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999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors |OT| RED, DEAD, Redemption

D

Despera

Banned
So, how's the game? I'm talking story, characters, gameplay, puzzles, music... etc

Unbiased, quick impressions would be appreciated.
 
C

Cactus

Banned
Despera said:
So, how's the game? I'm talking story, characters, gameplay, puzzles, music... etc

Unbiased, quick impressions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Most of the characters have depth to them and the story is surprisingly deep, especially with the five endings. The puzzles are fun the first time around, and even more fun when you're zipping through them the second and third time while going for another ending. The music fits the atmosphere very well.
 
R

robotzombie

Member
True ending get! Oh man, what a great experience...

I only got 3 endings though:
axe, safe, and true

Are any of the other ones really important/cool?

Also, a couple questions:

1. Who was Lotus? Why was she there with everyone else? Is that explained in one of the other endings?

2. Was that Alice at the end? If so, why? What was the importance of her being there? Did she have something to do with June?

3. What was Junpei talking about with Seven not telling the truth about seeing Akane die?
 
A

Akselziys

Aksys Games Dev.
robotzombie said:
True ending get! Oh man, what a great experience...

I only got 3 endings though:
axe, safe, and true

Are any of the other ones really important/cool?

Also, a couple questions:

1. Who was Lotus? Why was she there with everyone else? Is that explained in one of the other endings?

2. Was that Alice at the end? If so, why? What was the importance of her being there? Did she have something to do with June?

3. What was Junpei talking about with Seven not telling the truth about seeing Akane die?
Click to expand...

1. Play the other 3 endings :D!

2. Yes, it was Alice hehe.

3. It was an insinuation that Seven was conspiring along with Aoi and Akane :D

Hope that helps! :D
 
J

jgkspsx

Member
bigdaddygamebot said:
I don't need any spoilers...and my mother in law isn't a prude but I'm curious as to if I'm about to expose her to some crazy shit?
Click to expand...
Yes, you are.

It will probably be OK, but I'd recommend checking it out first.
 
D

Despera

Banned
Cactus said:
Most of the characters have depth to them and the story is surprisingly deep, especially with the five endings. The puzzles are fun the first time around, and even more fun when you're zipping through them the second and third time while going for another ending. The music fits the atmosphere very well.
Click to expand...
Been looking for something with a good story. Thanks, Cactus.
 
D

DiddyBop

Member
Finished the game for good earlier after getting the submarine, safe, and true endings. Fantastic game with a superb localization effort. Haven't replayed a game multiple times in a long time. The FF feature helped alot.
 
A

Akselziys

Aksys Games Dev.
J

JKTrix

Member
Congrats on the award
, and for reaching the real page 9
!

The Chunsoft posts on Siliconera really sound like they came straight out of Japan :lol
 
J

jgkspsx

Member
I did go back for the Ax ending. It's very odd to see that one out of order.

Newcomers:
There's an almost completely spoiler-free decision diagram here: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/upup2211/999Pathtree.jpg

I would recommend playing through at least once before looking at it, though.

For maximum storytelling potency I would recommend:

SUB
AX
KNIFE
SAFE
TRUE

Though if you'd really like to lengthen your gameplay time by going through the exact same path twice, go ahead and do the COFFIN ending early on.
 
A

Akselziys

Aksys Games Dev.
Nintendo Power nominated 999 for Game of the Year (Overall and DS), Best Adventure Game, and Best Story/Writing! Go vote for it and show your support! :D

http://li.brari.us/npvote :)

The awards will be announced in Nintendo Power's March issue :D!
 
B

Belisarius

Neo Member
JKTrix said:
Done. You guys got 3 out of me.
Click to expand...
catsplosion
 
M

Mzo

Member
I bought one for myself and two others for Christmas gifts.

I really have to say that the True ending comes pretty close to ruining the entire game for me =[ Oh well, Japanese storytelling and all. Should be used to it by now.
 
H

hosannainexcelsis

Member
Mzo said:
I bought one for myself and two others for Christmas gifts.

I really have to say that the True ending comes pretty close to ruining the entire game for me =[ Oh well, Japanese storytelling and all. Should be used to it by now.
Click to expand...
Really? I thought the true ending was sheer genius and very effective. Why didn't you like it?
 
D

dwebo

Member
hosannainexcelsis said:
Really? I thought the true ending was sheer genius and very effective. Why didn't you like it?
Click to expand...
Maybe he really hates
Sudoku
. I thought it was pretty brilliant too.
 
M

Mzo

Member
I think the word genius is being thrown around pretty liberally up in here.

If you also thought that the ending to something like FFVIII was genius, then there's no point in arguing over this.

Short answer for me: it was kind of dumb. Too many things left unresolved, confused, or left to the power of love (ie, Japanese storytelling). Also, is the very last thing that happens a joke or what?

Tease all you want with the fake endings, but when someone has slogged through the game five or more times it's time to put up, and I don't really feel that it did. I enjoyed the vast majority of the game, though.
 
M

Mzo

Member
dwebo said:
Maybe he really hates
Sudoku
. I thought it was pretty brilliant too.
Click to expand...

That's the last puzzle before the ending, not the ending itself. I like them enough to lol at a beginner level entry being the FINAL BOSS. That part was pretty cool, though.
 
semiconscious

semiconscious

Member
dwebo said:
Maybe he really hates
Sudoku
. I thought it was pretty brilliant too.
Click to expand...

yeah, i was very satisfied with the true ending - had a couple loose (& minor) ends, but not nearly as many as i'd almost anticipated (& nothing that couldn't be explained away)...
 
F

Ferrio

Banned
Mzo said:
Short answer for me: it was kind of dumb. Too many things left unresolved, confused, or left to the power of love (ie, Japanese storytelling). Also, is the very last thing that happens a joke or what?
Click to expand...

Other than the
ALICE part,
what was left unresolved or confusing?
 
M

Mzo

Member
Ferrio said:
Other than the
ALICE part,
what was left unresolved or confusing?
Click to expand...
I guess it's probably my own fault because I started the game off with certain expectations. I'd heard comparisons between this game and stories like Saw and Battle Royal, both of which are pretty inaccurate now that I've played through it. Stories about normal, everyday people put into extraordinary situations are cool, and if the people have tenebrous relationships that are slowly uncovered as the game progresses, even cooler. Multiple endings that show different aspects of the story depending on which path you decide to take? Even cooler than before.

Everything was great until they started up with the
morphogenetic field
stories. I actually really enjoyed hearing about
Ice-9 and the mysterious crystallization of chemical compounds
. I figured it would all tie in to explain the new game plus aspects of the game, which is always appreciated (like in GBA Astro Boy). Unfortunately I think they took it too far with the True ending. They basically introduce a story element you never get more than the haziest grasp of, and then use as a catch-all for whatever doesn't make sense. It's something I've noticed is quite prevalent in Japanese storytelling, and I generally sum up reference to it as the Power of Love. I would also accept calling it the Heart of the Cards.

One specific thing I didn't understand about the True ending was
Akane's disappearance.
I can understand it happening during the bad endings when things are not going according to keikaku, kind of like
Marty's family picture in BttF
, but why does this happen in the true ending?
Why is no one else who was in on it surprised by the disappearance? How was Akane able to physically touch you and be physically touched by you and others if she wasn't really there? Or was she there the whole time, but disappeared because you changed the past? But the only change you really effect is saving her, why would she have been there and then not be there? What was the point of Lotus except to show me some tits? They kind of started to give her a purpose with the story about her daughters but then it went nowhere. As you mentioned, what was the point of all that Alice crap? Why is she there at the end, just for lulz? That sucked.

Shadow Red said:
The ending was brilliant and well-written. Don't you all have that warm feeling in your hearts?
Click to expand...
The Aksys people posting in this thread only worked on the translation, not the game itself. If posters want to lick their balls properly they should compliment the translation effort directly, not the writing of the basic plot which they had no hand in.
 
S

shichishito

Member
I bought two.

I ordered it from Amazon, thinking that EB wouldn't have any copies (no copies in any stores near me according to their online inventory feature).

Walked into EB yesterday; they had a few copies...figured that with one save file, my wife and I should probably have our own copy, so I picked one up. They'll make for good stocking stuffers.

Out of curiosity, I picked up some other Aksys adventure games...theresia and jake hunter (the second one). Started with theresia...damn I really like that one despite having reservations; it's really surprising me. I'm hoping I can get done with both before Christmas so I can enjoy 999.
 
H

Hours Left

Member
Mzo said:
One specific thing I didn't understand about the True ending was
Akane's disappearance.
I can understand it happening during the bad endings when things are not going according to keikaku, kind of like
Marty's family picture in BttF
, but why does this happen in the true ending?
Why is no one else who was in on it surprised by the disappearance? How was Akane able to physically touch you and be physically touched by you and others if she wasn't really there? Or was she there the whole time, but disappeared because you changed the past? But the only change you really effect is saving her, why would she have been there and then not be there? What was the point of Lotus except to show me some tits? They kind of started to give her a purpose with the story about her daughters but then it went nowhere. As you mentioned, what was the point of all that Alice crap? Why is she there at the end, just for lulz? That sucked.
Click to expand...
Akane didn't disappear in the True Ending. She left with Aoi before the incinerator went into lock down. And she was physically there, remember that she didn't actually die in the first Nonary Game, Seven and Aoi were lying about that part.

And you weren't changing the past, you were insuring the future. The Junpei that Akane connected with in the first Nonary Game was the one that was in the True End. Akane had to make sure that it was that version of the future that happened as she saw that all the other scenarios would result in Junpei not being present at the Sudoku puzzle, and thus unable to connect with her in the morphogenetic field.

As for Lotus, she was there to learn what her children went through in the first game. She couldn't bring herself to press her kids for the truth because she didn't want them to go through that again, so having her experience it for herself was the only alternative. (Zero/Akane would have access to that information after seeing all the different possible scenarios.) She also was required for her abilities, some of the puzzles heavily relied on her computer skills. And finally, Nona, one of Lotus's children, was the other kid left behind with Snake, Aoi & Akane during the first Nonary Game, when the rest of the kids went through the final door. It's a way to bring everything full circle.

RE: Alice. The creators wanted the player to have something to wonder about. It may seem lame to some, but I thought it was interesting.
 
G

Gillian Seed

Banned
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is outstanding! I have never been this hooked on a DS game. The story is great! Highly recommended! :D
 
A

Akselziys

Aksys Games Dev.
Gillian Seed said:
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is outstanding! I have never been this hooked on a DS game. The story is great! Highly recommended! :D
Click to expand...

I love that you love it so much :D! Can't wait for you to finish the whole thing ;)!
 
F

Fantastical

Death Prophet
Bought this yesterday on Amazon. Thought I probably shouldn't because I've spent way too much on video games this year (and 3DS is next year), but I just couldn't contain myself. :lol

Plus the fact that this looks to be hard to get made me grab it before prices go up. But this sounds amazing and we need more of these puzzle/story games like Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright. Now I'll finally be able to highlight all these black bars on the page that I have been staring at for weeks.
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
Holy shit, what the hell is going on? This game is ridiculous. I almost don't want to play so it doesn't end. This story is AMAZING. So ridiculous.
 
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