Why do I... know? Why... Why do I know... these things?

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - or 999 - is a visual novel and the first game of the Zero Escape trilogy.

Gameplay exists of story segments presented in a regular visual novel format, as well as "escape" segments in which the player must solve puzzles in order to exit the room they are trapped in.

Nine players have been kidnapped and trapped on a cruise ship reminiscent of the Titanic, and are being forced to play a "Nonary Game", with the victor(s) promised the ability to leave should they make it through a door marked [9] before the ship sinks in 9 hours.

The cast of the game spans many different ages and backgrounds, but almost all of them share a certain connection to an event of the past. To protect their identities, each character uses a code name based off of their assigned bracelet number from 1 to 9.

Bracelet number [1] is Ace, an older man who somewhat resembles a lion.

[2] is Snake, a 24-year old who is blind and carries the air of a prince.

[3] is Santa, a vulgar young man with a head of silver.

[4] is Clover, an eccentric girl with pink hair, and the younger sister of Snake.

[5] is Junpei, the protagonist of the game.

[6] is June, also known as Junpei's childhood friend, Akane.

[7] is... Seven... an amnesiac with the towering stature of a mountain.

[8] is Lotus, a talented programmer and mother of two daughters who seems to be dressed like a dancer.

And finally, [9] is the 9th Man, who seems a little bit twitchier than the others, for some reason.

The game has amazing spritework, fun puzzle rooms, and a fantastic story to tell, and putting all the facts together is a lot of fun as well. It does a good job of balancing comedy as well as thrilling elements and it throws in some really cool sci-fi/pseudoscience stuff in there too. If you want to know what... I guess you'll just have to play the game!






Why do people... betray each other? If you can't trust anyone... then everyone should DIE. Welcome to my kingdom!

Virtue's Last Reward is the second game of the series, and is largely considered the fan-favourite. Unlike the previous entry, characters now appear as 3D models instead of drawn sprites.

While the gameplay itself is the same as in 999 (barring the AB game), the rules of this entry's Nonary Game - the Ambidex Edition - are different. Players are no longer assigned a number on their bracelets, they are instead used to keep track of points earned. Rather than having to find the [9] door, it's accessible from the start, and the goal of the game is to meet the exit requirements: gaining 9 or more Bracelet Points by playing the Ambidex (AB) game.

While teamwork was a necessity to win in 999's Nonary Game, VLR steers into a more contentious direction as the AB game is a player-versus-player game of trust and betrayal. Speaking of players, the cast of this game consists of...

Sigma, the protagonist. A college student who has a tendency to speak in cat puns and make women uncomfortable.

Phi, Sigma's partner in the first round who seems to know more than she lets on, or even... theoretically should be able to know.

Alice, a strangely familiar face to people who have finished 999. A bold - and kind of underdressed - woman who won't disclose what her job exactly is.

Tenmyouji, a crabby old man (with a heart of gold deep down) who would do anything for his grandson, Quark.

Luna, a softspoken and kindhearted girl with a bluebird necklace who seems knowledgable in the medical field.

Quark, a little boy who wears a weird hat, and loves root beer floats and his grandpa.

Dio, an abrasive... (I'm trying not to call him a prettyboy). Always pulling some bullshit.

K, a mysterious individual in a robot suit who can't seem to remember anything.

and Clover, a... hey, wait a minute. We know her already! STOP GETTING KIDNAPPED GIRL!!!

This game is much longer than 999 was, and it introduces a lot more plot points, such as the Radical-6 virus and a mysterious cult. If you want to hear more about those, then... I guess you'll just have to play the game!


Life is simply unfair, don't you think? There are moments when a single snail can make a world go extinct.

Zero Time Dilemma is the final game of the Zero Escape trilogy, and the black sheep of the series (both in general appearance and in reception).

One of the major differences in this game compared to the others is the fact that the characters aren't wrapped up in a Nonary Game at all. Instead, this is the Decision Game! Zero Escape gameplay staples - aka story segments interrupted by puzzle rooms for the player to solve - are still the same, but the rules of the game have become very different.

Rather than encouraging players to work their way to exiting the [9] door, there is instead an "X Door" that can only be opened with six passwords known as X-Passes which are publicly available to everyone. This game seems easy enough to win with everyone in one piece, until you find out that an X-Pass is only revealed when a player dies.

Players are divided into 3 teams, named C-Team, Q-Team, and D-Team after their respective leaders. On the topic of players, who are they? This time we have a mix of returning characters and new ones:

Carlos, the leader of C-Team. A noble firefighter (and basically living Ken doll) who loves his little sister Maria dearly.

Akane of C-Team, also known as June from 999. She joined the experiment that the game participants were all kidnapped from the site of for a specific reason, but you'll have to play the previous games to find that out.

Junpei of C-Team, the protagonist of 999. He joined in search of Akane after the events of 999, but he seems a little... fucked up here. Are... you okay, bro? Wanna talk about it?

Q, the leader of Q-Team. Man, that is a reeeally unoriginal team name. Did you come up with that one by yourself, Zero?

Mira of Q-Team, this game's successor to the title of "girl with boobs out". Perpetually uninterested in her maybe-boyfriend, and made me feel less bad about picking the evil choices because she's kinda just like "okayyy you do you girl" whenever I did them.

Eric of Q-Team... I won't lie okay he looks like a reject Beatle. Anyway, he's majorly in love with Mira, and very hotheaded and overemotional about it. Don't let this guy near any kind of weaponry.

Diana, the leader of D-Team. A gentle nurse who carries around a bluebird music box. She's kind to a fault, and would do anything for her teammates. You'll find out if you play.

Phi of D-Team, returning from VLR. Back with a super-cute outfit, too! She's here for the same reason that Sigma is.

...and finally, Sigma of D-Team, also returning from VLR. His model is perpetually pulling this stupid face that made me laugh a lot in serious moments. He's here for the same reason that Phi is.

This game had kind of a low budget and it shows, but it's still enjoyable nonetheless. And hey, at least I feel better about this ending than that major cliffhanger in VLR. If you want to know how all those plot threads got wrapped up, well... I guess you'll just have to play the game!








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