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

JeTmAn81

Member
Anybody else feel like this game moves too slowly? Granted, it might be because I played 999 and the basic setup for this is quite similar, but I'm about 8 hours in and it just feels like it's moving really slowly. So far I've gotten the
Alice and Quark have the virus, who gets the cure?
to be continued ending, and the
Betray Phi and get 9 points
game over. It's just that so much of the dialogue feels like stuff I want to skip through to get to some actual plot revelations.
 

UberTag

Member
Anybody else feel like this game moves too slowly? Granted, it might be because I played 999 and the basic setup for this is quite similar, but I'm about 8 hours in and it just feels like it's moving really slowly. So far I've gotten the
Alice and Quark have the virus, who gets the cure?
to be continued ending, and the
Betray Phi and get 9 points
game over. It's just that so much of the dialogue feels like stuff I want to skip through to get to some actual plot revelations.
You're using the SKIP playback option, right? You shouldn't be replaying scenes you've already seen before unless they're legit flashbacks in sepia-tone.
 

LiK

Member
Anybody else feel like this game moves too slowly? Granted, it might be because I played 999 and the basic setup for this is quite similar, but I'm about 8 hours in and it just feels like it's moving really slowly. So far I've gotten the
Alice and Quark have the virus, who gets the cure?
to be continued ending, and the
Betray Phi and get 9 points
game over. It's just that so much of the dialogue feels like stuff I want to skip through to get to some actual plot revelations.

it's a long game. 8 hours is still early.
 

JeTmAn81

Member
You're using the SKIP playback option, right? You shouldn't be replaying scenes you've already seen before unless they're legit flashbacks in sepia-tone.

Yes, I did figure out how to use the skip function, although it can still take a while to get through all that stuff even when skipping. Also, it's a bit annoying when it makes you stop to get through slightly altered dialogue in the middle of a bunch of stuff you already did.
 

UberTag

Member
Yes, I did figure out how to use the skip function, although it can still take a while to get through all that stuff even when skipping. Also, it's a bit annoying when it makes you stop to get through slightly altered dialogue in the middle of a bunch of stuff you already did.
As LiK noted this is a long game by design.
Even once I escaped from the final puzzle room, I probably had another 2-3 hours worth of game time that followed.
This is a gaming experience to be savored and not rushed through impatiently.
A number of those "slight alterations" are more meaningful than you might think.
Not only for showing you new perspectives on events you've encountered previously but also because of what they exclude based on the decisions you've made in the game.
 

Lusankya

Member
I wish. But between requiring a separate memory card and not tracking achievements/saves on the same account all my other stuff is on, that sucks as an option.

I'm just happy VLR doesn't have DLC so importing the physical version is hassle-free.

You can backup your stuff from the memory card on your PC/PS3, then you don't need a second memory card. But if you really want everything on one account then you're of course right and it's no option.

I couldn't wait for the game and I am used having several PSN accounts, so it was the best option for me though.
 

Torraz

Member
You can backup your stuff from the memory card on your PC/PS3, then you don't need a second memory card. But if you really want everything on one account then you're of course right and it's no option.

I couldn't wait for the game and I am used having several PSN accounts, so it was the best option for me though.

If you back up, does that mean that you don't have to rearrange your icons, reinput the wifi settings and replace the background images?
 

Omikaru

Member
I just entered the (late game room name spoiler)
Q room
. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT!?

I'm gonna be here all night doing this...
 

JeTmAn81

Member
As LiK noted this is a long game by design.
Even once I escaped from the final puzzle room, I probably had another 2-3 hours worth of game time that followed.
This is a gaming experience to be savored and not rushed through impatiently.
A number of those "slight alterations" are more meaningful than you might think.
Not only for showing you new perspectives on events you've encountered previously but also because of what they exclude based on the decisions you've made in the game.

Long games are fine, but they have to earn that length with consistently interesting gameplay and story. If I was writing a review for this game, I'd definitely take off points for poor pacing in the beginning. I shouldn't know as little as I do about the characters and real story after 8 hours of gameplay. Some people might think that pace is fine, but I don't. I fully expect to enjoy the later parts of the game a lot more, because that's where the dramatic payoff will be, but the basic setup is such a direct rehash of 999 that it really suffers from that lack of originality in the beginning.
 

Lusankya

Member
If you back up, does that mean that you don't have to rearrange your icons, reinput the wifi settings and replace the background images?

I haven't switched back the account yet. It was the first time I used my US account on the Vita.

As you always have to completely reset your Vita to change accs, my guess is that you have to reinput wallpapers, wifi settings etc.
 

Torraz

Member
I haven't switched back the account yet. It was the first time I used my US account on the Vita.

As you always have to completely reset your Vita to change accs, my guess is that you have to reinput wallpapers, wifi settings etc.

Alright, thanks. Good to know.

Local store just got some import copies so I won't have to find out. Should be perfect to tide me over a week until xillia 2.
 

Regulus Tera

Romanes Eunt Domus
Damn you, Clover. Damn you and your feminine wiles.

edit: I accidentally clicked on the Spoiler thread goadj;algna;ld;agna'dkla'da'gdja'dj
 

Omikaru

Member
I just entered the (late game room name spoiler)
Q room
. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT!?

I'm gonna be here all night doing this...

Okay, in relation to this, FUCK THE
DICE PUZZLE
! Seriously, whoever came up with this one needs to be shot.
 

Omikaru

Member
Okay, wow... think I may be heading to the spoiler thread soon, but...

(major spoiler warning)

WE'RE ON THE FUCKING MOON!? OH MY GOD!
 

Ridley327

Member
Okay, in relation to this, FUCK THE
DICE PUZZLE
! Seriously, whoever came up with this one needs to be shot.

It's tougher than the first one, but it actually does follow logic;
you're constructing a die in a two-dimensional way. The images they give you are the positions that the dice need to be in, but not the numbers that needed to be displayed. Since opposite sides of a die need to equal up to 7, you need to extrapolate what each die needs to have facing up to get it. It's time consuming, but it's not obtuse.
 

Venfayth

Member
Okay, wow... think I may be heading to the spoiler thread soon, but...

(major spoiler warning)

WE'RE ON THE FUCKING MOON!? OH MY GOD!

Yesss come join us, share with us your thoughts :D

I'd make sure you're done with everything before you come over. Are you playing on Vita or 3DS?
 

tborsje

Member
Seriously, game of the motherfucking year here. Such a great story and characters, mind boggling yet solvable puzzles. This is god tier interactive story telling here.
 

Venfayth

Member
Seriously, game of the motherfucking year here. Such a great story and characters, mind boggling yet solvable puzzles. This is god tier interactive story telling here.

One of my favorite quotes from the spoiler thread comes from AniHawk, summing up his experiences with the game and comparing it to 999.

AniHawk said:
vlr ... clown the likes of david cage and other developers who think they are making art or experiences, and couldn't be more wrong.


This game is by far the best "interactive story telling" in a game I've seen this year or last year even, (possibly) second only to 999.
 

Lusankya

Member
This game is by far the best "interactive story telling" in a game I've seen this year or last year even, (possibly) second only to 999.

I still haven't see a really bad opinion of VLR yet. Usually the only question was if you like this or 999 more. Personally I prefer VLR, but both games are just great.
 

Omikaru

Member
Yesss come join us, share with us your thoughts :D

I'd make sure you're done with everything before you come over. Are you playing on Vita or 3DS?
I just had another major bombshell. I won't share it here, however. So yeah. I'll be joining you guys very soon.

Also, Vita. I'm a UK'er here, so I had no choice if I wanted the English voices. It was my platform of choice at any rate, and I'll be getting the 3DS game from RSG next year.
 
So, while I wait for my import copy to arive from VGP, is there any consensus about which voices are the best? I usually prefer japanese voices when watching anime, but since everyone is hyping up the English Zero III so much, maybe I should go for English? Decisions, decisions...
 

LiK

Member
So, while I wait for my import copy to arive from VGP, is there any consensus about which voices are the best? I usually prefer japanese voices when watching anime, but since everyone is hyping up the English Zero III so much, maybe I should go for English? Decisions, decisions...

English Zero III is worth it alone but pretty much everyone is good or amazing. no bad English voices. hell, even the computer announcer voice is better for a reason.
 

Feep

Banned
So, while I wait for my import copy to arive from VGP, is there any consensus about which voices are the best? I usually prefer japanese voices when watching anime, but since everyone is hyping up the English Zero III so much, maybe I should go for English? Decisions, decisions...
I literally dub anime as a job sometimes and I still always go subs when I watch...

...but not here. Don't even think about it. As I said earlier in the thread, VLR's English voice acting is literally some of the best the industry has EVER seen. Don't miss it.
 

Omikaru

Member
I think the English voice work is good in this, and it's well worth checking out. It's not a big deal if you don't like it at any rate, as the game lets you pick which voice track to use every time you load your save.

By the way, finished and got my Platinum. See you in the spoiler thread!
 
I'm reposting a list of questions and comments from the spoiler thread, figured I might get more answers here. Heavy spoilers from the entire game ahead.

1. Why doesn't Sigma tell anyone about Dio having the axelavir when Dio leaves him alone after escaping from the lab?
2. I was forced to swtich to Easy in the Crew Quarters escape because unless you see it on the first try, the fact that some of the shapes on the pinup are flipped is very hard to see, at 3DS resolution at least. The passcode for the gold file also seems obtuse in retrospect, though I actually got it before the escape passcode (you need to put in the shape related code, backwards, without taking into account that the shapes are flipped; if I had realized the shapes were flipped I probably wouldn't have tried that).
3. How are Quark and Alice able to converse coherently during their suicide attempts if their brains are being attacked by Radical-6?
4. It's funny if you think about Dio having the bombs under his hat. Also, the bombs share his color scheme.
5. Why does Tenmyouji betray in his ending? He had enough points to ally and still leave.
6. In Sigma's route's game over, if his cybernetic arm is connected to his circulatory system, wouldn't he still bleed to death when his hand was cut off? Blood dripping slowly out of a wound like that doesn't seem like a realistic description either, unless he'd already lost most of the blood in his body, in which case he wouldn't be alive to describe it anyway. Moon gravity and/or symptoms of Radical-6?
7. I'd really like to be able to replay voice acting for lines that have it in the log
8. What was G-olm going to say when he was interrupted?
9. The idea of the Nonary Game being a Chinese Room, a test bed for an artificial intelligence, might actually be more appealing to me than it being an esper training program. Since human-level AI already exists in this story I guess we'll never see this though.
10. Wouldn't Sigma realize that his voice had changed when he moved into his older body? This is very similar to (spoiler for a different game) Ever17's protagonist gambit, but in Ever17 it's justified because the person being fooled is the player, not the protagonist himself.
11. Couldn't Sigma have wiped the mirror in the infirmary much earlier, ruining the plan?
12. It's annoying to have to sit through the credits after every ending, and it makes the fact that the final ending has no credits roll even more baffling.
13. Is Lagomorph a rabbit because of the rabbits Akane and Junpei took care of in their elementary school days?
14. Does a Jumpydoll actually exist?
15. Is there any particular reason many of the texts in the facility were in Latin?
16. What's the symbolism behind the lion eating the sun? The anagram referencing it being fudged is very suspicious.
17. What's the meaning of Sigma's post mortem consciousness in some endings ("When I came to, I was floating in an endless nothingness")?
 

Pharros

Member
I literally dub anime as a job sometimes and I still always go subs when I watch...

...but not here. Don't even think about it. As I said earlier in the thread, VLR's English voice acting is literally some of the best the industry has EVER seen. Don't miss it.

Usually with anime as well I'll maybe like 2 of the characters dub voices but always revert to the sub. However, in VLR, I literally love all the characters dubbed voices. Clovers was the hardest to get used to, but even hers is now amazing to me. And Tenmyouji's VA is definitely my favorite for some reason.

Also holy crap that wall of spoiler frightens me.
 

Tagg9

Member
Usually with anime as well I'll maybe like 2 of the characters dub voices but always revert to the sub. However, in VLR, I literally love all the characters dubbed voices. Clovers was the hardest to get used to, but even hers is now amazing to me. And Tenmyouji's VA is definitely my favorite for some reason.

Agreed. Zero III's voice actor is by far the standout, though. Best VA I have ever heard in a game, including blockbusters like Uncharted. For some reason, Zero's VA reminds me of Robin Williams in Aladdin.
 

UberTag

Member
It should be noted that despite Cindy Robinson's unquestionably excellent voicework as Zero III she will be snubbed when the Spike Video Game Award nominees for Best Performance by a Human Female are unveiled later this month.

Because she's not a celebrity.

It's not all bad, though. Some celebrities will also be snubbed in said category.
Like Christine Lakin who voiced Marisa Chase in Uncharted: Golden Abyss.

She won't get nominated because that game is exclusive to the VITA. A system nobody owns.

The award will instead go to Susan Sarandon for her role as Granny Rags in Dishonored.
The token non-celeb nominee will be the voice of Halo 4's Cortana (Jen Taylor).
 

Kaizer

Banned
Stuck in the Treatment Room.
I have no clue what this dice game illustration is supposed to indicate with tablet password and haven't figured out what the clock times on the pods and one clock outside the room are for.
 

Necrovex

Member
It should be noted that despite Cindy Robinson's unquestionably excellent voicework as Zero III she will be snubbed when the Spike Video Game Award nominees for Best Performance by a Human Female are unveiled later this month.

Because she's not a celebrity.

It's not all bad, though. Some celebrities will also be snubbed in said category.
Like Christine Lakin who voiced Marisa Chase in Uncharted: Golden Abyss.

She won't get nominated because that game is exclusive to the VITA. A system nobody owns.

The award will instead go to Susan Sarandon for her role as Granny Rags in Dishonored.
The token non-celeb nominee will be the voice of Halo 4's Cortana (Jen Taylor).

The Spike Video Game Award won't even acknowledge handheld systems, yet alone anything from Virtue's Last Reward.
 

LiK

Member
It should be noted that despite Cindy Robinson's unquestionably excellent voicework as Zero III she will be snubbed when the Spike Video Game Award nominees for Best Performance by a Human Female are unveiled later this month.

Because she's not a celebrity.

It's not all bad, though. Some celebrities will also be snubbed in said category.
Like Christine Lakin who voiced Marisa Chase in Uncharted: Golden Abyss.

She won't get nominated because that game is exclusive to the VITA. A system nobody owns.

The award will instead go to Susan Sarandon for her role as Granny Rags in Dishonored.
The token non-celeb nominee will be the voice of Halo 4's Cortana (Jen Taylor).

it's a dumb event so it's alright if she's not nominated.
 

Roto13

Member
It should be noted that despite Cindy Robinson's unquestionably excellent voicework as Zero III she will be snubbed when the Spike Video Game Award nominees for Best Performance by a Human Female are unveiled later this month.

Who gives a shit about the Spike Video Game Awards? Seriously, they're more shameful than prestigious.
 

Ridley327

Member
Stuck in the Treatment Room.
I have no clue what this dice game illustration is supposed to indicate with tablet password and haven't figured out what the clock times on the pods and one clock outside the room are for.

You should read the dice game rules a little bit closer and see if you notice anything on there that might have something to do with another element of the room.
 

LiK

Member
Stuck in the Treatment Room.
I have no clue what this dice game illustration is supposed to indicate with tablet password and haven't figured out what the clock times on the pods and one clock outside the room are for.

general tip for puzzles without using guides: save and then switch to Easy for tips from your party. load back with your new found knowledge.
 

FSLink

Banned
general tip for puzzles without using guides: save and then switch to Easy for tips from your party. load back with your new found knowledge.

Unless you're on the 3DS version which you risk corrupting your save, lol. Alternatively, just switch to easy without saving, complete it, then just use the flowchart to go back and input the same password to get the Gold Archive file.
 

LiK

Member
Unless you're on the 3DS version which you risk corrupting your save, lol. Alternatively, just switch to easy without saving, complete it, then just use the flowchart to go back and input the same password to get the Gold Archive file.

haha oh right. that darn 3DS issue
 

Jintor

Member
Jesus christ this game is addictive.

So I got my first game over (Luna/K path)
I allied with K but he fucking took his points and ran away and left us - shouldn't have fallen for his stupid 'nobody who rides a pig machine would ever betray us schtick'
, reloaded, went for the other branch and hit a TBC wall, then reloaded all the way up to the first ambidex game with Alice and
Sigma started freaking out about her not voting the same way as last time and my fucking head exploded
 

GSR

Member
reloaded, went for the other branch and hit a TBC wall, then reloaded all the way up to the first ambidex game with Alice and
Sigma started freaking out about her not voting the same was as last time and my fucking head exploded

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

It begins.
 
Thx for the replies, guess I'll just play in English first to hear Zero III for myself, and do a later playthrough in Japanese. Btw, I just noticed that the demo released in the EU store :p completely missed that. Played through it and now the wait is even harder. I lose fate in humanity when I see the user rating on the demo though...
 
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