# 999: Nine Hour, Nine People, Nine Doors / Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward



## Velocity (Nov 25, 2010)

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## KLoWn (Nov 29, 2010)

*ZOMG!*


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## Velocity (Nov 29, 2010)

I don't know if it's intentional, but each ending is creepier and more disturbing than the last.


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## Lord Yu (Nov 29, 2010)

I know what I'm getting for Christmas now.


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## Velocity (Nov 30, 2010)

In hindsight, I really hope Aksys Games brings out more stuff like Theresia and 9H9P9D... One is a game that makes you feel helpless and alone, haunted by memories that scare you more than the events that happen before you, and the other is a game that makes you feel like you have to not only survive but also get to the bottom of the mystery before the nine hours are up.

Oh, I do love these psychological horror/thriller games. pek


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## Lord Yu (Nov 30, 2010)

I had a chance to buy Theresia but it creeped me out. If I see it again I'll buy it though. Didn't know it was that rare.


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## stardust (Dec 1, 2010)

I'm a total sucker for the genres too, Lyra.

I haven't heard of Theresia before, but I looked it up and the synopsis does appeal to me. A quick search on google tells me that it'll be released over here in March, which I'm kind of surprised about. A lot of games don't end up making it over to Europe from America, and I'm glad that Theresia will be making the trip.


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## Velocity (Dec 1, 2010)

RetroElectro said:


> I'm a total sucker for the genres too, Lyra.
> 
> I haven't heard of Theresia before, but I looked it up and the synopsis does appeal to me. A quick search on google tells me that it'll be released over here in March, which I'm kind of surprised about. A lot of games don't end up making it over to Europe from America, and I'm glad that Theresia will be making the trip.



It will? I imported it because I didn't think it'd ever get released over here, same with 9H9P9D. Seems I'll have to buy 'em both all over again. 

But out of curiosity, since you seem to post a lot in that Visual Novel Dump thread, got any suggestions for visual novels like these? I'm trying to get hold of Ever17, but some alternatives would be much appreciated.


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## KLoWn (Dec 1, 2010)

Lyra said:


> I'm trying to get hold of Ever17, but some alternatives would be much appreciated.


I got MU links for it if you want.


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## Blind Weasel (Dec 1, 2010)

I'm starting it right now... lol...


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## Velocity (Dec 1, 2010)

KLoWn said:


> I got MU links for it if you want.



Already got it, thanks. Do you know of any others like these that'd be worth hunting down?



Zombie Itachi said:


> I'm starting it right now... lol...



I was about to ask if zombies can play DS games, but then I remembered the DS can't register fingers anyway.


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## KLoWn (Dec 1, 2010)

Lyra said:


> Already got it, thanks. Do you know of any others like these that'd be worth hunting down?


Taking the lazy way out and just gonna give you , gonna add Remember 11 later too.


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## Velocity (Dec 1, 2010)

KLoWn said:


> Taking the lazy way out and just gonna give you , gonna add Remember 11 later too.



Well, thanks! Gonna get ChaoS;HEAd, methinks. Has an interesting concept, plus those screenshots look like it could be a pretty graphic game.


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## stardust (Dec 2, 2010)

I tracked down a place which sells 999 overseas - for anyone who's interested, you can find it right . I also went ahead and bought Theresia, after looking a bit more into it.



Lyra said:


> It will? I imported it because I didn't think it'd ever get released over here, same with 9H9P9D. Seems I'll have to buy 'em both all over again.



Indeed. When I was looking for a place to buy Theresia (I ended up buying a copy off of e-bay, lol), I came across a site saying that it'd be released in March 2011.



Lyra said:


> But out of curiosity, since you seem to post a lot in that Visual Novel Dump thread, got any suggestions for visual novels like these? I'm trying to get hold of Ever17, but some alternatives would be much appreciated.



It's good to see a comrade~. 

That's the thing about these particular genres in the translated visual novel scene - there aren't a whole lot of them out there. But I think that you should definitely keep on eye on both  and . The translation of the former is almost finished, while the latter's translation status seems to be in limbo, being fully finished with but _still _not released. There's rumours of the company who made both of those making a deal with Mangagamer, so it might get released officially by them. Either way, we'll be getting translations of both of those for definite at some point.

The only thing I can suggest to you is reading similar darker titles, like Saya no Uta (which you probably have already read) and . The aforementioned Remember11 is also well worth a read through, but be warned; the ending is designed in a way to make you feel hopelessly confused and frustrated. 

Chaos;Head isn't a bad visual novel at all. The ending was a bit too rushed and got a bit ridiculous as time went on (silly shounen power levels and an Evangelion style 'Congratulations!' scenes), certain side characters could have been utilized more, but overall it's good seeing more visual novels of that sort of genre translated. My favourite aspect was the unusual delusional trigger system, where you could view negative scenes (which mostly had gore/deaths/Takumi's paranoia rocketing), or positive scenes (I only looked at two of these I think, and the two I looked at were lighthearted ero).


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## Divine Death (Dec 2, 2010)

I might get this.


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## stardust (Dec 2, 2010)

999 has  more in America in a mere fortnight than it has in over ten weeks in Japan. That's certainly impressive, even with a lot of people downloading the ROM.


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## KLoWn (Dec 3, 2010)

RetroElectro said:


> and .


That game just made me feel depressed lol. It just went from darker to darker, and i usually love dark games.
I also like how they didn't even explain the things i was the most interested in knowing.



RetroElectro said:


> The aforementioned Remember11 is also well worth a read through, but be warned; the ending is designed in a way to make you feel hopelessly confused and frustrated.


Even though i can puzzle together most of what happened though getting all the endings, good and bad, it just felt like an unfinished ending tbh.
Especially as it ends with cliffhanger and big fat "IT'S NOT OVER!" sign when it actually is lol.

Ah well, the ride up to that point was awesome atleast.


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## Divine Death (Dec 3, 2010)

RetroElectro said:


> *999 has  more in America in a mere fortnight than it has in over ten weeks in Japan.* That's certainly impressive, even with a lot of people downloading the ROM.



 X 9000


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## On and On (Dec 6, 2010)

> I've only beaten it once so far and the ending completely took me by surprise. Much like Theresia, Aksys Game's other M-rated DS game, there is some pretty disturbing imagery. *So it comes highly recommended.*



 Will have to play this sometime


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## Stroev (Dec 6, 2010)

Title reminded me of Galaxy Express 999 (as in Three-Nine).

Looks interesting.


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## Blind Weasel (Dec 9, 2010)

I think I'm close to the conclusion of my first run...

WAT

THE

FUCK...

i like how it feels like I'm gonna take on bits of information at a time with each run ...


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## Specter Von Baren (Dec 12, 2010)

RetroElectro said:


> 999 has  more in America in a mere fortnight than it has in over ten weeks in Japan. That's certainly impressive, even with a lot of people downloading the ROM.



Glad to know people sometimes DO actually notice a good thing in America. I was so impressed by it that I had to do something to get more people to learn about it which is why my sig is what it is right now.

By the way, when you beat the game could you say what order you got the endings in?

My order for endings was (And I'll put them in numbers as they appear from left to right in order to eliminate spoilers).

3, 6, 5, 4, 2, 1.


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## stardust (Dec 14, 2010)

Exactly! It's all about getting the product out there, and making people interested in it so that more copies will be sold. The sales for those two weeks just goes to show that people would pay for more VNs in the West.

Meanwhile, my copy from Axelmusic has been backordered for more than five days now. Sigh.


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## illmatic (Dec 15, 2010)

This opening the briefcase puzzle by putting in 4 #'s in the prologue is giving me a headache.


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## Red (Dec 21, 2010)

RetroElectro said:


> 999 has  more in America in a mere fortnight than it has in over ten weeks in Japan. That's certainly impressive, even with a lot of people downloading the ROM.


Hmm~

I have a DS Ive been using as a paperweight so I'll buy the game if its that good. Does this mean that VNs have a market here in the US as long as the content is manageable? I hope so


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## QBnoYouko (Dec 25, 2010)

Completed the true ending late last night. I started the game out and found myself completely engrossed in the story and gameplay, playing it for nights straight. My first ending was ending 4. After that I looked through a walkthrough to help get the rest of the endings. The puzzles were a lot more intricate than I thought and made me realize that you really gotta use your head.

Going through all the different endings, it's really cool they implement backstories and mysteries that are all connected to each other, as well as the characters. The writing, the dialogue, and the placement of the music were spot-on.


*Spoiler*: __ 



What particular boggles my mind is everything about June. It took a while to sink in but the morphogenetic field theory and the use of some time loop thing had be confused.


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## First Tsurugi (Jan 17, 2011)

I picked this up before the holidays because I had heard good things about it, and I got the True Ending about two weeks ago.

Anyway, loved the story and the gameplay. By the time I got to the last two endings where a majority of the important plot details were revealed, I was so engrossed with it I couldn't put the DS down.

The ending threw me for a loop too, but after thinking it over and discussing it with others for two weeks I finally have an understanding of everything.

By the way, did anyone happen to get the watch as a preorder bonus?



RetroElectro said:


> 999 has  more in America in a mere fortnight than it has in over ten weeks in Japan. That's certainly impressive, even with a lot of people downloading the ROM.



Wow, 70k based almost completely on word of mouth advertising. That _is_ impressive.

I know copies were scarce in my area. The Gamestop I usually go to didn't have it in stock, so I had to travel a whole town over to pick up a copy, which also happened to be the last one that store had.



illmatic said:


> This opening the briefcase puzzle by putting in 4 #'s in the prologue is giving me a headache.



Did you find both tickets? Each one has half the combination for a suitcase on it. It's just a matter of matching symbols to numbers.


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## QBnoYouko (Jan 17, 2011)

First Tsurugi said:


> I picked this up before the holidays because I had heard good things about it, and I got the True Ending about two weeks ago.
> 
> Anyway, loved the story and the gameplay. By the time I got to the last two endings where a majority of the important plot details were revealed, I was so engrossed with it I couldn't put the DS down.
> 
> ...


Yeah, I read the various topics at GameFAQs for a while (some really intelligent threads there) and it all started to make a little more sense now. 

I didn't preorder the game. I played the game on an R4 but I recently bought the actual game and am in the process of replaying it again. I bought it online at Aksys Games's shop, where they recently restocked on the game+watch bundle, which is the only way to get it now besides eBay and such. 

Oh... looks like they're out of stock again.


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## Blind Weasel (Jan 18, 2011)

I'm on my 3rd round now... and I'm still finding myself surprised...

also that elevator scene ...


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## Suwako (Jan 21, 2011)

I played only one route but i lost my save and didn't feel like going through all that unskippable wall of text again.
In terms of plot i found it really good and i loved the characters<3The culprit was fairly obvious from the beggining.

*Spoiler*: __ 



but i didn't expect a 2nd culprit and santa being akane's brother



This for some reason reminded me of rabbit doubt.
the puzzles were fun i cheated a little bit on the codes parts but i solved everything on my own*proud*<3
Overall this was a fun game that i enjoyed the small part i played of it.


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## First Tsurugi (Feb 6, 2011)

Back to your second picture. It's 58 x 48 pixels.

Here's a useful link that gives some interesting information and clarifies many confusing parts about the story.

Obviously, this should only be viewed if you've already completed the game and gotten all the endings.


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## Blind Weasel (Feb 7, 2011)

Oh yeah... finished them all...

IT WAS SO WORTH IT...


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## Velocity (Feb 7, 2011)

Zombie Itachi said:


> Oh yeah... finished them all...
> 
> IT WAS SO WORTH IT...



I still only have two of the endings done... Once I've beaten Last Window, I'll go back and finish 999 off properly. It's surprising how many great visual novels there are on the DS - I hope the 3DS continues this trend.


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## QBnoYouko (Aug 23, 2011)

while retracted, it was still in Bankai mode

According to Andriasang, Famitsu reports that the developers of 999 are working on a successor (not sequel) title called "Gyokugen Dasshutsu Adv: Zennin Shiboudes," with Kotaro Uchikoshi writing the scenario and Kinu Nishimura in charge of character designs. 

It also mentions the game being fully voiced with well-known seiyuu such as , , , and .


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## First Tsurugi (Aug 25, 2011)

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHMhHA5a6v8[/YOUTUBE]

Yeeeeeeeeeeesssssss.


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## QBnoYouko (Aug 25, 2011)

*Spoiler*: __ 



With Zero seen in the trailer, this could very well be a sequel or an alternate story of the Nonary Game as this is an "Ambidex Edition." Either way, I'm psyched.


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## biar (Oct 30, 2011)

Played Ever 17 , Remember 11 and 999.

I do find 999 the best amongst the 3 though. It has the suspense and murder of Remember 11 and a mindblowing ending like Ever 17... However


*Spoiler*: __ 



 I've played Ever 17 before playing 999, and find the endings too similar, the twist didn't affect me as it should've imo.


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## QBnoYouko (Feb 21, 2012)

Good news, the 999 sequel Extreme Escape Adventure: Good People Die is confirmed to be released in North America on 3DS: 

No word on localized title or a Vita release.


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## Godot (Feb 22, 2012)

I've played 999 and I rank it in my top #10 VNs. I'm glad it's getting a sequel.


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## QBnoYouko (Feb 28, 2012)

Press release: "... I let the readers think that 「If he goes Bankai he might be stronger than Aizen」".

Sequel title: *Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward*.

The series is now labeled Zero Escape, which means the first game is retroactively known as *Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.*

Dual language and Vita localization also confirmed.


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## Velocity (Feb 28, 2012)

Oh, this brings back memories. :tearyeyes

Virtue's Last Reward is a really awesome name, by the way. Having twenty four endings is one thing, but fully rendered rooms and full voice acting as well? They're definitely pulling out all the stops for this one.


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## Dejablue (Feb 29, 2012)

Zero Escape is a nicer sounding name than 999. Not that I minded.


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## Dejablue (Feb 29, 2012)

I'm not a visual novel person. At all. But I got this game and thought it was quite fun.  Even after hearing from a friend that its a bad game.  It's possible that he just got confused. Because the story is confusing.  Even I'm still a bit confused.  I'm assuming that every ending, even the bad ones, are essential to understand the one true ending.  

So I came to the conclusion is that every ending is an alternate branch of reality.  Like a person who has a chance to redue a part of their life over and over until they get it right.  Though there might be a real parallel reality where everyone dies. I'm...not quite sure about that.

It's like Akane/June was messing with the butterfly effect or something.


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## QBnoYouko (Mar 1, 2012)

Quite on the ball there. Each other ending gives you a hint of the truth. There's a certain order to play through each route story-wise because the clues get bigger and bigger. There's only one true ending, which is the correct path. All others are the paths that could happen, and if so, it is like an infinite loop, redoing everything until you get it right.


*Spoiler*: __ 



Not getting to the true path means June is set to die because she can't finish the puzzle without Junpei's help.


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## Dejablue (Mar 1, 2012)

*Spoiler*: __ 



Hmm I kinda figured that.  But what I don't understand is how June is able to basically pull off a time reset. I got the ending where Clover goes axe crazy.  You'd think after the failed attempted to get the true path, June would be doomed.  If she only had literally one chance to reach Junpei with her mind. How is it that I'm able to start over again with Junpei retaining knowledge of whats happened previously?  If June failed once and the fire has killed her, how is she able to try again?


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## QBnoYouko (Mar 1, 2012)

Dejablue said:


> *Spoiler*: __
> 
> 
> 
> Hmm I kinda figured that.  But what I don't understand is how June is able to basically pull off a time reset. I got the ending where Clover goes axe crazy.  You'd think after the failed attempted to get the true path, June would be doomed.  If she only had literally one chance to reach Junpei with her mind. How is it that I'm able to start over again with Junpei retaining knowledge of whats happened previously?  If June failed once and the fire has killed her, how is she able to try again?



*Spoiler*: __ 



I think it's like this:

June is able to see the various outcomes and as such, she is trying to access the morphogenetic field to reach Junpei, who would then have to follow the correct paths as she tells him to via transmitting. All those other endings are because we failed to choose all the right options that June is trying to send over. The non-true endings are just possible endings we come across, foreseen by June. 

I don't necessarily think she's pulling off a time reset herself. As far as I can tell, she's able to see every future outcome and using experience from those paths to find out which way is the true path, and then relay it over to Junpei. 

There was a thread on GameFAQs I read long ago that went into this detail, though.




If you still are confused about it, the answers from the writer should definitely clear most things up: "... I let the readers think that 「If he goes Bankai he might be stronger than Aizen」".


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## Dejablue (Mar 1, 2012)

Ah thanks. I'll definitely read this.  I never even knew about this place


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## St. YatōKiri_Kilgharrah (Sep 30, 2012)

So who else pre-ordered the snazzy watch Set from Zero Escape?


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## Blind Weasel (Oct 10, 2012)

I didn't like much the 3D look of things but oh well... I'm still gonna play it at some point...


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## Blind Weasel (Aug 12, 2013)

Just got my copy of Zero Escape...

now I need to get a 3DS to play it

lol


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## Linkofone (Aug 13, 2013)

Shoot ... I just finished playing 999 ... still need to get Zero Escape ...


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## Linkofone (Sep 3, 2013)

Can anyone explain to me what happened with Alice at the end of the game though?


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## QBnoYouko (Sep 4, 2013)

Linkofone said:


> Can anyone explain to me what happened with Alice at the end of the game though?


Virtue's Last Reward explains it, but if you really wanna know...


*Spoiler*: __ 



The "Alice" they meet is an undercover agent who recruits Clover into her organization and later the two are involved in the Nonary Game Ambidex Edition.


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