Publisher: Aksys Games
Developer: Chunsoft
Genre: Text-Based Adventure/Visual Novel
Release Date: October 23, 2012
MSRP: $39.99
Developer: Chunsoft
Genre: Text-Based Adventure/Visual Novel
Release Date: October 23, 2012
MSRP: $39.99
An adventure for the ages:
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is the second game in the Zero Escape series; this follows the highly praised 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors. The fundamental principle behind this game is the prisoner's dilemma: two men are arrested for committing a crime, and are separated and put into different rooms with no means of communication with each other. A detective comes in to talk to both of them, and tells them both the same thing. If you stay silent, and your partner stays silent, you both do 2 years in prison. If you stay silent, but your partner rats you out, then he gets 1 year and you get 15 years. On the flipside, if you rat your partner out and he stays silent, you get 1 year and he gets 15. If you both spill the beans on each other, then you each get 10 years. However, in this game, depending on what you choose it can mean the difference between life and death. Every player in the game starts with 3 points, and to escape you need 9 points. If you and your partner both ally, then you each gain 2 points. If you ally while your partner betrays, you lose 2 points and your partner gains 3 points. If you betray your partner and they ally, you gain 3 points and they lose 2 points. If you both betray each other then neither of you gain or lose any points. At its core, this is a game about trust and betrayal.
Let's just get this out of the way now: the story is phenomenal. The characters are all relatable; you can understand their motivations to do what they do, and the developers really make you care for some of them. Other characters will certainly be the target of your hatred, while still others may surprise you when their true natures are shown. I felt terrible for betraying some characters when I saw their reactions - some characters were absolutely crushed, others were infuriated - and I myself would get angry when people betrayed me when I would ally. Betraying someones trust, even in a video game, has its consequences. This is a dark game in every way - there are some well placed jokes every once in a while, but for the most part, this is a dark and gruesome story, full of murder, distrust, tension, and even occasional suicides. This is one of the most complex and intriguing stories in the industry. There are many twists and turns within the plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat. When I started playing, I played it for 7 hours straight with no breaks - I couldn't get enough of it. Then, when I was in the home stretch, I played it for another 6.5-7 hour period with no breaks. The story is that good. There was one plot hole that was kind of distracting in retrospect, but I didn't even notice it until after I completed the game and went on miscellaneous forums online to discuss the story, and you may be that way too. I was too into the story to even notice it. There are an astonishing 24 endings, and to see the final, "true" ending, you have to experience all the other endings first.
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is the second game in the Zero Escape series; this follows the highly praised 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors. The fundamental principle behind this game is the prisoner's dilemma: two men are arrested for committing a crime, and are separated and put into different rooms with no means of communication with each other. A detective comes in to talk to both of them, and tells them both the same thing. If you stay silent, and your partner stays silent, you both do 2 years in prison. If you stay silent, but your partner rats you out, then he gets 1 year and you get 15 years. On the flipside, if you rat your partner out and he stays silent, you get 1 year and he gets 15. If you both spill the beans on each other, then you each get 10 years. However, in this game, depending on what you choose it can mean the difference between life and death. Every player in the game starts with 3 points, and to escape you need 9 points. If you and your partner both ally, then you each gain 2 points. If you ally while your partner betrays, you lose 2 points and your partner gains 3 points. If you betray your partner and they ally, you gain 3 points and they lose 2 points. If you both betray each other then neither of you gain or lose any points. At its core, this is a game about trust and betrayal.
Let's just get this out of the way now: the story is phenomenal. The characters are all relatable; you can understand their motivations to do what they do, and the developers really make you care for some of them. Other characters will certainly be the target of your hatred, while still others may surprise you when their true natures are shown. I felt terrible for betraying some characters when I saw their reactions - some characters were absolutely crushed, others were infuriated - and I myself would get angry when people betrayed me when I would ally. Betraying someones trust, even in a video game, has its consequences. This is a dark game in every way - there are some well placed jokes every once in a while, but for the most part, this is a dark and gruesome story, full of murder, distrust, tension, and even occasional suicides. This is one of the most complex and intriguing stories in the industry. There are many twists and turns within the plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat. When I started playing, I played it for 7 hours straight with no breaks - I couldn't get enough of it. Then, when I was in the home stretch, I played it for another 6.5-7 hour period with no breaks. The story is that good. There was one plot hole that was kind of distracting in retrospect, but I didn't even notice it until after I completed the game and went on miscellaneous forums online to discuss the story, and you may be that way too. I was too into the story to even notice it. There are an astonishing 24 endings, and to see the final, "true" ending, you have to experience all the other endings first.
Meeting Other Characters for the First Time
That may sound tedious, but the developers were smart enough to work around that. They created something called the "flow system", which is actually introduced in the story. It shows all the different paths you could have taken and allows you to rewind to a choice moment and make a different choice to see what happens if you would have picked that choice. All this is accomplished by a few simple taps on the screen. It is a very easy concept to grasp once you see it for yourself, and is an integral part of the experience to view all the endings and alternate pathways. Things start to delve into science fiction category after you've experienced multiple endings, and this is shown through "story locks". Story locks are portions of the story in which it is possible to progress, but it is locked until you play through other pathways and endings to discover the answer for the lock. The true ending blew my mind and left me eagerly anticipating the third and final entry in the trilogy, which is probably still at least a year away - hopefully the wait doesn't kill me. Oh, and the story here? To experience all the endings and unlock the true ending, it will take around 25 hours.
An Example of the Flow System
Gameplay consists or "escape the room" sequences, in which you must use items in the room you're in (with occasional hints from your two partners) to create new items and solve puzzles. Some puzzles are MUCH more difficult than the others and will require patience to complete. Each room also has a secret file, that by solving a puzzle for and unlocking you get more information that helps you to better understand the story. Some puzzles are mind-bending and will really require you to think hard to solve, but the payoff is worth it in the end - more story details. To make things easier for us when going down different paths, you are able to "skip" dialogue you have already seen by double tapping "square", and you never have to complete an escape more than once. There are a total of 16 escapes to complete in this game - the final one is particularly challenging.
An Example of a Puzzle
Graphics look sharp and crisp on the Vita's beautiful screen, with well rendered character models and some animations to help story flow better in certain sections. However, some environments do look drab and bland, but there are a couple of very different looking environments scattered around to mix things up. The crisp graphics and higher resolution make the text much more readable - this is good, because as this is a text-based adventure/visual novel, there is a lot of text to read through. Characters also have full featured voice acting during story sequences (though there is a lack of voice acting in escape sequences). Your character, unfortunately, does not have voice acting, though it really isn't a big deal overall. The sound effects are good, and occasional background music also fits the tension and mood of the game perfectly.
If I were to make two suggestions: the first would be to go out and get this game as soon as possible. Even if you haven't played the previous game, 999, the story still stands on its own and makes near perfect sense, though it is more impactful if you have played 999 before. The seconds would be to play with pen and paper or a notepad of some sort - if a characters gives you a code or password of some sort: WRITE IT DOWN. You will need them later on in different endings. In short, Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is a must own game for any Vita (or 3DS) owner who loves investing themselves in a great story. The wait for the third game may just kill you though.
Pros:
+Fantastic, engrossing story
+Great cast of characters
+Mind-blowing ending
+Mind-bending gameplay
+Sharp, crisp graphics
+Great voice acting
Cons:
-One distracting plot hole
-Some extremely difficult puzzles
-Lack of voice acting during escape sequences
-The wait for part 3 will be tough
9.0 Graphics: Graphics are sharp and crisp, characters are beautiful, but many environments are a bit bland.
9.0 Sound: The voice acting is great, sound effects are good and surprised me at some points, and background music fits the tone of the game perfectly.
8.5 Gameplay: Gameplay consists solely of completely (sometimes very hard) puzzles and reading text. It works, though.
10 Lasting Appeal: You will want to play through every ending to experience the true ending, and after that, you may want to play through again - there are a lot of small things I missed my first time around that I picked up when seeing it again later.
Overall: 9.1
Outstanding
If I were to make two suggestions: the first would be to go out and get this game as soon as possible. Even if you haven't played the previous game, 999, the story still stands on its own and makes near perfect sense, though it is more impactful if you have played 999 before. The seconds would be to play with pen and paper or a notepad of some sort - if a characters gives you a code or password of some sort: WRITE IT DOWN. You will need them later on in different endings. In short, Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is a must own game for any Vita (or 3DS) owner who loves investing themselves in a great story. The wait for the third game may just kill you though.
Pros:
+Fantastic, engrossing story
+Great cast of characters
+Mind-blowing ending
+Mind-bending gameplay
+Sharp, crisp graphics
+Great voice acting
Cons:
-One distracting plot hole
-Some extremely difficult puzzles
-Lack of voice acting during escape sequences
-The wait for part 3 will be tough
9.0 Graphics: Graphics are sharp and crisp, characters are beautiful, but many environments are a bit bland.
9.0 Sound: The voice acting is great, sound effects are good and surprised me at some points, and background music fits the tone of the game perfectly.
8.5 Gameplay: Gameplay consists solely of completely (sometimes very hard) puzzles and reading text. It works, though.
10 Lasting Appeal: You will want to play through every ending to experience the true ending, and after that, you may want to play through again - there are a lot of small things I missed my first time around that I picked up when seeing it again later.
Overall: 9.1
Outstanding