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[LiK]

Finished the game? Sick of spoiler tags? Got the TRUE ending? Let's discuss this crazy game's story in detail! Questions? Comments? Theories?

GO GO GO!

UPDATE:

Q&A for Answers to many unexplained questions is posted. Major spoilers but if you're here, you should know that right? ^^

...to tell you that the answers are finally up!

I can't really link you directly to the page (I mean, I could, but you'd just have to re-hit the link after you went through the age gate), but if you go to http://www.aksysgames.com/999 and click on the "answers" tab, you should find what you're looking for.

Have fun, and enjoy having your theories utterly invalidated by word from on high (some of you)!

 

[The Technomancer]

EXPLICIT STORY SPOILERS BELOW. REALLY NOT JOKING WITH THIS THREAD:










You know, under one interpretation this game is actually quite depressing.
The time travel information stuff has some bad implications, and I don't just mean the standard "if you can see whats going to happen in the future then there's no free will stuff".
Akane was able to see (at least) five possible futures, five possible parallel timelines. And those timelines exist, we lived through them. But Junpei only succeeds in one of them. Sure, at the end of the game in the happy timeline we see that everything worked out and all the good guys lived, but that doesn't change that in four other alternate realities, each of them as real and valid as the happy one, Junpei failed, Akane never made it out and Santa has to live with the memories of his incinerated sister. And I don't even know how that works out, if history retroactively patches itself up in those timelines when he fails.

Already got a few responses in the other thread, hopefully they can be replicated here.

 

[Nishastra]

Admittedly, it was pretty painful while actually playing the game, since I came in after a lot of people. The main thread was very much not safe

Already got a few responses in the other thread, hopefully they can be replicated here.

My text is immovable!

Do they actually happen? I'm not sure they can. Past-Akane has to experience them, but then she uses her connection to Junpei to ensure that they don't happen, to lead him the right way. Time doesn't actually loop, but rather past-Akane is going through all these future scenarios with Junpei.

If they actually happened, present-Akane and Zero couldn't exist in those timelines. The present Nonary Game couldn't happen. If Junpei fails, past-Akane dies, and everything becomes a paradox.

---

I'm thinking that it's all on past-Akane. Since she's in the past and is communicating to the future, if something goes wrong in the future, she can just start over again and do a better job of leading Junpei this time. She doesn't actually need a "new" Junpei. She's not really bound by continuity where the future is concerned.

That's really the only way it can work, as far as I can see. Even then it still has some problems

The main problem is past-Akane's time. If she's linked to Junpei in real time (one second to one second), then it can't work. She can't go through the future more than once. Past-Akane HAS to be able to go through the future game at least twice, or nothing works at all. So I'm just going to assume that it's not 1:1

 

[LiK]

The Adult Akane in the main timeline definitely confused me. I assume she managed to cross over but disappeared when Junpei saved her in the other timeline. Or did she still exist? Its definitely bittersweet.

 

[Nishastra]

She survived in the past because Junpei saved her from the future. She never died. She continued to live her life for 9 years until the time came to orchestrate her own rescue, as Zero. Obviously she's lying about a lot and is hiding a number of things, as is Santa, but I think her existence is fairly straightforward.

The problem now is the others. The people who remember her dying. Are they in on it? If they're not, then everything makes no sense again. Akane can't have actually died at any point.

 

[The Technomancer]

She survived in the past because Junpei saved her from the future. She never died. She continued to live her life for 9 years until the time came to orchestrate her own rescue, as Zero. Obviously she's lying about a lot and is hiding a number of things, as is Santa, but I think her existence is fairly straightforward.

The problem now is the others. The people who remember her dying. Are they in on it? If they're not, then everything makes no sense again. Akane can't have actually died at any point.

The ending all but says that Seven was faking his amnesia and lied about her death.

Incidentally when all is said and done, Seven is probably my favorite character in the entire game.

 

[LiK]

The ending all but says that Seven was faking his amnesia and lied about her death.

Incidentally when all is said and done, Seven is probably my favorite character in the entire game.

He's the real hero, saved all those kids. A real revelation in that torture room with Lotus before we learn the rest in the True ending.

 

[Nishastra]

Seven and Snake were pretty much the two that I decided I trusted with anything from early on

That reminds me, I really loved how in the yandere-Clover ending (axe), it actually said "BAD END".

 

[LiK]

Seven and Snake were pretty much the two that I decided I trusted with anything from early on

That reminds me, I really loved how in the yandere-Clover ending (axe), it actually said "BAD END".

Yea, Knife ending also said Bad End. I think the rest were different.

 

[The Technomancer]

Seven and Snake were pretty much the two that I decided I trusted with anything from early on

That reminds me, I really loved how in the yandere-Clover ending (axe), it actually said "BAD END".

From the beginning I trusted Snake and Ace, was suspicious of Santa and Lotus because of some of the stuff they said, was suspicious of Akane merely by virtue of her being the cliche childhood love interest, and honestly wasn't sure what to think of Clover and Seven.

 

[Nishastra]

Yea, Knife ending also said Bad End. I think the rest were different.

I thought it might, but I still haven't actually gotten that one.

Coffin says "To be continued", Safe and Sub say "The end... or is it?"

From the beginning I trusted Snake and Ace, was suspicious of Santa and Lotus because of some of the stuff they said, was suspicious of Akane merely by virtue of her being the cliche childhood love interest, and honestly wasn't sure what to think of Clover and Seven.

Santa and Lotus seemed too... selfish. Always proposing to leave other people behind and secretly sneak off. Ace I distrusted because he seemed... too good to be true. He was the noble Lion. It couldn't be real.

I guess you could say I trusted Clover, as I trusted Snake. Clover was pretty straightforward. All she wanted was to stick with her brother. She only snaps if she has no one to rely on when they find "Snake" dead, and starts thinking everyone is against her. Bit of a problem, but it's understandable

 

[BaronLundi]

Almost all the questions I had with the true ending are resolved or were explained in the zebra thread.

Still haven't found an answer for this one : what's the deal with the deceptive watches ? So the [0] was in fact a [6] (or something) ? What was then June's real number ? What about the [9] ? What the hell ?

 

[LiK]

Almost all the questions I had with the true ending are resolved or were explained in the zebra thread.

Still haven't found an answer for this one : what's the deal with the deceptive watches ? So the [0] was in fact a [6] (or something) ? What was then June's real number ? What about the [9] ? What the hell ?

June was actually [9]. They explained why Santa stuck with her in the True ending.

 

[Nishastra]

Still haven't found an answer for this one : what's the deal with the deceptive watches ? So the [0] was in fact a [6] (or something) ?

It's not a Zero, it's the letter O. Like how the last door was actually q. Remember the paper with the various base-whatever number systems on it? O is 24, which adds up to 6.

 

[BaronLundi]

June was actually [9]. They explained why Santa stuck with her in the True ending.

So [0] was in fact [6].
[6] was in fact [9].
I guess that [9] was then inevitably [0].

What if the 9th guy didn't die then ?

Edit :
Ha ! I see it... 9 = 0 as far as digital roots are concerned. Clever.
Still... if June's number was really 9, it could've (should've?) messed up previous doors or am I missing something ?


Edit #2 :

It's not a Zero, it's the letter O. Like how the last door was actually q. Remember the paper with the various base-whatever number systems on it? O is 24, which adds up to 6.

Ah... ok. Must have missed it somehow. Thanks !

 

[The Technomancer]

I still really don't get why the Allice subplot was in there at all. Didn't go anywhere, and for me it took the "acceptable levels of pseudoscience about telepathy" to "unacceptable annoying levels of pseudoscience that violate completely obvious laws of chemistry" with all the Ice-9 stuff.
(Yes, I know its Vonnegut)

 

[BaronLundi]

I still really don't get why the Allice subplot was in there at all. Didn't go anywhere, and for me it took the "acceptable levels of pseudoscience about telepathy" to "unacceptable annoying levels of pseudoscience that violate completely obvious laws of chemistry" with all the Ice-9 stuff.
(Yes, I know its Vonnegut)

I agree. This was a (totally unneeded) red herring.

 

[Nishastra]

For a (brief) while, I thought that Lotus was Alice, that she thawed at some point and went on to live a normal life or something. When you see the clear picture of Alice, her clothes look very similar to what Lotus is wearing. And what Lotus is wearing has always been more than a little weird.

But then she showed up at the end

As for why she's there... The whole Ice-9 thing is just an extension of everything else, one of the many "information being transmitted between objects in a way that makes no sense" stories in the game. It probably is just a red herring, to make you think something very different is going on, but by the time you really learn about it, don't you already have a better idea of what's going on? I suppose it all depends on which endings you get in which order.

 

[LiK]

Speaking of Lotus, they never explained her outfit, iirc. I know she was ex-employee of a Security Firm but why was she in a dancer's outfit? I guess it was a side job when she was kidnapped?

 

[Akselziys]

I think this is the first time I've seen a spoiler thread created for the game here

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the game enough to participate here !

 

[The Technomancer]

I think this is the first time I've seen a spoiler thread created for the game here

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the game enough to participate here !

Only other one I've seen was for Mass Effect 2. Yeah, for a game as story-heavy as this I think its needed.

What really surprised me after getting the true ending is how devious Akane is. All her crying, fainting and every interaction with her were very convincing, yet were just an act. I liked the true ending, but I'm a bit sad that Akane is chaotic good.

Also, if she's really been thinking about him, kind of obsessed with him, and maybe even falling in love with him for nine years, then all of her innocent advances and...well...basically trying to get into Junpei's pants in room 4 makes a lot more sense.

 

[Hyunkel6]

What really surprised me after getting the true ending is how devious Akane is. All her crying, fainting and every interaction with her were very convincing, yet were just an act. I liked the true ending, but I'm a bit sad that Akane is chaotic good.

Also, is there a secret/bonus ending? I was browsing the official thread the other day, and Tuesday hinted to one.

 

[LiK]

I think this is the first time I've seen a spoiler thread created for the game here

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the game enough to participate here !

I wanted to start one earlier but people were still working through the endings. But I think there's enough people who finished it to discuss it finally. And the spoiler boxes were getting outta hand in the OT. I felt bad for new players visiting the thread. ^^

 

[Akselziys]

What really surprised me after getting the true ending is how devious Akane is. All her crying, fainting and every interaction with her were very convincing, yet were just an act. I liked the true ending, but I'm a bit sad that Akane is chaotic good.

Also, is there a secret/bonus ending? I was browsing the official thread the other day, and Tuesday hinted to one.

No secret ending, just the six in the game

Though we finished collecting questions to ask the creators from everyone (about 79 in total after filtering through them all), so we'll see what they have to say and which ones they'll decide to answer and then post it on the official website (with spoiler warnings of course), once we translate and edit them for all to read

 

[The Technomancer]

No secret ending, just the six in the game

Though we finished collecting questions to ask the creators from everyone (about 79 in total after filtering through them all), so we'll see what they have to say and which ones they'll decide to answer and then post it on the official website (with spoiler warnings of course), once we translate and edit them for all to read

Honest question: as the localization team, did you guys get extra information about things that might not be clear, to aid in making sure the overall translated experience was accurate? Anything that wasn't explicitly said in the game that you can tell us about?

 

[Nishastra]

I need to get the knife ending later and then go through the game again properly.

Now that I know everything, I need to actually read it all again. There's one thing that bugs me a bit about text skipping. Once you've been through a room, if you do it again it seems like you can skip all non-novel mode text whether you've read it before or not, so I'm sure I never actually read some things that I missed the first time.

Also, I want to see a picture of Robed Snake as some kind of wizard.

 

[Ferrio]

No secret ending, just the six in the game

Though we finished collecting questions to ask the creators from everyone (about 79 in total after filtering through them all), so we'll see what they have to say and which ones they'll decide to answer and then post it on the official website (with spoiler warnings of course), once we translate and edit them for all to read

Graaaaah, I forgot to ask my question about Lotus being alice... stupid holidays.

 

[LiK]

I need to get the knife ending later and then go through the game again properly.

Now that I know everything, I need to actually read it all again. There's one thing that bugs me a bit about text skipping. Once you've been through a room, if you do it again it seems like you can skip all non-novel mode text whether you've read it before or not, so I'm sure I never actually read some things that I missed the first time.

Also, I want to see a picture of Robed Snake as some kind of wizard.

Only text that's been read can be skipped. Even minor dialogue or text you never read cannot be skipped from what I played.

I wish I can skip the puzzles tho so I can just enjoy the story all over again without having to replay stuff.

 

[Akselziys]

Graaaaah, I forgot to ask my question about Lotus being alice... stupid holidays.

Actually there were quite a few that asked that Also, tons of people asking about a sequel

 

[Nishastra]

Only text that's been read can be skipped. Even minor dialogue or text you never read cannot be skipped from what I played.

I'm quite sure that I skipped some examine text I never read. There were things that I didn't examine much the first time, and decided to examine more the next time, but I got into the habit of holding down right at all times and just blew through it.

 

[LiK]

I'm quite sure that I skipped some examine text I never read. There were things that I didn't examine much the first time, and decided to examine more the next time, but I got into the habit of holding down right at all times and just blew through it.

oh, when you examine an item? not sure, never really skipped through those. i didn't bother examining stuff again during replays for puzzles i solved.

 

[Nishastra]

Either way, I'll do no right-holding next time through

 

[Akselziys]

Oh yeah, if you guys haven't read already, here's the interview that Siliconera had us ask Chunsoft/Uchikoshi to do before the game was released:

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/09/0...s-interview-gets-philosophical-then-personal/



Also, here are the translated/edited Chunsoft 999 character poll blogs and the "Untold Story" blog

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/2...urs-nine-persons-nine-doors-the-untold-story/



http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/13/chunsoft-blog-999-japanese-character-ranking-9/

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/14/chunsoft-blog-999-japanese-character-ranking-8/

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/15/chunsoft-blog-999-japanese-character-ranking-7/

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/16/chunsoft-blog-999-japanese-character-ranking-6/

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/17/chunsoft-blog-999-japanese-character-ranking-5/

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/20/chunsoft-blog-999-japanese-character-ranking-4/

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/21/chunsoft-blog-999-japanese-character-ranking-3/

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/22/chunsoft-blog-999-japanese-character-ranking-2/

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/23/chunsoft-blog-999-japanese-character-ranking-1/


Our US character poll is still ongoing until 1/9/11, so visit the official 999 US website to cast your vote !

http://www.aksysgames.com/999

 

[Nishastra]

Also, here are the translated/edited Chunsoft 999 character poll blogs and the "Untold Story" blog

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/2...urs-nine-persons-nine-doors-the-untold-story/

That's all really neat.

I like how their two favorite characters are the same person, and also that June is called a straightforward heroine. Yeah right

 

[Akselziys]

Ironically enough if you look on Metacritic, if you look at DS releases and sort by "All releases" and by metascore, 999 is the 9th ranked game from the top :lol

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/release-date/available/ds/metascore?view=condensed

Spoiler

This pleases Akane...

 

[Lard]

Graaaaah, I forgot to ask my question about Lotus being alice... stupid holidays.

Can someone make an avatar sized gif of that for me please?

 

[LiK]

Ironically enough if you look on Metacritic, if you look at DS releases and sort by "All releases" and by metascore, 999 is the 9th ranked game from the top :lol

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/release-date/available/ds/metascore?view=condensed

Spoiler

This pleases Akane...

HAH, cool. and 90 too, pretty damn good score average. 99 would be better. XD

 

[Lard]

I'm happy this game has done well. What has Aksys got for 2011 releases?

Between this and Theresia, they've got my attention.

 

[Akselziys]

I'm happy this game has done well. What has Aksys got for 2011 releases?

Between this and Theresia, they've got my attention.

Don't forget Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past !

We have secret stuff in the pipeline, so look forward to it ;D!

 

[The Technomancer]

Well, talking about the actual story, I'm still curious about the sub. It obviously wasn't a sub out of the "ship", and neither was it behind door 9. Its a false sense of escape, so what the hell was its purpose?

 

[LiK]

Well, talking about the actual story, I'm still curious about the sub. It obviously wasn't a sub out of the "ship", and neither was it behind door 9. Its a false sense of escape, so what the hell was its purpose?

i assume it was a red herring since they weren't really on the Gigantic in the True ending. or maybe they made that as an alternate escape route for people who managed to get out the final door?

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Well, talking about the actual story, I'm still curious about the sub. It obviously wasn't a sub out of the "ship", and neither was it behind door 9. Its a false sense of escape, so what the hell was its purpose?

I guess the sub was just there because everything was supposed to be an exact replica of the Gigantic down to the smallest detail, even though the sub served no purpose in the facility.

 

[Akselziys]

I guess the sub was just there because everything was supposed to be an exact replica of the Gigantic down to the smallest detail, even though the sub served no purpose in the facility.

Yeah, essentially the sub was just to replicate the Gigantic perfectly and throw the player off so they thought they were on an actual ship :lol

The same goes for the porthole breaking in the first room and the water filling up the deck below.

Also, don't forget the dead shark :lol

 

[LiK]

Yeah, essentially the sub was just to replicate the Gigantic perfectly and throw the player off so they thought they were on an actual ship :lol

The same goes for the porthole breaking in the first room and the water filling up the deck below.

Also, don't forget the dead shark :lol

Which means the torture room is fake too, right? Now I'm kinda bummed cuz I liked that they thought it was real. Phooey!

 

[Akselziys]

Which means the torture room is fake too, right? Now I'm kinda bummed cuz I liked that they thought it was real. Phooey!

Well, you never know what they actually used things for :lol

 

[Hylian7]

Yeah, essentially the sub was just to replicate the Gigantic perfectly and throw the player off so they thought they were on an actual ship :lol

The same goes for the porthole breaking in the first room and the water filling up the deck below.

Also, don't forget the dead shark :lol

Speaking of the dead shark though, does that mean the torture room actually had some kind of use on the real Gigantic, and there was a live shark on the real Gigantic too? Was the shark still dead when (if) some of the other kids back during young Akane's time went through that room? Seeing that dead shark just creeped me out in general.

 

[Akselziys]

Speaking of the dead shark though, does that mean the torture room actually had some kind of use on the real Gigantic, and there was a live shark on the real Gigantic too? Was the shark still dead when (if) some of the other kids back during young Akane's time went through that room? Seeing that dead shark just creeped me out in general.

Yeah, it quite possibly had a use x_X

I dunno what would have been worse, getting electrocuted in the electric chair or falling into the pool of water and becoming a scrumptious snack for the Shark -_-

 

[The Technomancer]

Oh! Another thing. When Seven rescued the kids, he crawled through the ducts, lowered a bedsheet-rope, and the vent got them out past door 9.
But when Akane was trapped in the incinerator, they were all like "we can't get in there to save her" even though the vent was probably ten feet from them and the rope was probably still lying near the opening above the incinerator room.

 

[LiK]

Oh! Another thing. When Seven rescued the kids, he crawled through the ducts, lowered a bedsheet-rope, and the vent got them out past door 9.
But when Akane was trapped in the incinerator, they were all like "we can't get in there to save her" even though the vent was probably ten feet from them and the rope was probably still lying near the opening above the incinerator room.

They saved her but she ran back for that doll and Ace caught her. They were already on the other side of the door when she was forced into the incinerator again. Doubt they could run back into the vents and look for the right duct in time.

 

[The Technomancer]

They saved her but she ran back for that doll and Ace caught her. They were already on the other side of the door when she was forced into the incinerator again. Doubt they could run back into the vents and look for the right duct in time.

They had 18 minutes though. I mean, they managed to pull the kids up and get them out in a fraction of that, and the vent that deposited them was right next to where they were watching her be trapped.