999 SPOILERS Discussion Thread

So after reading all the answers, It's kind of ironic. Akane, in doing all this, basically became that which she tried to destroy. She's the same as Ace really, even if she is in it for different reasons.
 
I think maybe that's oversimplifying things...in addition to saving herself, Akane was also bringing down an evil organization that could have continued to do who-knows-what if left unchecked. Judging from her actions at the end of the game, Akane also still has the capacity for shame, which Ace clearly never did.
 
who was the murderer in the submarine ending?
in the developer's site they said it was ace,but ace's corpse was with santa and clover on the stairs in the main hall ò_ò
 
Majukun said:
who was the murderer in the submarine ending?
in the developer's site they said it was ace,but ace's corpse was with santa and clover on the stairs in the main hall ò_ò
Click to expand...

They didn't check his corpse for a pulse, only Clover's ;)

He was merely playing dead until he got the chance to kill the others.
 
Akselziys said:
They didn't check his corpse for a pulse, only Clover's ;)

He was merely playing dead until he got the chance to kill the others.
Click to expand...

This right here.

In addition, Lotus' bracelet was once again the only one stolen, just like in the knife ending. Then there's Ace wanting to "show her something" in the ax ending, and finally just straight up taking her hostage so he could use her to open door 9 in the safe ending.
 
I just thought of something. I think I may have figured out a plot detail that was cut from the final game. Bear with me on this, it may sound like fanfiction territory, but if you think about it makes sense that it might have been there at some point during development.

I think at some point in development, Ace was Lotus's ex-husband.

You probably already have a million reasons that refute that claim, but I'm going to try to strike down most of them.

First of all, the most obvious one is "Well wouldn't they recognize each other?" First of all, it's possible that Lotus rarely wears the belly dancer attire, so Ace may not have been able to recognize her by looking at her. She also may not have taken up belly dancing until after the divorce, so Ace had never seen her in that outfit before, therefore had no idea who she was. Lotus probably would recognize Ace, but not wish to acknowledge him or speak near him. Perhaps the divorce could have been because he beat her, and she was afraid? Maybe it was because she simply just didn't want to talk to him, but Lotus is more reasonable than to resort to immature tactics like that though. It was also convenient that there was never a single door where Ace went with Lotus. Was this planned for if they kept this plot detail in the game? It does bring up a point though of why it was probably cut, if it was ever in in the first place: Lotus would have to either not speak of speak very little when Ace was nearby, and it was likely the developers wanted Lotus to be the "logical" member of the group, and she couldn't fulfill this without speaking when the whole group was present.

Secondly, the next claim would be "Lotus would already know what's going on though, or suspect Cradle immediately because of the experiments 9 years ago." Perhaps Ace lied to her about the experiments back then (or they were divorced by that time). The plot would thicken if it turned out that Ace kidnapped his own children (Nona and Ennea) to use in the cruel experiments. It's likely that that was part of the reason the detail of the children never speaking of what happened was because something like this was in the plot before. If they were still together at the time of the experiments, Ace probably lied to Lotus and said something like "he was on a business trip". If this was true, then it's also likely the divorce happened because Ace was completely incommunicado when the children were kidnapped.

This would also give a more logical reason for Lotus to be there: To find out what Ace had done in the past. By the time they cut this plot detail, it was probably too late to just write Lotus out of the game, so they left the whole thing about her children in.

I know this theory sounds like a complete crackpot theory, but I think it's a possibility. What do you think?
 
Not a bad theory, but, sadly, there's almost no evidence to support it. There's no hints of any dialogue "left" in the game, if this were an earlier script. I.e. When Ace asks Lotus to follow him in the axe ending.
 
Hylian7 said:
I just thought of something. I think I may have figured out a plot detail that was cut from the final game. Bear with me on this, it may sound like fanfiction territory, but if you think about it makes sense that it might have been there at some point during development.

I think at some point in development, Ace was Lotus's ex-husband.

You probably already have a million reasons that refute that claim, but I'm going to try to strike down most of them.

First of all, the most obvious one is "Well wouldn't they recognize each other?" First of all, it's possible that Lotus rarely wears the belly dancer attire, so Ace may not have been able to recognize her by looking at her. She also may not have taken up belly dancing until after the divorce, so Ace had never seen her in that outfit before, therefore had no idea who she was. Lotus probably would recognize Ace, but not wish to acknowledge him or speak near him. Perhaps the divorce could have been because he beat her, and she was afraid? Maybe it was because she simply just didn't want to talk to him, but Lotus is more reasonable than to resort to immature tactics like that though. It was also convenient that there was never a single door where Ace went with Lotus. Was this planned for if they kept this plot detail in the game? It does bring up a point though of why it was probably cut, if it was ever in in the first place: Lotus would have to either not speak of speak very little when Ace was nearby, and it was likely the developers wanted Lotus to be the "logical" member of the group, and she couldn't fulfill this without speaking when the whole group was present.

Secondly, the next claim would be "Lotus would already know what's going on though, or suspect Cradle immediately because of the experiments 9 years ago." Perhaps Ace lied to her about the experiments back then (or they were divorced by that time). The plot would thicken if it turned out that Ace kidnapped his own children (Nona and Ennea) to use in the cruel experiments. It's likely that that was part of the reason the detail of the children never speaking of what happened was because something like this was in the plot before. If they were still together at the time of the experiments, Ace probably lied to Lotus and said something like "he was on a business trip". If this was true, then it's also likely the divorce happened because Ace was completely incommunicado when the children were kidnapped.

This would also give a more logical reason for Lotus to be there: To find out what Ace had done in the past. By the time they cut this plot detail, it was probably too late to just write Lotus out of the game, so they left the whole thing about her children in.

I know this theory sounds like a complete crackpot theory, but I think it's a possibility. What do you think?
Click to expand...

Another interesting thing to note is isn't Lotus the one to bring up prosopagnosia? (Or maybe I'm forgetting incorrectly? lol) Also, her husband being named Ichiro (aka 1 lol)

Though I'm sure it wasn't the case, it's interesting to theorize about it ;)
 
I don't recall seeing it, so I thought I'd ask... Akselziys, is there any way you could post the game art of Ace is peering into the incinerator?

EDIT: I found a playthrough video on YouTube and cropped it out.
 
Big Papa Husker said:
I don't recall seeing it, so I thought I'd ask... Akselziys, is there any way you could post the game art of Ace is peering into the incinerator?

EDIT: I found a playthrough video on YouTube and cropped it out.
Click to expand...
Nice. Avatar spoilers only in context are awesome. ;)
 
Big Papa Husker said:
That Clover avatar is some scary shit... That was so surprising when that happened. ;o
Click to expand...
Your avatar is the scary shit. I will never see Ace the same "Let's all calm down and think things through" again.
 
Shadow Red said:
Your avatar is the scary shit. I will never see Ace the same "Let's all calm down and think things through" again.
Click to expand...

Yep! That image of Ace looking into the incinerator is easily one of the more disturbing...creepy images in the game.
 
I liked the story even if it kinda reached "Assassin's Creed" levels.

For clarification:

1. So June = Zero at the same time 6?
1.a If so, did she plant the bombs within 9 and "Fake Snake"?
2. Santa is really 3?
3. So basically the current time Junpei is at is the present, in which is being manipulated by the past Akane. If Junpei doesn't succeed, it will cause a time paradox thus eliminating Akane's existence?
 
ULTROS! said:
I liked the story even if it kinda reached "Assassin's Creed" levels.

For clarification:

1. So June = Zero at the same time 6?
1.a If so, did she plant the bombs within 9 and "Fake Snake"?
2. Santa is really 3?
3. So basically the current time Junpei is at is the present, in which is being manipulated by the past Akane. If Junpei doesn't succeed, it will cause a time paradox thus eliminating Akane's existence?
Click to expand...

1) I'm pretty sure June was Alice controlled by past Akane. Akane was zero though.
 
mugurumakensei said:
Then, it ends up a paradox as June could never exist as she died in the past.
Click to expand...

She never died. It was a lie. She lived, then she had to set up the nonary game to make sure the future actually happened. She never died, all the bad endings didn't really happen.
 
ULTROS! said:
I liked the story even if it kinda reached "Assassin's Creed" levels.

For clarification:

1. So June = Zero at the same time 6?
1.a If so, did she plant the bombs within 9 and "Fake Snake"?
2. Santa is really 3?
3. So basically the current time Junpei is at is the present, in which is being manipulated by the past Akane. If Junpei doesn't succeed, it will cause a time paradox thus eliminating Akane's existence?
Click to expand...

1. Yes. Though, IIRC, her bracelet was actually 9 and Santa's was 0. I don't remember off the top of my head.
1.a Yes. What a bitch.
3. Manipulated isn't the right word, but the gist of it is correct. Akane is basically viewing the various paths that Junpei can take and finding the path that ensures her survival. When the wrong path is taken, Akane never makes the final connection with Junpei.

mugurumakensei said:
Well, so it seems June is Akane. I wonder what the purpose of the Alice subplot is then.
Click to expand...

Just like communism, it was just a red herring.
 
mugurumakensei said:
Well, so it seems June is Akane. I wonder what the purpose of the Alice subplot is then.
Click to expand...

A red herring, apparently.
 
Thanks.

I had this feeling Akane would wind up twisted and evil, guess I was "sorta" right. :P
 
1.a Yes. What a bitch.
Click to expand...

Well they did kind of kill her in an alternate timeline :x

and they were the only ones with bombs inside them it turns out. Possibly Hongou too I think
 
Ok I finished the game and read through the answers, still confused about something. Who killed everyone in the sub ending? The answers page says its Ace, but it seemed like he was talking about the knife ending not the sub ending, plus Ace was shown to be dead in the sub ending as well.

edit

nvm looks like it was answered in here, them not checking his pulse makes sense. Cool.
 
Finished the true ending after getting the rest.

I loved how the illusion of getting other endings worked as a device in the story, being informed of unobserved happenings (Nijisaki's switch, Ace's prosopagnosia, the key code to the coffin) in the true ending by being fed information learned through failure in other alternate time lines.

A very novel idea that mixed gameplay and story really really well.

Also, while Alice was a total red herring, it was a fascinating story, and I loved learning bits about it in each playthrough.

All in all, a fucking fantastic game, and one definitely worth playing through multiple times.

ZealousD said:
A red herring, apparently.
Click to expand...

Not a complete red herring. The legend led to Hongou finding the Mandragora root and inventing Soporil, which plays into both the 3/7/8 choice, the growth of the company itself, and the reason Junpei discovers who he is in the Safe ending. Yeah, largely a red herring, but it still ties into the plot in the end.

(also, she totally hitches a ride and probably eats everyone's brains after the credits)
 
thetrin said:
Finished the true ending after getting the rest.

I loved how the illusion of getting other endings worked as a device in the story, being informed of unobserved happenings (Nijisaki's switch, Ace's prosopagnosia, the key code to the coffin) in the true ending by being fed information learned through failure in other alternate time lines.

A very novel idea that mixed gameplay and story really really well.

Also, while Alice was a total red herring, it was a fascinating story, and I loved learning bits about it in each playthrough.

All in all, a fucking fantastic game, and one definitely worth playing through multiple times.



Not a complete red herring. The legend led to Hongou finding the Mandragora root and inventing Soporil, which plays into both the 3/7/8 choice, the growth of the company itself, and the reason Junpei discovers who he is in the Safe ending. Yeah, largely a red herring, but it still ties into the plot in the end.

(also, she totally hitches a ride and probably eats everyone's brains after the credits)
Click to expand...


If you haven't already...

Akselziys said:
Don't forget to check out THE ANSWERS too :)

http://www.aksysgames.com/999

Bottom rightmost tab of the site ;)
Click to expand...

Go, go go! :D
 
jaxword said:
You seem to have a fun job. How does one get such a position? I wouldn't mind it...
Click to expand...

I'm the Associate Producer at Aksys Games and the project lead for 999.

I can just multi-task well by posting in forums to promote the games we release and love <3, while working on a multitude of other projects @_@

But yes, I agree, it is a fun a job :)

Back on topic though, what did everyone think of THE ANSWERS?


Instro said:
He won it in a nonary game obviously.
Click to expand...


My secret revealed! >.<


LiK said:
You need to be able to survive the Asuka Punch!
Click to expand...

Everyone play Jake Hunter to get this reference! She still works here alongside Belisarius and I btw :)
 
Akselziys said:
I'm the Associate Producer at Aksys Games and the project lead for 999.
Click to expand...
Maybe I'm too used to working at bigger developers, but associate producers don't usually get project lead roles. Yikes!
 
XiaNaphryz said:
Maybe I'm too used to working at bigger developers, but associate producers don't usually get project lead roles. Yikes!
Click to expand...

Maybe you're thinking of QA lead? But yeah, 999 was one of many projects that I oversaw/spearheaded.

Was fun to be a part of it :)
 
Akselziys said:
Maybe you're thinking of QA lead?
Click to expand...
No, I'm thinking full-blown project lead who all the dev leads report to. Usually filled by a director or senior producer type. At most of the dev studios here, associate producers are just the next level up from the APs.
 
XiaNaphryz said:
No, I'm thinking full-blown project lead who all the dev leads report to. Usually filled by a director or senior producer type. At most of the dev studios here, associate producers are just the next level up from the APs.
Click to expand...

Ohhh, then yeah. I fulfill both duties here XD; Though we're a publisher, not a developer :)
 
I just finished the game with all 6 endings over the last week and I absolutely loved it!
The answer blog on the official site was pretty interesting too.

Here's hoping it sells well enough for a sequel! :)
 
The most effective use of writing in the whole game for me was Santa's tirade during the finale of the Coffin ending. Those f-bombs really hit hard. You knew he was not playing around. Made him even more terrifying. (It's also extremely rare to see that word spelled out in a game.)
 
cj_iwakura said:
The most effective use of writing in the whole game for me was Santa's tirade during the finale of the Coffin ending. Those f-bombs really hit hard. You knew he was not playing around. Made him even more terrifying. (It's also extremely rare to see that word spelled out in a game.)
Click to expand...
I think this is the first DS game I saw f-bombs in, which was pretty fun and novel, but that whole June / Junpei getting "wet down there" conversation - yikes, really did not expect that!

Awesome writing in this game. Strangely, it's almost as funny as Phoenix Wright.
 
I came into this game being very skeptical. Boy what a fool I was for that one.

I wish I played this game back in November because it would have definitely been 1 or 2 for my GOTY charts.

The whole plot is designed so well and just is so completely mind blowing. Still not even sure what I should be feeling despite finishing it a few hours ago. It's so good and yet it's so bittersweet. Brings up so many moral conflicts for me.

June and Santa. They technically have blood on their hands but were they really wrong for it? I mean as it's presented if they had not done everything exactly as it played out, a 12 year old girl would have died. So it's almost just like a weird self defense ploy which is understandable.

Only thing I didn't really enjoy was #25 in Answers. I understand Santa and June not waiting around to face them because of the actions they had just done but getting the answer that says Junpei searched for the rest of his life for them and never found them was kind of lame. I was hoping for a little more then just that. (and as I read more and more of the thread I guess everyone else was also) Also I guess it mentions in answers that they went on to go to the next phase of their plan.

I guess that either means we get a sequel (if we're lucky) or June and Santa were pretty much evil for some unknown reason. Shouldn't they be done with everything. Unless they were going to expose to the world what happened. I would hope to assume it would involve them not repeating the game again. Or helping kidnapped children ... or something.

Oh and if it means anything to anyone. A sequel to this game would really really make me consider buying a 3DS or NGP a lot sooner than I would probably be doing otherwise.
 
Akselziys said:
Back on topic though, what did everyone think of THE ANSWERS?
Click to expand...
I enjoyed them. I'm one of those guys that absolutely enjoys the ride but won't think too hard on it while it goes on. I always have my theories, of course, but I never stop playing to think about them (okay, maybe sometimes). Does that make sense? I love being given the information to come up with answers on my own but, honestly, sometimes they're a little too out there for me to care to "try" and solve them. Also, information overload makes me x_X sometimes, haha.

BASICALLY, I loved having my mind blown by the answers/official confirmation :] Equally, I enjoyed having my own theories and being wrong/right because it makes me enjoy the game so much more in hindsight.

Oh, and I always assumed you were a woman for some reason :P
 
dragonlife29 said:
I enjoyed them. I'm one of those guys that absolutely enjoys the ride but won't think too hard on it while it goes on. I always have my theories, of course, but I never stop playing to think about them (okay, maybe sometimes). Does that make sense? I love being given the information to come up with answers on my own but, honestly, sometimes they're a little too out there for me to care to "try" and solve them.

BASICALLY, I loved having my mind blown by the answers/official confirmation :] Equally, I enjoyed having my own theories and being wrong/right because it makes me enjoy the game so much more in hindsight.

Oh, and I always assumed you were a woman for some reason :P
Click to expand...


LOL! Whaaaaa? haha What made you think that? :)

It's all good though haha

I'm glad you enjoyed both the game and The Answers :D! Let's hope for a sequel ;)
 
It was a baseless assumption, honestly. I recall you had a Battle Fantasia (That was you, right?) avatar and I just assumed you were a woman ever since then :P Your name always stuck out...I don't even try to pronounce it, just think, "Oh, Aksys lady!"

Image shattered </3

Plus, your current avatar. "So dreamy" or something like that ;)
I actually found Ace the most attractive when he was a psycho bitch and holding the gun to Lotus, so maybe I was trying to make a connection, hm? Haha
 
dragonlife29 said:
It was a baseless assumption, honestly. I recall you had a Battle Fantasia (That was you, right?) avatar and I just assumed you were a woman ever since then :P Your name always stuck out...I don't even try to pronounce it, just think, "Oh, Aksys lady!"

Image shattered </3

Plus, your current avatar. "So dreamy" or something like that ;)
I actually found Ace the most attractive when he was a psycho bitch and holding the gun to Lotus, so maybe I was trying to make a connection, hm? Haha
Click to expand...

LOL! Interesting connection theory ;)

I pronounce it as "Ack-sel-zi-ys"

And Battle Fantasia is awesome (pokes Emiko for a sequel)

Ironically, I did cosplay Ace at last year's Anime Expo lol (dunno if you saw the pics of all the official 999 cosplayers ;) )

Thus having a soft spot for Ace haha
 
Akselziys said:
LOL! Interesting connection theory ;)

I pronounce it as "Ack-sel-zi-ys"

And Battle Fantasia is awesome (pokes Emiko for a sequel)

Ironically, I did cosplay Ace at last year's Anime Expo lol (dunno if you saw the pics of all the official 999 cosplayers ;) )

Thus having a soft spot for Ace haha
Click to expand...
You're the only Ace fan I've seen on GAF. >_>
 
hamchan said:
You're the only Ace fan I've seen on GAF. >_>
Click to expand...

Honestly, I almost felt a little bad for the guy at the end of the true ending. The 9 years ago scenes with him really creeped me out though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Metal Gear Advice, Playthrough Order, General Discussion (HUGE SPOILERS)
2
57
2K
Killer8 replied
PS5 Pro Pricing Discussion Thread
16 17 18 19 20
988
38K
Justin9mm replied
Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP Review & Discussion Thread
2
88
10K
JayK47 replied
Metaphor: ReFantazio Discussion and Spoilercast | Sacred Symbols+, Episode 426
Opinion 
0
149
Go_Ly_Dow replied
Alan Wake II | Spoiler Discussion Thread
Spoilers 
35
4K
Vergil1992 replied
Top Bottom