A: Ally

Zero Escape as a franchise has always held a special place in my heart, and almost all of that weight rests exclusively on the shoulders of 999, the first entry in the series. Virtue's Last Reward takes all of what was present in the previous title and amps it way up, resulting in a story with higher concepts, significantly greater stakes, and truly wild twists and turns that can be almost impossible to predict.

I love some of the character writing here. Sigma and Phi make for a great pairing and bounce off of one another really well. They trade the idiot ball back and forth every now and then, mostly just for comic relief, but they shine together when the situation demands that they be completely serious. Dio is a strongly written bastard who deserves every bad thing that could possibly happen to him, and Luna is so precious and sweet that ever picking betray against her feels like a knife between the ribs. They're charming, and it should be enough to keep you going all the way through to the end.

The environment designs are unique, and there's plenty of establishing shots and iconic escape room designs that will make sure you're very familiar with the layout of the building by the time you're done. You'll never be hurting for varied puzzle designs, as almost nothing is used the same way twice. Everyone is going to walk away from this with one room that stood out to them as being especially good. I liked the GAULEM Bay and the Director's Office quite a bit, but it would be hard to argue with anyone who said another escape sequence was their favorite.

Between the characters, the heightened narrative, and the escape rooms, there's a lot about Virtue's Last Reward to like. I'm glad to have seen it through to the end.

B: Betray

Zero Escape as a franchise has always held a special place in my heart, and almost all of that weight rests exclusively on the shoulders of 999, the first entry in the series. Virtue's Last Reward feels like a flanderization of what was present in the previous title, turning a small-stakes science fiction death game into a hilariously overinflated narrative with twists and turns that make almost zero sense and come out of nowhere.

I hate some of the character writing here. Phi and Sigma (mostly Phi) are established to be these brilliant puzzle-solvers and logicians, and then they have moments where they see what's obviously a mirrored name and assume that it's some esoteric series of numbers instead. Clover has been changed from an energetic-yet-conniving character into an impulsive ditz who can't read and has somehow bumbled her way into being a member of an international anti-terrorist group. Zero III and his squeal-y voice are so obviously meant to be an expy of Monokuma from Danganronpa that it hurts. It's frustrating, and it made me have to put the game down a few times until I could come back to it later.

The game never stops repeating map sequences and establishing shots, regardless of how many times you've already seen the exact same ones. You're allowed to skip past some, but not others. The puzzles are incredibly hit-and-miss, and the compulsion with making every single one unique leads to some of them feeling like they're really scrambling for fresh ideas. Everyone is going to walk away from this with one room that stood out to them as being especially bad. I really disliked the Archives and anything else that forced me to do that fucking dice rolling puzzle, but it would be hard to argue with anyone who said another escape sequence was their most hated.

Between the characters, the heightened narrative, and the escape rooms, there's a lot about Virtue's Last Reward to dislike. What an incredibly stupid ending.