Thoughts after finishing 999

[Egamer]

So after finishing the first game I gotta say I really enjoyed it, after playing Danganronpa its nice to play a similar game that isn't as sadistic. I enjoyed the characters and the story overall, the only thing I didn't like was how often information would get repeated as if the game was afraid I would forget something that had been said 5 seconds ago.

Started VLR and first impressions are mixed, the story is interesting so far but I'm not a fan of the 3D models. 1 hour in and its already worse than 999 when it comes to constantly repeating information but I'm intrigued and excited to see how the game plays out.

[㊈ y u w e i]

In my opininon, 999 is by far the best in the series...
Just like you, I'm not a fan of the 3D models in VLR, and there are also other things which give me kinda a hard time playing this game. I can't really bring myself to like it.

I tried to play Zero Time Dilemma too, as it's supposed to be a prequel to VLR and a sequel to 999 even tho it's the last game that came out in the franchise.
But I just don't recognize the characters I got to know so well in 999, it feels like they're complete strangers to me (especially Junpei), and it just throws me off so bad, I just can't keep going.

With that, I'm curious as to what your thoughts will be on VLR and ZTD if you manage to get through those, cause I know I can't.

[Egamer]

I will say that so far in VLR I am not a fan of Zero, he's somehow a more obnoxious version of Monokuma from Danganronpa. Makes me wonder if the Japanese VA manages to be just as irritating.

I also dislike Alice's outfit, like why even bother to wear a shirt dressed like that? It's absolutely ridiculous.

[㊈ y u w e i]

Ah yeah... The Zero from VLR is just trying too hard, to be honest, I can't take him seriously.
It's way too different, and your comparison is only fair, I actually thought the same.

Anyways.. Good luck with VLR (and maybe ZTD).

[Mysti_Fogg]

I really like both 999 and VLR, but I think I might like VLR more despite the awful 3D models (And yes, Alice's lack of shirt drives me nuts because there's no reason for it).

Zero III actually goes away/stops interacting with you after a while. It's not as in depth a feature as Monokuma. I think he leaves after the second door.

I did set the game to fast forward through all the repeated dialogue because as I mentioned in a different thread, you have to hit a minimum of 9 bad endings before you get the good one. (I did them all for completion's sake).

Other than that, I really liked Phi and Tenmyouji & Quark, and I didn't like Diana until I did her route, which I really enjoyed. I will say that this game made me hate Clover, which ... I wasn't a huge fan in the first game, but I thought she was a decent character. Also Alice. Alice is a b*tch.

[㊈ y u w e i]

Oh thank god we don't have to put up with this obnoxious rabbit all game long then, that's really good to know.
I could probably get used to the 3D models after a while, but yes I gotta admit, Zero III might be the main reason why I stopped... Not gonna lie tho, Phi kind of irritates me, with her ostentatious behavior. Not to mention I already know something I shouldn't know about her, same goes for Tenmyouji (altho I don't mind his personality).
I'm curious about Clover tho, the fact she's still so young after all this time is intriguing... Same goes for Alice.. And I'd like to know who the masked man is. I'll probably give it a second chance someday.

[Egamer]

Definitely good to know that Zero isn't around the whole game. It wouldn't have stopped me from playing but man would it have soured my enjoyment.

[Jason]

You should try to play VLR. I don't think it's the best, but it has its good moments. Was only pretty disappointed by the whole conclusion. They were just too eager to keep the mysteries dangling for the player and at least I don't think that this was executed well...But still enjoyed the game for the puzzles. But I wouldn't blame you for not being able to pull through. I myself didn't mind the 3D models too much...more hung up on how horrible the graphics are in ZTD tbh. VLR seems like nothing compared to that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥...But as I played VLR, I'll get to ZTD eventually...All in all: Have fun and it's not that often you get games like those, so I probably would give them a try despite all their shortcomings.

[Egamer]

I'm about 8 hours into VLR so far and I am enjoying it for the most part, it does seem to be a lot more dialog heavy than the first game but I imagine a lot of stuff will end up repeating otherwise it would take ages to get through all the routes.

[Mysti_Fogg]

Originally posted by G-Daily:

I'm about 8 hours into VLR so far and I am enjoying it for the most part, it does seem to be a lot more dialog heavy than the first game but I imagine a lot of stuff will end up repeating otherwise it would take ages to get through all the routes.

Skip repeat dialogue is your friend in VLR. I liked it, but I didn't like it x 18. Also skipping through timelines to where you need to be.

Hint: You have a trace over to take notes on. Use it for codes. You'll need them as you bounce around.

[PopolaUNK]

Originally posted by ★ y u l i y:

Ah yeah... The Zero from VLR is just trying too hard, to be honest, I can't take him seriously.
It's way too different, and your comparison is only fair, I actually thought the same.

Anyways.. Good luck with VLR (and maybe ZTD).

Oh my goodness... I looked up the dub of this and all the VAs are trash, Zero III first among them, I'm not a sub guru, but what brings you guys to not try the sub after having to go through such a trash dub? If you hate Japanese that much you might as well turn off the voices with this trash

Start at 1:09

Here's an example of the sub with Zero III, I stop skipping during my playthroughs because I love this line for because I love it: https://youtu.be/evnUGh1vr2s?t=69

Also scratch that, Tenmyoji is the most garbage new VA, ew gross

Start at 32:10

Here is JP tenmyoji:
https://youtu.be/PvrMkfCEapY?t=1931

[㊈ y u w e i]

That's funny tho, what makes you think I don't play with JP voices ?
Cause that's what I did. But Zero III is equally annoying, no matter the voice.
I don't know, it just puts me off, I don't mind Monokuma in Danganronpa, but I just can't stand Zero III. Good thing we don't have to put up with him all game long, so I'll probably give it another go someday, but... For now I have other games in mind.

[PopolaUNK]

What about Usagi, lol

[MakoSipper]

Originally posted by G-Daily:

Started VLR and first impressions are mixed, the story is interesting so far but I'm not a fan of the 3D models. 1 hour in and its already worse than 999 when it comes to constantly repeating information but I'm intrigued and excited to see how the game plays out.

Wow, it's MORE repetitive than 999? I was almost skipping through the whole "true ending" segment because I couldn't take it anymore. The writing style is so bad, I almost quit halfway through. It's so freaking repetitive, with people crying over the same thing for hours instead of just tackling the issues at hand. I really felt like punching characters in the face, and I was kinda hoping the incinerator could bring a quicker end to the story. And despite all that boring repetition, it still felt like a lot was left with no explanation, and what's worse, with no room for logical explanation, or with some deus ex machina solutions.

When I was moving through the stories and endings, all I got was tons of random mystical-sounding bullcrap that made no sense until I started going through the true ending path. Even when they made some sense, they still sounded like mystical-sounding bullcrap, except not as random. Each piece of the puzzle was boring on its own, not making me curious to want to figure out how they're connected. Also, the writers withhold information from the player using very cheap tricks, like someone showing up, interrupting and so on. Very lame. When it was convenient for the writers to withhold information, characters seem to acknowledge the sense of urgency imposed by the 9-hour limit, but when there's a puzzle, they're okay with spending minutes repeating "oh my god, what should we do?! there's an obvious puzzle here, but let's instead spend minutes with dumb stuff while minutes go by to artificially increase tension". Not to mention the first 8h seem to last as long as the last 1h.

Is this intended for Japanese children? I know that it's normal to see blood and violence in shounen media. Puzzles were insanely easy, most of the time, except when they were not for poor design (the last password, being 9, felt like a completely random logic, and you couldn't even see the previous screen again), interface (at the start, I wanted to close the curtain with the hole from the outside, but there was no indication that there was a hotspot there, so I gave up on the idea, only to accidentally click there later) or port ("brain adjustment" in the torture room, telling me to compare with the diagram "at the top", ie, at the top screen of the DS... when I was avoiding to get the "hint" because I always try to solve puzzles without using hints first, obviously).

Coming from Danganronpa series, 999 felt like just any other crappy VN you can find on Steam, unlike Danganronpa. I was kinda hoping to read threads convincing me to play the other 2 games which I already own, but I'm disheartened to read people think 999 is the best.

Damn, the more I write about this game, the more I realize I didn't like it at all :( I thought I was kinda enjoying it for a while, but in hindsight it might've been wishful thinking.

[PopolaUNK]

I have no idea what he's talking about with VLR being more repetitive, 999 was problomatic in that sense, anyway if you can't except psydoscience existing in this universe you *should* give up on the series, also the final puzzle was sudoku in the original ds version and people also don't like the new final puzzle like you. People will still try to open locked doors in VLR but it's not as bad as 999 and it's completely removed by ZTD as far as I remember. VLR is much more polished and some people like it better so *if* you can get behind the pseduoscience give it a spin, also the puzzles are better if I remember, and also there is a jump feature in VLR, make sure to use it.

[MakoSipper]

Originally posted by Bacon4Makin':

I have no idea what he's talking about with VLR being more repetitive, 999 was problomatic in that sense, anyway if you can't except psydoscience existing in this universe you *should* give up on the series, also the final puzzle was sudoku in the original ds version and people also don't like the new final puzzle like you. People will still try to open locked doors in VLR but it's not as bad as 999 and it's completely removed by ZTD as far as I remember. VLR is much more polished and some people like it better so *if* you can get behind the pseduoscience give it a spin, also the puzzles are better if I remember, and also there is a jump feature in VLR, make sure to use it.

Thank you for your feedback. I can get behind pseudoscience, yes, as long as it doesn't feel like it's being forced into the story. Well, worst case scenario, maybe I can skip the whole thing if I get bored and at least complete the puzzles