For this list, I would put the first game, 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (also known as 999) as ‘the worst’ among the 3, but only just, compared to the one above it, which we’ll get to in a bit. Being the first of the series released on Nintendo DS back in 2009, it has signs that show its age, but still provided good fun and great gameplay. After multiple years and sequels, it has made its way into newer platforms like the PC and the then-latest PS4 console and the port (for the PC version I have) has been performing smoothly with relatively little specs needed, though the version released on PC, and subsequent ports are remasterings which doesn’t show its age visually.

 

Story

Without giving away too much of the story and premise, you follow Junpei, the protagonist of the story, abducted by a strange person wearing a gas mask named Zero finding a way to escape a strange area that you were placed in. You meet 8 other people who were also abducted and eventually learn that you must escape the place in 9 hours otherwise you will meet your demise. Along the way, you’ll learn secrets and find the connection to who and why you’re in the situation in the first place and find the secrets in a very surprising way.

 

Gameplay

As for gameplay, it’s an adventure game that doubles as a visual novel making this something nice for those who want to enjoy the story whilst being the one to solve through the fun aspects of escaping the area you choose to be in. Speaking of choice, the game also gives you a flurry of choices as there are multiple branching endings which you can check and view anytime that leads to you finding the true ending, making you have to play certain aspects of the game over and over as you look for the clues to the real ending of this game (and that’s a recurring theme for the entire series).

 

Opinion

Now, with the intro, gameplay, and premise out of the way, this game slots in as the worst of the 3 for a few reasons. While I love the story and setting it has going for it, what puts it down in my opinion is the mid-escape dialogues that pop up when you reach certain points of the investigation. You’ll immediately get used to the gameplay fast enough that when you start to get into a rhythm and have a connection going, outcomes the mid-game dialogues that take the flow away, and at times can be pretty annoying, especially if you replay the same area again.

The puzzles themselves can vary in difficulty depending on how you understand it, but among the 3 games, this has the easiest selection of puzzles out there and that can be a good or bad thing, depending on which camp you belong in.

Again, this is an old game and visually it isn’t the best, but for a visual novel, it shouldn’t bother you all that much and is pretty much a recency bias into the comparison department. This shouldn’t dissuade you to try this game out, but in the context of comparing all the games, this sits on the lowest side of the scale, but a great game to introduce you into the series.

Next up on the list is Zero Time Dilemma (also known as ZTD) being the second-best among this list, but being the last of the trilogy. Its development was initially on hiatus due to poor domestic sales, but fans overseas brought new awareness and demand to the game, which made it eventually available for release back in 2016, with a PS4 port released the following year. Despite the shift to 3D models for the cutscenes, it’s still easy to run the game and serves as the finale to the series.

 

 

Story

The story picks up from one of the timelines shown in the 2nd game and serves as a middle story arc connecting the events of the first two games of the series, while also serving its mysteries. While the core gameplay is the same across the board, a slight departure from the game was the ability to play 3 separate characters acting as their respective groups’ leaders, namely, Carlos, Diana, and Q. You’ll be shown their side of the story, broken up by a new category called ‘Fragments’ which allows you to choose from a selection of timeframes from the story path you’ve chosen and gain the overall timeframe of the events of that branch and how it pans out. The objective is now a lot darker as you’re now facing against a new Zero, which is more twisted as their game requires at least 6 deaths to obtain ‘X-Passes’ and open the way out.

 

Gameplay

It’s still the same straightforward formula for the gameplay, with this iteration housing a few extras. You’re still looking at finding a way out of certain rooms like before, but now, as you progress through the game, it’s broken up into certain portions as said before, making some fragments a pre-requisite to open another fragment that can either be for the team you choose or for another team that receives the effect of the fragment you’ve chosen. The puzzles here can range from slightly challenging to outright confusing, making this a tougher task to complete.

Unlike previous games, some parts of the game have actual timers that further complicate the choice you make and add to the tension this game brings.

 

Opinion

This has the second-best slot for me as it’s a well-made finale that answers some of the questions that popped up from the first two games and a good closure is a great plus for a series, with maybe a few asterisks on that. One of the things that makes this game a little tougher to like compared to the other series entry is for one, the animation.

The ambitious 3D modeling route the game took for all of the cutscenes has introduced some choppy-looking animations and even some derpy-looking reactions to the character models. This was later noted when asked about the game as, given the difficulty of 3D modeling animations, certain things were left out due to technical difficulties and led to some aspects of the characters, like clothing, being different compared to their promotional art counterparts.

On the gameplay side of things, I don’t have any issues understanding the games’ fragmented layout for the story and even if that may not be the case for others playing this game, there is always an option to check the entire ‘regular’ timeline as well.

For the puzzles, it’s admittedly the toughest set of puzzles I’ve played in the series. The game gives you escape rooms that range from being easy to get and comprehend to being downright confusing. To give a personal take, I once forgot how to solve an escape room with a friend playing and proceeded to spend the next hour clicking on circles only to find out you weren’t supposed to do that as something in that escape room can help you get it in about 2 minutes.

I guess the TL: DR to this is that this is a great finale to the series giving a satisfying appreciation to how the story all lines up… assuming your brain hasn’t turned into jello from all the escape rooms.

Last up is my pick for the best among the series, Virtue’s Last Reward (also known as VLR). Initially released in 2012, this is the sequel to 999 and was eventually ported as a bundle with the first game for the PC and PlayStation versions 5 years later. The game now features some cutscenes in 3D models as well as the same style of static cutscenes from the older games.

 

Story

The story follows Sigma, a college student who was doing papers and was eventually gassed into sleep by Zero, who was also the kidnapper from the previous game. He wakes up to find another person with him, Phi with both being trapped in a strange holding room that requires you to find out how to escape and eventually meet up with 7 other people, with some being from the previous game.

They are eventually interrupted by a projection of a bunny, who goes by the name Zero III, who allows you to explore the area per round to obtain certain keys and eventually makes them play a game called the ‘Ambidex Game’ wherein they choose from 2 choices and earn/lose points against whoever they are paired or soloing up against with the first to have 9 points wins and allows whoever to escape, while the rest will be trapped with no alternatives of escape. The points system can also go to the negatives, which will result in the demise of those who go below 0, making every choice a crucial one for those playing the game.

 

Gameplay

VLR’s gameplay is still pretty similar to the previous game before it, with the exception that the camera doesn’t have a limited swivel from its fixed camera position and now allows for 360-degree rotation for the rooms. You’re still tasked with getting out of the room, but now, gives the extra quest of finding a completely separate and optional secret file that expands on the story and its referenced materials. After you finish the escape room portion of the game, the story then continues to the same visual novel style wherein you learn what the events of that decision are, and ultimately learn about the situation you’re in and the threat that lurks in the shadows, ultimately putting you back to the initial area you started, now knowing it’s a voting room, and deciding between ‘Ally’ or ‘Betray’, giving/losing you points with each outcome of your chosen path.

 

Opinion

I love the 3D modeled look of this game, and the puzzles are now more visually interactive, and with every area, you try to escape from looking different from one another, gives an extra layer of depth to this game.

The characters are also really nice with distinct personalities and looks, and speaking of looks, it’s also nice to see some characters from the previous game being updated with this new story and having a bit of familiarity and sense of continuation despite the new story is certainly nice to have.

For the puzzles, while it still has that mixed bag of puzzle difficulty, it’s still relatively straightforward and can be enjoyed casually still, up until you tackle some of the hardest puzzles this game has. I feel that the hardest puzzle to understand in the game is here, and it’s for the best you see it for yourself, but other than that, it’s an enjoyable run given that there’s also the extra secrets that you can unlock in the same timeframe as your normal escape run, making a two-for-one special on solving a room a much-welcomed add-on.

The timeline for this game also visually shows you if anything new pops up whenever you feel like you’ve hit a dead-end, making this game, from a casual standpoint, the best one to rank if you wish to show this to someone who will try this game for the first time.

 

 

Conclusion

These games are excellent in their own right and like many opinions, things will vary from person to person. I highly suggest trying the games out in their release orders as not only does that also help you understand the entire story, but also eases you into the concepts, ideas, and puzzles these games have to offer. They may be relatively old games, but if you wish to go full-on Sherlock on whodunit or be a Houdini impersonator, these games are worth a try. Oh, and please be mindful of the time, after all, we don’t have that many opportunities to do it all over… or do we?