LogFAQs > #978713039

*ongoing spoilers for ZTD and potential spoils for 999/VLR*

I'm finally getting around to finishing the Zero Escape series. I've made topics here for both 999 and VLR, so I might as well do one for the divisive third entry as well!

I reread my VLR topic to refresh my memories on the ongoing plot, which very rudely ended with an abrupt sequel tease. Hopefully I've not forgotten anything major. All I know about the third game going in is that people tend to be pretty down on it, unfortunately.

Here's my VLR character rankings fwiw:
Luna > Alice > Tenmyouji > Sigma > K > Phi > Clover > Quark > Dio > Akane/Zero

We start in Nevada Desert, of course, with some unusual new aesthetic choices. Why are their eyes so bright? Akane is here (spoilers she probably did it), Sigma, Phi, Junpei (!), and a bunch of newbies- Carlos, Mira, Eric, Q (Quark somehow?), and Diana. And a new plague doctor Zero! We get the coin flip right and win the game, the end. :D

After our new game introduction, I pick Team Carlos to see how Akane and Jumpy are doing, though I doubt they'll explain anything this early on. Carlos plays third wheel to the very icy couple as Junpei acts uncharacteristically bitter and is seemingly uncaring of anything going on. Whew, interesting. The whole gang has been together for 5 days, unlike the past games, so nobody is a complete stranger. I of course vote D team, then head to play as them and see how our second game's protags are doing.

Phi and Siggy are their usual bantering selves, and thankfully they've already told everyone the reason they're here. I vote Q team, but it would have been funny for Diana to pick C team after everybody agreed Q was the only real option.

Next up, Eric and Mira are maybe a couple and Q has amnesia. Mira's incredibly bright eyes are more distracting than her chest, what a ridiculous design. But if the similarly styled Lotus and Alice are any indication, I'll wind up quite liking her and she'll be almost entirely irrelevant to the central plot. I vote C.

Next up... huh? Instead of the next step after the voting, we get fourteen new memory fragments to choose from. This is weird. I pick one of the C pictures that looks interesting, which takes us to a Monty Hall problem. No idea what's going on here but hey we have a puzzle room!

I miss having the touchscreen to write notes on. Oh, well. We work through the quest (I bruteforce the password after getting only 3 of the 4 cards whoops) and wouldn't you know, Junpei still puts Akane's wellbeing first and he and Carlos die while she escapes alone. Bad end. ...Is this how this game works? We randomly jump all over the timeline with no linear continuity or knowledge? Surely not, but we'll see how things go from here.