Recommend A Game!: Zero Escape: Nonary Games - 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors

Ah, a great masterpiece. This recommendation/thoughts/review is actually only for half of the Zero Escape: Nonary Games game. The 999 part, I'm still playing through Virtue's Last Reward (the second half of the game and the 2nd game of the zero escape trilogy).

ANYWAY, let's get to the point, would I recommend this game? ABSOLUTELY!!! I will go through my thoughts on the game and hopefully with little to no spoilers. Or rather, I'd like to keep this spoiler free as much as possible. Just note there might be some minor spoilers but it's nothing surprising, you would probably guessed the spoilers i would say if you play the game. Assuming there's any.

So what is 999 and Zero Escape? Zero escape is a trilogy consisting of 3 games: 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors, Virtue's Last Reward, and Zero Time Dilemma. This is a story driven game which means you're going to read a lot of texts. A LOT OF TEXT. But hey, there's voice acting both in English and Japanese for added flavor. I used the Japanese one since it is the original language but it's up to you what you want. Other than a semi visual novel type game, this is also a room escape game. Basically you're trapped in a room and have to solve puzzles to escape. Simple.

So what's 999 story all about? In 999, you're one of the nine people kidnapped to participate in a game, the nonary game. Because when you play the Nonary Games, you win or you die. Wait, wrong game! Props to those who get it. Anyway, you're one of the 9 people trapped in a sinking ship and the only way to escape is to play the nonary game. You have 9 hours to complete the game and escape from the ship before it sank to the bottom of the ocean. The only way to win the game is to go through a series of numbered doors, 9 doors to be exact. Yeah, see the connection to the title? Be assured, this isn't the end to the number 9 system build into the game.

The core of the gameplay is reading dialogues

Each numbered door needs 3-5 people to go through it but with a condition which is their digital root has to match up with the door number. Each person is given a watch that has a number and these numbers are needed to form the digital root to open said doors. So how does a digital root work? Simple, just add the numbers. Say person 1, 2, and 3 decided to go together, their digital root would be 1+2+3=6. But what if their number exceeds 9? Wouldn't they be unable to pass any door? Remember, this is digital root, not a simple addition. Say if person 4, 5, and 6 decided to go together, their digital root would be 4+5+6=15 -> 1+5=6. Simple right?

The puzzles for me is quite fun. They're somewhat challenging but not that hard to figure out. Well, except for that single room which I won't say (It's either the puzzle is challenging or it's just me unable to think clearly since it's like 2 am when I entered that puzzle room). Just note, hints are everywhere in the room and from what people say, pay attention to everything and you'll do fine. There's also the solution on the internet but shame on you if you use it without trying and thinking first. Use it only when you absolutely have no idea on how to solve it.

The story is very intriguing. Usually when playing these type of games, you would have somewhat guessed what'll happen, who is the culprit and why, but 999 gives you misleads you time and time again and drawing you to false conclusion often. At least for me, I absolutely fail to guess the ending until the very last moment and that really satisfy me. Just don't google anything about the game UNTIL you finish the true ending. There's spoilers literally everywhere on the internet. Another tips from me is to read everything, don't skim or skip things because they seem unimportant. There's hints related to the story scattered here there and everywhere. Even the random talks are important to the story later on. Yes, I do mean even the most random of things will have a clue in them, including these seemingly random number you'll find in the game: 14383421. I won't tell you, finish the game then I'll explain. Although I do have to say one of those random talks are rather oddly placed. I'm talking about the freezer scene. You'll know when you see it.

Speaking of the endings, there's 6 endings, 5 of which you're obliged to play through. 4 bad ends, 1 safe end, and 1 true end. I highly recommend you play through it to get the true end. Replaying things over and over again is worth it just to get to the true end. But hey, the pc version gives you to the flowchart which lets you skip to the part to get to the other endings so no excuse there. You don't have to replay the whole game like I did back when it was in its DS version. Did you think the need to play through the bad ends is a pain and something not needed? Worry not, each bad ends gives you more information about the story and more things to mislead you also. The story is build upon these bad ends, the pieces of the puzzles will come together perfectly after you get through all of the endings and see what had happened and the secret behind this whole nonary game. Also the bad ends are, for me, necessary for us, as the player, to get attached to the characters. I mean, as you will see when I talk about the characters, I'm very much attached to Clover.

A guide to the various ends. Spoiler free

For the characters, at first they seem to be your usual character tropes. At least they are for me. But as the game progress and you interact with them, you can feel they're like a human being, complex characterization and somewhat get to know them through the view of the main character. Just because why not, I'll talk briefly about the characters without spoiling much or any (since most of it would be my first impression of them and the origin of their name. Also some random trivia about them). Note their order are intended to be that way since I follow their watch number. Also their names are codenames so don't ask something like "why are his/her name that? No one would name their child that". Well duh, that's not their real name. It's just a code name that corresponds to their number. Also note I use the english version of their name since I like those better.

1 - Ace. An adult that is reliable. His name came from the ace card which is also number one. His Japanese version is Ichimiya. Ichi means one. If you pay attention, there's actually a lot of hints on what he has went through. Poor guy... not really.

2 - Snake. The blind guy of the group and is really calm. He's also a walking wikipedia. I forgot why he choose snake so you have to play the game to find out. His JP version is Niels. Don't ask. I don't know. Then again Niels has Ni which means two. That's probably the reason but I'm not sure. His family has weird customs... yes, weird. I won't say more, it has nothing to do with the story but... I feel the need to protect his sister's dignity.

3 - Santa. The somewhat punk and rebellious kid. His JP version is the same, Santa. Why Santa? Because san means three.

4 - Clover. The sister of Snake and the cheerful girl. The cutest if I had to choose and the best of the girls. Her name clover is implying to the 4 leafed clover. Her JP version is Yotsuba. In Japanese, Yotsuba can mean a plant that has 4 leaf. Which also imply to the 4 leafed clover. I admit I really like her character after the safe end. Gosh, just love it. Also when doing the research (more like browsing) into writing this, I found out something weird about her... which I wouldn't mention for... reasons.

Cute Clover <3 td="">

5 - Junpei. The main character and who we will play as. As you can probably guess, his codename is his real name thus his JP version is also Junpei. Why so? Because a certain childhood friend told everyone what his name is.

6 - June. The kind girl and the childhood friend of Junpei. Her name, June, came from the 6th month of the year. Her JP version is Murasaki for God knows why since it means purple. How does purple ties in to the number 6? I have no clue. Also her fever is something tied to the story and not randomly added. I won't say what though.

7 - Seven. The big muscly guy who is also seemed like a muscle head. This is not the case. His name is self explanatory and this JP version is also the Seven. He also has an amnesia and occasional headaches which also ties in with the story and thus I won't say a thing about it. This dude also has a very weird fetish, gosh.

8 - Lotus. The very exposed girl. Like seriously, she barely had much clothing. Also the selfish one in the group. But man, when she became useful, she's a cool lady. Her name came from the plant lotus which in many eastern religion is depicted to have 8 leaves. Her JP version is Yashiro (八代) which contains the word hachi (八) which means 8. She's also a rude girl who doesn't know what a Funyarinpa is. Unbelievable!

9 - The 9th man. Unimportant. Dead. This is not a spoiler since he died in like 5 minutes after the tutorial ended.

Looks like a very diverse characters? Because they are. Each one of them feels very distinct to each other and it's very interesting to know their backstories. All of them are also connected to the mystery of the whole series which also adds to the interesting bit of the characters. Although Lotus is arguably questionable why she's there. But hey, she's still somewhat connected. There's also some secret about the numbers that I can't say since, you guessed it, spoilers. Play it yourself to know the answer, and if you didn't feel free to ask me.

This game is a very solid game with fun puzzles and compelling story. I highly recommend this to everyone. Just try it. And if you like Danganronpa, the more I recommend this game. Since both are quite similar but personally I like this more.

Also hail Funyarinpa! Wait, what? You don't know Funyarinpa? How could you not know?! That's...that's practically blasphemous. Say you're sorry! Apologize to the Funyarinpa!

"It looks kind of like... a demon... with an elephant-like nose... Sucking on a human being's brain..." — June perceiving the Funyarinpa.

Seriously when you see that demon elephant, you can't unsee it. Hail Funyarinpa.

Funyarinpa!