Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is the sequel to the Nintendo DS game 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. If you haven't played the original, do not fret. While there are mentions of the previous game in Zero Escape, you need no knowledge of it to understand the story or game play. Zero Escape stands on it's own as a graphic adventure/visual novel with puzzle elements to break up the story. So if you enjoy reading, or feel gaming gets in the way of your reading, Zero Escape is a game you might want to try out.
The game starts with Sigma (you) waking up in a room with very little knowledge of how you got there. In the same room is a blonde mystery woman who seems to have a little more insight than you as to what's going on. A rabbit comes on a screen and instructs you on escaping the room by an elaborate puzzle that was set up. As the story continues, you find seven more individuals who were locked in similar rooms. The overall goal of the game is to score points based on becoming allies or betraying these other individuals as more puzzle rooms are solved. The end result, once nine points have been accumulated, is leaving through a giant door that spells freedom for the winner(s). Anyone who doesn't receive 9 points will have no method of escape and be trapped forever. Conflict ensues as distrust between others is created, some horrible incidents occur, and the mysteries of the hows and whys everyone has been captured.
Zero Escape also boasts a total of 24 endings, all of which piggy back to illuminate the big picture. These endings feature story beats that others do not touch on as certain rooms only open depending on the route that is chosen, and character back stories are explained depending on which ending is received as well. And instead of it being a choose your own adventure-esque, certain endings can not be reached unless another has previously been viewed. This is because a specific item or piece of information is gathered that the main character can use to "unlock" the sequence. Otherwise, the player receives a "To Be Continued..." message and is dumped back to the flow chart of possible scenarios.
This flow chart allows the player to select a specific part of the story to jump back to without having to replay the entire game. So instead of choosing to "Betray" another member, you can "Ally" with them which breaks into a different storyline. The story parts that are repeated can be skipped through with a fast forward button. Skipping isn't 100% perfect as the game decides whether the scene is too important to just breeze through, but for the most part, a good chunk of the game can be sped up if needed. This leads to an easy way to experience all areas of the narrative while giving the player the most control on how quickly they want to witness the game.
I have also found myself loving certain characters and loathing others. The latter isn't a knock against the game. I loathe these characters because they are portrayed as a horrible human being in some cases, too questionable in others, or just downright frustrating. But they are done in a believable human way that people would act when thrown in a situation with strangers who may betray you to escape sooner. But in making this believable, this also makes the difficult decisions against the characters you love that much more heartbreaking when they need to be made. And if you want all endings, you will piss off the characters you love the most.
I focus so much on the story because that's the largest part of the game. The puzzles are there, and they aren't easy. Some are pretty elaborate that will have you checking an entire room multiple times if you are stuck because items can be obtained once certain actions are done. So these may include 20 step processes to unlock a safe which holds the key to your escape. Literally. Each room also has a secret password that can be used on the safe which holds more information on the story that is only touched on briefly in the narrative, but is not a requirement to escape the room.
But the reason I am not going to go in depth on the puzzles is because...I'm awful at them. I tried multiple times to get through rooms on my own and I didn't have the patience to do it. I don't like these kind of puzzle games, but I feel the story itself is so intriguing that I don't want to simply ignore this game.
So I cheat. I Gamefaq through the entire puzzle sequences of this game.
Yes, that makes me a lousy gamer I'm sure. But I think it's a testament to how well the story is told and the draw of the overall theme and mystery. I know some don't want to play a game that's so story heavy as this, and I can understand that. But to others who become so invested in characters and story, this game is for you. If you don't like the puzzles, cheat like me. I don't think this story should be passed on because it's so intricately laid out and beautifully told.
And for what it's worth, I still have 4 endings to unlock, and my total playtime is just over 19 hours. If I wasn't cheating on the puzzles and skipping lines of dialogue, I have no idea how long my game time would be.
But I've enjoyed every second Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward.
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