Recent reviews by Athena

Unfortunately, I don't feel like I can recommend this game until better options are in place.

This game made me physically ill due to the combination of forced mouse smoothing and motion blur. There are no options to turn them off in the settings. The mouse smoothing in particular doesn't respond the way I feel it should, it's really difficult to explain, but it doesn't "feel right" and is a huge issue for me. The motion blur accompanies what is already sickening in the worst way possible, and makes the whole experience a triple whammy of headaches, dizziness, and nausea. I wouldn't consider myself especially sensitive to this sort of thing, as I have *some* issues with first person games at times but can usually adapt or change settings to make it work for me. However, I literally played the game for 3-5 minutes before I needed to lie down because I felt so sick.

To its credit, the intro is very pretty and the story looks fantastic. From what I heard, the music is very nice too. However, the lack of options to turn off what the developers call a "deliberate design choice" make this game physically unplayable for myself and some others as well. I understand there are artistic choices a development team makes when creating games, but with no option to turn them off when they are making people physically ill is a bit of a slap in the face. I mean honestly, that sort of response - to me - makes it seem like you don't give a flying ♥♥♥♥ about people getting sick from your game's lack of options.

I will change my review if options to turn off mouse smoothing and motion blur are implemented. Until then, there is no possible way for me to play this game.

All in all, I'm very disappointed since this game seemed to have so much I (would) like about it, but ultimately it's unplayable for me because of the controls/"design choice" and lack of options concerning them. I really would love to play this game, so *please* consider implementing options to turn off the mouse smoothing and motion blur.

NO SPOILERS -

I've been following the Zero Escape series ever since the first game (999) was released in Japan. I was super excited for the conclusion to the trilogy, as it seemed as if this game wouldn't be made due to poor sales. After the long wait, I can safely say it lived up to my expectations.

Some plot points (and holes) seemed really strange to me coming from playing the other two in the series, but I could overlook them pretty easily considering the rest of the game is excellent. Also, it feels as if a lot of the BGM is reused from the other two games, but the music is good and there are some new tracks that I really liked as well.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending (it was a little weird to me), but I personally feel as if a game is about the entire experience, not just the ending.

It was a very enjoyable game, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who may be on the fence about buying it. Just make sure to play the other two games in the series first, or you may be a bit lost on some of the plot and miss out on backstory with some returning characters.

The first game in the series is 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, and the second is Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward. 999 is available on Nintendo DS and as a visual novel with the gameplay elements removed on iOS. VLR is available on 3DS and PS Vita. The three games put together are an engaging and excellent experience with fantastic storytelling.