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

KiraFA37

Member
Man... So I bought this game day one and I'm STILL PLAYING IT. Actually put it down for years and finally decided that I need to revisit and I've finally made some decent headway. Nothing revelatory yet as I've hit a bunch a locks but the game has posed some interesting thoughts
such as the whole is Sigma a robot thing, which I guess is reinforced by that monologue that GOL-M dropped. Might also explain a thing or two about Phi's super human jumping ability. But eh, knowing where things went with 999 I'm probably way the fuck off lol

Your last sentence is partially correct, just keep playing and visit TVtropes afterwards.

I guess the director already got someone to fund the project. Its currently non development iirc.

what? How do you know this?

Isn't it non-development since it is on hold indefinitely
( in this horrible timeline D: )
?
 
I have a doubt regarding the time loop in the true ending. Would appreciate if anyone can explain.

A - Dec 25th 2028
B - Starting of nonary game
C - End of nonary game
D - Apr 2029 (just before leaving to moon)

First 22 year old sigma consciousness will jump from point A to point B. He plays nonary game and reaches C. Then again jump to point D, where he meet akane and she tells him to prepare the setup for nonary game in next 45 years.

22 year old sigma never experienced the mars mission lab events. And if he continue his research and reach point B he wouldn't be knowing what happened in the mars mission lab. At that point he shifts consciousness with 22 year old sigma at point A. And goes into the mars mission lab to stop radicle 6.

Now what's the point of nonary game between B and C? Old sigma could already shift his consciousness from B to A. And why would he need 22 year old sigma to train his esper power to awaken?
 
I have a doubt regarding the time loop in the true ending. Would appreciate if anyone can explain.

A - Dec 25th 2028
B - Starting of nonary game
C - End of nonary game
D - Apr 2029 (just before leaving to moon)

First 22 year old sigma consciousness will jump from point A to point B. He plays nonary game and reaches C. Then again jump to point D, where he meet akane and she tells him to prepare the setup for nonary game in next 45 years.

22 year old sigma never experienced the mars mission lab events. And if he continue his research and reach point B he wouldn't be knowing what happened in the mars mission lab. At that point he shifts consciousness with 22 year old sigma at point A. And goes into the mars mission lab to stop radicle 6.

Now what's the point of nonary game between B and C? Old sigma could already shift his consciousness from B to A. And why would he need 22 year old sigma to train his esper power to awaken?

As of the end of VLR, there are at least 5 timelines that we know of, not counting the variations on the timeline that occur within the main game.

A: Dec 25th 2028, When Sigma is captured. This is where he makes the initial leap to D
B:The beginning of the nonary game, the beginning of the game.
C: the end of the nonary game, the final timeline where everyone lives and Akane is rescued. Funny enough, it's the second game in the series where you save Akane from death.
D: The moment radical 6 goes widespread and the antimatter reactors around the world go off. This is the moment you phase into in the extended ending. At point B, the mars test has happened, Sigma participated in it, lost his arms, met the woman that Luna is based off of, and Radical 6 has escape the facility. When you warp back into him at the end of the game, you end up living up the remainder of his life all the way up to. this is where you become the Doctor, where you create Zero Jr and Kyle, where you and Akane setup everything necessary for the nonary game to take place.
E: the ultimate goal. It is the section of the timeline that is just before the mars test in Nevada. Sigma and Phi must participate in this test and, eventually, the hope is that they will stop Radical 6 from escaping the facility, thus bringing about an end to all of the madness that occurs in the VLR timelines. they probably won't be the only ones in the game that we know, but they're the main components needed to fix this situation.

The point of the game is to have 22 year old Sigma fully develop his ESPer abilities to the point where they can phase back into the versions of himself that participate in the Mars test. So, as the game suggests, the ending is actually the beginning as well. By the end of the game, Sigma has made several jumps within a small period of time, and his one jump back was far enough to get him to point D. The final goal is to get Sigma to point E, the open point in the timeline, so that the version of Sigma that participates in the Mars test game has the knowledge of how to jump, to retain his memories when he jumps, and to use his newfound and honed abilities to be able to jump during the mars test without the assistance of Radical 6, thus giving him a chance at rewriting history and avoiding the spread of radical 6. Remember, in order to fully develop his powers Radical 6 had to be used, so they have to maximize his abilities as much as they can with the use of R6 because, when he eventually warps to point E, there will be no R6 to help him make his jumps between timelines.

Basically, this loop will continue to occur until that happens. The hope is that he'll be able to, at some point, have the ability to both warp to point E and then continue to warp of his own volition, without the use of R6, so as to stop the spread of R6.

As far as it goes with old sigma, it appears that old sigma always warps to point A but never succeeds in stopping the Mars Test. That's why old sigma always loses his arms and always has the eye patch. He is never successful in this timeline in regards to containing radical 6. The assumption that can be made is that only the younger sigma will be able to do this, once he has gained complete master of the jumps. Hence, the game plays out over and over again until, at some point, he can successful handle warping to point E.

or at least that's how i took it.
 
Oh. My. God. I just booted up my 3DS right now only to find two black screens staring back at me. Seems I saved in the PEC room :(

Fuck fuck fuck man. I had 40+ hours put into this game! I remember reading about the game crashing bug when this first came out but I sat on this game for so very long that I forgot that the bug even existed. Is there any way for me to recover the save info, or am I just totally boned? I really, REALLY don't want to have to play this over if I can help it. I won't be able to fast scroll through all of the text and it would take hours and hours just to get back to where I was :(
 

Holykael1

Banned
Oh. My. God. I just booted up my 3DS right now only to find two black screens staring back at me. Seems I saved in the PEC room :(

Fuck fuck fuck man. I had 40+ hours put into this game! I remember reading about the game crashing bug when this first came out but I sat on this game for so very long that I forgot that the bug even existed. Is there any way for me to recover the save info, or am I just totally boned? I really, REALLY don't want to have to play this over if I can help it. I won't be able to fast scroll through all of the text and it would take hours and hours just to get back to where I was :(

Sorry man, that save file ain't coming back.
I'm so thankful I went for the Vita version and didn't have to deal with that BS.
 
As of the end of VLR, there are at least 5 timelines that we know of, not counting the variations on the timeline that occur within the main game.

A: Dec 25th 2028, When Sigma is captured. This is where he makes the initial leap to D
B:The beginning of the nonary game, the beginning of the game.
C: the end of the nonary game, the final timeline where everyone lives and Akane is rescued. Funny enough, it's the second game in the series where you save Akane from death.
D: The moment radical 6 goes widespread and the antimatter reactors around the world go off. This is the moment you phase into in the extended ending. At point B, the mars test has happened, Sigma participated in it, lost his arms, met the woman that Luna is based off of, and Radical 6 has escape the facility. When you warp back into him at the end of the game, you end up living up the remainder of his life all the way up to. this is where you become the Doctor, where you create Zero Jr and Kyle, where you and Akane setup everything necessary for the nonary game to take place.
E: the ultimate goal. It is the section of the timeline that is just before the mars test in Nevada. Sigma and Phi must participate in this test and, eventually, the hope is that they will stop Radical 6 from escaping the facility, thus bringing about an end to all of the madness that occurs in the VLR timelines. they probably won't be the only ones in the game that we know, but they're the main components needed to fix this situation.

The point of the game is to have 22 year old Sigma fully develop his ESPer abilities to the point where they can phase back into the versions of himself that participate in the Mars test. So, as the game suggests, the ending is actually the beginning as well. By the end of the game, Sigma has made several jumps within a small period of time, and his one jump back was far enough to get him to point D. The final goal is to get Sigma to point E, the open point in the timeline, so that the version of Sigma that participates in the Mars test game has the knowledge of how to jump, to retain his memories when he jumps, and to use his newfound and honed abilities to be able to jump during the mars test without the assistance of Radical 6, thus giving him a chance at rewriting history and avoiding the spread of radical 6. Remember, in order to fully develop his powers Radical 6 had to be used, so they have to maximize his abilities as much as they can with the use of R6 because, when he eventually warps to point E, there will be no R6 to help him make his jumps between timelines.

Basically, this loop will continue to occur until that happens. The hope is that he'll be able to, at some point, have the ability to both warp to point E and then continue to warp of his own volition, without the use of R6, so as to stop the spread of R6.

As far as it goes with old sigma, it appears that old sigma always warps to point A but never succeeds in stopping the Mars Test. That's why old sigma always loses his arms and always has the eye patch. He is never successful in this timeline in regards to containing radical 6. The assumption that can be made is that only the younger sigma will be able to do this, once he has gained complete master of the jumps. Hence, the game plays out over and over again until, at some point, he can successful handle warping to point E.

or at least that's how i took it.

Thanks for explanation :)
I was thinking there was another reason for young sigma at the end of the nonary game to swap consciousness with the old sigma at point D where he lost his hands and eye after infiltration to mars mission. That is because now young sigma at point D will not have experienced the mars mission and as he continue to live for another 45 years and jump back to point A he would not have any memories of mars mission failure. As Phi says to '?' that he should not know what happened in order to change timeline.
 
So, uhh, that promo watch that came with early copies of the game? It's apparently a freaking collectors' item now:

Ebay

Ebay

Sheesh, maybe there is a fanbase for another game? (or at least folks with money)
 

GSR

Member
On a sadder note, Rokurou Naya, Tenmyouji's Japanese voice actor, passed away a few days ago.

Uchikoshi had this to say on Twitter:

I had the honor of working with Mr. Naya on Virtue's Last Reward. He struck me as a very cool, gentlemanly, sharp, fashionable old fellow (maybe that's a bit rude to say right now?) He really didn't look 78 years old.

I remember coming home after a recording session and thinking to myself, "I want to grow old like that." I would have loved to work with him again had there been the opportunity. At the moment, my daughter's very into Spongebob, and Mr. Naya is fantastic as Squidward there - I found myself laughing my sides off right along with her.

He truly was a wonderful performer. I hope he is in a better place now.
 
So, uhh, that promo watch that came with early copies of the game? It's apparently a freaking collectors' item now:

Ebay

Ebay

Sheesh, maybe there is a fanbase for another game? (or at least folks with money)

After seeing how the price skyrocketed on the watch from 999, it's no wonder.
I remember refreshing the Amazon page in the hopes that I could manage to get my preorder in for VLR. They were only open for a few hours max 'cause of the rush to claim them.

Luckily, I managed to snag the preorder (got a green watch!) and still have my watch from the 999 preorder.

The two of them together are probably worth ~$300 or so now.
 
So, uhh, that promo watch that came with early copies of the game? It's apparently a freaking collectors' item now:

Ebay

Ebay

Sheesh, maybe there is a fanbase for another game? (or at least folks with money)

Damn... So sad that one of the plastic screw fittings broke on my watch... I have no clue how to fix it, but dangit. If I figure out, I could actually make some cash on it! O_O

On a sadder note, Rokarou Naya, Tenmyouji's Japanese voice actor, passed away a few days ago.

Uchikoshi had this to say on Twitter:

:( RIP. He was Squidward for Japanese Spongebob? That's awesome!
 

keit4

Banned
I started this game yesterday on Vita. In my first playthrough i followed the leftmost path and ended in a "To be continued..." screen. Oh well, if it's like 999 i guess i will have to play the other paths to get that info.
 

keit4

Banned
Platinumed this game yesterday. It doesn't feel as fresh as 999 but still is a master class on how to make a visual novel enjoyable after 20+ hours of gameplay.

It was pretty obvious that the old woman was Akane, that Tenmyouji was Santa/Junpei and, therefore, that the game was set in the future. I wasn't expecting the moon thing, Akane being inside K's armor in the cyan door timeline or Sigma being Zero, tho.

I really need the sequel now :(
 
You know, I'm tempted to replay the Zero Escape series, but then I realize that after I eventually complete them, I'll be left with the soul crushing despair that ZE3 may never come to pass, despite Uchikoshi's best efforts (and yes, I'm aware of the interview and I'm cautiously optimistic and hoping he's talking about ZE3, but there's always the possibility he isn't).
 
Beat the game yesterday and good god, was it an amazing ride. I guessed who Zero really was early on because I noticed that
the sigma symbol really is like a Z but with its lower half shifted around, like a body without the right soul.

The best part of the secret ending was the implication that
the Allice mummy will probably end up being the Alice in Rhizome-9 being sent back in time frozen in a pod but unable to thaw in normal conditions. So it was actually both her and not her all along! (Schrodinger's cat shenanigans).
 

HF2014

Member
Hey got a question. Just got this game on ps vita and have a little question.

I escape the first puzzle elevator, finding the puzzle by myself. Now im outside where i meet everyone. But now, the rabbit is telling me everything on how to do the door puzzle with the colors, well, its a cut seen that goes for like 30 minutes. Am i doing something wrong? Because i didnt want to get spoiled about all th color matching door to open the doors etc. Is it the only part of the game you will be told on how to do it? I wanted to discover it by myself but it seem it wont happen, the rabbit told me...
 

Javier

Member
Hey got a question. Just got this game on ps vita and have a little question.

I escape the first puzzle elevator, finding the puzzle by myself. Now im outside where i meet everyone. But now, the rabbit is telling me everything on how to do the door puzzle with the colors, well, its a cut seen that goes for like 30 minutes. Am i doing something wrong? Because i didnt want to get spoiled about all th color matching door to open the doors etc. Is it the only part of the game you will be told on how to do it? I wanted to discover it by myself but it seem it wont happen, the rabbit told me...
The color-matching doors aren't actual puzzles to solve. Whenever you reach one, you make a choice that advances the plot and that's it.
 

Lusankya

Member
Hey got a question. Just got this game on ps vita and have a little question.

I escape the first puzzle elevator, finding the puzzle by myself. Now im outside where i meet everyone. But now, the rabbit is telling me everything on how to do the door puzzle with the colors, well, its a cut seen that goes for like 30 minutes. Am i doing something wrong? Because i didnt want to get spoiled about all th color matching door to open the doors etc. Is it the only part of the game you will be told on how to do it? I wanted to discover it by myself but it seem it wont happen, the rabbit told me...

Hmm, I am not sure I can follow you. The rabbit is explaining the rules to the players, the colored doors are not supposed to be a puzzle (the puzzles will be waiting for you behind the doors).
 

HF2014

Member
Hmm, I am not sure I can follow you. The rabbit is explaining the rules to the players, the colored doors are not supposed to be a puzzle (the puzzles will be waiting for you behind the doors).

Ohhh ok, i tough i was going to get spoiled everytime like this. If its just a rule explaination then its fine. I tough i did something that spoiled me the color matching,watches etc. I tough i needed to discover that by myself but the rabbit told me everything about the watch, well i think soo eh.

Thanks for the info!
 

kuYuri

Member
So I'm playing this on Vita and I'm running into a game progress blocking glitch. I'm on the right most part of the story tree, the path where
Sigma chooses ally while Phi chooses betray. At this point, Phi has 9 BP and is about to leave through the 9 door when Sigma repeats the same Latin phrase she told him in the opposite path and convinces her to discover the truth with him
.

During the course of this story path, all of the characters
meet in the infirmary to discuss the bomb #02 that was found.
At this point, the game freezes on me, making it impossible to continue this novel part. It always freezes in the middle of a specific frame. It's kind of frustrating cause it's literally the last bit of story before I reach the ending of that path.

Has anyone else encountered this glitch? In the meantime, I'm thinking of starting a new path since this current one is bugged for me.
 

Lusankya

Member
So I'm playing this on Vita and I'm running into a game progress blocking glitch. I'm on the right most part of the story tree, the path where
Sigma chooses ally while Phi chooses betray. At this point, Phi has 9 BP and is about to leave through the 9 door when Sigma repeats the same Latin phrase she told him in the opposite path and convinces her to discover the truth with him
.

During the course of this story path, all of the characters
meet in the infirmary to discuss the bomb #02 that was found.
At this point, the game freezes on me, making it impossible to continue this novel part. It always freezes in the middle of a specific frame. It's kind of frustrating cause it's literally the last bit of story before I reach the ending of that path.

Has anyone else encountered this glitch? In the meantime, I'm thinking of starting a new path since this current one is bugged for me.

Hmm, the game certainly isn't glitch free (3DS version is even worse), but I never had a glitch in the novel sections of the game.

You probably can't finish this path anyway, because there are a lot of story locks, so your best bet is to try another path and come back to it later.
 
J

Jotamide

Unconfirmed Member
Guys, is VLR OOP now? I can't find anywhere in Canada to buy it below MSRP. My PS+ is going to expire in less than a month and I want to re-buy my favorite games that I have from the service physically.
 
Guys, is VLR OOP now? I can't find anywhere in Canada to buy it below MSRP. My PS+ is going to expire in less than a month and I want to re-buy my favorite games that I have from the service physically.

Nope. VLR is still in print. Not sure what the distribution situation is in Canada, though. Might have to Amazon US it.
 

DeviantBoi

Member
Finally downloaded this last night (I had it from PS+ for a while), and OMFG, I love it!

I only finished the first room and went through the first novel area, but I'm ready to get back to it later today.

Are the novel areas just text? Are there any decisions that need to be made or something like that?
 

Lusankya

Member
Finally downloaded this last night (I had it from PS+ for a while), and OMFG, I love it!

I only finished the first room and went through the first novel area, but I'm ready to get back to it later today.

Are the novel areas just text? Are there any decisions that need to be made or something like that?

Have you encountered the AB rooms yet? You're mostly doing your decisions there.
 

DeviantBoi

Member
Have you encountered the AB rooms yet? You're mostly doing your decisions there.
Just did one.

Not a big fan of the long story segments. They're a bit long-winded for my taste, but I'll keep at it.

Not using a guide right now. Just playing through the game.
 

Wichu

Member
Just did one.

Not a big fan of the long story segments. They're a bit long-winded for my taste, but I'll keep at it.

Not using a guide right now. Just playing through the game.

Long story segments are something you'll have to get used to, especially towards the end of the game. Once the twists start happening you won't be able to stop reading :p

Anyway, you don't need a guide for VLR at all.

There's no weirdly specific decision paths you have to make like in 999, or unintuitive decisions you have to make to advance like ZTD. It's just a matter of playing until you reach the end of a path, then going back and making a different decision to get on a different path. There's no 'correct' order to play the paths in; just do them in whatever order you want.

And if you get stuck on a password input outside of a puzzle room, don't look it up. Leave it and play a different branch. You'll thank me later.

Out of curiosity, have you played 999? It doesn't sound like you have, but I would definitely recommend it. VLR is a sequel to that game, and there are a couple of plot twists that will be meaningless unless you've played the first one. There's still plenty of goodness left, but you'll be missing out.
 
Probably stupid question but I don't need to ever collect the secret file a second time right?

And there's no penalty to enter the safe code as soon as you enter a puzzle that you've already completed right?
 
I picked this up this month for $7 on the PSN sale for Vita. This is my first Zero Escape game. Am I supposed to hate half of the characters? Some of them are really annoying/grating and I can't wait to send them to their deaths.
 
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