Board 8 > Zero Escape people...

(+) Yeah! (+)

Original 999 on DS was a major pain. I actually originally sent it back to Gamefly after the first ending when I realized what is what expecting me to do, lol.

Thankfully picked it up again and went back to it later after I got access to VLR. When I did my replay of the whole series I played the PS4 version, the flowchart and especially the voice acting made that a much better experience.

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Nanis23 posted...

Why would you need a chart
Just replay the game and pick the options you didn't pick before, easy

Well, actually even picking the options we didn't pick before might still lead to the same endings due to how the divergence works.

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Yeah, they color code the locks in the flowchart, so I have no idea how the hell you're supposed to do "just play it again" without one and be fine just like that. Unless you get super lucky.

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kevwaffles posted...

It doesn't erase them. You just have to replay up to the point that you're firmly back on the 5 Door path. At that point you can just go to a later point.

I have no idea what you're talking about. The game wouldn't let me skip ahead. Maybe if there was no unique text, it would have let me? I don't know.

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Paratroopa1 posted...

Yeah, I played the DS version of 999 that doesn't have a flow chart, so I didn't know about all this stuff when Anagram asked me. I don't actually remember having a hard time with 999 at all though.

Samesies.

A ZTD style chart would have been unnecessary and confusing and it sounds like thats what this is.

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Oh man, I didn't realize you can just skip ahead to the part you want to try the scene a different way, that's way better than I expected.

Currently have three endings down.

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Yeah, you can do it without the flowchart, but it just takes more trial and error.

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Without the flowchart, do you just have to replay the game from the beginning or something? Because that sounds unbearable.

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Anagram posted...

Without the flowchart, do you just have to replay the game from the beginning or something? Because that sounds unbearable.

Why?
You can skip text like crazy and each puzzle room takes like 2 minutes once you know the solution

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Anagram posted...

Without the flowchart, do you just have to replay the game from the beginning or something? Because that sounds unbearable.

Yeah, but you can skip through the dialogue.

Although I was sick of that first room by the end.

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I feel like in a perfect run there are either...2 or 3 puzzles you have to redo.

But let me tell ya...boy did I fucking hate having to redo them.

Other than the obvious first one (so I guess 4), I think they were...the gambling room, the two mirrored regular rooms, and the one towards the end with the playing cards. Is that right?

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Yeah redoing the rooms was annoying. I think they fix that for the sequels.

Also out of curiosity which endings did you get

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I think there is .... one? Puzzle room I had to redo in VLR?

But I remember thinking it wasn't as bad

Also playing 999 without a flowchart sounds like hell

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BetrayedTangy posted...

Yeah redoing the rooms was annoying. I think they fix that for the sequels.

Also out of curiosity which endings did you get

In order, I've gotten:

• Clover murders everyone with an axe
• Someone mysterious stabs everyone to death next to a submarine
• Santa takes June hostage and there's a TO BE CONTINUED, I assume that's the route for the true ending
• Someone murders Lotus, then me. I noticed Lotus has her bracelet stolen in two different endings, which is obviously important. I'm thinking the murderer may be Ace, because 8 + 1 + 0 would let him pass through a 9 door.

I'm going to try to beat the game completely now, I suspect I'm not far off.

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Oh man, game, you are not allowed to have a character scream SNAKE SNAAAAAAAKE and have me take it seriously.

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It's a great reference!

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Alright, beat NNN. Total playtime is 11.7 hours.

• I figured out most of the plot beats in advance, but I actually thought Akane would be a ghost or psychic projection or something. One thing I figured out early was that the branching paths were all going to be canon in a roundabout way, but I thought it would involve time travel where Junpei was projecting information back to himself at the start of the game so the player could choose different, better options. I was obviously wrong about that, though.
• More than a few unanswered questions by the end, but that's fine.
• I enjoy how I figured out Ace was the villain with completely incorrect logic, which I did a few times in Danganronpa as well.
• I'm just going to go ahead and say that at the very beginning, when the Ninth Man starts shouting "He lied to me," I wish he could explode twice for playing the pronoun game when he had 81 seconds to explain to us that Ace killed him.
• I know that it's explained later why everyone knows about obscure Titanic lore and crazy science experiments from decades ago, but Junpei is super casual about that when the game starts.
• I completed most of the puzzles on my own, occasionally looking stuff up, but when I got to the final puzzle, I didn't even try, I just immediately pulled up a guide. Sue me.
• I'm not sure I feel like ever dealing with digital roots ever again.
• I honestly don't understand why this is compared to Phoenix Wright and Danganronpa? Aside from being VNs with some kind of mystery involved, and NNN and DR being about being trapped in a wacky game, they have basically nothing in common that I could see. Even the tone of the game is way more grounded than the other games'.
• If I'm going to compare it to PW and DR, though, then Zero Escape is definitely the weakest so far. I enjoyed it well enough, but it's definitely a step below the other two in most ways, and probably two steps in characters.

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The final puzzle was different in the original 999.

999 is my least favorite of the three games, but I still enjoyed it.

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Is the PC version easier?

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it gets compared to PW and dangitronpaul because it's a vn with gameplay, more or less.

the final puzzle in the ds game was sudoku

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Wait, you needed a guide for this version of 999's final puzzle? The issue most people have with this one and the one downside to playing this version is that it's a complete joke and is not even really a puzzle. <_<

Also narratively the original final puzzle is better.

Original 999 made you play Sudoko upside down.

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Looking it up for funsies just now reminds me how criminally underrated the Zero Escape OSTs are. Yeah, they may not have the post game memorability of the other games they always get compared to, but in the thick of it there's some real moody and atmospheric stuff in here.

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What was the puzzle changed to?

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Mr Crispy posted...

it gets compared to PW and dangitronpaul because it's a vn with gameplay, more or less.

the final puzzle in the ds game was sudoku

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Wait, you needed a guide for this version of 999's final puzzle? The issue most people have with this one and the one downside to playing this version is that it's a complete joke and is not even really a puzzle. <_<

Also narratively the original final puzzle is better.

Original 999 made you play Sudoko upside down.

Maybe I could have finished the final puzzle without a guide, I just didn't feel like fighting it after having already spent three straight hours playing.

Out of curiosity, do you need all of the other endings to get the true ending, or do you just need the one with the key (which is the one where Ace is incinerated)?

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Lord Bob Bree posted...

What was the puzzle changed to?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPeTXClI9Ok

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It's changed to...I dunno but you just use the hint function to give you the answer.

I'm not sure it has a real way to solve it without doing that.

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you just have to get the safe ending in order to get the true ending, otherwise you just get the coffin ending when you try to get it.

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I've always wondered if 999's final plot twist hits a lot more shittily in the PC version, since it's reliant on realizations about the DS physically in order to really maximize itself

Also, I think you'll like Virtue's Last Reward more.

Whats the DS factor here?

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all the text on the bottom was actually akane's thoughts and such (hence you flip the ds over for the last puzzle

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Following up on that, its the first time Junpei actually has any agency in the game. I also love that its sudoku of all things, considering the focus on 9 in the game.

The nice thing about the Zero Escape games is that the developer has an in-depth interview going over making the game and some unanswered questions. Im trying to find one thats just 999 and doesnt have any VLR spoilers at all.

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999's use of the dual screen made the whole game worth it tbh
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Speaking of, while obviously every game in the franchise is INCREDIBLY heavy on the twists, VLR in particular...just make sure to avoid spoilers by any means necessary.

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PW and Danga are similar. Definitely would not say Zero escape is the same thing.

I think Zero Escape is closer to something like The Witness or Talos Principal.

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Also digital roots kind of suck and they never come back.

VLRs system is better

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I know nothing about VLR except what can be derived from the Steam banner, so I know there's a guy with short hair and a shirt with a grenade on it. Is it the same length as NNN?

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Definitely longer. 999 is the shortest game in the series.

Yeah, VLR and ZTD are longer than 999. I'd say VLR is probably the longest of the three.

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VLR is easily the longest of the three. It's looooooong, I'm not gonna lie, but I also think it's far and away the best of the three, and for reasons, I think it's the one you'll enjoy most, too.

VLR is great :)

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Yeah, it's easily my favorite as well. I didn't think 999's cast was all that great either, but VLR's is a big step up in that department (although it does have a couple of stinkers, but that's to be expected).

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I thought VLR was my fav before my most recent replay, but now I'm not sure between it and 999 (I am a ZTD defender, that game is great, but it's def in 3rd place).

However that was my first and only time paying 999 with voice acting and in HD, so I may have been having a bit of a bias in favor of the shiny new coating when playing them all back to back.

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I liked 999s cast but the best character being put on the sidelines for most of the game is a big knock against it.

Safe ending, best ending.

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LeonhartFour posted...

Yeah, it's easily my favorite as well. I didn't think 999's cast was all that great either, but VLR's is a big step up in that department (although it does have a couple of stinkers, but that's to be expected).

Oh?

After a google refresh I don't think I "Disliked" any character in VLR

Unlike say, DanganRonpa where some of the characters are nearly insufferable

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Hmmm...there are 2 cases of me disliking a character in the franchise (ninth man doesn't count), both in ZTD, but they each had their moments of comedic value. Those 2 characters should be obvious.

VLR did have a character I just didn't care about, though I can't say I hated her? That's directly connected to the other case of Clover being a big downgrade, and Alice is a part of that, though I don't dislike her.

Edit: Oh, wait, Qwark sucks.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

Hmmm...there are 2 cases of me disliking a character in the franchise (ninth man doesn't count), both in ZTD, but they each had their moments of comedic value. Those 2 characters should be obvious.

VLR did have a character I just didn't care about, though I can't say I hated her? That's directly connected to the other case of Clover being a big downgrade, and Alice is a part of that, though I don't dislike her.

Edit: Oh, wait, Qwark sucks.

Your edit, which really isn't much of a spoiler at all, is probably the closest I would come to disliking anyone, but honestly one of the better younger characters in story games IMHO

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masterplum posted...

honestly one of the better younger characters in story games IMHO

yikes no

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Just started VLR, I remember seeing this woman with the gold ring covering her boobs before. She's totally the mummy from the first game.

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Clover's back, but her clothes sure aren't.

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