My main issue with the Zero Escape saga thus far is the personality of the characters: they don't have any. They live and die in a plot of intrigue where they serve only as cogs in the greater mystery.
This should not be a problem, as the games seem to be somewhat aware of the condition of those characters, so everything is directed towards conversations that seek to create enigmas, explain them (or try to) and play with ambiguities. That is, they don't so much seek to be emotional games (luckily, seeing the messy occasional attempts) as intelligent games, which is why they don't shy away from including escape rooms, puzzles and frequent scientific or philosophical references with explicitly cheeky quotes. But they are not smart games.
The deficiency in creating good riddles contained in the escape rooms is more severe, although more concealed, in the main plot. One expects the revelations to show the connections hidden under our noses all this time, but it isn’t like that, particularly in Virtue's Last Reward. Ideas simply succeed one another, none of them particularly imaginative, surprising or interesting on their own or in their cohesion and evidently discrepant when the biggest surprises are revealed, even trying to exemplify them by clarifying small forgettable enigmas without being able to avoid raising at least two major contradictions on the core plot in the process. As you understand more, you also wonder if all this is going to go anywhere. If the component of intrigue, of tension, of intelligence, of emotion, of surprise, if all this and more, has been lost, what is left?
The first installment ended with an ending that, although it came too late and too clumsy, at least achieved something, literalizing a scientific hypothesis into something convincing for its fiction. It made you want to see what more was there to say about it, what could be explored once this hypothesis had materialized, how far could it go.
In Virtue's Last Reward, it is made clear that there was nothing more to say. It tells what is already known and the little that is not, or was less obvious, such as to what extent future actions can have unexpected repercussions on this intricate temporal system, is again greatly reduced in comparison to everything else that gets in the way. Even its worsened structure is surprising. This one, at first appearance more accurate, stating when the story branches and when it reaches different places, loses completely in tension.
Some mystery was preserved in the first game when deciding which teams would go where and how they would be formed, even more so when, being a first entry, anything could still happen. There was no guarantee that a fortuitous decision could not lead to a bad end, and in fact that was often the case in the long run. The structure of Virtue's Last Reward clarifies that it's not so much about choosing as it is about exploring, yet it still feels distracted. The door decision system is both more confusing and more boring, but the final straw comes in the voting ramifications. Something that should be a total psychological confrontation is actually revealed very quickly as a simple formality, the weight that deciding one option or another may have, no matter how much it tries to insist on the supposed human burden carried, comes to nothing.
The last ace up the sleeve to justify the mediocrities that cannot stand their own weight is that the purpose of everything was to expand knowledge horizontally, hence the tree that branches more even if it was with less interesting motives and implications. However, from such an extensive tree of knowledge, ironically, once finished exploring, you come to learn nothing.
This should not be a problem, as the games seem to be somewhat aware of the condition of those characters, so everything is directed towards conversations that seek to create enigmas, explain them (or try to) and play with ambiguities. That is, they don't so much seek to be emotional games (luckily, seeing the messy occasional attempts) as intelligent games, which is why they don't shy away from including escape rooms, puzzles and frequent scientific or philosophical references with explicitly cheeky quotes. But they are not smart games.
The deficiency in creating good riddles contained in the escape rooms is more severe, although more concealed, in the main plot. One expects the revelations to show the connections hidden under our noses all this time, but it isn’t like that, particularly in Virtue's Last Reward. Ideas simply succeed one another, none of them particularly imaginative, surprising or interesting on their own or in their cohesion and evidently discrepant when the biggest surprises are revealed, even trying to exemplify them by clarifying small forgettable enigmas without being able to avoid raising at least two major contradictions on the core plot in the process. As you understand more, you also wonder if all this is going to go anywhere. If the component of intrigue, of tension, of intelligence, of emotion, of surprise, if all this and more, has been lost, what is left?
The first installment ended with an ending that, although it came too late and too clumsy, at least achieved something, literalizing a scientific hypothesis into something convincing for its fiction. It made you want to see what more was there to say about it, what could be explored once this hypothesis had materialized, how far could it go.
In Virtue's Last Reward, it is made clear that there was nothing more to say. It tells what is already known and the little that is not, or was less obvious, such as to what extent future actions can have unexpected repercussions on this intricate temporal system, is again greatly reduced in comparison to everything else that gets in the way. Even its worsened structure is surprising. This one, at first appearance more accurate, stating when the story branches and when it reaches different places, loses completely in tension.
Some mystery was preserved in the first game when deciding which teams would go where and how they would be formed, even more so when, being a first entry, anything could still happen. There was no guarantee that a fortuitous decision could not lead to a bad end, and in fact that was often the case in the long run. The structure of Virtue's Last Reward clarifies that it's not so much about choosing as it is about exploring, yet it still feels distracted. The door decision system is both more confusing and more boring, but the final straw comes in the voting ramifications. Something that should be a total psychological confrontation is actually revealed very quickly as a simple formality, the weight that deciding one option or another may have, no matter how much it tries to insist on the supposed human burden carried, comes to nothing.
The last ace up the sleeve to justify the mediocrities that cannot stand their own weight is that the purpose of everything was to expand knowledge horizontally, hence the tree that branches more even if it was with less interesting motives and implications. However, from such an extensive tree of knowledge, ironically, once finished exploring, you come to learn nothing.
Doy gracias a mis amigos por obligarme a jugar este y el 999.
Un viaje de opio con idas de olla, saltos loquísimos, rompecabezas y dramones potentes.
Ha sido un disfrute enorme experimentarlo.
Un viaje de opio con idas de olla, saltos loquísimos, rompecabezas y dramones potentes.
Ha sido un disfrute enorme experimentarlo.
мне больше всего вторая понравилась, сюжет ахуй, а еще и русик вышел. крайне рекомендую к прохождению, возможно даже перепройду все 3. Ибо просто топ игра по всем параметрам.
holy shit man.......what a game.
now i do have some nitpicks mainly with how long it may takes to transport from one place to the other and the scenes most of the time didn't feel like it was as tense as the dialogue and the music make it out to be but man what a amazing game and sequel.
this literally both fixed and improved upon the things i didn't liked on 999 mainly the cast and puzzles now two of em are amazing especially the cast and some of the puzzles actually plays with ur mind sure some of em are very straightforward as well most of the time but at least for me i had more difficult time figuring it out.
the characters being more memorable is a big W in it of itself for me sure they don't have the depth the main two have but they all have cool trait i atleast fw,and now the story takes on more of grander turn while ended it off in a way that definitely up to taste whether u like it or not but the overall story and how things play out are just brilliant.
if it wasn't obvious enough by now Virtue Last Reward is an absolutely amazing game and perfect sequel to 999 i loved this game very much can't wait to get into ZTD despite it's somewhat mixed criticism.
now i do have some nitpicks mainly with how long it may takes to transport from one place to the other and the scenes most of the time didn't feel like it was as tense as the dialogue and the music make it out to be but man what a amazing game and sequel.
this literally both fixed and improved upon the things i didn't liked on 999 mainly the cast and puzzles now two of em are amazing especially the cast and some of the puzzles actually plays with ur mind sure some of em are very straightforward as well most of the time but at least for me i had more difficult time figuring it out.
the characters being more memorable is a big W in it of itself for me sure they don't have the depth the main two have but they all have cool trait i atleast fw,and now the story takes on more of grander turn while ended it off in a way that definitely up to taste whether u like it or not but the overall story and how things play out are just brilliant.
if it wasn't obvious enough by now Virtue Last Reward is an absolutely amazing game and perfect sequel to 999 i loved this game very much can't wait to get into ZTD despite it's somewhat mixed criticism.
Kuro 2 but good
The 3d models threw me off at first but this game is still excellent, I don't like it quite as much as 999 but it's still very, very good. Will be replaying it soon to see if my thoughts have changed over the years
This review contains spoilers
Virtue's Last Reward is a strange sequel. The original Zero Escape game, 999, is very much a standalone, self-contained story. VLR feels like an alternate reality or a "what-if" scenario, rather than a true sequel. It makes some pretty major retcons and expands on the original 999. Most notably, it is much more sci-fi in terms of its setting, whereas 999 felt like something set in a contemporary time period (2010s-2020s), VLR is much more futuristic. Not to say that it is bad, but it just feels like a very separate game, in-spite of its major connections to the original.
The game itself is 3d this time, and looks quite good. Characters now have models, which look good, and backgrounds are now fully 3d spaces. You can now look around a room all 360 degrees. As far as puzzles go, I didn't think too many were unfair, it definitely helps to have a piece of paper nearby to work out logic. Also it is definitely good to write down/take a picture particular passwords, because the game will not keep track of the ones needed for story sections.
The writing was overall quite strong, it kept me guessing and surprised. When I did deduce information before the game gave it to me, it usually lined up with what I thought or twisted things around in a way that made sense. That being said, there were some frustrating moments where both the player and the player-character know a certain piece of info, but the player character acts on it in an illogical way (i.e. explaining things about a suspicious person, that person takes action, and the player character is surprised even though they knew this person would act in such a way). Moments like those were not constant, but when they happened it really took me out of the game.
Overall, it is absolutely worth playing if you're a fan of the first game, even if it is quite different.
The game itself is 3d this time, and looks quite good. Characters now have models, which look good, and backgrounds are now fully 3d spaces. You can now look around a room all 360 degrees. As far as puzzles go, I didn't think too many were unfair, it definitely helps to have a piece of paper nearby to work out logic. Also it is definitely good to write down/take a picture particular passwords, because the game will not keep track of the ones needed for story sections.
The writing was overall quite strong, it kept me guessing and surprised. When I did deduce information before the game gave it to me, it usually lined up with what I thought or twisted things around in a way that made sense. That being said, there were some frustrating moments where both the player and the player-character know a certain piece of info, but the player character acts on it in an illogical way (i.e. explaining things about a suspicious person, that person takes action, and the player character is surprised even though they knew this person would act in such a way). Moments like those were not constant, but when they happened it really took me out of the game.
Overall, it is absolutely worth playing if you're a fan of the first game, even if it is quite different.
This game is insane but an enjoyable type of insane, although I still prefer the first game
my favorite game from when i was 11 and now that i am older i can say this game has dogshit writing in a way i love to look back upon
It is the PERFECT sequel to an already great prequel, VLR does everything 999 was missing, the way you navigate the endings is refined and a ton better it somehow keeps you entertained to explore the different possible routes in the game, the puzzles are better imo and the game gets seriously creepy towards the end but in a REALLY GOOD way seriously this is one of the games of all time
......god where do I fucking begin. Absolute rollar coaster of quality that I built up in my head after waiting years to find VLR for a good price physician cause Canadian ebay prices are bullshit. That scene with the nice lade made me emotional. The other scene with the nice lady jumpscare terrified me.
Also Dio feels like the biggest red herring I have ever seen but is a very funny example of how pathetic and lame every damn white supremacist is
God what the fuck was this game!?
Also Dio feels like the biggest red herring I have ever seen but is a very funny example of how pathetic and lame every damn white supremacist is
God what the fuck was this game!?
La historia y los personajes son muy buenos, los plot twist geniales, aunque algunos puzzles me parecieron demasiado abstractos.
Sigma: Vaya pedazo de tetas
Me gusta mas 999, pero sigue siendo un juegazo, adoro a los pjs (Luna, Phi y Tenmyouji 🫶) y los plot twists son geniales
Perfect compliment to the first game, raising the stakes and adding in more characters in a new scenario one of the most complex stories ive consumed written so well it doesnt feel it until the very very end. Twist with the Mc is probably one of my favorite twists ever in gaming.
This game has problems! Unfortunately I love it so much.
First instance of Uchikoshi failing to write a woman correctly twice.
First instance of Uchikoshi failing to write a woman correctly twice.
siggyyyyyy phidoooooo
kinda confusing at the end!!! but it was fun and i liked the new nonary game concept they used
prisoners dilemma has never been this good
This review contains spoilers
absolute insanity. there's a twist where a character who you thought was a robot is revealed to actually be a person and then they turn out to be a robot THEN A PERSON AGAIN AND ALSO IT TAKES PLACE ON THE FUCKING MOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Virtue's Last Reward é o segundo volume da trilogia Zero Escape e ele é surpreendentemente bom!
A história é muito boa, maioria dos personagens são ótimos e as reviravoltas são surpreendentes.
Contudo, os puzzles são muito confusos, o 3D do jogo não tem metade do charme das artes de seu antecessor e o jogo às vezes sente a necessidade de explicar coisas que não precisa, não são todas as vezes que acontecem isso, mas quando acontece é quase como se o jogo duvidasse da capacidade do jogador de entender coisas simples.
Não irei me aprofundar mais do que isso então finalizo recomendando o jogo pras pessoas que gostaram do primeiro jogo da trilogia Zero Escape, é uma sequência que tem uma proposta diferente de 999 mas acho que ela faz o que se propõe muito bem!
A história é muito boa, maioria dos personagens são ótimos e as reviravoltas são surpreendentes.
Contudo, os puzzles são muito confusos, o 3D do jogo não tem metade do charme das artes de seu antecessor e o jogo às vezes sente a necessidade de explicar coisas que não precisa, não são todas as vezes que acontecem isso, mas quando acontece é quase como se o jogo duvidasse da capacidade do jogador de entender coisas simples.
Não irei me aprofundar mais do que isso então finalizo recomendando o jogo pras pessoas que gostaram do primeiro jogo da trilogia Zero Escape, é uma sequência que tem uma proposta diferente de 999 mas acho que ela faz o que se propõe muito bem!
I didn't even finish this game but I don't even want to at this point
bloat turns to rot
i will preface this by saying i genuinely, for the most part, had a pretty enjoyable time with this game. it was very funny at moments and some characters are really good.
aside from that? eh.
the puzzles are a major step down from 999. where 999 felt it encouraged you to think and figure things out and try different options, VLR says you must do it My way, that is the Only solution. i figured out puzzles ahead of time, but because i had not done one specific unrelated thing, to get some kind of dialogue, despite everything else being in place, the puzzle goes unsolvable. it also has puzzles that expect insane amounts from the player, and to have outside knowledge of so many things. god bless anyone who played this game on the 3ds with no internet, i would not have been able to get through it.
the characters range from pretty interesting to not wanting them to be on my screen, which is another step down from 999, in which everyone is great. using each character as a way to define endings also means that some get 'was that it?' endings, and some get the most overblown bloated ridiculous eye-rolling endings ever. i think if about 6 plot elements were taken out of this game it would have been hugely better.
the lack of personality from the player character compared to the vibrant insanity of Junpei in 999 is a shame, but ig they had reasons for it. the change from beautiful 2d sprites to the 3d models also somehow gives them a little less personality and removes the beautiful feel of 999. but i also saw dio being pinned down several times so thats nice.
the games own internal logic leads itself to fall apart, and i've yet to have any sort of feeling of satisfaction from finishing the game, which really just felt like an entire setup for the third game, which i don't want to play yet, because i am recovering from this game, which made me feel like the lowly termite i am, incapable of understanding uchikoshi's mind as i am not a higher being, which is a shame.
anyway yeah, still want to play ztd, still enjoyed 999 a lot, this just really was the schrodingers cats we made along the way
i will preface this by saying i genuinely, for the most part, had a pretty enjoyable time with this game. it was very funny at moments and some characters are really good.
aside from that? eh.
the puzzles are a major step down from 999. where 999 felt it encouraged you to think and figure things out and try different options, VLR says you must do it My way, that is the Only solution. i figured out puzzles ahead of time, but because i had not done one specific unrelated thing, to get some kind of dialogue, despite everything else being in place, the puzzle goes unsolvable. it also has puzzles that expect insane amounts from the player, and to have outside knowledge of so many things. god bless anyone who played this game on the 3ds with no internet, i would not have been able to get through it.
the characters range from pretty interesting to not wanting them to be on my screen, which is another step down from 999, in which everyone is great. using each character as a way to define endings also means that some get 'was that it?' endings, and some get the most overblown bloated ridiculous eye-rolling endings ever. i think if about 6 plot elements were taken out of this game it would have been hugely better.
the lack of personality from the player character compared to the vibrant insanity of Junpei in 999 is a shame, but ig they had reasons for it. the change from beautiful 2d sprites to the 3d models also somehow gives them a little less personality and removes the beautiful feel of 999. but i also saw dio being pinned down several times so thats nice.
the games own internal logic leads itself to fall apart, and i've yet to have any sort of feeling of satisfaction from finishing the game, which really just felt like an entire setup for the third game, which i don't want to play yet, because i am recovering from this game, which made me feel like the lowly termite i am, incapable of understanding uchikoshi's mind as i am not a higher being, which is a shame.
anyway yeah, still want to play ztd, still enjoyed 999 a lot, this just really was the schrodingers cats we made along the way
o que fizeram nos graficos desse jogo é um crime contra a raça humana e tal onde a historia vai parar n é tao bom assim mas vale pela ideia e pelo meio
Ambiente completamente diferente del primer juego, pero a la vez tremendamente similar. Buena historia y personajes, aunque algún puzle está buggeado (el de las letras) o no muy bien explicado (el p**o palo de billar??????). 8.83/10
MEMENTO MORI, IF THE NINETH LION ATE THE SUN
i enjoyed 999 quite a bit but i didn't love it, so i was feeling a bit worried that virtue's last reward would make me feel the same: interested but ultimately underwhelmed by its impact on me. oh boy!!! this game!!! knocked my socks off!!!
the prisoner's dilemma aspect of the story deeply impacted me, the times i got betrayed i genuinely felt it. even those times when i just knew i was going to be betrayed, this person is obviously not telling the truth when they promise me they'll ally, every time i still gasped in hurt shock, lol. after playing the game a few days straight when i first started playing i actually needed a long, several months break because i got too emotionally invested, i was nearing yet another AB game and i was genuinely so scared that the last person i felt like i trusted in this game was going to betray me. i legit cried in fear and had to stop playing lmao it just really hit me emotionally. this game has truly highlighted for me that deep down i am a very trusting person who wants to see good intentions. man, the amount of times i got burned on that in this game... betraying others' trust in me also stung, every time
this game kept me in the dark at every shocking twist and turn, no matter how much i felt like i knew, i never managed to come up with a single tangible theory. every time i started to think i maybe was onto an idea, the game pulled the rug beneath my feet and dropped a bomb on me. that was an incredible experience!
the puzzles in my opinion were a lot better compared to the previous game, in the sense that i rarely needed to look up the solutions lol. my worst puzzle moment was in a certain room at the end of the game, one of the wall puzzles and the dice puzzle together absolutely broke my brain. the fucking die just won't!! flip the right way!!!! sigh, anyway. on a small number of puzzles throughout the game i would've spent like 5 hours stuck on if i hadn't looked them up, so i'm okay with doing it in that case. the puzzles were overall pleasant challenges though! i played through in hard mode with an overall minimal struggle
my only negative comment at all, really, is zero III. the most annoying-ass character in the entire game. i first played with english voices and i instantly couldn't stand zero III, so i switched to japanese voices and he was still just as unbearable (also daisuke ono voices K and i love that actor so i would've switched eventually either way). thank god for the ability to skip over dialogue you've already seen! a life saver! other than zero III i ended up liking all of the characters. luna is my absolute favorite and i love her <3
i wrote down notes as i played to keep track of information and to solve puzzles, and wrote down little reaction notes as twists were turned and facts were revealed, it was so fun. all in all, i had a fantastic time playing this game! i could spend hours talking about this game, i loved my time with it
i enjoyed 999 quite a bit but i didn't love it, so i was feeling a bit worried that virtue's last reward would make me feel the same: interested but ultimately underwhelmed by its impact on me. oh boy!!! this game!!! knocked my socks off!!!
the prisoner's dilemma aspect of the story deeply impacted me, the times i got betrayed i genuinely felt it. even those times when i just knew i was going to be betrayed, this person is obviously not telling the truth when they promise me they'll ally, every time i still gasped in hurt shock, lol. after playing the game a few days straight when i first started playing i actually needed a long, several months break because i got too emotionally invested, i was nearing yet another AB game and i was genuinely so scared that the last person i felt like i trusted in this game was going to betray me. i legit cried in fear and had to stop playing lmao it just really hit me emotionally. this game has truly highlighted for me that deep down i am a very trusting person who wants to see good intentions. man, the amount of times i got burned on that in this game... betraying others' trust in me also stung, every time
this game kept me in the dark at every shocking twist and turn, no matter how much i felt like i knew, i never managed to come up with a single tangible theory. every time i started to think i maybe was onto an idea, the game pulled the rug beneath my feet and dropped a bomb on me. that was an incredible experience!
the puzzles in my opinion were a lot better compared to the previous game, in the sense that i rarely needed to look up the solutions lol. my worst puzzle moment was in a certain room at the end of the game, one of the wall puzzles and the dice puzzle together absolutely broke my brain. the fucking die just won't!! flip the right way!!!! sigh, anyway. on a small number of puzzles throughout the game i would've spent like 5 hours stuck on if i hadn't looked them up, so i'm okay with doing it in that case. the puzzles were overall pleasant challenges though! i played through in hard mode with an overall minimal struggle
my only negative comment at all, really, is zero III. the most annoying-ass character in the entire game. i first played with english voices and i instantly couldn't stand zero III, so i switched to japanese voices and he was still just as unbearable (also daisuke ono voices K and i love that actor so i would've switched eventually either way). thank god for the ability to skip over dialogue you've already seen! a life saver! other than zero III i ended up liking all of the characters. luna is my absolute favorite and i love her <3
i wrote down notes as i played to keep track of information and to solve puzzles, and wrote down little reaction notes as twists were turned and facts were revealed, it was so fun. all in all, i had a fantastic time playing this game! i could spend hours talking about this game, i loved my time with it
While I didn't love it as much a 999, this was still a fantastic entry that continued the series.
como aparezca el puto viejo prosopagnoso me hago regaliz con mis venas primer aviso
yo, yo, yo, where my boys at? tee to the en to the myo-yo-gee! dropping the sickest beats till this puzzle completes!
Got the Dio ending first and...yeah, I mean...sure, whatever.