We store cookies, you can get more info from our privacy policy.
3DSDS

999 Receives Reprint in North America

by Tom Malina - September 28, 2012, 6:22 pm EDT
Total comments: 10 Source: Aksys Games, (Description), http://www.aksysgames.com/2012/09/27/999-with-new-...

M-rated DS game gets a second run at retail, but now with new box art.

Adventure game 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors has received a reprint in North America from publisher Aksys Games.

Initially released for Nintendo DS in 2010 as a limited run, the game was difficult to find at many retailers, with some copies being sold well above the MSRP due to their rarity.

The copies in this new shipment will be adorned with new box cover art showing the game's primary antagonist, Zero.

999, developed originally by Chunsoft, is a visual novel-style point-and-click adventure, notable for its mature themes and branching narrative paths. Its 3DS sequel, Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, which is already out in Japan, will be released in the US on October 23, and then in Europe and Australia, under publisher Rising Star Games, in November.

Talkback

AVSeptember 28, 2012

why not as a full download in e-shop instead?

rlse9September 28, 2012

One of the best experiences on the DS.  The story is as good as any game I've played, it really pulls you in, I'd lay awake at night thinking about the game and trying to figure out what was going on every night until I finally finished the game and got the true ending.  The character development in the game was excellent and the puzzles in the game were good.  I was a little unsure of how well requiring multiple play-throughs to get the true ending would work but it was really done well and added to the game.  Anyone who has a DS/3DS and has any interest in this genre of game needs to buy it now if they haven't already.

leahsdadSeptember 29, 2012

Quote from: Mr.

why not as a full download in e-shop instead?

Well, they don't do that with DS games yet....I'd be willing to bet that Nintendo has some silly rule about that.

Quote from: rlse9

  I was a little unsure of how well requiring multiple play-throughs to get the true ending would work but it was really done well and added to the game.  Anyone who has a DS/3DS and has any interest in this genre of game needs to buy it now if they haven't already.

Oh, it's amazing, though I think calling them "multiple playthroughs" is an inaccurate way to describe it (though everyone does).  For someone who has never played this kind of game, it might mislead them into thinking this is the most tedious game in the world, like if Mass Effect required you to play as both paragon and renegade in order to get a "true" ending. 

I think the playthroughs should really be considered a single playthrough--  it's like that German movie "Run Lola Run"  You see the plot of that film play through at least 20 times--  Lola needs to save her boyfriend, she runs, and there's a bad end.  Like visual novel games, at the end of Run Lola Run, basically the 20th time you've seen the movie play out, Lola finally gets the "good ending."  But despite my horrifying description, Run Lola Run is a fantastic, fun, and exciting film.  You don't feel like you just saw the same film play out 20 times, or that you watched 20 short films that were pretty much the same story but with different endings.  You saw 1, single film whose narrative gimmick was to show you the story, with different tweaks and endings, 20 or so times. 

NemoSeptember 29, 2012

Or like "Groundhog Day"?

leahsdadSeptember 30, 2012

Quote from: Nemo

Or like "Groundhog Day"?

Well, yeah, but if you don't namedrop obscure German films, how are you ever going to impress people?  :-)

Oh, and even though this has been well covered in the 999 thread somewhere, I hope people who are on the fence about this game will be won over by the fact that it is not too long--  I would say the first play through will take about 10 hours (if that), and subsequent "play throughs" will vary between 30 to 90 minutes to go through the "entire" game, thanks to the super useful fast forward feature.  And the final "play through" should take about...I would say 2 hours, because of all the end content.  All in all, maybe a 15 to 16 hour game, depending on how fast you read, for all 6 "play throughs."

ejamerSeptember 30, 2012

Although 999 a good game and worth playing, I think you are being too kind on the "fast forward" feature for subsequent playthroughs. Every new bit of dialog forces you to slow down (despite most being minor changes that don't affect anything) and you still need to solve every puzzle again for each playthough. Add in the facts that there is no logical way to know which ending you are pushing towards, where endings repeat, or what order you need to get endings to receive the "real" ending and the game has some significant drawbacks.


Luckily the story is interesting and absurd enough to make it worth overlooking the issues. I'd recommend that, after getting at least one ending on your own. new players look at a FAQ or guide showing which paths to take to get different endings - and that comes from someone who is usually firmly against using FAQs while playing, especially for games like this.

leahsdadSeptember 30, 2012

Quote from: ejamer

Although 999 a good game and worth playing, I think you are being too kind on the "fast forward" feature for subsequent playthroughs. Every new bit of dialog forces you to slow down (despite most being minor changes that don't affect anything) and you still need to solve every puzzle again for each playthough. Add in the facts that there is no logical way to know which ending you are pushing towards, where endings repeat, or what order you need to get endings to receive the "real" ending and the game has some significant drawbacks.


Luckily the story is interesting and absurd enough to make it worth overlooking the issues. I'd recommend that, after getting at least one ending on your own. new players look at a FAQ or guide showing which paths to take to get different endings - and that comes from someone who is usually firmly against using FAQs while playing, especially for games like this.

Well, I disagree with you on the puzzles, because even though you do have to solve them again, the answers are the same, so all you really have to do is remember what the solution was or even write it down. 

But you are completely right about the ending structure.  I too resorted to a FAQ after I got the same ending 2 times.  Thankfully, a kind soul on Gamefaqs has written an excellent spoiler free walkthrough.  But I think the thing that really needs to be fixed in visual novels, and would really make them perfect, would be to make it clear, in some tangible, logical way, when a certain choice would affect the outcome, and why.  In 999, it's not just the door choices that affect which ending you get, but it's also certain other choices and dialog options which, in retrospect after you get the true ending, make perfect sense.  But only after you get the true ending--  before that, you think "Why the hell would me giving this character a certain item make the difference between a good ending and a bad ending?" 

But the story is actually really good, not necessarily absurd (hell, it's less absurd than a guy who dies and becomes a smoke monster and must never, ever be let off the island because the island is like a bottle.  Uh huh).  And the really big twist (as opposed to the little twists along  the way) is pretty mindblowing.  When it happened, I actually looked around me, thinking "oh crap.  Is this real?" 

ejamerSeptember 30, 2012

Quote from: leahsdad

...
But the story is actually really good, not necessarily absurd (hell, it's less absurd than a guy who dies and becomes a smoke monster and must never, ever be let off the island because the island is like a bottle.  Uh huh).  And the really big twist (as opposed to the little twists along  the way) is pretty mindblowing.  When it happened, I actually looked around me, thinking "oh crap.  Is this real?"

Regarding Lost: I watched it with my wife this past year. The character drama is ok, and best in the early seasons. But the overall story is horrible. People will argue otherwise, but people will also argue that Twilight is compelling fiction. We stopped watching in the last season because it was terrible, and then finished it off just so we could discuss the ending with people who swore it was a well-written show.


Regarding 999: I agree that the real ending is a worthwhile payoff.

rlse9September 30, 2012

I'd say your estimates for how long each subsequent play through takes are on the short side.  The second play through isn't that much shorter since you're basically making all of the opposite choices of what you took the first time.  After that they're fairly quick quick until the true ending but I don't think any of mine took less than an hour.  The true ending play through seemed like it took more than 2 hours, not in a bad way but it's longer than I expected.  I was playing it on New Year's Eve last year and it was almost midnight by the time I finished and my wife wasn't too happy about it but I couldn't put the game down.

I'd say to use an FAQ after at least two if not three play throughs.  By making all different choices the second time you'll almost definitely get a different ending.  I did three play throughs and got three different endings, then did the one you need to do before the true ending and the true ending both using a FAQ.  For anyone who does use a FAQ, you don't need a full walk through, there's a chart out there somewhere that has nothing more than what choices get you to what ending so it doesn't give any of the story away.  Also, there's a great interview with one of the designers of the game on the Aksys website that answers a lot of the questions about the game and at the same time raises more questions, definitely worth reading after finishing the game.

PlugabugzOctober 01, 2012

James Jones ACTIVATE!

Got a news tip? Send it in!
Advertisement
Advertisement