Speaking of which, making the break this week: The game of intense brain teasers and pondering theories feasible that is Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.
Released on December 10th, 2009, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (or 999 for short) was the first of what would become a trilogy of thought-provoking narrative / escape-puzzle games known as the Zero Escape series. The game revolves around nine people who are abducted and trapped together in a large freighter. Their abductor, known as Zero, forces each captive to participate in a game referred to as the Nonary Game. They are all given 9 hours to locate the door with the number 9 on it and make their escape. However, each character has been given an irremovable bracelet with an assigned number 1-9. These bracelets help them open the 9 doors scattered about their confinement, but also hold lethal consequences should any rules not be followed. As the characters split up and seek out a means to escape, you learn that every character has a bit more depth and relation to this situation than might have been initially suspected. And to that same effect, your situation also holds a great deal more mystery and fraught significance.
999 was developed by Chunsoft with an aspiration to create a visual novel game in which puzzle elements would be more integrated and important to the game's story. As such, the game flows back and forth between segments of escape-room puzzle solving and lengthy narration. During either segment though, players will make important choices which will affect not only where they choose to explore, but the overall outcome of the narrative, all leading to one of six potential endings, most of which end rather grimly. Players can however, and are expected to replay through the game multiple times, making new choices to discover different outcomes. Although it can be a bit taxing to replay through certain puzzles multiple times, you can at least speed-up text which has already been seen. And the story provides such deep and thought-provoking subjects to explore, it's often well worth revisiting these segments as you glean new bits of information and clarity. If players are able to discover all the endings to be found in this game, the path to the true ending of the game is revealed and is quite possibly one of the coolest and mind-bending pieces of narrative to be found in media. But this narrative has added profoundness being on the Nintendo DS as it makes clever use of the dual screens to deliver that extra bit of impact to the ending segments of the game. Without going into detail so as not to spoil anything, let's just say the true ending of this game will leave you further thinking and wondering well after you put down the game.
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| The nine captives to take part in the Nonary Game. |
This game had originally been written as a stand-alone title, but the positive reception it received, particularly in the North American and European markets, led to the development of two more sequels: Virtue's Last Reward and Zero Time Dilemma. These sequels make improvements to the gameplay, allowing players to more easily navigate back and forth through the branching narrative, while also still exploring more inquisitive and ethical themes. With a mix of a few familiar faces and mostly new characters, these sequels create an interesting dynamic of mistrust and doubt. I'd love to go into more detail of these follow-up games, but alas they are both on my to-play list still. Nevertheless, if you're in the mood for a game that is bound to capture mind and attention, I can't recommend enough this unassuming gem of a game that started the Zero Escape series.
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