PRELUDE

The following review is only for "999". I have not completed "VLR" yet, but it plays similarly.


REVIEW, PART 1

What is "9 persons, 9 hours, 9 doors"?

The game that usually is abbreviated as "999" is part of the "Nonary Games" series of visual novels. The both games in this package, "999" and "Virtue's Last Reward" consist of the novel parts as well as Escape Room puzzles to be solved, which are interwoven with the story and - despite at first feeling tacked on to have a gameplay element - being an integral part of it.

In 999, the PC version adds the Flow, which is a chart of all events that happened and information where the storyline splits up. This is helpful as in the Nintendo DS version you had to replay the game entirely from the beginning when you finished one of the endings - here you can jump to any point in the story, "Radiant Historia" style, to continue from there and possibly making different decisions (or replaying Escape Room puzzles if you want so).

The game is played entirely with the mouse, keyboard inputs are optional to assist you. This means you can shortcut with the keyboard, but can't play the entire game with it. I didn't test the gamepad functionality, but supposedly you can play through the entire game, including the Escape Room puzzles, with the gamepad only.

The story revolves around the "Nonary Game". You awaken - after being abducted - in a confined space with several beds. Water enters through a broken window. Soon you figure out, you are on a ship and meet with other people. The nine of you must escape by playing the "Nonary Game". Within nine hours, the nine people must solve escape room puzzles and find a way out, but due to numbered doors through which only 3-5 people can go at a time, it is necessary to split up all the time. The story develops in a way that includes not only horror - without becoming a horror game, i.e. there are no werewolves, zombies or other monsters (other than your fellow humans), the setting itself is just horror - but also crime and mystery. In the end, you want to escape, but to do so you must also find out why you are there, and you will also find out that there is a reason why exactly the people were chosen for the Nonary Game that are there.

The gameplay really consists mostly of following the story, making important decisions every now and then, and solving the escape rooms in-between. All in all, it took me around 20 hours to see everything, including one permanently missable ending (the only one that gives no Steam achievement and is not needed for one). The reason why the ending is permanently missable has an in-story explanation, so I don't want to spoiler it. But it is a bad ending at first where you might or might not miss vital information. If you have that information, the game continues there.

The soundtrack is fitting, similar to other visual novels such as "Phoenix Wright", which however would be more of an adventure game in my opinion. The voice-acting is not completely done but on important lines, which is irritating. The acting itself is fine for the genre - in an action game it would lack panick and urgency.

Overall, 999 is a classic, it was one the instant it came out. So the question here is not if I would recommend it - obviously I would - but if I would recommend the Steam version, and for what price.
The latter depends entirely on what you are willing to spend on it. Personally, I think the best value is gained by waiting for a sale and getting the bundle with all three of the "Zero Escape" games.

Supposedly - from the time that other reviewers have - the second game in this package, "Virtue's Last Reward", adds another 30 hours of gameplay, totalling a bit over 50 hours. I am a bit over 10 hours in it, and from what I saw so far, it takes 8-9 hours to reach the first (non-)ending there, and then due to the "flow" mechanic, and due to other endings maybe being reached shorter, the time of 30 hours might be fitting to reach all endings. This however would be the topic for part 2 of this review after finishing said game.

Recommended: Yes, but wait for a sale and get all three "Zero Escape" games - the two in this pack and "Zero Time Dilemma" in the "Zero Escape Trilogy" bundle. After all, you want to experience the entire story of all games, once you play them. They are different enough to not feel old after the first game, but also seem to reference each other, so playing them in a specific order, that of releases (999, then VLR, then the Zero Time Dilemma) is recommended, according to the forum.

PRELUDE The following review is only for "999". I have not completed "VLR" yet, but it plays similarly. REVIEW, PART 1 What is "9 persons, 9 hours, 9 doors"? The game that usually is abbreviated as "999" is part of the "Nonary Games" series of visual novels. The both games in this package, "999" and "Virtue's Last Reward" consist of the novel parts as well as Escape Room puzzles to be solved, which are interwoven with the story and - despite at first feeling tacked on to have a gameplay element - being an integral part of it. In 999, the PC version adds the Flow, which is a chart of all events that happened and information where the storyline splits up. This is helpful as in the Nintendo DS version you had to replay the game entirely from the beginning when you finished one of the endings - here you can jump to any point in the story, "Radiant Historia" style, to continue from there and possibly making different decisions (or replaying Escape Room puzzles if you want so). The game is played entirely with the mouse, keyboard inputs are optional to assist you. This means you can shortcut with the keyboard, but can't play the entire game with it. I didn't test the gamepad functionality, but supposedly you can play through the entire game, including the Escape Room puzzles, with the gamepad only. The story revolves around the "Nonary Game". You awaken - after being abducted - in a confined space with several beds. Water enters through a broken window. Soon you figure out, you are on a ship and meet with other people. The nine of you must escape by playing the "Nonary Game". Within nine hours, the nine people must solve escape room puzzles and find a way out, but due to numbered doors through which only 3-5 people can go at a time, it is necessary to split up all the time. The story develops in a way that includes not only horror - without becoming a horror game, i.e. there are no werewolves, zombies or other monsters (other than your fellow humans), the setting itself is just horror - but also crime and mystery. In the end, you want to escape, but to do so you must also find out why you are there, and you will also find out that there is a reason why exactly the people were chosen for the Nonary Game that are there. The gameplay really consists mostly of following the story, making important decisions every now and then, and solving the escape rooms in-between. All in all, it took me around 20 hours to see everything[spoiler], including one permanently missable ending (the only one that gives no Steam achievement and is not needed for one). The reason why the ending is permanently missable has an in-story explanation, so I don't want to spoiler it. But it is a bad ending at first where you might or might not miss vital information. If you have that information, the game continues there[/spoiler]. The soundtrack is fitting, similar to other visual novels such as "Phoenix Wright", which however would be more of an adventure game in my opinion. The voice-acting is not completely done but on important lines, which is irritating. The acting itself is fine for the genre - in an action game it would lack panick and urgency. Overall, 999 is a classic, it was one the instant it came out. So the question here is not if I would recommend it - obviously I would - but if I would recommend the Steam version, and for what price. The latter depends entirely on what you are willing to spend on it. Personally, I think the best value is gained by waiting for a sale and getting the bundle with all three of the "Zero Escape" games. Supposedly - from the time that other reviewers have - the second game in this package, "Virtue's Last Reward", adds another 30 hours of gameplay, totalling a bit over 50 hours. I am a bit over 10 hours in it, and from what I saw so far, it takes 8-9 hours to reach the first (non-)ending there, and then due to the "flow" mechanic, and due to other endings maybe being reached shorter, the time of 30 hours might be fitting to reach all endings. This however would be the topic for part 2 of this review after finishing said game. Recommended: Yes, but wait for a sale and get all three "Zero Escape" games - the two in this pack and "Zero Time Dilemma" in the "Zero Escape Trilogy" bundle. After all, you want to experience the entire story of all games, once you play them. They are different enough to not feel old after the first game, but also seem to reference each other, so playing them in a specific order, that of releases (999, then VLR, then the Zero Time Dilemma) is recommended, according to the forum.