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.