Zero Escape Vol. 3: Zero Time Dilemma |OT| Skip the first two games? Nein Nein Nein

[ShadowOwl]

So. The time has come. Cannot resist any longer. I'm finally picking this game up. Despite the graphical inferiority and a nice discount on Steam as part of the Halloween sale I want to buy the 3DS version.

Are there any major problems there compared to the other platforms (such as the infamous save bug in VLR)? Anything else I should know?

 

[Herb Alpert]

So. The time has come. Cannot resist any longer. I'm finally picking this game up. Despite the graphical inferiority and a nice discount on Steam as part of the Halloween sale I want to buy the 3DS version.

Are there any major problems there compared to the other platforms (such as the infamous save bug in VLR)? Anything else I should know?

Nope. I enjoyed it personnaly.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

So. The time has come. Cannot resist any longer. I'm finally picking this game up. Despite the graphical inferiority and a nice discount on Steam as part of the Halloween sale I want to buy the 3DS version.

Are there any major problems there compared to the other platforms (such as the infamous save bug in VLR)? Anything else I should know?

There's some framerate issues and the writing notes system is really slow for some reason but aside from that the 3DS version is fine technically.

 

[ShadowOwl]

Nope. I enjoyed it personnaly.

There's some framerate issues and the writing notes system is really slow for some reason but aside from that the 3DS version is fine technically.

Great, time to get that eShop card then since PayPal Gifts has let me down. Ordered a code there on Saturday and received none yet. Called them yesterday and today, got a refund today. Would have loved to start playing this weekend but well, at least it's a holiday here tomorrow. I won't be able to put this down if it's just coming close to 999 and VLR. <3

 

[ShadowOwl]

So, just started playing. Animations are clunky as hell but the game is already giving me the chills, really enjoying it so far. Had a pretty hard time deciding between the English and Japanese dub. Went with JAP one for now. Also, the cursor is waaaaaay too sensitive when using the circle pad. And wow, I chose some really fucked up segment as a start. Chose C team

Spoiler

and escaped the room where you find Junpei's head in a freezer with Akane pretty much going nuts shortly after and trying to kill you with a chainsaw.

Like wtf is going on.

Anyway, is it like VLR again? With temporary dead ends until you've finished certain parts or do you just have to piece the segments together?

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

So, just started playing. Animations are clunky as hell but the game is already giving me the chills, really enjoying it so far. Had a pretty hard time deciding between the English and Japanese dub. Went with JAP one for now. Also, the cursor is waaaaaay too sensitive when using the circle pad. And wow, I chose some really fucked up segment as a start. Chose C team

Spoiler

and escaped the room where you find Junpei's head in a freezer with Akane pretty much going nuts shortly after and trying to kill you with a chainsaw.

Like wtf is going on.

Anyway, is it like VLR again? With temporary dead ends until you've finished certain parts or do you just have to piece the segments together?

There are a fair number of dead ends that require passwords or info from other parts, yeah.

 

[ShadowOwl]

Tried to solve the puzzles in

Spoiler

the Rec Room

and couldn't do it without looking something up.

Is this even possible on 3DS?

Spoiler

The cards on the table are so blurry it's pretty much impossible to tell what numbers they have.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Tried to solve the puzzles in

Spoiler

the Rec Room

and couldn't do it without looking something up.

Is this even possible on 3DS?

Spoiler

The cards on the table are so blurry it's pretty much impossible to tell what numbers they have.

I completed the game on 3DS with no issue. Didn't have any problems with reading those cards.

 

[Korigama]

I completed the game on 3DS with no issue. Didn't have any problems with reading those cards.

This goes for me as well (I should add that the model I used was an original XL).

 

[XiaNaphryz]

This goes for me as well (I should add that the model I used was an original XL).

Still using a launch 3DS myself.

 

[Ondore]

Wow, I need to get my eyes checked then. I played on a New XL and had trouble seeing it.

 

[Fluxdyne]

Tried to solve the puzzles in

Spoiler

the Rec Room

and couldn't do it without looking something up.

Is this even possible on 3DS?

Spoiler

The cards on the table are so blurry it's pretty much impossible to tell what numbers they have.

I think I couldn't read the numbers, I had to count.

 

[grim-tales]

Hey,
Can anyone help me with

Spoiler

the alphabet/roulette wheel puzzle in the Rec room? I dont quite understand how to read the chart so cant work out the code.
Also I have a bottle of water and a fire hook, but they arent doing anything :s
I really like C Team BTW

 

[King Gilga]

I just started playing this, only like a 1/2 hour in, but something feels so off.

Like, the game is just not flowing well at all. Like it's just something, then something, then something, no transitions. It's just so awkward to watch.

I'm not a big VN person but I think the VN format suited the series or the studio better.

No transitions, I don't like having to repick what I'm doing every 10 minutes instead of going along with it for a while until I hit a dead end like in VLR.

And they way they throw you right in the action was horribly done.

I loved 999 and really enjoyed vlr but I'm already getting turned off this.

Also, I didn't even realize that was supposed to be junpei until someone said his name, talk about personality change, after only 1 year? too? Hope they cover why.

 

[hohoXD123]

Finally finished, after 23 hours. Just need to read through the epilogue files now. Got stuck for a while but realised that you need to see all of the executions at the start to progress, so picking C/Q/D team consecutively and not just choosing all the possible voting options in a random order.

I just started playing this, only like a 1/2 hour in, but something feels so off.

Like, the game is just not flowing well at all. Like it's just something, then something, then something, no transitions. It's just so awkward to watch.

I'm not a big VN person but I think the VN format suited the series or the studio better.

No transitions, I don't like having to repick what I'm doing every 10 minutes instead of going along with it for a while until I hit a dead end like in VLR.

And they way they throw you right in the action was horribly done.

I loved 999 and really enjoyed vlr but I'm already getting turned off this.

Also, I didn't even realize that was supposed to be junpei until someone said his name, talk about personality change, after only 1 year? too? Hope they cover why.

It seems disjointed at first but everything flows much better towards the end

 

[King Gilga]

It seems disjointed at first but everything flows much better towards the end

Yeah a bit further in and the cutscenes/conversations at least feel like they're starting to flow a bit better.

I'm really disliking this fragment system with no real chronological order though.

 

[grim-tales]

I feel the same way about the disjointed structure too as nothing really makes any sense at the moment.

I like C Team though. Eric is just annoying and pathetic in Q Team and something feels "off" about Q himself :s

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Yeah a bit further in and the cutscenes/conversations at least feel like they're starting to flow a bit better.

I'm really disliking this fragment system with no real chronological order though.

You can mostly work out which fragment is which by the shapes of the segments if you want to do them in order.

 

[King Gilga]

You can mostly work out which fragment is which by the shapes of the segments if you want to do them in order.

Could you please expand on this? That would be very helpful thanks!

 

[CassSept]

Yeah, the beginning is rough but the middle game, once it gets going and pieces start falling into place is pretty great. Too bad the ending is a trainwreck.

 

[grim-tales]

You can mostly work out which fragment is which by the shapes of the segments if you want to do them in order.

Really? I never knew that, sounds interesting

 

[butman]

I think I'm in the 70% of the game and I can't keep going, all is soo tedious and meh. The 2 previous entries are godlike compared to this. Has the game director changed?

I'm a sinner if i'm thinking watch the rest of the story on YouTube? Or is totally understandable for a game like so bad like this one?

 

[Yasumi]

I think I'm in the 70% of the game and I can't keep going, all is soo tedious and meh. The 2 previous entries are godlike compared to this. Has the game director changed?

I'm a sinner if i'm thinking watch the rest of the story on YouTube? Or is totally understandable for a game like so bad like this one?

Apparently Uchikoshi only wrote D team's scenario, other writers did C and Q.

Honestly, you're not missing much. Things only go downhill from there. You're close to where things start connecting up, so you'd might as well stick with it if you do want to see it through to the end.

 

[Vibed]

Could you please expand on this? That would be very helpful thanks!

I think he's saying if you reference the overall chart, you can probably see what spot the fragments fit into by how the segments of the fragment split.

 

[Funyarinpa]

I think I'm in the 70% of the game and I can't keep going, all is soo tedious and meh. The 2 previous entries are godlike compared to this. Has the game director changed?

I'm a sinner if i'm thinking watch the rest of the story on YouTube? Or is totally understandable for a game like so bad like this one?

Uchikoshi is still the director but AFAIK he only wrote D-Team's scenes firsthand this time around. Perhaps it's one of the reasons ZTD shat the bed so hard (for me). Understandable to want to watch the story on YT but honestly to retain a modicum of engagement with it I'd still recommend you to try to finish it.

 

[Narroo]

Uchikoshi is still the director but AFAIK he only wrote D-Team's scenes firsthand this time around. Perhaps it's one of the reasons ZTD shat the bed so hard (for me). Understandable to want to watch the story on YT but honestly to retain a modicum of engagement with it I'd still recommend you to try to finish it.

On the otherhand, D-Team did have the

Spoiler

ALIEN TELEPORTER.

Maybe the issue isn't that he only wrote D-Team's scenario so much as he didn't really give a darn, and that's why he only wrote D-Team's scenario. The game had a ton of issues.

 

[Funyarinpa]

On the otherhand, D-Team did have the

Spoiler

ALIEN TELEPORTER.

Maybe the issue isn't that he only wrote D-Team's scenario so much as he didn't really give a darn, and that's why he only wrote D-Team's scenario. The game had a ton of issues.

Oh, plot-wise I agree with you. I just meant the characterization and dialogue.

 

[Greatest Ever]

Apparently Uchikoshi only wrote D team's scenario, other writers did C and Q.

What

Source

 

[Funyarinpa]

What

Source

Credits

edit: Checked again and it is not explicit in the credits nor the opening, but the word surely got around that Uchi only wrote D-Team.

 

[CassSept]

Yeah, Uchikoshi only wrote Team D. Moreover, he said he was uninterested with carrying out his original plan for the third game and wanted to do something different, which would explain why the game is so unsatisfying as a sequel to VLR.

 

[takoyaki]

What

Source

There were at least 2 post mortem interviews in Famitsu (edit: or Dengeki Playstation) shortly after ZE3 got released this summer. One of them was with Uchikoshi and the two people who wrote the other scenarios. Not sure if those interviews were ever fully translated, but I think that's the source.

 

[sersteven]

I really enjoyed ZTD, and it was nice to at least close the book on it, but he should've just released a post mortem for the VLR explaining his plans to tie up loose ends, and have done a spirtual successor or marketed ZTD as a spin off/anthology game in the same universe, instead of what it is today. Its quite clear he didnt want to give it the treatment it deserved, the change in art direction was unsatisfyingly jarring (while not unapreciated, I just would've loved him to finish out with Nishimura, in its own game ZTD's harsh tones and visuals could be great. Especially a horror title) and obviously the story ends with a thud instead of a bang.

Still appreciate him giving it the college try, but hearing that he only wrote 1/3rd of the game makes absolute sense.

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Could you please expand on this? That would be very helpful thanks!

Really? I never knew that, sounds interesting

You can look at the overall flow chart and the different segments. Once you've got a few filled in, since you should be sort of aware who is still alive at each point, you can use the shapes of the segments and the teams the segment belongs to to work out where it goes in the overall flowchart before playing it.

Just look at the shape of the flowchart segment you're looking at and find where it fits in the global chart.

 

[butman]

OK. So i decided to saw the "movie" of the game after 10 hours of torture by playing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMkz0z6TMjE

Worst game in the trilogy by faaaaaar!&#65279; Totally unnecessary sequel.

 

[hohoXD123]

OK. So i decided to saw the "movie" of the game after 10 hours of torture by playing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMkz0z6TMjE

Worst game in the trilogy by faaaaaar!&#65279; Totally unnecessary sequel.

I mean, with the ending in VLR it was necessary. Whether it lives up to the previous games is another matter though.

 

[Sumio Mondo]

Apparently Uchikoshi only wrote D team's scenario, other writers did C and Q.

Well then, that explains everything, for me. No wonder the writing was so much weaker then (well, that and Uchikoshi not carrying out his original vision for the third chapter and generally not giving a shit anymore, going by his Twitter feed).

 

[grim-tales]

What did he say?
Now I'm scared to play the rest

 

[King Gilga]

I think he's saying if you reference the overall chart, you can probably see what spot the fragments fit into by how the segments of the fragment split.

You can look at the overall flow chart and the different segments. Once you've got a few filled in, since you should be sort of aware who is still alive at each point, you can use the shapes of the segments and the teams the segment belongs to to work out where it goes in the overall flowchart before playing it.

Just look at the shape of the flowchart segment you're looking at and find where it fits in the global chart.

I see thanks.

Well I'm gelling a bit more with the game now.

I'll see when I get to this ending everyone says is horrible to see how bad it is.

 

[Risk Breaker]

I've been playing for around 15 hours and need some help because I don't know how to progress. Coming here to ask you guys because I don't want to Google and risk spoiling something.

Options I have right now are:

Spoiler

Door of truth (don't know the password)
Who killed Mira (don't know what to say)
Three way standoff (missing option on the right, no idea)
Revolver and incinerator (tried shooting like 5 times but always get a live round)
All 3 Force Quit boxes (no clue)

I can't seem to find a way to unlock anything new Halp.

 

[saturnine]

Spoiler

Who killed Mira (don't know what to say)

Spoiler

Then don't say anything.

Spoiler

Revolver and incinerator (tried shooting like 5 times but always get a live round)

Spoiler

Keep trying.

 

[Korigama]

I've been playing for around 15 hours and need some help because I don't know how to progress. Coming here to ask you guys because I don't want to Google and risk spoiling something.

Options I have right now are:

Spoiler

Who killed Mira (don't know what to say)

Say exactly that when prompted.

Spoiler

Revolver and incinerator (tried shooting like 5 times but always get a live round)

It's completely randomized, so you'll just have to keep trying until you don't.

It's still too early to worry about the other three things.

 

[Hylian7]

I've been playing for around 15 hours and need some help because I don't know how to progress. Coming here to ask you guys because I don't want to Google and risk spoiling something.

Options I have right now are:

Spoiler

Door of truth (don't know the password)
Who killed Mira (don't know what to say)
Three way standoff (missing option on the right, no idea)
Revolver and incinerator (tried shooting like 5 times but always get a live round)
All 3 Force Quit boxes (no clue)

I can't seem to find a way to unlock anything new Halp.

Spoiler

Keep trying for the revolver (I got kind of annoyed with it too, but it is truly random). Say you don't know for who killed Mira. The others you will learn in due time.

 

[Risk Breaker]

Hah! Thanks guys, that's really helpful <3

 

[King Gilga]

Can anyone show me where in the flow chart of in which fragment do team Q

Spoiler

find the quantum computer?

I remember doing it once,

Spoiler

and since them I've found the password in the section with Q and Zero.

But for the life of me I can't find it again.

 

[Funyarinpa]

Can anyone show me where in the flow chart of in which fragment do team Q

Spoiler

find the quantum computer?

I remember doing it once,

Spoiler

and since them I've found the password in the section with Q and Zero.

But for the life of me I can't find it again.

I recall looking for it also. Don't recall finding it, though.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Can anyone show me where in the flow chart of in which fragment do team Q

Spoiler

find the quantum computer?

I remember doing it once,

Spoiler

and since them I've found the password in the section with Q and Zero.

But for the life of me I can't find it again.

I think it was in Team Q's

Spoiler

Force Quit Box section

?

 

[King Gilga]

I think it was in Team Q's

Spoiler

Force Quit Box section

?

That was the ticket, thanks.

 

[King Gilga]

Sorry for the double post but I am completely and utterly stuck.

Spoilers obviously:
everything above this picture is done.

Spoiler

(including execution an votes etc).

Spoiler

I've done team D's force quit box, I have Q's helmet code (but nowhere to use it yet). I need to open the quantum computer, door of truth, and C teams force quit box but I have no clues for any of them.

I have no idea and can't find at all what to do next.

I'm this close to just allowing it and cheating.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Remembrance]

Sorry for the double post but I am completely and utterly stuck.

Spoilers obviously:
everything above this picture is done.

Spoiler

(including execution an votes etc).

Spoiler

I've done team D's force quit box, I have Q's helmet code (but nowhere to use it yet). I need to open the quantum computer, door of truth, and C teams force quit box but I have no clues for any of them.

I have no idea and can't find at all what to do next.

I'm this close to just allowing it and cheating.

Any help would be appreciated.

You have the solution to the

Spoiler

door of truth

. Make the connection between the clue and one of the endings you've unlocked.

 

[King Gilga]

You have the solution to the

Spoiler

door of truth

. Make the connection between the clue and one of the endings you've unlocked.

The clue? I don't have any clues for it as far as I'm aware besides

Spoiler

it being an 8 digit number.