Zero Escape brings in a combination of things factored into its visual novel genre. There are minigames, the escape room setting, puzzles, etc. and that is all wrapped up in its unique flow and story, but what if you want to do more puzzles? What if you want to go pure visual novel and want a story to enjoy? Or maybe just want more of an impact on what you’re playing? Well, this list will try and cater to the fix you may initially get from Zero Escape.
I’d like to think of this list more loosely, including games from completely different aspects, while trying to stay true to a common connection between the games listed and Zero Escape. It’s easy to fill this list with visual novels, but that’s already been done, so let’s go a bit more beyond the realms of the visual novel scene and see what games are there that can complement what Zero Escape brings to the table.
It’s worth pointing out that the list you’ll see will be in no particular order, as different people will have different opinions on rankings and that’s perfectly fine. With that said, we’ll be looking at some examples of games that you may deviate to if you find something about the game interesting and want to play something close or loosely similar to it.
10. Steins:Gate (Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android, Xbox 360)
You can’t say shifting timelines without mentioning Steins:Gate. It’s a classic in the visual novel scene and closer in premise than other visual novels to Zero Escape. It’s on this list for the big reason of being easier to play. No need to fiddle with the mechanics of a minigame. No need for piecing items together, just a casual introduction to time travel, with the minimal interaction of choosing which character you wish to learn more about as well.
9. Professor Layton (Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS)
If you love solving puzzles and piecing together the clues, then be a detective with the Professor Layton series. The puzzles are quirky, fun, and challenging, which can be easy or a straight-up pain in the butt to deal with. There are plenty of puzzles around, giving endless hours of fun, which, unsurprisingly, contains more minigames for you compared to Zero Escape. Being able to iOS and Android is also a plus as you can take the puzzle-solving rush anytime, anywhere.
8. Doki-Doki Literature Club (Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S)
This visual novel has captured the hearts of many and collected a few eyes for such a fun art style layered on top of some hardly comforting themes. Its shock value is what makes this better than Zero Escape when we compare the two visual novels. Not saying that Zero Escape is bland or anything compare to Doki-Doki Literature Club, but if you play out the whole game (including sequels) between the two, the latter would more or less stick around much longer in your mind, leaving a better memory of what you have played, and experienced.
7. VA11 HALL-A (Windows, PlayStation 4, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch)
When we look at a fun experience, it’s hard not to consider VA11 HALL-A into the mix, no pun intended. The setting is both realistic and futuristic, while also giving a retro feel, which makes this such a unique experience. So, where does the game compare and best Zero Escape? It’s down to the simplicity that it offers. While the game has a limited amount of mechanics (or rather, the bartending part), its enough of a mechanic to keep this game clean and not make you worry about doing something wrong or missing something important. Simple as taking a good drink and telling your story to the world, or in this case bartender, making the story write itself.
6. Katawa Shoujo (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux)
Like Zero Escape, the main thing about Katawa Shoujo is that it is a visual novel at its core. Where the difference lies in terms of how different they are, is the characters of their respective series. While the Zero Escape characters are great and interesting on their right, for a visual novel, the backgrounds of the characters in Katawa Shoujo will likely get more attention due to the nature of who they are and what they are dealing with. In an attachment sort of sense, I’d say that this game can make you more invested in them versus our escape room buddies and would be on this list in that regard.
5. We Were Here (Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)
A quirky game that allows you and a friend (or a random person) to solve a bunch of mysteries that ultimately allow you to escape the castle you were trapped in. This personally has better puzzles as you’re going to need the help of your teammate in that they can see a portion of what you can face and vice versa. The puzzles themselves are as tricky as being trapped in the predicament in the first place and that goes for all the games in the series. Needless to say, you’ve got to work together to escape together.
4. Life is Strange (Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android, Xbox 360)
With time travel being a thing in Zero Escape, you’d be thinking that this can be used to fix certain mistakes should you be in that situation, and you’re right. That is certainly the case with the game although it focuses on a specific timeframe, the same isn’t as linear as the first Life is Strange game. A wild and wonderful game that in itself has a great following of fans, this game has been rereleased and reworked to new platforms, showing how good the game is. Going back to what makes it better, it’s the more subtle approach to rewinding time, making your decisions a small, yet, very important one as it can go to a myriad of possibilities, with a few games all set in a more relatable, personalized setting. It would be best to try the series in itself as the themes and approach are different per game, making for a wholly unique experience when compared to Zero Escape.
3. Clannad (Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 2, S3G, FOMA)
Like Doki-Doki Literature Club, Clannad is also going to be more memorable in terms of an impact compared to Zero Escape. Both have the intrigue of connections between characters, but only one can have the ability to suck out the feels out of your soul, and yes, it’s that effective. It’s such a great game on its own with such a nice, simple story with it, making this feel much more important when you put them head-to-head.
2. Danganronpa (PlayStation Portable, Android, iOS, PlayStation Vita, Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One)
With a more ‘friendlier’ logic and mystery type gameplay, Danganronpa is a great game on its own but can outshine Zero Escape for a select number of reasons. First off is the linear and straightforward storytelling. It kinda rinses and repeats for the vast majority of Danganronpa and its sequels, in that you have a finite amount of time before being brought to the next major point. I’d like to think of this as the training grounds to Zero Escape, and a better choice to present to anyone new to these types of games as the art, music, and gameplay can ease you in the experience of visual novels, albeit with the twist of being a detective, judge, jury, and executioner all into one.
1. AI: The Somnium Files (Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)
How can you top a game that has good puzzles, a mind-numbing progression path, and a great story? By making another series with exactly those three. With a bigger budget and a different plot, AI: The Somnium Files is absolute eye candy and an intriguing concept towards puzzles and mystery solving for the story progression. Of course, recency bias is a thing, but still, you have to give it to Uchikoshi’s latest work to turn more brains inside out, and the best part is there is a sequel coming later this year.
