Welcome to “Why You Should Be Excited For:” a new preview column that will attempt to rationalize the hype and excitement behind some of the most niche entertainment releases building buzz across the web. It’s the quickest way to board any hype train.
You’ve probably never heard of Zero Escape, and frankly, I wouldn’t expect you to. Currently, two games exist in the series – 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue’s Last Reward. They’re Japanese visual novels, a genre infamous for cheap titillation. The vast majority of the “game” involves reading text bubbles as anime character portraits pop in and out of frame. In between story sequences you’ll occasionally enter a room that tasks you with a simple puzzle . The “visual novel” moniker isn’t just a name – this is effectively a book series wrapped around a video game shell.
The true gameplay of Zero Escape comes in the choices that you’re forced to make, and their consequences. After a few hours of reading, puzzle solving and picking choices, you’ll hit an end to the story (usually resulting in your character’s grisly demise). But the end isn’t the end. Rather, it’s just an end. The magic comes in repeat journeys through the game, making new choices and finding new information. Eventually what’s learned from each possible outcome of events will solve the mystery.
The premise for both 999 and VLR are very similar and plays out like a depraved mix of Saw and Big Brother: Nine people wake up in a mysterious location with limited recollection of how they arrived there. Their personalities and styles vary wildly, yet all are tasked with cooperation if they wish to leave alive. Complex challenges force the player to make and break alliances with the cast of diverse characters.
It’s emotionally stirring, intellectually challenging and delightfully strange stuff.
If you can ignore the anime hairstyles and the occasional moments of absurd female objectification, this is the first sci-fi mystery worth getting invested in since Lost. Twists come naturally, yet leave you blown away. They’re the most engaging books I’ve read in years, and I read them off a Nintendo 3DS.
After Virtue’s Last Reward, I was left in a dazed buzz with a deep desire to see what follows. But ever since that game’s release in 2012, there was a worrying silence.
While 999 and Virtue’s Last Reward found a fan base in the U.S., they didn’t quite resonate in their homeland of Japan. Word spread for months that the conclusion to the trilogy had been canned by publishers, and we’d never get closure on the saga. But as clues dripped in over the last few months, the signs became clear. Finally, at last week’s Anime Expo 2015, the (still technically untitled) Zero Escape 3 was announced for a summer 2016 release.
If you’re interested in trying the Zero Escape series for yourself, you’ve got a few options. The first game, 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, is available on the Nintendo DS for around $25 on Amazon. There’s also a version on iOS, but that one removes the game’s puzzles and ultimately undermines the experience.
As for Virtue’s Last Reward, PS Vita owners with PS Plus may have noticed the game was a free download a few months back. If you were smart enough to grab it, it is largely considered the definitive version. The Nintendo 3DS copy will still serve you well, but it does suffer from a crippling bug that can occur when saving the game during puzzle sequences. Either one will cost you around $30 on Amazon.
I can’t implore you enough to give the Zero Escape series a chance. They’re not easy games to approach as an outsider, but I promise that the reward within will change what you think about the possibility of games as a medium for narrative expression.
Follow Chris Berg on Twitter, @Mushroomer25