First, as others have said, Zero Time Dilemma is the third game in its series. While there is some in-game context given to familiarize new players with the storyline, it is still highly recommended that you be familiar with the plot of the first two games in order to understand this one.

With that out of the way, this installment was a fitting conclusion to the trilogy, though I wouldn't say it was perfect by any means. For example, if they wanted to transition from still images to animated cutscenes, they should have gone all out and fully animated every detail. Instead, the camera often cuts away from the characters when a significant action is performed (such as one character attacking another) and we only hear a sound effect to signal that said action took place. To me this signifies either a limited budget or a lack of effort. However, the music was good, the dialogue/voice acting was entertaining, and the events of the game were presented in a coherent manner. The room escape puzzles were the perfect level of difficulty; they were challenging enough to require some thought, but not so difficult that I was stuck for hours on a single puzzle.

But let's talk about the one aspect that the Zero Escape series is known for: the story. You can expect the same sort of mind-blowing, alternate timeline laden story in this game as you experienced in the previous two. While I wouldn't say that this game introduces any ingenious new concepts to the overarching mythos of the series, it takes what made the other two games so awesome and cranks it all up several notches. More death, more violence, more paranoia and backstabbing, more alternate timelines, more time-loop miracles that completely screw with your brain. Killing off other characters is not just something that happens to take place in certain timelines, but is now a requirement for the remaining characters to escape the facility they are trapped in. A group of characters can seem completely peaceful and cooperative at one moment and then suddenly proceed to turn on each other in a matter of minutes. Needless to say, I was thoroughly entertained throughout the whole game.

The one part that did leave me scratching my head a little was the ending. While many old questions are answered, new ones are raised - and therefore left open to interpretation because the developers have apparently stated that this is the last game in the series. While it wouldn't necessarily be unfitting to end it right here, I certainly hope they reconsider, since this game's ending leaves open the possibility for a fourth installment. Nonetheless, you should definitely get this game if you enjoyed the first two.

First, as others have said, Zero Time Dilemma is the third game in its series. While there is some in-game context given to familiarize new players with the storyline, it is still highly recommended that you be familiar with the plot of the first two games in order to understand this one. With that out of the way, this installment was a fitting conclusion to the trilogy, though I wouldn't say it was perfect by any means. For example, if they wanted to transition from still images to animated cutscenes, they should have gone all out and fully animated every detail. Instead, the camera often cuts away from the characters when a significant action is performed (such as one character attacking another) and we only hear a sound effect to signal that said action took place. To me this signifies either a limited budget or a lack of effort. However, the music was good, the dialogue/voice acting was entertaining, and the events of the game were presented in a coherent manner. The room escape puzzles were the perfect level of difficulty; they were challenging enough to require some thought, but not so difficult that I was stuck for hours on a single puzzle. But let's talk about the one aspect that the Zero Escape series is known for: the story. You can expect the same sort of mind-blowing, alternate timeline laden story in this game as you experienced in the previous two. While I wouldn't say that this game introduces any ingenious new concepts to the overarching mythos of the series, it takes what made the other two games so awesome and cranks it all up several notches. More death, more violence, more paranoia and backstabbing, more alternate timelines, more time-loop miracles that completely screw with your brain. Killing off other characters is not just something that happens to take place in certain timelines, but is now a requirement for the remaining characters to escape the facility they are trapped in. A group of characters can seem completely peaceful and cooperative at one moment and then suddenly proceed to turn on each other in a matter of minutes. Needless to say, I was thoroughly entertained throughout the whole game. The one part that did leave me scratching my head a little was the ending. While many old questions are answered, new ones are raised - and therefore left open to interpretation because the developers have apparently stated that this is the last game in the series. While it wouldn't necessarily be unfitting to end it right here, I certainly hope they reconsider, since this game's ending leaves open the possibility for a fourth installment. Nonetheless, you should definitely get this game if you enjoyed the first two.