(eeesh! I haven't blogged in a while, huh? ^u^")
...well that all ends today!
So! I recently completed Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (or 999 for short) which is a game for the DS (but also compatible with the 3DS platform) and I thought I'd write a review on the game since I enjoyed it so much! n.n
--SPOILER WARNING--
I'll try not to spoil the game for people who haven't played it, but I can't promise anything! ^u^"
But just in case, you have been warned :,)
~ ~ ~
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (999)
Plot Outline~
You assume the role of Junpei Tenmyouji, a 21 year old college student.
One night when he arrives back at his apartment, he notices that his window is open. He doesn't recall leaving it that way, but after looking out the window at the surroundings and deciding he must have just left it open before he left, he closes it. He then sees the reflection of Zero (a person dressed in a black cloak and wearing a gas mask) in the window and turns around to see him standing in his apartment. Suddenly being enveloped by smoke that will cause Junpei to pass out, he starts to fall asleep. But before he does, he hears the words..
"Consider this a privilege. You have been chosen. You are going to participate in a game. The Nonary Game. It is a game...where you will put your life on the line."
spoken from Zero.
Junpei then awakens in a unfamiliar place. After recovering from the nausea, he looks around and determines that he is in the cabin of a cruise ship (which is ultimately, sinking.) While trying to figure out a way to escape from the room he is in, Junpei notices a bracelet on his wrist with the display screen showing a number 5. There are only two ways for the bracelet to be removed, but I'll explain that later :,)
After escaping from the room, Junpei then eventually meets up with 8 other people (making that 9 altogether) and they are told by a voice over a speaker (who claims to be Zero) that they have 9 hours to escape from the ship they are on.
Let the game begin!
Gameplay/style and specifics of the game~
999 is a Visual Novel type of game so if you are unfamiliar with that concept, it basically means there is a lot of reading and very little action on your part. This game also presents a lot of cutscenes which contribute to the story and how it will branch out.
Like I mentioned before, you assume the role of Junpei so you are experiencing this game through the first person view but sometimes when characters are talking, thinking or doing things, this is written out in the third person view.
Now moving into the actual game.
The game itself is separated into two types of gameplay. You have;
The Escape part;
This is where you end up trapped in a room of some description and need to locate items, combined them (if necessary) and solve puzzles in order to earn your escape.
The Novel part;
This is basically just reading through the dialogue that makes up the majority of the game. You will sometimes have to make choices which will lead to what kind of path the story will take. But sometimes the choices that are presented to you don't affect the gameplay, they just make some parts a little more interesting depending on what you choose. (It's kinda obvious though which choices affect the gameplay!)
But first...HOW do you get into these rooms? WHY do you need to get into these rooms?
Well, I will tell you :)
Remember how I mentioned the bracelet on Junpei's wrist? Well it turns out that every character in the game has one and the numbers run from 1 to 9.
To get into all these different rooms, you need to pass through a Numbered Door. These numbered doors each display a number from 1 to 8. You need to pass through the numbered doors to discover another numbered door (since they aren't all in the same place.)
You start off with the number 4 and 5 doors.
But not all characters can go through one door; you need to split up.
Why?
Well, according to Zero (who makes an announcement over a speaker) only 3-5 players can pass through one numbered door.
And why is that, you ask?
Well, if all players wanted to pass through the same numbered door, their Digital Root would be 9.
Wait, hold up Serah! What the heck is a Digital Root?
Just wait and I'll explain, okay!? Geez...
Nah! I'm just kidding! ;p
A Digital Root is what happens when you add numbered bracelets together.
So, for example, to get through the Number 5 door, you would do this;
1+2+4+7=14
1+4=5
(5 being the Digital Root)
and to get through the Number 4 door, you would do this;
3+5+6+8=22
2+2=4
(4 being the Digital Root)
Does that make sense? That is how you make a Digital Root.
Of course there are other ways to go, you don't have to use those numbers, I just chose those as an example :,)
So.
Now that we've figured out HOW to pass through the numbered doors, there is something else we need to consider. These things are;
The REDs and the DEADs.
What are the REDs and DEADs?
Well, let me explain :,)
..I should really stop doing that, huh? x,D
The RED is the Recognition Device.
Once you've decided which door you are going through and who will be going through which door (after working out the digital root) you will then place you hand on the RED so it can scan your bracelet, check the digital root matches the door number and open for you and whoever else is coming with you.
The DEAD however has a slightly "different" function, let's say..
The DEAD is the Deactivation Device.
But what exactly are we deactivating?
...
Oh yea! I neglected to mention the fact that, while every player was unconscious after being abducted, Zero force fed them a small bomb that is now just chilling out in their lower intestine.
............
Yea, ikr? :,)
Once the players have scanned their bracelets at the RED and passed through the numbered door within 9 seconds (that's how long the door will remain open for), this will trigger the detonator in their bracelets to activate and if they don't scan their bracelets at the DEAD within 81 seconds (how specific is that!?) after passing through the numbered door, the bomb within their intestine will explode leaving behind and brutal and bloody mess..
Let's briefly return to the bracelets and I'll talk about how they can be removed.
There are, in fact, only two ways the bracelets can be removed. They are;
1. If the player completes the Nonary Game and leaves the confines of the ship.
or
2. If the player's heart rate reaches zero. In other words, if the player dies...their bracelet will come off.
...
Yea, that's that really. That's pretty much it. Simple, right? :,)
Okay! And lastly I'm going to talk about how the players advance forward after successfully completing the puzzles found in rooms beyond the numbered doors.
Scattered around the ship are either locked doors with keyholes, locked doors with a card reader or elevators with card readers each baring a Astrological Symbol next to them.
Within each room, the final puzzle will reveal either a key or a card.
What's special about these is that each one is engraved with an astrological symbol that will match with either a door and an elevator.
So, for example...a card might show the astrological symbol for Mars ( ♂ ) and a key might show the astrological symbol for Jupiter ( ♃ ) and so on.
The point of collecting these keys and cards is that they the open doors and elevators within the ship that lead them closer to the exit and their freedom.
You may remember that when I first mentioned the numbered doors, I listed numbers 1-8. But what about the number 9 door?
Well, it just so happens that the Number 9 door is what leads them to their exit...sort of.
People who have played the game will know what I mean by "sort of" and for the people who haven't played the game...I'm going to refrain from mentioning anymore than that otherwise things will be spoiled that I do not wish to spoil :,)
But I think you have the general idea now, right? If not...play the GAME! ;D
So.
That's all for the gameplay and general style of the game.
Now I'm going to briefly (I think..) talk about the different endings you will encounter when playing this game.
There are 6 possible endings you will achieve.
I say possible because one ending (The Coffin ending) isn't really necessary. I mean, I like to play through every ending a game can offer just to see the different outcomes, but I will say that The Coffin ending is really...well, for a lack of a better word pointless :,) because it stops right before where The True ending would continue, so I recommend not bothering with that.
Unless you want to, of course :,) I mean...I did, so.. :p
But before you can play through The True ending, you will need to unlock The Safe ending which is vital in processing further.
There are 5 bad endings and 1 good ending (which is obviously The True ending).
The other endings are classed as "bad" because Junpei and at least one other character ends up dying. Unless you play The Sub ending in which case...everyone dies apart from--
WAIT! Never mind :,)
...
Phewf! Dodged a bullet there :p
So, if you avoid playing The Coffin ending, then there are really only 5 endings in total you would get :,)
You will notice that when playing this game, on the home menu, there are 6 little boxes which will reveal a picture when you achieve a certain ending. If you choose to avoid The Coffin ending, don't think..
"Wait...do I not get the picture if I don't play it?!"
because you will get the picture :,) if you play The True ending which, I assume you'll do, that icon will unlock along with The True ending icon because, like I said, The Coffin ending stops right where The True ending continues, so they kinda link together.
One last thing!
I actually played The Sub ending twice...in a row, which annoyed me .w.
So, if you're like me and don't fancy accidentally playing the same endings over and OVER because you want to get to the super-amazing-OMFG-I-did-NOT-see-that-coming True ending, then this guide will help you out!
As you can see, it shows all the routes you can take in order to achieve whatever ending you wish to see.
You're welcome! x,D
[ RANDOM TIP WITH SERAH ]
Make sure you pay very close attention to the Story Checks in the box. After playing The Safe ending, you will need to pass all of those story checks when playing through The True ending. If you don't, it will ultimately lead to The Coffin ending.
Characters~
Now for my favourite part!
Let's talk about the main characters of the game! Yay! ^v^
. . .
Name; [ not specified because SPOILER ]
Alais; Ace
Age; 50
Bracelet number; 1
Ace is...kind of a dick :,) I don't know...I mean, there are obvious reasons for him to be disliked, but I really do not like this man!
When playing the game, he appears to trust the other players completely and often shows acts of being rather heroic. Pfft, yea right >. > I mean, yea...but I don't buy it :,)
When playing through The Safe ending and The True ending, it is actually revealed that Ace is cruel, sadistic and uncompassionate.
He also has a cognitive disorder known as Prosopagnosia which is a face recognition impairment meaning that he can't identify between peoples faces. But that's all I'll say about that as if I went into more detail, I'd end up giving some things away that I didn't mean to :,)
Name; [ I won't say so that if you haven't played the game, you can find out for yourself ]
Alais; Snake
Age; 24 (I'm sorry, but he does NOT look 24!!! I spent the game thinking he was at least 40+!!!)
Bracelet number; 2
No offence Snake, but you really don't look 24! :,)
That's why I found it so hard to believe that him and Clover are brother and sister because the age gap was just...too much for my brain to understand! I was thinking..
"HOW young must their parents have been when they had Snake..?"
he really looked 40+ to me :,)
But I digress!
Oh, by the way! Him being Clover's brother isn't necessarily a spoiler as you find that out at the start of the game :)
I quite like Snake. He's definitely one of my favourite characters. He is calm, level-headed, practical and logical. He can be a bit arrogant at times...but he also has a lot of knowledge on various subjects which is presented a lot throughout the game. Him and Clover are very close and it is suggested he would do anything to keep her safe.
Aawwwhhh~
Name; [ not specified because SPOILER ]
Alais; Santa
Age; 24
Bracelet number; 3 . . .
Santa! <3
Yea...attracted to this guy ;w; NOT as much as Junpei though! ...maybe :,)
So. Santa, Santa, Santa...
What to say about this guy? :p
Santa is very smug and cocky and quite mysterious; he doesn't reveal much about himself at all. He also has no spirit of cooperation and is shown to always be suspicious of other players.
He is also very sarcastic and when provoked or is already angry, he uses very vulgar language which, I have to admit, made me laugh a few times :,)
Name; Clover [ I'll keep her last name a secret as that'll give Snake's last name away ]
Alais; Clover (...idk how that makes sense..)
Age; 18
Bracelet number; 4
Yay! I love Clover! <3 she is my favourite character in the whole game! *w*
As I already mentioned, her and Snake and brother and sister and are very close. When Clover is separated from Snake to go through different doors, she gets very upset.
Clover is very bubbly, whimsical, eccentric, sensitive and prone to mood swings :,)
When the players are all together, she tends not to speak as much but when they are separated to go through numbered doors, she talks more as the groups are smaller.
When she is happy, she is very upbeat and cheerful.
But when she is upset, she isn't afraid to say what she thinks and becomes quite bratty, spoiled and selfish.
Name; Junpei Tenmyouji [ the protagonist ]
Alias; thanks to Akane...he doesn't have one >. >
Age; 21
Bracelet number; 5
First of all...
HOW. Hot. Is. He!? ;3; I sooo want him as my boyfriend </3
Junpei, in my opinion, is a very likeable character. Even though he does make very predictable jokes that also aren't funny in what could be classed as "serious" situations, he's still quite sweet.
He has a very caring personality, especially towards Akane (who is his childhood friend) and Clover (mostly in The True ending regarding Clover) and he also has a strong sense of justice.
Name; Akane Kurashiki [ her name is revealed at the start, so it isn't really a spoiler ]
Alias; June
Age; 21
Bracelet number; 6 . . .
Akane is a very sweet girl (..you could say..?) and very caring towards the other players (especially Junpei who is her childhood friend.)
She appears to be very cheerful and happy, trusts all the other players and objected to anyone being left behind. She also sometimes made jokes to try and lighten the mood when things took a dark turn. Throughout the Nonary Game, she falls in and out of a fever, but that is explained in The True ending and she also reacts far worse than the others when she sees dead bodies often breaking down into tears.
Name; [ Unknown ]
Alais; SevenAge; 45
Bracelet number; 7
Seven is definitely...an interesting one :,)
He talks with a lazy accent, so saying words like "thinking" as "thinkin'" and "Wadda ya mean?" instead of "what do you mean?" so you wouldn't think that he has knowledge that is comparable to a scholar :,)
Seven is also a very large man as Junpei compares him to a "mountain" when they first meet..! :,) he is also awkward, lacks delicacy and is quite blunt. He often gets into spats with Lotus and sometimes shows a kind of...perverted attitude (especially in the Operating Room.)
Name; [ I won't say so that if you haven't played the game, you can find out for yourself ]
Alais; Lotus
Age; 40
Bracelet number; 8
Yea, well...what can I say? This is Lotus :,)
She's NOT an exhibitionist! If you make that mistake, she'll rip your head right off!
R.I.P. Seven..
Nah, just kidding! He is alive and well...I reckon..
Aaaaanyway!
Lotus is quite cryptic as a person, but at the same time, she also has quite a laid-back attitude. Although if someone insults her age or the way she dresses, she will go ape shit! :,) ..Seven is usually the victim to this!
She is quite harsh and brash and has no problem correcting someone if they're wrong. While all those things, she can also surprise everyone by sometimes being quite soft and sympathetic towards her companions.
Name; [ not specified because SPOILER ]
Age; Unknown
Alais; None
Bracelet number; 9
There isn't really much to say about this guy at all as he "gets it" pretty close to the start of the game :,) therefore he has no real character. But he is relevant to the story if you follow The True ending, so that's why I've kept his name secret.
But from what we saw of him, he appeared to be very nervous and had a stutter when he spoke. Although he had no problem ordering people around when he conducted his heist, but you'll see what I mean if you play the game :,)
. . .
Sequel and possible third instalment~
There is a follow up game to 999 which is Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward.
This game is available on the 3DS and PS Vita platforms. And if you play 999 and enjoy it, then VLR is definitely a must :,)
..or if you enjoyed VLR, then 999 is a must.. ^v^"
...
Caught on yet?
Oh! Well, if not...then I actually played VLR before 999 > <
I knew VLR had a prequel, but I forgot that you can play DS games on a 3DS console, so I just dismissed it!! Then once I completed VLR, while looking on the internet to see if there was a third game (because that FREAKING cliffhanger!) I saw people talking about 999 and was like...well, meh. I can't play it! The next day, I was looking through my 3DS games trying to find one to play and noticed Another Code: Two Memories which is for the DS. So I was like..
"OMG! I can play DS games on the 3DS!"
I was SO annoyed at myself for forgetting that :,)
But, regardless of what some people said, playing VLR first didn't ruin my enjoyment of 999 at all. In fact, if anything, it helped me understand 999 more :,) I mean, yea you know who organised the Nonary Game because it's the same person in VLR (not technically a spoiler..) but that was it.
I mean, I'm not suggesting you should play VLR before 999...I'm just saying that even though I did, it didn't make the game any less enjoyable.
Like I mentioned, Virtue's Last Reward (the sequel) finished on a major cliffhanger. SO major that I nearly broke my PS Vita and threw it out my bedroom window and leave it to rot :,)
So I did go looking for the sequel to VLR, but there isn't one yet :<
Apparently the creator of the games, Kotaro Uchikoshi, couldn't find a sponsor for the game since they didn't do well enough in Japan.
So the fans (seriously amazing fans!) joined together and formed a Facebook page under the name "Operation Bluebird" in hope to raise awareness for the Zero Escape series ;3;
And it's been announced recently that it's possible Zero Escape 3 will still be made! Apparently Kotaro Uchikoshi is working on another game, and if that does well, he'll definitely get to work on Zero Escape 3! I've seen news that the game will be released this year...but I don't even think it's been made yet...so maybe people got confused! But either way, Kotaro Uchikoshi is working very hard for his fans! So I definitely can't wait to see what the third and final instalment will hold! Hopefully answers to all those unanswered questions!! *w*
My Thoughts~
I personally loved this game SO much! *w*
Like I said, I played VLR first (I should pay attention to game platforms more..) and I didn't think I'd enjoy 999 as much so I was very surprised when I did! In fact, out of the two, I think 999 is my favourite! Maybe the ship they are on is much nicer to look at than a warehouse space (like in VLR) and I also found the characters a lot more fun :,) everyone is rather serious in VLR.. :,)
I also wasn't expecting to cry :,) which is weird since I'm the hugest crybaby, but this game actually hit me right there ;n; especially The Safe ending and The True ending </3 I mean, it was all good, but..! Ah! I really can't say much at all without spoiling it :,)
But this game also had a lot of OMFG WTH!? moments in it which makes it even MORE enjoyable! I love things like that! You know, when something happens and you had no idea it would? SO much fun!
I also liked all the characters (aside from Ace...) and their relationships with each other :,) especially Seven and Lotus's relationship! They made me laugh too much x,D and also Seven and Clover when they're in the Operating Room...it's just TOO funny sometimes :,)
And the puzzles!
Wow! I mean, I love games that make you think...but there has to be a limit, right? :,) I mean, I seriously loved the puzzles in this game, but some where pretty damn hard! Like, I'm not even kidding! It took me an eternity to figure out The Steam Engine and Cargo Room puzzles > < and the sudoku puzzle at the end!? I'm usually great at those, but that took me and eternity x 2 to figure out! ;^; good thing that puzzle wasn't actually timed or Akane would be screwed! :,)
Well she actually was in a few--
STOP OMG! Qwo;
See? It's hard to go into a lot of detail when I don't want to spoil things for the people who haven't played this game who may want to! >. >
And the soundtrack for the game <3 it's SO intense and creates such an incredible atmosphere! I'm listening to it as I write this blog and I'm freaking out because ...OMG! It's just too good :,)
Like this piece:
Just...WHOA! *w*
And also this piece:
This actually reminds me a bit of the soundtrack from the Another Code games! <3
Oh! And this piece:
It's SOO cool, right?! *v*
And this was the piece that stuck with me the most throughout the game:
It's kind of a really cool feeling right in my very soul to listen to it now ;3;
And this final piece:
The feelings that come with this...I'm literally on the verge of crying ;^; GOSH! That moving final scene where they're just...ahh~ *sighs contentedly* <3
......
So...to sum up!! :,) I'm basically just trying to say I loved every aspect this game had to offer!
Took me long enough! :F
And also sorry for the link spam! ^v^"
My Overall Score~
I'm going to score the game, out of 10, on each main feature :)
So, we have:
> Graphics: 8/10 (pretty awesome for a DS game!)
> Music: 10/10
> Character Design: 10/10
> Puzzles: 10/10
> Content: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10
Basically there really is nothing I can say to fault this game! It was literally beyond incredible and I want to play it again and again and again and again!
These are nothing but my honest opinions, I promise! :)
I really...just...BEG everyone who is reading this review who hasn't played the game to go and play it! I'm telling you that if you like Visual Novel games with a great story, great characters, mind-blowing plot twists and mind-boggling puzzles...this will be your LOVE! :,)
And to everyone who has played it...GO PLAY IT AGAIN! :,)
~ ~ ~
So, that was my...very lengthy review on Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (999) DS game :)
Just a little...note let's say, to the people who have played this game:
I know (trust me, I do!) that I neglected to mention a lot of details :,) I just don't want you to think I didn't fully understand the plot or anything, but the reason I left out a lot was because I didn't want to spoil it for the people who haven't played it (like I said hundreds of times throughout the review.)
So, if you're thinking..
"Why didn't she mention this and that?"
And that's because if I did mention this, then this would lead to that which would then lead to big spoiler! So...that's why! n.n
And plus if I had decided to go all out and talk about everything that the game included...this blog might never have ended. It would seriously be the longest game review ever! Owo;
If you have any questions regarding the game, please leave a comment below and I will try my best to answer with as much detail as possible! ^v^
Thank you for reading this blog! ..and well done if you made it to the end :,)
BYESIES~!
xoxo~
