gameing

My good friend Zag convinced me to get the Zero Escape trilogy while it was on sale. I was skeptical, because I'm not used to games like this, but after playing for the first time, I was hooked.

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, or 999, is a visual novel puzzle-adventure game originally released for the Nintendo DS in 2010. It is the first installment in the Zero Escape series. You play as Junpei, a college student who was abducted in the middle of the night by a mysterious masked figure. You wake up in a bunk room on a ship, and soon afterwards, the window cracks and water bursts into the room. The exit is locked with a strange device, and there is a large "5" painted onto the door. To escape, you must search the room for items that can help you, and eventually, you find the keycards that let you unlock the door. (NOTE: there are no actual time limits in the game, only in the story). As you rush away from the rapidly-rising water, you realize you are not alone. The water stops rising after filling the deck you woke up on, and you all congregate at a large staircase. You discover that there are 9 of you here, and a distorted voice on an intercom announces that they are Zero, the captain of this ship, and that you have all been brought here to play a Nonary Game.

I'll try not to get into much more than that, even though I would love to, because ANYTHING can be a spoiler in this game. However, I can tell you that I LOVE the characters of 999, especially Snake, Seven, and Lotus. This game also threw me for multiple loops. There are so many things that you just aren't expecting, and it's almost impossible to guess how the game will end. There are 6 endings, and they're all INSANE, especially the true ending. I also loved a lot of the puzzles, although some of them made me want to tear my hair out (if you often make mistakes when doing mental addition, like me, maybe bring a calculator or a friend). On top of all that, the game presents concepts that I'm OBSESSED with, which I also shouldn't say LOL.

I should also mention some content warnings: people will die, and you will see dead people sometimes. there is blood in the game, but it's not explicit, and any major gore is described but not visible; the threat of death is constant, but you never see anything happen; there are a few weapons that are shown, like a gun to the head or a knife to the throat, but they are never used.

If anyone would like to hear me infodump about 999 feel free to dm me on Tumblr or something, but you HAVE to promise to play the game yourself FIRST (or watch a playthrough, if you are unable). Overall, if you couldn't tell, I love this game.

Virtue's Last Reward

Virtue's Last Reward is the second game in the Zero Escape trilogy. Originally released in 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita, the game follows a new group of 9 people seemingly randomly selected to participate in a game. You play as Sigma, who wakes up in what looks like an elevator. Beside him is a mysterious girl named Phi who somehow already knows his name, but can't explain why. Much like in the first game, your job is to use what you find in the room to solve the puzzles and escape, which you do. Then, instead of the door sliding open, a hatch on the ceiling opens up. However, when you climb out, you find yourself not in an elevator shaft but in a large warehouse. There is a lot of empty space, 5 rooms identical to the one you were in, and, most notably, a large door with a red "9" painted on it.

Once out of the box, you notice that there are other people here, and you all formally meet Zero III, a rabbit AI with a dark sense of humor who loves puns. He explains that he was created by the one who created this game, Zero Sr., and that this is a special version of the Nonary Game that he calls "Ambidex Edition." He also explains some of the rules, while leaving a few others out (as expected, they are some of the most important rules later on).

This version of the game is actually very different from the original, as indicated by its special name, but I again won't be going into too much detail for the sake of anyone inspired by this post and looking to play for themselves (please play these games). I can, of course, tell you other things I like about the game :) For starters, my favorite characters include K, Luna, Tenmyouji, and Zero III. This game is also, once again, fucking insane. It rules. I think the difficulty of the puzzles was about the same as in 999, and they were very fun :)! Also, VLR introduces even MORE awesome concepts that make me ill! Yippee!!

Just like last time there are some content warnings to address. Just like 999, this is a game where people die, but the final, true ending is where no one dies. There are on screen dead characters, as well as a bit of blood. This game also deals with suicide, and in a few instances there are characters who threaten and/or commit it. I believe the only weapons used in the game are a knife and a scalpel, and they are shown after use, but not shown during the act of piercing skin. Lastly, there are sometimes bombs, as well as the narrative time limit (no real time limit). I think that about covers everything that comes up.

I admit, the original 999 is better than VLR, but I still greatly enjoyed everything about it. I think my only complaint is that the story continues into the 3rd game, forcing me to watch the credits without resolving everything LOL. Once again, this game can be purchased on Steam here in conjunction with the first game. If you think these games are for you, I encourage you to give them a try!

Zero Time Dilemma

At long last, I have completed the trilogy, and boy was it a wild ride.

Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma was released for the 3DS, PS Vita, and Windows in 2016 as the third and final installment of the Zero Escape series. Due to time travel bullshit, it actually takes place chronologically between the first and second games. This game, like Virtue's Last Reward, brings back some familiar faces along with new ones. ZTD is unique in that you actually play as three characters, Carlos, Q, and Diana, switching between them at different times. This is because in this game, Zero has trapped nine people to play the Decision Game. Everyone is equipped with a bracelet that tells the time. At the start of the game, the unwilling participants find themselves trapped as Zero comes to them face to face and gives Carlos a simple task: Zero flips a coin, and Carlos gets one chance to guess whether it's heads or tails. If he guesses correctly, they get to leave without ever even starting the game. If he guesses wrong, they get put to sleep and the game begins.

After guessing wrong, the players wake up in an underground bomb shelter. On multiple televisions placed throughout the lounge area, they are informed by a recording of Zero that they have been separated into teams of three in the three separate wards of the facility. Inside the lounge is a door with a red X painted onto it, the only escape from the shelter. It will only open when six passwords are inputed, and one password is revealed for every person who dies. They are also told that every 90 minutes, they will be injected with a drug from their bracelets that will put them to sleep and erase their memories from during that time. Their first task is to go to a computer in the room and vote for other teams. Any team with two votes will be executed, but if every team votes for a unique team, they will all have 1 vote and no one will die. However, they have no way of communicating with anyone else, except for by sending Gab the dog through the vents with a note. After the vote is completed, they are put to sleep, and are woken up later for a series fof 90 minute escape rooms and trials.

As usual, I refuse to go into more detail. There's so much going on in these games. You just have to trust me when I say it's sooo crazy. Anyway, the puzzles were fun, as was piecing together what was really going on, and as the game progressed I enjoyed it more and more. My friend Sigma was in this one and well I like him a lot so that was really fun and good for me. Some things about the game were bad in a funny way, like the weird animations and model rigging, or the way that some of the characters acted. While I originally didn't really like the members of Q Team, I liked them more as the game went on. And, naturally, Sigma sweep, D team was my favorite. C team was also fun but I spent most of the time making fun of the characters. I think my favorite playable character was Carlos but to be honest I liked all of the characters :) except maybe Eric he's on thin ice for being rude And stupid.

Naturally, once again, there are many content warnings for this game. It's a death game. People die frequently and violently. This game also has animated 3D cut scenes and they love to make blood spurt and splash and ooze all over the place. There's dead and dismembered bodies; at least one suicide; semi-on-screen killings using multiple weapons including a chainsaw, axe, crossbow, grenade launcher, guns, bombs, incinerators, poisons, maybe knives, I'm certainly forgetting something; talk of domestic abuse, serial killings, strangulation, somebody digs someone's heart out of their chest; needles, threat of rape, discussion of deadly pathogens and nuclear war; I'm telling you, this game is brutal compared to the others. This game also utilizes narrative AND real time limits. Not anything too scary, it'll be like 10 seconds to decide to do A or B, but I was certainly surprised and annoyed when I first saw them. That covers most of what I remember, so yeah.

Overall, I liked this game, especially after things ramped up at like the halfway point! You can get it on Steam here, if you'd like :) I certainly recommend playing this one, if only to finish the story and resolve everything fully.