999 SPOILERS Discussion Thread
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Mockingbird
Member
GaimeGuy said:
Not necessarily.
wonderfuldays
Member
Thoraxes said:
Such a great find! I just finished true ending last night and I really enjoy the story. But still wonder if June truly illusion or just get out really quick. And why up-side down last sudoku puzzle? Still have Axe and Sub ending not finished. Looking forward to go through them.
She just snuck out when everyone else was distracted.wonderfuldays said:
You may not have noticed this while playing the game, but the two screens showed the view of the enviornment, one through Akane(the narrator)'s perspective and one through Junpei's perspective.
The upside down view was a reversal of the perspective. Instead of viewing Junpei's world and actions thorugh Akane's interaction with a morphogenetic field, you, the player, were viewing Akane's world and actions through Junpei's interaction with a morphogenetic field.
It was a role-reversal. In the last puzzle, you're playing as akane, although junpei is solving the puzzle in his world at the same time.
Actually, the last puzzle was the case where you were playing from Junpei's perspective. The other puzzles were being solved from young Akane's perspective (the idea being that she had been feeding him the solutions through the morphogenetic field up until that point). With the final puzzle, it was Junpei's responsibility to solve it when she couldn't in order to save her.
Mockingbird
Member
Korigama said:
Wait, wtf? How would the picture ID card work for this then?
Got the True Ending last night after getting axe/knife/sub and safe. Overall, I thought it was a fantastic game that really had me hooked from start to finish. I had guessed after the sub ending of all things that June was actually Zero(although I couldn't piece together the evidence entirely) My reasoning was actually pretty basic:
1 - June appeared to have no relevance to the nonary game, unlike what I had discovered about the other characters;
2 - When you see Zero behind Junpei in the beginning, the figure is noticeably short, suggesting that the figure who claimed to be Zero could likely only be Santa, June, or Clover(and Clover was very clearly not Zero after the Axe ending)
3 - I asked myself "What could the writer do to really give the player a massive 'HOLY SHIT' moment at the end?" The only two characters it could have been at that point in my mind were Santa or June, but Santa wouldn't have had as much impact due to the fact that Junpei hardly knew him, unlike June who was a childhood love interest.
I was hoping I didn't have it all figured out, and thankfully, the game delivered some big surprises. I don't mind psychobabble in a story as long as they make it plausible within the confines of said story, and I thought it really worked well here. I had also guessed that the multiple play-throughs may have had a relation to the narrative once Santa talked about the rat experiment in room 6(I have also seen this done in another well-known VN). Despite that, it floored me when I learned that Akane was experiencing everything through Junpei. That last scene in the incinerator is definitely the highlight of the game.
I don't think the game was without flaws, however. As has been mentioned before, some of the dialogue seems inappropriate, given the situations of the characters - "Hey! Let's talk at length about crap that no sane person would ever mention in a life or death situation!" Also, I was a little disappointed with some of the puzzles. I was expecting much more difficulty, but most of them were completely straightforward and seem to serve the plot moreso than being thought provoking. Still, I'm pretty familiar with VNs, so I knew what I was getting myself into, I and can't say I would have enjoyed the game significantly less had they not been included at all.
Thanks to Aksys for an awesome localization. It really gave the game that extra bit of icing to bump it up to an A+ in my book.
As a side note, this isn't anything significant, but did Akane's interpretation of the dog picture in room 4 stick out a little bit once you learned she was Zero?
June: This is kind of a weird-looking picture. Do you think it's an abstract
painting or something?
June: It looks kind of like...a demon...with an elephant-like nose...
June: ...Sucking on a human being's brain...
* Where the hell did that come from?
* What's her brain made of...
* Can't say I'd mind finding out a little more about what goes on in there...
It seems so innocent the first time around, but people seem to be wondering how Akane can come up with such vivid descriptions of gore and the like - it seems to me as if there's a lot of messed up stuff going in that mind of hers. I do wish the game gave us more of a taste of how she really thinks.
1 - June appeared to have no relevance to the nonary game, unlike what I had discovered about the other characters;
2 - When you see Zero behind Junpei in the beginning, the figure is noticeably short, suggesting that the figure who claimed to be Zero could likely only be Santa, June, or Clover(and Clover was very clearly not Zero after the Axe ending)
3 - I asked myself "What could the writer do to really give the player a massive 'HOLY SHIT' moment at the end?" The only two characters it could have been at that point in my mind were Santa or June, but Santa wouldn't have had as much impact due to the fact that Junpei hardly knew him, unlike June who was a childhood love interest.
I was hoping I didn't have it all figured out, and thankfully, the game delivered some big surprises. I don't mind psychobabble in a story as long as they make it plausible within the confines of said story, and I thought it really worked well here. I had also guessed that the multiple play-throughs may have had a relation to the narrative once Santa talked about the rat experiment in room 6(I have also seen this done in another well-known VN). Despite that, it floored me when I learned that Akane was experiencing everything through Junpei. That last scene in the incinerator is definitely the highlight of the game.
I don't think the game was without flaws, however. As has been mentioned before, some of the dialogue seems inappropriate, given the situations of the characters - "Hey! Let's talk at length about crap that no sane person would ever mention in a life or death situation!" Also, I was a little disappointed with some of the puzzles. I was expecting much more difficulty, but most of them were completely straightforward and seem to serve the plot moreso than being thought provoking. Still, I'm pretty familiar with VNs, so I knew what I was getting myself into, I and can't say I would have enjoyed the game significantly less had they not been included at all.
Thanks to Aksys for an awesome localization. It really gave the game that extra bit of icing to bump it up to an A+ in my book.
As a side note, this isn't anything significant, but did Akane's interpretation of the dog picture in room 4 stick out a little bit once you learned she was Zero?
June: This is kind of a weird-looking picture. Do you think it's an abstract
painting or something?
June: It looks kind of like...a demon...with an elephant-like nose...
June: ...Sucking on a human being's brain...
* Where the hell did that come from?
* What's her brain made of...
* Can't say I'd mind finding out a little more about what goes on in there...
It seems so innocent the first time around, but people seem to be wondering how Akane can come up with such vivid descriptions of gore and the like - it seems to me as if there's a lot of messed up stuff going in that mind of hers. I do wish the game gave us more of a taste of how she really thinks.
Just got the true ending last night. I lol'd at the Sudoku puzzle finisher but was also worried because my battery was low and the game wouldn't let you save there. Thankfully it was a simple puzzle and I got through it fast enough to save.
Now that I know the bottom screen is supposed to be from Akane's viewpoint, I'm going to have to go through the game again at some point to see if I can pick up on anything new.
I love games like this that throw in real (or partly-real) terms/theories/stories that I may not have heard of before so I can read up about them.
Now that I know the bottom screen is supposed to be from Akane's viewpoint, I'm going to have to go through the game again at some point to see if I can pick up on anything new.
I love games like this that throw in real (or partly-real) terms/theories/stories that I may not have heard of before so I can read up about them.
shadyspace
Banned
The sudoku part was the only puzzle I used a walkthrough for in the entire game. I suck at sudoku 
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Hell, it was easier than a beginner one. They gave you so many numbers at the start...SS4Gogita said:You should! By Sudoku standards it was definitely a beginner one
storafötter
Member
Okay I have read a lot of the answers on the Aksys page concerning this game. If i got it correctly, June never died but could have if the future didn't end they way it should have been. Thats why they lied to Junpei by trying to recreate the events of the future that helped Akane in the past happen.
At first I thought June was just a ghost, as the story made it seem like it and that possibly she was alive everywhere except in the incineration room since that was the room where Junpei helped the past Akane.
Even if this ties things better, it still doesn't sit well with me.
One of the questions that stood out for me.
Quite a brilliant sign.
Regarding the Sudoko puzzles, I also cheated on that one due to not understanding Sudoku.
At first I thought June was just a ghost, as the story made it seem like it and that possibly she was alive everywhere except in the incineration room since that was the room where Junpei helped the past Akane.
Even if this ties things better, it still doesn't sit well with me.
One of the questions that stood out for me.
Quite a brilliant sign.
Regarding the Sudoko puzzles, I also cheated on that one due to not understanding Sudoku.
storafötter
Member
GaimeGuy said:
Either my eyes were playing games with me, but I did follow the number 1 through 9 and it didn't work. I thought it said that certain numbers couldn't cross horizontally or whatever.
timetokill
Banned
I'm sort of amazed that so many don't know how to do sudoku puzzles.
They're actually pretty fun and challenging as you get to higher levels, and very rewarding. You guys should try them on plane rides or something.
They're actually pretty fun and challenging as you get to higher levels, and very rewarding. You guys should try them on plane rides or something.
Beat the game in the past week, the only thing I looked up were the paths to two of the endings, because I had been getting the same endings over and over and it was getting annoying. Overall the game was fantastic though.
The fact that the last puzzle was an easy Sudoku puzzle was hilarious to me, I love Sudoku.
The fact that the last puzzle was an easy Sudoku puzzle was hilarious to me, I love Sudoku.
So as I mentioned before, I'm replaying the game. Have all 4 endings outside of the safe and true onlocked
Currently on the safe ending, just heard Santa's story in door 6. (Don't read unless you've gotten the true ending).
Currently on the safe ending, just heard Santa's story in door 6. (Don't read unless you've gotten the true ending).
He mentions that his sister died 9 years ago. June's face turns pale. He's basically saying "We already diverged from the path needed to save you, Akane. You're going to disappear." :X
http://www.logicgamesonline.com/sudoku/tutorial.htmlstorafötter said:
I started writing this in the other thread but I figured I may as well throw it all in here with no black bars. Plus I wanted the shock value of seeing my one-sentence posts then seeing this one! Before --- is opinion and after it is questions.
By the way this post was twice as long before I went over it a couple times. Sorry if it's still unreadable.
I loved it. I'm really childish in my taste with stories and I love shit like twists and crazy stuff for the sake of being crazy stuff, so I knew why I was playing it and why I got it in the mail with Ghost Trick. And it delivered because it was fucking crazy. And it totally didn't seem like it (even after the first two endings I expected one mastermind and no supernatural effects) in the beginning, which is what drove me to replay it so many times.
It's probable that no one remembers this but among the page-5x I posted how I really didn't like the multiple-playthrough system and that I probably won't be stubborn enough to complete them all (as I knew myself). Like I said the first ending was so much nothing (knife ending) that it forced me to discover just how much was hidden until the final ending. Once I got over the wall of choosing things that I'm against choosing, it was smooth sailing.
I still don't quite know if this style of multiple-endings was a good choice, but considering I was initially against it, that says a lot about how my perception of it vastly improved. It was really well done. Later on, I didn't even mind the fact you can't skip puzzles (which stands against everything I love and know and think and feel)!!
I did, however, want to be able to shortcut through them using the telepathy (like, if Junpei didn't need to go in the kitchen - he'd just get "43" flashing in his head, or if that's too much, if he held the freezer's door open by instinct, and we would have gotten the dialogue (which we can skip) without the puzzle). That seems like wasted opportunity to make the gameplay better while tightening the story even further. You'd get vague hints of telepathy (depends on how vague they make them - the player can simply think that "43" popped up to make the puzzle skippable, without paying mind to it story-wise), and skip the puzzles, without breaking the flow of the story. There were also a lot of parts where it was possible to shortcut (like in the Prologue puzzle), but only if you wrote down the code beforehand... which is really unnecessary. If we finished the puzzles, the game should be guilt free when giving us the codes if we replay them.
I got the endings in this order: Knife, Submarine, Axe, Coffin, Safe and then True. This might be some sort of psychological fallacy, but I really think this is the best order I could have asked for. I always felt like each ending gave me a a bit more info than the last, with the first being completely vague, and the one before True almost revealing everything. The Safe ending was basically scenes from the Knife and Sub endings, extended (like with Santa's on the stairs). While I'm not sure if people could get the Safe ending first, they definitely shouldn't be allowed to. The game should have blocked it like it blocked the True ending. If the puzzle skips were better made, no one would have complained if 2 endings were required instead of 1.
I might have been better off without the Coffin ending, but it was so enjoyable by itself anyway, I can't say it's that big of a deal.
My favorite moment is the upside-down stuff. I was worried my DS would stop functioning from my sweat getting in between the buttons! That was when I realized the whole Akane-was-bottom-screen and I just went "whoooooaa" for a good couple minutes.
There were also those moments I love most in these types of stories, where they basically explain plot points that I completely forgot about and didn't even think they needed an explanation (example: Ace acquiring the medicine that boosted his company).
I want a sequel with both Santa, Junpei and Akane involved (Seven was awesome but he can't really be more than a side character after this, and Snake and Clover have had enough of that shit). And not AA4 style. It'll probably be hard ass to pull off but I want it. Shit, maybe even tie it to the Alice stuff and make it seem like you had intended it all along!
---------------------------------------
So yeah I must say I still have a ton of questions (I still haven't read the answers thing from the OP, the page is blocked here, so I'm basically just writing them to remember for later, you don't have to restate something if it was already answered there).
Initially during the ending I thought this: Santa funded and created the second game (he did say stuff about doing stocks so that's probably his money source). By saying he was the assistant he just meant he did it for her and it revolved around her, rather than saying that she really planned anything.
Now though I'm not quite sure anymore. Where the hell did she disappear to in the incinerator? If she ran away, why? She could have caused Junpei the same reaction if she just lay there looking all painful like with the fever. And how did she even do it, doors and everything?
If she really disappeared, why? I mean there's no reason. Junpei solved the puzzle.
Hardest thing for me to accept was that she was faking everything besides the lovebird stuff with Junpei, but I guess there's no other way to spin that. She really did. Even the screaming and injuring her knuckles in Door 3? Damn that's hard to accept.
And for the final scene, uh, well, uh. Uh. Uh!
Akane, right? What the hell is with that Lotus body/out of character pose, then? Why's she in the middle of nowhere where there's no guarantee the other car would have passed through? Why not just wait for them outside if you bothered to run away from the incinerator. But hell why even run away from the incinerator to begin with. You're risking the chance that Junpei would burn to death after rescuing you (where you could have stayed inside the incinerator, or came back after he solved the puzzle, and told them of the q stuff, or just flat out opened the door for them and shut the incinerator).
Was Santa just driving alone or something? Why did he leave Ace with the other group (I would have taken him, tied him to the back of the car with rope and driven off).
And about the whole telepathy stuff... so both Akane and Junpei were both transmitters and receivers? And wasn't Santa supposed to be a good "host" for Akane too? Why did nothing in that area happen between Snake and Clover? Initially it makes a lot of sense because I thought of it as a rather weak thing, but then Junpei basically talked with Akane and I thought damn, that shit's strong enough that Clover should have known some stuff.
I guess the whole sibling and transmitters/receivers thing is not really valid since Junpei shouldn't have even been able to do much compared to Santa. I'll call it "Telepathy: Power of Love Edition"
And about the "truth had gone", was that Akane transmitting it to Junpei after he transmitted it to her in the Safe ending? Why even go through the trouble instead of having Santa just let Junpei find the note? It would have had an equal effect and far more reliable. Hiding it that late-game and having Akane transfer it to him after failing once seems really roundabout.
And last... do Santa and Junpei become bros forever and Junpei and Akane having sex furiously? The ending should have included that. It totally should've.
By the way this post was twice as long before I went over it a couple times. Sorry if it's still unreadable.
I loved it. I'm really childish in my taste with stories and I love shit like twists and crazy stuff for the sake of being crazy stuff, so I knew why I was playing it and why I got it in the mail with Ghost Trick. And it delivered because it was fucking crazy. And it totally didn't seem like it (even after the first two endings I expected one mastermind and no supernatural effects) in the beginning, which is what drove me to replay it so many times.
It's probable that no one remembers this but among the page-5x I posted how I really didn't like the multiple-playthrough system and that I probably won't be stubborn enough to complete them all (as I knew myself). Like I said the first ending was so much nothing (knife ending) that it forced me to discover just how much was hidden until the final ending. Once I got over the wall of choosing things that I'm against choosing, it was smooth sailing.
I still don't quite know if this style of multiple-endings was a good choice, but considering I was initially against it, that says a lot about how my perception of it vastly improved. It was really well done. Later on, I didn't even mind the fact you can't skip puzzles (which stands against everything I love and know and think and feel)!!
I did, however, want to be able to shortcut through them using the telepathy (like, if Junpei didn't need to go in the kitchen - he'd just get "43" flashing in his head, or if that's too much, if he held the freezer's door open by instinct, and we would have gotten the dialogue (which we can skip) without the puzzle). That seems like wasted opportunity to make the gameplay better while tightening the story even further. You'd get vague hints of telepathy (depends on how vague they make them - the player can simply think that "43" popped up to make the puzzle skippable, without paying mind to it story-wise), and skip the puzzles, without breaking the flow of the story. There were also a lot of parts where it was possible to shortcut (like in the Prologue puzzle), but only if you wrote down the code beforehand... which is really unnecessary. If we finished the puzzles, the game should be guilt free when giving us the codes if we replay them.
I got the endings in this order: Knife, Submarine, Axe, Coffin, Safe and then True. This might be some sort of psychological fallacy, but I really think this is the best order I could have asked for. I always felt like each ending gave me a a bit more info than the last, with the first being completely vague, and the one before True almost revealing everything. The Safe ending was basically scenes from the Knife and Sub endings, extended (like with Santa's on the stairs). While I'm not sure if people could get the Safe ending first, they definitely shouldn't be allowed to. The game should have blocked it like it blocked the True ending. If the puzzle skips were better made, no one would have complained if 2 endings were required instead of 1.
I might have been better off without the Coffin ending, but it was so enjoyable by itself anyway, I can't say it's that big of a deal.
My favorite moment is the upside-down stuff. I was worried my DS would stop functioning from my sweat getting in between the buttons! That was when I realized the whole Akane-was-bottom-screen and I just went "whoooooaa" for a good couple minutes.
There were also those moments I love most in these types of stories, where they basically explain plot points that I completely forgot about and didn't even think they needed an explanation (example: Ace acquiring the medicine that boosted his company).
I want a sequel with both Santa, Junpei and Akane involved (Seven was awesome but he can't really be more than a side character after this, and Snake and Clover have had enough of that shit). And not AA4 style. It'll probably be hard ass to pull off but I want it. Shit, maybe even tie it to the Alice stuff and make it seem like you had intended it all along!
---------------------------------------
So yeah I must say I still have a ton of questions (I still haven't read the answers thing from the OP, the page is blocked here, so I'm basically just writing them to remember for later, you don't have to restate something if it was already answered there).
Initially during the ending I thought this: Santa funded and created the second game (he did say stuff about doing stocks so that's probably his money source). By saying he was the assistant he just meant he did it for her and it revolved around her, rather than saying that she really planned anything.
Now though I'm not quite sure anymore. Where the hell did she disappear to in the incinerator? If she ran away, why? She could have caused Junpei the same reaction if she just lay there looking all painful like with the fever. And how did she even do it, doors and everything?
If she really disappeared, why? I mean there's no reason. Junpei solved the puzzle.
Hardest thing for me to accept was that she was faking everything besides the lovebird stuff with Junpei, but I guess there's no other way to spin that. She really did. Even the screaming and injuring her knuckles in Door 3? Damn that's hard to accept.
And for the final scene, uh, well, uh. Uh. Uh!
Akane, right? What the hell is with that Lotus body/out of character pose, then? Why's she in the middle of nowhere where there's no guarantee the other car would have passed through? Why not just wait for them outside if you bothered to run away from the incinerator. But hell why even run away from the incinerator to begin with. You're risking the chance that Junpei would burn to death after rescuing you (where you could have stayed inside the incinerator, or came back after he solved the puzzle, and told them of the q stuff, or just flat out opened the door for them and shut the incinerator).
Was Santa just driving alone or something? Why did he leave Ace with the other group (I would have taken him, tied him to the back of the car with rope and driven off).
And about the whole telepathy stuff... so both Akane and Junpei were both transmitters and receivers? And wasn't Santa supposed to be a good "host" for Akane too? Why did nothing in that area happen between Snake and Clover? Initially it makes a lot of sense because I thought of it as a rather weak thing, but then Junpei basically talked with Akane and I thought damn, that shit's strong enough that Clover should have known some stuff.
I guess the whole sibling and transmitters/receivers thing is not really valid since Junpei shouldn't have even been able to do much compared to Santa. I'll call it "Telepathy: Power of Love Edition"
And about the "truth had gone", was that Akane transmitting it to Junpei after he transmitted it to her in the Safe ending? Why even go through the trouble instead of having Santa just let Junpei find the note? It would have had an equal effect and far more reliable. Hiding it that late-game and having Akane transfer it to him after failing once seems really roundabout.
And last... do Santa and Junpei become bros forever and Junpei and Akane having sex furiously? The ending should have included that. It totally should've.
Belisarius
Member
Uchikoshi touches on this in the Answers (on our site), but the short version is that she can't bear to face Junpei after what she's done (put him and a grip of other people through the wringer, committed 3 or so counts of second-hand murder) slash she has plans.upandaway said:
Personally, I felt that most of her emotional reactions are genuine, they just aren't always reactions to what you think they are. Perhaps some of them are her being overcome with guilt for actually murdering people (i.e., after you see the 9th Man's corpse). Perhaps some of them are her feeling bad for the shit she's putting people through. Perhaps some of them are flashbacks/forwards to her own agonizing death(s). Although she has to be calculating to some extent to pull off the whole thing, that doesn't mean she has to be cold. After all, if she doesn't complete the Nonary Game in 999, not only does she die For Realz, Ace and his bros totally get away with it. She has lots of reasons why she has to do it, but it's still painful for her to see people she cares about in pain. And, you know, die over and over and over.upandaway said:
I don't think they ever say it has to be siblings, and it seems like there's a fair amount of chance and/or other factors that come into play re: who's a good transmitter and/or receiver. But yes, you're right: It's the Power of Love.upandaway said:
They do in my incredibly explicit epilogue, but Chunsoft wouldn't let me put it in the game.upandaway said:
I'd buy this.
The more I think about it, aside from having Junpei join her, the more I wouldn't have it any other way. That is, regarding Akane having bigger plans with an organization being a millionaire and all. Just as long as Junpei is in on it it's an awesome ending, one that really should have been in the game, or expanded upon in a sequel. A Junpei/Akane ending like that reminds me of Mirai Nikki, and that's awesome.
The author at some point mentions how a lot of the questions are about Akane's true person... maybe that's because no one really wants her to end up as she depicts her? I mean I'm fine with it if she lets Junpei in like I said, but if she really runs away like that.. that sucks and I don't want it either. I and I think many other people really want her to be with Junpei, regardless of who she is or what her plans are.
By the way, the guy flat out says that Akane used the morpho field with Junpei as a prediction power for stocks... that means, it's not just her looking for a way to live (and then playing it out so she lives), it's her actually tapping into the future. That's all kinds of insane and silly. All kinds. All of 'em. But I love it.
And the author could have been a little more confident in his answer... yes, I know he probably never thought of an answer for many of those questions, but that doesn't mean he should say "I never thought of it, figure it out." I always disliked that attitude. He should either answer it as an official, straightforward fact or remove the question. Especially when the story is so solid (as in, it gives us clear events that happened, and not some vague artistic poem), the clearer the events, the better the story. There's a reason so many questions wanted such clear answers like "is it this or that?", it's because it's more important to them to have an answer than to think about what they want it to be. Even though I may say something like "I would have preferred it the other way" (like above), I'm grateful that he gave an answer instead of dodging it, since it only expands the story. And 999 isn't some vague art piece which relies heavily on personal interpretation, it's the complete opposite.
I really wish I could say this to the author directly and hear what he has to say. And I wouldn't accept any answer like "I'm too lazy to think up answers" or "I want to leave it to the players."
Synth_floyd
Banned
Besides all the pseudo-science, the thing in the game that required TOO much suspension of disbelief was how Zero "tricked" Ace into killing the other 3 members of the group that ran the game 9 years ago.
Especially with guy #9. For instance, he was one of the people running the game 9 years ago. So he knew how the game worked. Even if he believed Ace's lie of "You won't die if you go through the door alone," why would he do it? What would he gain by running off on his own ahead of everyone else? He knew that there were other numbered doors ahead of him that needed multiple people to enter and he knew that they would all just lead to the same places and knew that the #9 door was still far away. So why would he do that?
The obvious answer is that it makes a great beginning to the game.
And of course Zero knew that the instant that Ace was alone with "Snake" he would try to kill him with the bracelet he stole from guy #9. And apparently the fake Snake was incapacitated enough to not be able to fight back against Ace, but was strong enough to run from the door to the DEAD device and try to save himself with it (iirc the Dead device is a ways from the door)?
And then Zero also knew that when Ace met up with the financier guy in the Captain suit he wouldn't say something like "Hey what's up? We're friends, let's try and escape from here"? But instead just insta-kill him? It would be far better to team up with him and convince the others that the game is complete bullshit than just axe him on the spot.
And then at the end Ace says "How could I fall into such an easy trap?" LOL
Especially with guy #9. For instance, he was one of the people running the game 9 years ago. So he knew how the game worked. Even if he believed Ace's lie of "You won't die if you go through the door alone," why would he do it? What would he gain by running off on his own ahead of everyone else? He knew that there were other numbered doors ahead of him that needed multiple people to enter and he knew that they would all just lead to the same places and knew that the #9 door was still far away. So why would he do that?
The obvious answer is that it makes a great beginning to the game.
And of course Zero knew that the instant that Ace was alone with "Snake" he would try to kill him with the bracelet he stole from guy #9. And apparently the fake Snake was incapacitated enough to not be able to fight back against Ace, but was strong enough to run from the door to the DEAD device and try to save himself with it (iirc the Dead device is a ways from the door)?
And then Zero also knew that when Ace met up with the financier guy in the Captain suit he wouldn't say something like "Hey what's up? We're friends, let's try and escape from here"? But instead just insta-kill him? It would be far better to team up with him and convince the others that the game is complete bullshit than just axe him on the spot.
And then at the end Ace says "How could I fall into such an easy trap?" LOL
Tricky I Shadow
Banned
Trojita said:After reading the "Answers" section on the Aksys site, I think this can sum up how I feel about the answers that were given.
LOL. Perfect!
BlazingDarkness
Member
So, what's the deal with All-ice, Alice? I get that she isn't necessarily who we saw her as, as that's Akane's/Junpei's creation in their mind, but it showed her as an actual person in the True ending, who is she in relation to the actual plot? Or was she just there to represent the whole knowledge/mind sharing field the characters were in, to say that the information shared was proof enough that she did exist
Synth_floyd
Banned
It's a fun game but there's about 10000000 plot holes in it so there's no point in analyzing it that deeply.
The whole premise of the game is that every single character is either lying or covering up information at the beginning which I thought was kind of lame. So the whole "mystery" at the beginning of "who are we? what are we doing here? what is this game?" etc. wasn't really a mystery at all and just a cheap trick by the writers of the game.
The whole premise of the game is that every single character is either lying or covering up information at the beginning which I thought was kind of lame. So the whole "mystery" at the beginning of "who are we? what are we doing here? what is this game?" etc. wasn't really a mystery at all and just a cheap trick by the writers of the game.
BlazingDarkness
Member
Well, I think for Junpei, and you (the player) it's a mysterySynth_floyd said:
I also think that since June was Zero and she placed Seven in the nonary game herself, I think she would've divulged some information to him beforehand and told him her plan. Thus explaining his fake "amnesia" to use as a scapegoat in the plot for hiding what was really going on.
ZombiePlatypus
Member
Just beat the game with the true ending last night. Holy shit what a ride. (I got the knife, submarine and ax endings first. I swear I wanted to rage-quit so hard after those since they were such mega-troll endings that explained nothing.) Anyway, few questions: (Sorry if these have already been addressed, or if my question(s) end up obvious.)
Edit:
I just wanna ad that even though I absolute hated being forced to replay the game a bunch of times to get to the real ending, I really liked one effect it had: A few important pieces of info were given to you with each playthrough that on the path to the true ending were revealed to Junpei as shocking revelations. But, he mentions how he somehow doesn't feel surprised by them cause "his mind is in sync with Akane or what not" while the actual player is not surprised by them cause he got that info in past playthroughs. Intentional or not, I thought that was a nice parallel. (Even though it basically meant you backtrack the entire game multiple times. Argh that sucked.)
- If the watches didn't really have detonators in them, why did the 9th man explode at the beginning? Wasn't this exactly the sort of bluf that Ace was trying to call?
- I'm a little confused about Lotus's kids. Did she have twins or triplets? Were they in Aoi's/Santa's group in the first Nonary incident?
- What was the purpose of having the cast turn out to be in the Nevada building as opposed to on an actual ship? Was it just all flipped around since the true transmitter, child Akane, ended up being on the old ship so they decided to have all the recievers be in a building in the future?
Edit:
I just wanna ad that even though I absolute hated being forced to replay the game a bunch of times to get to the real ending, I really liked one effect it had: A few important pieces of info were given to you with each playthrough that on the path to the true ending were revealed to Junpei as shocking revelations. But, he mentions how he somehow doesn't feel surprised by them cause "his mind is in sync with Akane or what not" while the actual player is not surprised by them cause he got that info in past playthroughs. Intentional or not, I thought that was a nice parallel. (Even though it basically meant you backtrack the entire game multiple times. Argh that sucked.)
SolarKnight
Member
1-Presumably, only the people that organized the first Nonary Game had actual bombs in them.
2-Lotus only had two kids, and like everyone else (well, except Aoi and Akane), one was on the ship, and the other on Nevada.
3-Two reasons, Akane didn't want to actually kill them, and, most importantly, it'd be kinda hard to have the game take place in something that's already at the bottom of the ocean >.>
2-Lotus only had two kids, and like everyone else (well, except Aoi and Akane), one was on the ship, and the other on Nevada.
3-Two reasons, Akane didn't want to actually kill them, and, most importantly, it'd be kinda hard to have the game take place in something that's already at the bottom of the ocean >.>
ZombiePlatypus
Member
Thanks! I think I finally more or less wrapped my head around this mindfuck of a game.
SolarKnight
Member
Did you read the answers already btw?
ZombiePlatypus
Member
You mean the Q&A on the official site for the game? Yeah, it was really interesting. Even though he doesn't confirm a sequel on there, It really gives me the impression that the writer has had the idea to make a couple of games tie together into a grander scheme from the beginning. Should be interesting to see how it all pans out.
chickdigger802
Banned
Woo just wrapped this up today! The true ending took a lot longer than I thought vs other endings 
.
I do wish they hinted the link between young akane and junpei in previous runs. Having the whole Mario and Luigi 2 thingy with the dual screens at the end... felt a teeny bit rushed somehow.
I do find the premise of setting up this whole elaborate multi million dollar project with the hope that your childhood crush would be able to solve a relatively easy sudoku puzzle is pretty damn hilarious
. I do wish they hinted the link between young akane and junpei in previous runs. Having the whole Mario and Luigi 2 thingy with the dual screens at the end... felt a teeny bit rushed somehow.
I do find the premise of setting up this whole elaborate multi million dollar project with the hope that your childhood crush would be able to solve a relatively easy sudoku puzzle is pretty damn hilarious
PumpkinPie
Banned
If I hadn't played Ghost Trick right before it I'd say that 999 was my GOTY 2011.
Just got this game a few days ago for my birthday, and recently got the last ending I needed (Axe).
A couple things I didn't see mentioned here or on the answers page on the official site (sorry if they were though):
Does anybody else think the game foreshadowed June's true identity and bracelet number pretty early on? At one point she tells Junpei the number of men she's dated is, "18... times 0."
1 + 8 = 9 (her bracelet number)
18 x 0 = 0 (she's Zero)
I also saw people wondering why she got a fever after the 9th man was killed, and unless I'm remembering wrong, they didn't answer this on the official site. So was that fever caused because their version of the Nonary Game was already different than the one held nine years ago due to the death of the 9th man? And I'm assuming the fever went away as the game got back on track since having the 9th man out of the game wouldn't hinder the progress of the rest of the participants.
A couple things I didn't see mentioned here or on the answers page on the official site (sorry if they were though):
Does anybody else think the game foreshadowed June's true identity and bracelet number pretty early on? At one point she tells Junpei the number of men she's dated is, "18... times 0."
1 + 8 = 9 (her bracelet number)
18 x 0 = 0 (she's Zero)
I also saw people wondering why she got a fever after the 9th man was killed, and unless I'm remembering wrong, they didn't answer this on the official site. So was that fever caused because their version of the Nonary Game was already different than the one held nine years ago due to the death of the 9th man? And I'm assuming the fever went away as the game got back on track since having the 9th man out of the game wouldn't hinder the progress of the rest of the participants.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
I like that, if it was intentional that's a pretty cool allusion. ^_^
Regarding Akane's fever with the 9th man's death, I think that while she intended for him to die, that it wasn't supposed to happen like that. I'm guessing Ace (unintentionally) messed that part up for her by tricking him to go on alone, and in doing so messed up her vision of the events a bit. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I also think that's why she was so disturbed by it. It wasn't "Oh my god, he's dead!", it was "This isn't how it was supposed to go! If it doesn't go the right way I'll die!" Thankfully for Akane it wasn't enough of a deviation that she couldn't still survive. ^^;
Edit: Misread your post.
I think June knew there was a good chance Ace would do that, so it was very clever to give the 9th man the #9 bracelet. That could be removed without affecting the rest of the game.
But yes, I agree her fever was caused by the game differing from the previous one, but it went away once the game continued as normal.
I think her very emotional reaction was more acting though. She was acting as Junpei would expect her to, so nothing would seem fishy, IMO.
I think June knew there was a good chance Ace would do that, so it was very clever to give the 9th man the #9 bracelet. That could be removed without affecting the rest of the game.
But yes, I agree her fever was caused by the game differing from the previous one, but it went away once the game continued as normal.
I think her very emotional reaction was more acting though. She was acting as Junpei would expect her to, so nothing would seem fishy, IMO.
I sort of wish that the game had ended in such a way that allowed Junpei and (present) Akane to face each other honestly. All you see during the game is the act Akane is playing in order to keep things running smoothly.
Same. I really hope the writer wasn't being serious when he said Junpei spent the rest of his life chasing after Akane but never found her. I would have been fine if he just said they never met again and Junpei went about his life, but the description he gave is seriously depressing and would make me think less of Akane.
It implies to me Junpei spent the rest of his life obsessing over one girl so much he never decided to do what's best for himself, and died alone without ever seeing Akane again (and the writer said he loves all his characters, so that's a double 'WTF?').
It would also be a dick move on Akane's part to put Junpei through all of that, and then disappear forever knowing full well how he feels about her. Even if she thinks it's dangerous for him to be with her or whatever, she owes it to him to at least talk to him once after the Nonary Game was over, or even leave a note in the SUV explaining that she can't see him again.
The_Player
Member
Finished game yesterday, it took 12 hours to get all the three endings together. Man, I disappointed in the True one. I really really really realllllllly wished Junpei and Akane to see each other afterwards. This is so cruel and so unfair for the writer to let Junpei suffer all these horrors at the Q, and then not rewarding him with anything in the end. ANYTHING! No goodbye, no smile or gratefulness from Akane for saving her wicked soul is really wearing me out. Junpei got NOTHING from it, but broken heart and will-o'-the-wisp he'll be chasing for the rest of his life. I'm depressed and in sorrow. Wish they've made a novel / anime / manga / CG about their life past The Nonary Game.
Tricky I Shadow
Banned
: O
The_Player
Member
And Alice hitchhikin in the end. Seriously? She was alright to me as a sort of a red herring, but suddenly putting her on the side of the road 9 years past the first game (what in the hell she was doing there) is something that looks more like a foolish joke than another piece of puzzle solved together.
Nevertheless, 999 is the best game I've played on the platform; and one of the best stories I've ever enjoyed in my gaming life for sure. It may not be as good as Arcanum for example, but really is something that leaving a mark in you consciousness, making you re-think of adventures you've experienced one day.
Nevertheless, 999 is the best game I've played on the platform; and one of the best stories I've ever enjoyed in my gaming life for sure. It may not be as good as Arcanum for example, but really is something that leaving a mark in you consciousness, making you re-think of adventures you've experienced one day.
Byronic Hero
Member
All (or most) will be revealed with Virtues Last Reward.
I need to replay this game to brush up on the story.
The_Player
Member
You know that you just made me to buy a new platform?
edit: Clover (for the 3rd time) and Alice? Is this a real life?