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

PKrockin

Member
Can't you just go back to a room you only completed on Easy and immediately input the safe password without solving the puzzles again? Should be no big deal to get all puzzle rooms cleared on hard.
 
I really wish I could complete the puzzle rooms on hard, but with the combined factor of the save wipe glitch and my game hard locking in the crew quarters I an hesitant to save in the rooms and spend any longer in them then necessary so I generally just easy skip my way through any of the puzzles that really stump me. But I have managed a couple on hard at least and they are very satisfying.
 

aravuus

Member
Didn't read the thread because it's pretty goddamn long, and I try to avoid all spoilers, even the slightest, but I still gotta ask..

Are Junpei and/or Akane in the game in any way? I really wanted to see
them get together
lol

A simple yes or no would be great tia

ordered the game just an hour ago, right after finishin 999
 
So I was going to just get Luna's ending last night and leave Phi's (the last one) for tomorrow, then one word, just one word changed all that:
"Doctor."
Suddenly it was 5:00 AM and my account had a new plat trophy. :p

Once I heard that, it felt like mostly everything fell into place almost immediately.
So what had been suggested by K's ending was actually true, which also meant that this was waaaaay into the future compared to what most of the group assumes. I had thought that maybe Tenmyouji and Quark were maybe coming from the future, since it appeared as though most people agreed that it was late December 2028, but obviously their time was the present since Sigma knew enough to be Zero Sr and create all this stuff. My main problem with trying to figure out everything was stubbornly clinging to the idea that it had to be 2028; the red (heh) herring in Dio's ending basically cemented it.

Speaking of Tenmyouji, I had previously considered and laughed off the possibility of him being Junpei, but the hologram in Q pretty much confirmed that.

Everything else felt pretty straightforward and relatively unsurprising once a couple of false assumptions of mine were corrected, until the revelation that it was the goddamned MOON. Holy shit. Also, I had managed to completely forget about the director's office hologram and was so confused at Sigma's reflection at first! :p K being in the treatment pod shocked me at first but I remembered the ongoing theme of Schrodinger's cat, and I grinned like an idiot when Akane stepped out of the suit.

Another thing that made me grin like an idiot: the "new spot on the flowchart" messages. Awww yeah, time for some nonlinear pseudo-time travel fuckery. Also, "END or BEGINNING" is the best end-of-game message.

I dunno if I completely understand the epilogue, though. The fact that the main character is voiced (as Troy Baker, who I know was younger Sigma in the OVA) seems like the most significant point. The AB game had already been played, Dr Sigma and Phi have gone back to 2028, the mission failed, and it returns to the annihilation timeline. The only way this makes sense to me at this point is that young Sigma's consciousness was kicked out of his body and into the AB game, then he's sent back to fulfill his role as Dr Sigma, but the first attempt to stop annihilation fails and he gets kicked out into the future once the plan is attempted again? But he ends up in Kyle's body somehow. Is he an extra young Sigma consciousness that ends up in a timeline in which he doesn't belong or something?

Maybe it would be easier to figure out if I had actually gotten some sleep last night. :V

Also yes, better than 999. Mechanically it's much improved (variety of puzzles, replays) and the story is just plain bonkers even compared to its predecessor, I love it so much.
 
So this game is better than 999 right?

Gameplay is better, story is worse.

That's not to say it's "bad" it's just not as good as 999 in the story sense. Also as the writer confirmed he was kind of having to write in a manner than what he'd prefer based on the call from mgmt.
 

grim-tales

Member
33 hours in and still I only have:
a variety of To Be Continued locks and Game Overs/Bad Ends (K, Luna, Dio). I didnt want to betray Clover but it looks like I'm going to have to in order to advance as Phi told me to....
 

Omikaru

Member
So this game is better than 999 right?

Story is open to personal preference. Gameplay, however, is objectively better with VLR. It takes 999's flaws and stomps all over them.

The ability to jump to any part of the game you've previously played is a godsend, as is the fact that each narrative fork has its own unique puzzle, so you won't ever find yourself repeating any of them unless you didn't unlock all the archives (unlocked be completing the alternate puzzles in each puzzle room -- they can be done simultaneously to the main one, and need to be done without switching to Easy difficulty), which is advised.
 

Lusankya

Member
Didn't read the thread because it's pretty goddamn long, and I try to avoid all spoilers, even the slightest, but I still gotta ask..

Are Junpei and/or Akane in the game in any way? I really wanted to see
them get together
lol

A simple yes or no would be great tia

........yes.......
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Didn't read the thread because it's pretty goddamn long, and I try to avoid all spoilers, even the slightest, but I still gotta ask..

Are Junpei and/or Akane in the game in any way? I really wanted to see
them get together
lol

A simple yes or no would be great tia

ordered the game just an hour ago, right after finishin 999

References to them are made.
 

grim-tales

Member
I got
Dios
ending - FINALLY an ending for me!
Now I'm even more confused TBH - it sounds like Dio could be Zero Sr, he's a member of some weird cult it seems, I think he abducted everyone to help him on his 'mission'
 
I got
Dios
ending - FINALLY an ending for me!
Now I'm even more confused TBH - it sounds like Dio could be Zero Sr, he's a member of some weird cult it seems, I think he abducted everyone to help him on his 'mission'

Expect to get another couple of endings soon, then!
Be careful, soon you'll approach the infamous PEC room...
 

Frost_Ace

Member
I got
Dios
ending - FINALLY an ending for me!
Now I'm even more confused TBH - it sounds like Dio could be Zero Sr, he's a member of some weird cult it seems, I think he abducted everyone to help him on his 'mission'

That ending is one of the most WTF in the game, I didn't know what to think when I got it.
 

grim-tales

Member
I admit that -
When they stepped out into the "desert" it looked eerily like they were on the Moon or some planet in space or something WTF :D But I dunno, it just seems to fit that Dio could be Zero, imo. Maybe he invented the Radical-6 thing as cover for his "organisation" :eek:

wtf_is_this_shit_Very_Disturbing_Childrens_Book_RE_We_dont_say_ampquotGermanampquot_in_America-s400x297-59009.jpg


I just remembered something:

Do players who go through the No.9 door have to have 9 points? Zero said there were no rules about who could pass through. It could be 1 person, or the whole group. So why doesnt everyone just go through?
Also the fact I'd already seen the decompression room bit with Tenmyouji just before I got the ending, makes me wonder about another Building Q twist... I saw that room BEFORE going through the 9 door as well as afterwards..
 
Do players who go through the No.9 door have to have 9 points? Zero said there were no rules about who could pass through. It could be 1 person, or the whole group. So why doesnt everyone just go through?
Also the fact I'd already seen the decompression room bit with Tenmyouji just before I got the ending, makes me wonder about another Building Q twist... I saw that room BEFORE going through the 9 door as well as afterwards..

It's true that
if everyone is willing to not stab each other in the back 3 times in a row they can all leave. If you noticed, the decompression room that you did the puzzle in had its exit sealed
 

Jintor

Member
Do players who go through the No.9 door have to have 9 points? Zero said there were no rules about who could pass through. It could be 1 person, or the whole group. So why doesnt everyone just go through?
Also the fact I'd already seen the decompression room bit with Tenmyouji just before I got the ending, makes me wonder about another Building Q twist... I saw that room BEFORE going through the 9 door as well as afterwards..

What Zero III meant was
only players with 9 points can pass through the door, but any number of players with 9 points can pass through at once. Anybody without 9 points passing through gets injected.
 

grim-tales

Member
I feel I want to take a break for a bit, seems like I went through almost as much with finding 1 VLR ending as in the entire game of 999 :D
Also I feel as if I can guess some plot points
Maybe Dio is a terrorist and planted all the bombs
 

aravuus

Member
Okay so, what's the in-game flowchart like? While I like achieving a few endings, I usually do one or two myself, then use a non-spoiler guide to get the true one.

Can you tell from the flowchart what endings you need to get, if you'e already gotten them and what's the true ending?

e: sorry for the dumb questions, i have to do SOMETHING while i wait for my copy lol
 

Jintor

Member
VLR is laid out differently than 999. In VLR, you need to get all character endings to get the true ending. The game will block you from progressing in certain paths until you uncover information in other paths, so you'll effectively be funnelled into getting certain groups of endings in a certain order in any case.

The flowchart also lies, but in a good way.
 

aravuus

Member
Boy, consider yourself lucky. I had to do SOMETHING from August 2011 to October 2012!
O_O

Haha, yea I know the feeling.

This is exactly like with Mass Effect. I got to play the first game around the time the sequel was released, so I could order ME2 right after finishing ME1, and then had to anxiously wait for ME3 to finish the trilogy.

Let's just hope the third zero escape game isn't like the third mass effect was :lol
 

grim-tales

Member
I've decided to switch to:
The big middle branch on the chart, as I dont think I have enough information to finish off the left branch right now
 

Lusankya

Member
Okay so, what's the in-game flowchart like?
Here you can see the top part of the flowchart:
d1SEjYd.jpg


You can access it by either pressing up or down (I think it was up) on the d-pad and you should use it quite regularly. Basically everytime you die, hit a "to be continued" or an end you will use the flowchart to choose your starting point. Of course you can't choose the "?" boxes.

Can you tell from the flowchart what endings you need to get, if you'e already gotten them and what's the true ending?

You need to get all (non bad) endings anyway and no, the flowchart won't tell you where exactly all these endings are. Once you reach a specific ending you will see a corresponding icon on the flow chart.
 
Whelp, I finally finished it... and what a fuckin' ride. Wow. So good! I still have to go through and get all the little extras and find all the references and shit, but damn.

Oh, Tenmyouji <3
 

grim-tales

Member
Hey,
Can anyone please help with:

the block puzzle in the infirmary? Sometimes I think I have it but 2 blocks move at the same time, and they never stay in place?! :s
Also I've been looking at the dirty square of bedsheet, but cant find any clues? All thats happening is I wind up typing in random letters when I scan it
Thanks! ^^
 
Hey,
Can anyone please help with:

the block puzzle in the infirmary? Sometimes I think I have it but 2 blocks move at the same time, and they never stay in place?! :s
Also I've been looking at the dirty square of bedsheet, but cant find any clues? All thats happening is I wind up typing in random letters when I scan it
Thanks! ^^

Worry about the bedsheet for last, now focus on the blocks! Just try harder. When you think you have it, you're probably VERY close to the solution. Focus on that and you shall prevail!
 

grim-tales

Member
Actually
I managed to complete it myself OK (no guide), don't know how I did it though! xD The bedsheet was quite simple and gave me the green (safe) password, I havent found the gold file yet though....
Thanks though :)
 

grim-tales

Member
I just had a revelation....
In the part where:
Sigma is thinking about what he could have done to be kidnapped, he says "Had I started a fight with a threatening and mysterious new religion?"
Isnt that a bit like Dio's ending in a way? Is it possible in all those options, we're getting clues as to the actual meaning behind the game?
 

grim-tales

Member
Now things are heating up...
Clover's telling me about the events of 999 and the 1st and 2nd Nonary Games... interesting...
 

grim-tales

Member
Well I'm in the PEC Room (or rather I was) but I didnt save my game, my 3DS battery died.
I did the
connecting the dots
puzzle quite easily, not sure about the
laser one though... and a giant Zero Jr? Freaky shit man
 

emag

Member
What. The. Fuck. I had such high hopes for VLR, but a couple hours of playtime have dashed them completely (3DS).

VLR doesn't fix the designed-for-mentally-retarded-non-native-language-speaker-first-grader text speed of 999; if anything, it's even slower and clunkier than before. Are even moderately literate individuals that far outside the target audience of the Zero Escape games? (Perhaps so, judging by the atrocious grammatical errors in the script.)

Maybe it's been too long since I played 999, but I don't recall the puzzles being quite so manually cumbersome, either. Having to dig through the horrendous inventory system and "flick" one's way around the room is tedium defined.

And don't get me started on the inane character designs. Most of 999's were largely forgettable, but at least they were somewhat normal by anime standards. With VLR any vestiges of restraint went right out the door. It's telling that Alice (
a supernatural creature thousands of years old in the form of a barely clothed ancient Egyptian princess
) is one of the least zany characters.

999 was also leagues ahead of VLR in setup. There's zero tension this time around, without anything like the
9th Man or the Junpei-Akane
relationship. The Zero III bunny is hardly as menacing (bad puns aside) as 999's Zero, and the color-based team selection is a less engaging story mechanism than the numbering of the previous game.

I'm going to keep my head down and power on through, but my expectations have been significantly lowered. At least replays will be less grating than 999's "fast forward" mode.
 

grim-tales

Member
Hey, can you spoiler some/all of that please? There could be plot points in there!
I do agree with the lack of tension compared to 999 so far, I found the typos in the text (I only noticed one or two but they are) quite sad, I honestly didnt notice any in 999, oh well. The speed of the text is fine most of the time but does seem slow because the speech is faster in Japanese. But I like there is a "skip" function so you can really fast forward through stuff you know already and the text is very fast.
I much prefer the puzzles so far to 999, though I agree it would be better to just put important things for a puzzle in my inventory rather than the Archives part.
I think you should give VLR more time, though I agree about the start being slow compared to 999.
 
That's new! I heard people complaining about the plot, but really... Gameplay? That's the only thing that VLR OBJECTIVELY does better than 999.
You're still too early into the game to judge the cast, though...
 

Lusankya

Member
VLR doesn't fix the designed-for-mentally-retarded-non-native-language-speaker-first-grader text speed of 999; if anything, it's even slower and clunkier than before.
I guess you have the EU version? Because the text is only really slow with the Japanese language option enabled (to match the spoken text). Of course you can always speed up the text by pressing a button.

Maybe it's been too long since I played 999, but I don't recall the puzzles being quite so manually cumbersome, either. Having to dig through the horrendous inventory system and "flick" one's way around the room is tedium defined.
Don't "flick", use the buttons/dpad/slide pad to navigate.

And don't get me started on the inane character designs. Most of 999's were largely forgettable, but at least they were somewhat normal by anime standards. With VLR any vestiges of restraint went right out the door. It's telling that Alice (
a supernatural creature thousands of years old in the form of a barely clothed ancient Egyptian princess
) is one of the least zany characters.

Alice is not a supernatural creature, she is just a woman
 
Well i disagree with emag ..
To say why i'm gonna have to go full spoilers but since this isn't the right thread i won't ...
In terms of gameplay VLR is superior because you have time to breath and look for the clues yourself and it does have it's share of "moments".
Also you were still able to flick around the room in 9,9,9 the only difference is that it doesn't have a set "camera" but now you can turn around at will.


And really ..if you've played 9,9,9 you should know that you've barelly scratched the surface untill you're near the end it's fairly probable you've only hit a blockade and thus , need to come back later ...
 

emag

Member
I guess you have the EU version? Because the text is only really slow with the Japanese language option enabled (to match the spoken text). Of course you can always speed up the text by pressing a button.

Even that's broken. Depressing a button doesn't speed up the text; rather, tapping the button "fast forwards" text to the next break point (which is usually the next end-of-sentence marker, but not always). Sometimes there are multiple break points per dialog box and sometimes there aren't. Sometimes the dialog box scrolls and sometimes it clears and replaces existing text. (US 3DS version; tried both English and Japanese voiceovers.)

Don't "flick", use the buttons/dpad/slide pad to navigate.

Scrolling around the room using the slide pad is extremely slow and yet hitting precise targets is tricky. Using L/R to rotate does work better, but given that the stylus is the best bet for selection, it's still awkward. I'll agree that the dpad and buttons are somewhat useful as shortcuts (although they are still poorly mapped). I'd imagine it might work better on the PSV.

Alice is not a supernatural creature, she is just a woman

A woman whose body is preserved over millenia via ice-9 and CAS and who brings about a curse on her "owners".
Maybe that's retconned in VLR. In any case, my point was that even though Alice would look tremendously out of place in a quasi-realistic world, she's "normal" compared to the rest of the cast.

Of course, I'm still very early in the title. It's certainly possible I'll like VLR even more than 999, but the UI is [still] terribly off-putting and the story is taking longer to become engaging than 999's did.
 

grim-tales

Member
I thought if you press the Y button (twice) the text will just "skip" very fast then automatically stop when you see something you havent come across before. Its a feature I'm using now to get past
Zero 3 explaining the Nonary Game rules over and over
 
Yes, but emag is complaining after a mere couple of hours into the game, so skipping isn't an option for him.
I'm stunned, though...
How did you even SURVIVE 999 if you complain about those things in VLR?
 

Lusankya

Member
Scrolling around the room using the slide pad is extremely slow and yet hitting precise targets is tricky. Using L/R to rotate does work better, but given that the stylus is the best bet for selection, it's still awkward. I'll agree that the dpad and buttons are somewhat useful as shortcuts (although they are still poorly mapped). I'd imagine it might work better on the PSV.
It's not great on the PSV either, however you can speed up the cursor by pressing square (that's X on the 3DS?) while moving it. I rarely used the touch screen at all.
 
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