one-way concept of causality, though.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Novel #1 Back Cover

zomg more Clover art

 

[cosmicblizzard]

It's only a paradox because we have a strict one-way concept of causality, though.

If we didn't have that, most paradoxes in fiction wouldn't be paradoxes. Fact or not, we see time as a river that never stops flowing forward. If an event in the past is reliant on an event in the future, we perceive it as a paradox.

 

[RedSwirl]

Okay, read the thread.

At best it's a stable time loop. Regarding the murders though, I could maybe see if Aoi was the one who wanted those guys dead. Even then, Akane allowing that part to become part of the plan still makes her complicit in murder, not to mention Seven who is (or was) a cop. Another acceptable explanation is that Aoi could have pulled the murders from behind Akane and Seven's backs AFTER the plan had initiated, so once the bodies were found there was nothing she could do about it except play along.

On top of that, if the 9th man appears at the second Nonary game at all his death is pretty much inevitable. That early in they can't stop Ace from killing him without compromising the whole game. The only way to not have him die would be to not kidnap him in the first place. So maybe bringing him there does make Akane a murderer. Maybe Aoi also brought him in at the last minuite after Akane couldn't do anything about it.

If we go with that latter explanation, I could probably live with Akane were I in Junpei's position - all the manipulation was absolutely imperative for her own survival. If she was complicit/responsible for the murders, that is where I would draw the line.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

I have to have a 90 x 120 avatar of this:

Tuesday, I'm looking straight at you! : p

 

[Hours Left]

Okay, read the thread.

At best it's a stable time loop. Regarding the murders though, I could maybe see if Aoi was the one who wanted those guys dead. Even then, Akane allowing that part to become part of the plan still makes her complicit in murder, not to mention Seven who is (or was) a cop. Another acceptable explanation is that Aoi could have pulled the murders from behind Akane and Seven's backs AFTER the plan had initiated, so once the bodies were found there was nothing she could do about it except play along.

On top of that, if the 9th man appears at the second Nonary game at all his death is pretty much inevitable. That early in they can't stop Ace from killing him without compromising the whole game. The only way to not have him die would be to not kidnap him in the first place. So maybe bringing him there does make Akane a murderer. Maybe Aoi also brought him in at the last minuite after Akane couldn't do anything about it.

If we go with that latter explanation, I could probably live with Akane were I in Junpei's position - all the manipulation was absolutely imperative for her own survival. If she was complicit/responsible for the murders, that is where I would draw the line.

But as you said, Akane was fighting for her own life. Gentarou had no issue with exposing her to a life or death situation in the first game, and the only way to save herself was connecting to Junpei through the morphogenetic field.

It just so happens that the timeline that resulted in Junpei being in the incinerator was one in which Ace killed his three other co-conspirators.

Remember that the second nonary game always starts the same in each alternate scenario, with the opportunity for the Cradle four to confess. It's possible that there may have been even more possible scenarios that Akane saw, outside of the six possible ones in the game, that resulted in no one being murdered. But that wasn't the outcome in the timeline that leads Junpei to the incinerator, the only one that would close the paradox and save her own life. If anything, it was pure self defense on Akane's part.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

YAY! Someone did my avatar for me! ^_^

 

[Feep]

*enters thread for the first time*

Okay, questions/comments. Nine of them. = D

1) Who kills everyone in the Sub ending? To my knowledge, all players had died save Snake, who was presumably trapped in the coffin. Was it the fat stockbroker guy, who had somehow broken out of the captain's quarters, since Ace never killed him in that timeline? Who the hell else was on the ship? Why did June/Santa/Seven allow this?

2) The 3/0 6/9 bracelet action was seemingly pointless. If Santa and June needed to be together at all times, why even bother with this? I guess you could chalk any motivation Akane needs up to "she saw it this way in the future and it had to be like this", but still. Maybe Snake was just being stupid.

3) The end of the game clearly implies that no one was in any real danger (there were no detonators on the bracelets) save for the original orchestrators of the Nonary Game. It would have been ridiculous if a group didn't make it to the DEAD in time, only to realize that no one died and they could completely and hilariously break the game.

4) It seems unlikely that Snake wouldn't "be in on it", along with Santa, June, and Seven. He was RIGHT THERE when Akane burst out of the incinerator, and he doesn't seem the type to forget. If this is true, why doesn't he come clean after he decides "whatever, Zero can't hurt Clover now" in the library? He straight up lies to Junpei, saying Akane died, which is doing MUCH more than just "you can't tell anyone anything about it". He actively fibs. So all four were fully in on it?

5) I called the desert twist so hard. Without bulkhead lockdowns, ships don't simply "stop sinking". Plus, it was very clear that all Junpei saw out of his window was "blackness".

6) This isn't a question, but if you answer "stock market" to Santa after he gives you the Clover bookmark, he mentions he made some insane cash off of Cradle Pharma stock. This is actually HUGE: June knew about Soporil (created from the Mandragora plant Ace found), knew it would take off, and told Santa to trade away, getting insanely rich in the process. It was very likely this money that allowed her to orchestrate her own version of the Nonary Game, though how she ripped the Nevada building away from Cradle's control, I guess we'll never know. Any ideas on this?

7) It was Clover's ninth birthday nine years ago. Clover is legal! Woo!

8) How *convenient* that Lotus brings up Prosopagnosia, and incredibly rare and unrelated medical condition, for no fucking reason at all. She appears to be the only person with no reason for being there (and on that note, could ANY other group have solved the Laboratory? In any of the other endings, does another group go through that room?), but this was very suspicious. [EDIT: Never mind, I see why she was there, because of Nona, but still] Maybe EVERYONE but Junpei, Ace, and the 9th Man was in on it. Hm.

9) Let me tell you, did I ever add some DRAMA to the end of the game.

The Sudoku puzzle is untimed, of course; it wouldn't be fair to the player if it were. But I'm pretty decent at Sudoku, and right before you start, the game clearly states you have six minutes until incineration. Well, I looked up at my wall-clock (complete with second-hand!): it was 1:39 in the morning, and the second-hand was right at the 11 or so. I had six minutes, goddammit.

It wasn't looking good after four. I had only filled in 15 or so numbers, and the blank spaces stared back. I had to save Kanny! I had to! But, as Sudoku players know, things accelerate toward the end. I started filling in with reckless abandon, only barely making logical connections, my head filled with numbers, giving zero thought to double-checking or verification. I HAD TO SAVE HER.

And with thirteen seconds remaining, I succeeded. The clock on my wall was 1:45:42.

Suck it, timespace continuum.

 

[AniHawk]

*enters thread for the first time*

Okay, questions/comments. Nine of them. = D

1) Who kills everyone in the Sub ending? To my knowledge, all players had died save Snake, who was presumably trapped in the coffin. Was it the fat stockbroker guy, who had somehow broken out of the captain's quarters, since Ace never killed him in that timeline? Who the hell else was on the ship? Why did June/Santa/Seven allow this?

Most likely it was Ace. He could have pretended to be dead considering the medicine he had used earlier and how it's strongly hinted he killed everyone in the knife ending and Lotus in the Axe ending. Also, he doesn't seem to have many qualms about killing people.

3) The end of the game clearly implies that no one was in any real danger (there were no detonators on the bracelets) save for the original orchestrators of the Nonary Game. It would have been ridiculous if a group didn't make it to the DEAD in time, only to realize that no one died and they could completely and hilariously break the game.

Actually, the incinerator was real, so there was that.

4) It seems unlikely that Snake wouldn't "be in on it", along with Santa, June, and Seven. He was RIGHT THERE when Akane burst out of the incinerator, and he doesn't seem the type to forget. If this is true, why doesn't he come clean after he decides "whatever, Zero can't hurt Clover now" in the library? He straight up lies to Junpei, saying Akane died, which is doing MUCH more than just "you can't tell anyone anything about it". He actively fibs. So all four were fully in on it?

Yeah he had to have been in on it. Either that or he was severely mistaken. Dude said he could fuck people up, but he had a fake arm and was actually pretty frail. He also pinned Santa as Zero.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

1) Who kills everyone in the Sub ending? To my knowledge, all players had died save Snake, who was presumably trapped in the coffin. Was it the fat stockbroker guy, who had somehow broken out of the captain's quarters, since Ace never killed him in that timeline? Who the hell else was on the ship? Why did June/Santa/Seven allow this?

Ace kills everyone in the Sub ending. At the staircase he’s faking his death - remember that Junpei only checked Clover's pulse! And why did June/Santa/Seven allow this? It was out of June's control. Junpei simply took the wrong path.

2) The 3/0 6/9 bracelet action was seemingly pointless. If Santa and June needed to be together at all times, why even bother with this? I guess you could chalk any motivation Akane needs up to "she saw it this way in the future and it had to be like this", but still. Maybe Snake was just being stupid.

It was kinda pointless, but who knows....Snake might be wrong with his theory anyway.

3) The end of the game clearly implies that no one was in any real danger (there were no detonators on the bracelets) save for the original orchestrators of the Nonary Game. It would have been ridiculous if a group didn't make it to the DEAD in time, only to realize that no one died and they could completely and hilariously break the game.

True.

4) It seems unlikely that Snake wouldn't "be in on it", along with Santa, June, and Seven. He was RIGHT THERE when Akane burst out of the incinerator, and he doesn't seem the type to forget. If this is true, why doesn't he come clean after he decides "whatever, Zero can't hurt Clover now" in the library? He straight up lies to Junpei, saying Akane died, which is doing MUCH more than just "you can't tell anyone anything about it". He actively fibs. So all four were fully in on it?

Snake definitely knew she survived. I mean he was with everyone else on the little row boat when the ship was sinking. I'd like this to be explained too!

5) I called the desert twist so hard. Without bulkhead lockdowns, ships don't simply "stop sinking". Plus, it was very clear that all Junpei saw out of his window was "blackness".

I gotta admit....I never saw this one coming at all!

6) This isn't a question, but if you answer "stock market" to Santa after he gives you the Clover bookmark, he mentions he made some insane cash off of Cradle Pharma stock. This is actually HUGE: June knew about Soporil (created from the Mandragora plant Ace found), knew it would take off, and told Santa to trade away, getting insanely rich in the process. It was very likely this money that allowed her to orchestrate her own version of the Nonary Game, though how she ripped the Nevada building away from Cradle's control, I guess we'll never know. Any ideas on this?

Oooooh, good call! And as for how June ripped the Nevada building away from Cradle's control? Who knows? Cradle might have abandoned it. Or maybe she just drugged everyone LOL.

7) It was Clover's ninth birthday nine years ago. Clover is legal! Woo!

YAY!

8) How *convenient* that Lotus brings up Prosopagnosia, and incredibly rare and unrelated medical condition, for no fucking reason at all. She appears to be the only person with no reason for being there (and on that note, could ANY other group have solved the Laboratory? In any of the other endings, does another group go through that room?), but this was very suspicious. [EDIT: Never mind, I see why she was there, because of Nona, but still] Maybe EVERYONE but Junpei, Ace, and the 9th Man was in on it. Hm.

Yeah, it was a huge stretch for her to bring up Prosopagnosia. But maybe that’s why June, Santa and Seven picked her to be on the ship. Maybe Lotus had a history with Prosopagnosia and they thought the chances of her brining it up were pretty high.

And yes another group goes into the Laboratory. I think that in the group at least one of the following goes in: Ace, June, Santa or Seven. So it wouldn't be a problem for any of them to crack the computer code since they already know all the puzzles.

9) Let me tell you, did I ever add some DRAMA to the end of the game.

The Sudoku puzzle is untimed, of course; it wouldn't be fair to the player if it were. But I'm pretty decent at Sudoku, and right before you start, the game clearly states you have six minutes until incineration. Well, I looked up at my wall-clock (complete with second-hand!): it was 1:39 in the morning, and the second-hand was right at the 11 or so. I had six minutes, goddammit.

It wasn't looking good after four. I had only filled in 15 or so numbers, and the blank spaces stared back. I had to save Kanny! I had to! But, as Sudoku players know, things accelerate toward the end. I started filling in with reckless abandon, only barely making logical connections, my head filled with numbers, giving zero thought to double-checking or verification. I HAD TO SAVE HER.

And with thirteen seconds remaining, I succeeded. The clock on my wall was 1:45:42.

Suck it, timespace continuum.

Awesome! The Sudoku puzzle was the only puzzle I used a guide for. I had no idea what I was doing.

 

[vall03]

7) It was Clover's ninth birthday nine years ago. Clover is legal! Woo!

lol and I know everyone else does, right?

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

So did anyone else here find it funny that June used Ace’s drug to drug some of the people from Cradle.........

She more than likely used the gas to kidnap them all from Cradle too. Talk about rubbing salt into the wound!

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

You know what the weakest part of the story was?

The fact that the game flat-out lied to you when Aoi looks down at Akane’s body in the flashback....

The fact that they showed that, and it never really happened was a bit of a cop-out. Anyone agree?

 

[hamchan]

You know what the weakest part of the story was?

The fact that the game flat-out lied to you when Aoi looks down at Akane’s body in the flashback....

The fact that they showed that, and it never really happened was a bit of a cop-out. Anyone agree?

No. It's more like Seven lying to Junpei and Junpei picturing it in his mind.

 

[Feep]

It's funny. If I could go back in time four hours and say, "Hey, Feep, Santa is actually totally a good guy", I'd be like, "Future Feep, what the FUCK are you talking about", and then run out of my house because what the fuck time travel is possible.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

No. It's more like Seven lying to Junpei and Junpei picturing it in his mind.

Hmm, I suppose you do have a decent point.....but it was still a bit of a cop-out.

Edit: Feep: I didn’t trust Santa and Seven from the start. I trusted June though!

 

[Sputnik Sweetheart]

3) The end of the game clearly implies that no one was in any real danger (there were no detonators on the bracelets) save for the original orchestrators of the Nonary Game. It would have been ridiculous if a group didn't make it to the DEAD in time, only to realize that no one died and they could completely and hilariously break the game.

Well nobody had a watch on and 81 seconds isn't easy to keep track of precisely if you're frantically looking for something anyway. As long as the bracelets don't click off immediately when the time limit is reached I think you could get away with a certain discrepancy. I may be reaching here, but when they go through door four the language used to describe their search for the DEAD suggests that it might have taken them a bit longer than the allotted time. Other than that, all of the DEADs are very close to the room entry anyway.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Well nobody had a watch on and 81 seconds isn't easy to keep track of precisely if you're frantically looking for something anyway. As long as the bracelets don't click off immediately when the time limit is reached I think you could get away with a certain discrepancy. I may be reaching here, but when they go through door four the language used to describe their search for the DEAD suggests that it might have taken them a bit longer than the allotted time. Other than that, all of the DEADs are very close to the room entry anyway.

IIRC whenever the groups split to go through different doors, it seems like they always tried to have Seven, Santa, and June split up amongst the groups. They'd ensure that the others were pressed to run and search in a timely fashion to keep up the ruse.

 

[RedSwirl]

But as you said, Akane was fighting for her own life. Gentarou had no issue with exposing her to a life or death situation in the first game, and the only way to save herself was connecting to Junpei through the morphogenetic field.

It just so happens that the timeline that resulted in Junpei being in the incinerator was one in which Ace killed his three other co-conspirators.

Remember that the second nonary game always starts the same in each alternate scenario, with the opportunity for the Cradle four to confess. It's possible that there may have been even more possible scenarios that Akane saw, outside of the six possible ones in the game, that resulted in no one being murdered. But that wasn't the outcome in the timeline that leads Junpei to the incinerator, the only one that would close the paradox and save her own life. If anything, it was pure self defense on Akane's part.

We still don't know that those men actually had to die for her to survive. Akane's first headache struck immediately upon seeing the 9th man's corpse. Those three men also didn't really have any impact on what went on.

Maybe Snake did have to disappear for most of the second half of the game but did that have to involve a murder? Maybe Junpei did have to find those items he did in the captain's quarters, but did he HAVE to find them on Cap's corpse? Furthermore, why bring someone like Ace there who they knew might try to sabotage the game? Why bring any of the four men there if they might try to do that? At least they could just have them locked away and then given to the authorities for their crimes after the time loop has been completed.

I guess that's the morally ambiguous part of the resolution for you then.

 

[ataboada]

WHOA! This page looks like it is full of spoilers, however small. Please edit your posts accordingly so that other people can enjoy the thread without their story being spoiled every other post.

That said, I finished the game for the first time with a Bad Ending as a result. I started my second run and hope to get a better ending this time. I'm glad we can fast-forward the story after the first run.

EDIT: Lol, wrong thread! Thanks for pointing it out =)

 

[Nishastra]

WHOA! This page looks like it is full of spoilers, however small. Please edit your posts accordingly so that other people can enjoy the thread without their story being spoiled every other post.

That said, I finished the game for the first time with a Bad Ending as a result. I started my second run; I hope to get a better ending this time. I'm glad we can fast-forward the story after the first run.

Umm... I think you're in the wrong thread. This is the spoiler thread

 

[Sputnik Sweetheart]

We still don't know that those men actually had to die for her to survive. Akane's first headache struck immediately upon seeing the 9th man's corpse. Those three men also didn't really have any impact on what went on.

That's a good point. She also becomes ill shortly after going through door 6, presumably while Musashidou is being horribly murdered by Ace. Junpei wouldn't see her while Nijisaki is getting killed as he's busy searching rooms, so we can't see if that affected her too. If you buy the idea that June would be directly affected by anyone's death, Santa would have to be the one carrying out the dirty work. Of course, this makes things no less morally dubious for her!

I can't see why they would introduce Nijisaki in the place of Snake unless we was there to die, as him recovering from his drug induced daze and meeting anyone else would blow everything. My guess would be that June and Santa changed things on the fly after seeing the 9th man killed by Ace. I also thought it was a bit strange that Santa goes to get June before moving past the first section in door four rather than the player. Perhaps they conferred at this point?

 

[jaxword]

It's possible Snake wasn't in on it. We don't specifically see him SEE (...) June survive back then, he may have been busy escaping with the other kids. In the chaos of escaping may be more distracted and concerned with Clover than listening for June. Her voice may have also changed over the past 9 years, and since she never said her name, it's possible Snake may not completely recognize her from the start. After he gets drugged, he may not be fully able to recognize her when they all meet up again either.

 

[Akselziys]

It's possible Snake wasn't in on it. We don't specifically see him SEE (...) June survive back then, he may have been busy escaping with the other kids. In the chaos of escaping may be more distracted and concerned with Clover than listening for June. Her voice may have also changed over the past 9 years, and since she never said her name, it's possible Snake may not completely recognize her from the start. After he gets drugged, he may not be fully able to recognize her when they all meet up again either.

I'm pretty sure he was very aware ;D

 

[Sputnik Sweetheart]

It's possible Snake wasn't in on it. We don't specifically see him SEE (...) June survive back then, he may have been busy escaping with the other kids. In the chaos of escaping may be more distracted and concerned with Clover than listening for June. Her voice may have also changed over the past 9 years, and since she never said her name, it's possible Snake may not completely recognize her from the start. After he gets drugged, he may not be fully able to recognize her when they all meet up again either.

Everything says he wasn't in on it apart from his lie about Akane dying in the first game. I can't see this as anything other than a plot hole (though a very minor one in the scheme of things) unless new info comes to light. The only point against this is if you believe that he was still too concerned for Clover's safety to tell truth, or because he'd guessed of June and/or Santa's involvement/identity already.

Incidentally he was blind before the first game, so he wouldn't have been seeing much of anything! However given that he was standing right next to Seven and Santa when Akane was reunited with them and was probably on that rowing boat off the ship (assuming that wasn't one of Seven's fabrications too,) there's no we he wouldn't have known she survived. Snake not recognising her until the very end is logical for the reasons you state in my opinion.