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Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward |OT| -- More Hours, More Persons, More Doors

grim-tales

Member
My copy of VLR has been delayed again til February, so I'll try and play 999 til then.
If I still havent got it by Feb 8 then... eh, I guess its been very popular, Amazon are having trouble getting a copy.
 

Chopper

Member
Done it. Last ending. I think. I'm too exhausted to go through the spoiler thread. I think I understand more or less everything. Incredible stuff.

For some reason I missed the dartboard score file on my first playthrough. Is there any chance I've missed anything because of this? I suppose if I was playing on Vita, I would have gotten Platinum, but is there any penalty on 3DS.
 

Vibed

Member
Done it. Last ending. I think. I'm too exhausted to go through the spoiler thread. I think I understand more or less everything. Incredible stuff.

For some reason I missed the dartboard score file on my first playthrough. Is there any chance I've missed anything because of this? I suppose if I was playing on Vita, I would have gotten Platinum, but is there any penalty on 3DS.

I don't think it really counts against anything. You beat all the rooms on Hard and unlocked
the two End or Beginning paths
, right?
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
And the endings just keep on comin'!

One complaint I have is that they should've featured a lot more hand-drawn characters in the cutscenes...sometimes the cg art looked terrible in stillframe and every time something hand drawn came up it looked so much nicer.
 
My gf just beat 999 and said she got a "bad ending". Does she have to beat it again? Is it worth it? Do you have to beat it multiple times? She seemed pretty disappointed by the ending (I bought it for her)
 

Javier

Member
Well, if she wants to get the True ending, yeah, she has to start from the beginning but all the text she's already read is skippable.

It is highly recommended to get every ending in the game, though. The bad endings aren't required, but they help you put some loose ends into place.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
My gf just beat 999 and said she got a "bad ending". Does she have to beat it again? Is it worth it? Do you have to beat it multiple times? She seemed pretty disappointed by the ending (I bought it for her)

Yes. She should keep playing, and she'll probably end up enjoying it. 999's endings aren't like other games; the whole point is that you play it over and over and make different choices each time.

She can skip text she's already read to speed things up.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Yes. She should keep playing, and she'll probably end up enjoying it. 999's endings aren't like other games; the whole point is that you play it over and over and make different choices each time.

She can skip text she's already read to speed things up.

Yep, in a way think of those other endings as chapter ends almost.
 
Still trudging my way through 999. Finished the
medical room with the mannequins
puzzle room. Still not feeling the game. Whats wrong with me?
 
She didn't beat it.

Yep, in a way think of those other endings as chapter ends almost.

Yes. She should keep playing, and she'll probably end up enjoying it. 999's endings aren't like other games; the whole point is that you play it over and over and make different choices each time.

She can skip text she's already read to speed things up.

Well, if she wants to get the True ending, yeah, she has to start from the beginning but all the text she's already read is skippable.

It is highly recommended to get every ending in the game, though. The bad endings aren't required, but they help you put some loose ends into place.

Awesome thanks! Before I even told her, she started playing it again anyways... haha.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
When it comes to atmosphere 999 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> VLR.

Although of course the latter comes with a number of significant gameplay improvements (except for all the BLIP BLIP BLIP BLIP BLIP OPEN DOOR CLOSE DOOR OPEN DOOR CLOSE DOOR stupidity), I can't help but to pick 999 if a guy point a gun to my head and scream "CHOOSE!"
 
Hmm, 999 had Snake and a much better atmosphere, but it's held back by its superfluous prose and bad endings that are, well, bad (axe ending aside).

VLR on the other hand, has K and Tenmyouji as well as at least one awesome twist per ending to keep you playing. It's not without its problems though; it drags quite a bit at times and some of the later developments make you scratch your head in bewilderment, but it's altogether a better-written game (which is what matter most, isn't it?).

Plus VLR has a good deal more replay value with its flow chart system and 24 endings, meaning you get more bang for your buck.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
Well, the True End of 999 really tug at my heartstrings. Like, tugging it real bad.

In the end I prefer that kind of sensation even when compared to gameplay improvements like replay value, more ending, etc etc.

I don't know, I mean, it shocked me a couple of times but the only times VLR ever gave me that kind of feeling was when
Junpei cried in front of hologram Akane
and when
Junpei stated with bitterness that Akane has changed
and when we see
Young Akane
.

I guess I am just really weak for stuff like that, hahaha.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
999 is a bit better simply by being the first one, and so the ending was that much more powerful. VLR is in many ways the better game, but those who go into it from 999 are already aware of the kinds of things the writers might consider that violate normal conceptions.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I'm just let down that they didn't explain Quark's ridiculous hat.
 
Whew! I just finished VLR! I loved 999 when I played it back in October thanks to the LTTP thread that was running back then, but put off starting Virtue's Last Reward until I had played through P4G, because I was afraid I'd burn out on the Zero Escape gameplay before finishing it otherwise... Now, in retrospect, I'm glad I got to play it relatively close to 999 and think I'll play them back to back on the next play through... There are so many awesome reveals in this game! I loved it!! Oh, and it's my first Platinum Trophy. Ever.

... but the last line was a long one! Endings
or Beginnings?
that tease and reveal and stretch my poor brain! Wow! Just a great game...

I still have to finish reading through all the gold files, but I'm too burnt to do that tonight... other than that I think I've covered everything and filled out the flow chart...

Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to go watch 12 Monkeys...
 

PBMax

Member
This has probably already been explained 999 times but how does the skip feature work?

Does it stop when it hits new text, or am I at risk of missing something by using it?
 
This has probably already been explained 999 times but how does the skip feature work?

Does it stop when it hits new text, or am I at risk of missing something by using it?

It automatically stops when you reach something you haven't read, even if it's a tiny bit of text!
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'

Crub

Member
Why is this game more than three times the length of the original? I was considering checking it out but 30+ hours is just far too long for me.

Is the first game at least a self-containing story so I can play it without bothering with VLR?
 
Why is this game more than three times the length of the original? I was considering checking it out but 30+ hours is just far too long for me.

Is the first game at least a self-containing story so I can play it without bothering with VLR?

There are almost 5 times as many endings, or "End" paths in VLR compared to 999. However, many of them can be skipped to rather quickly.

I know 999 took me longer than 10 hours, I just took my time with it.

Sure, many prefer 999 to VLR. It's definitely self containing enough if that's all you want to play for now.
 

Crub

Member
Do you actually have to get all endings in VLR to unlock a true ending or something? Looking at HLTB the average time for beating 999 is around 8 hours while it is over 30 for VLR. I assume in 999's case that's only the time it takes to reach one ending whereas in VLR's case it equals the time of getting all endings.
 
Do you actually have to get all endings in VLR to unlock a true ending or something? Looking at HLTB the average time for beating 999 is around 8 hours while it is over 30 for VLR. I assume in 999's case that's only the time it takes to reach one ending whereas in VLR's case it equals the time of getting all endings.

Let's put it like this: half of the endings are bad ones, which aren't necessary for game's completion (except one), while the other half is necessary.
Remind that the game has a jumping feature that lets you jump wherever you've already been. This way, doing certain bad ends just takes 5-10 minutes!
BTW, yes, both game are self-contained, but there are many links.
Start with 999. If you like it, just buy the sequel. Easy!
 

shtkn

Member
so... what's up with
kyle at the very end? he gets sigma's memories, but he's still himself and akane says he's a wildcard in the system? i didn't follow that bit... what does that mean for him (and the next game)?
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
Shit man. I have theories:

First of all I'm basically nowhere in this game. I've gotten to the "to be continued" on the far left of the flow chart. I'm now right at the first split of the middle line of the flow chart, on the left side. I met
one of the robot dudes talking about how their bodies relate to the central processors or something, about how realistic they can make those robots.

I'm thinking "what if one or more of the characters was a robot all along and didn't tell anyone? Or didn't know themselves?" Anyway, before the "to be continued" I of course found pretty much every character except Phi and Sigma dead. I also noticed in the quick grey flashbacks how it looked like some (or all?) of them killed themselves. In my current path I just got to the point where Quark tried to do the same after collapsing, talking about how he needs to escape his body.

I'm thinking that all has something to do with the robots. Maybe whatever they're calling "Radical-6" caused Quark to know something. That's about as much as I can theorize right now.
 
so... what's up with
kyle at the very end? he gets sigma's memories, but he's still himself and akane says he's a wildcard in the system? i didn't follow that bit... what does that mean for him (and the next game)?

That wasn't Kyle in Kyle's body.

That's a better question for the spoiler topic.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
So are the "to be continued" screens this game's versions of the crap endings? If so then I just got
Axe ending 2.0
.
 
No, you're meant to go back to them when you get more info from other routes. Bad endings will tell you they're that by saying "Game Over".
 

Omikaru

Member
So are the "to be continued" screens this game's versions of the crap endings? If so then I just got
Axe ending 2.0
.

Not necessarily. You just don't have enough information to progress right now. Come back when you've learned something pertinent to what happened in the run-up to the "to be continued".
 

darkvir

Member
Got a couple more 'ending's last night and this morning.

Had shelved this for a couple of months, finding it slower than 999. When VLR hits its stride it really sucks you in. I think I have enough motivation to complete it now :)
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I'm shocked that the voice actor who played Dio also played the 'book' in Nier. He can do an amazing James Mason-esque British accent...
 

Mistle

Member
So after 22 hours I finally got a proper ending D: as in, one that fills in a question mark on the save screen and has a credits roll.

It was the Dio end. Finally the game is starting to get interesting! It took long enough... I mean I have been enjoying the game a lot, but it's been pretty slow in general. 999 was a lot more consistently exciting.

Regardless, I look forward to getting more proper endings! Are they all pretty great?
And do they all kind of start coming all at once? Because at 22 hrs in and only one proper ending, I feel like things should wrap up fairly soon, but there's still so much more left to do.

Going to start the middle branch now.
 

milkham

Member
So after 22 hours I finally got a proper ending D: as in, one that fills in a question mark on the save screen and has a credits roll.

It was the Dio end. Finally the game is starting to get interesting! It took long enough... I mean I have been enjoying the game a lot, but it's been pretty slow in general. 999 was a lot more consistently exciting.

Regardless, I look forward to getting more proper endings! Are they all pretty great?
And do they all kind of start coming all at once? Because at 22 hrs in and only one proper ending, I feel like things should wrap up fairly soon, but there's still so much more left to do.

Going to start the middle branch now.

Dio ending was my first as well, and I think I ended around 34 or 35 hours
 
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