> Platinum trophy pops
> Goes back to flowchart to look for ! icons
...that's it? lol
I thought it'd be funny if they ended on that as a final shot but I genuinely didn't expect that it was
actually the final shot. I'd be 100% down for a smaller story like 999 ending like that, but after elevating the series to the levels of absurdity found in VLR and ZTD, it's really underwhelming to end on that kind of note.
I didn't care for the game at first, but once they started to pull everything together about 1/3 through, I started to enjoy it. It's easily my least favorite, but I'm glad it exists. The storytelling and tone in these games is something that still feels pretty unique, and even when it lacks the (minor, but present) emotional core from the original, it's still something that's unlike anything else out there.
But man, those last few hours. Not a single one of the big moments landed for me at all. Phi/Delta being born and sent back to the past just fell kind of flat (I guess I never quite started caring about most of the characters), the general "manipulating events to ensure the antagonist arranges for the correct future" thing was too reminiscent of ground already covered in 999, and the Zero reveal was just
dumb. Old Man Sigma was already straining suspension of disbelief, but straight-up pulling "an evil-looking old guy in a wheelchair has been just off camera for the entire game and nobody mentioned it!" is just... bad. It's not even a twist, it's just a random thing that doesn't play off any expectations set by events/characters/etc established in the story. Sure, there are
a bunch of little clues, but the way it's presented, it's only a shock to the characters. Just a bewildering choice.
I was expecting it to get bugnuts awful by the end based on the way people talk about it, and I'm sort of bummed it wasn't more like that lol. It just kinda peters out.
I did enjoy it overall, but I don't think I'll return to VLR or ZTD. (Itching to play 999 again, though.)