Hey all,
I had the final game of the Zero Escape trilogy on my wishlist for a while, and ended up getting the entire trilogy earlier this week because they were all 80% discounted. And strangely enough that resulted in my losing the next three days of my life on the first game in the trilogy.. :D
Suffice to say: I loved the entire experience, so I felt a need to share and recommend this series with you... even though I haven't played the last two games yet!
The concept of these games is simple and somewhat Saw-like: nine people are abducted and stuck together and have to solve puzzles in the hope of escaping their newfound prison with their lives within a set time limit. Deaths definitely happen (although not on the over-the-top level like you had in Saw) and it is typically up to you to figure out the where, how's and why's. Nothing is as it seems, everything is related (or is it?) and the epiphanies and plot twists have turned my emotions into a true rollercoaster ride at times, going from low to high to being stomped back down into the ground again.
And despite it all... it is not random. Many of the events or even plot twists in the first game I was able to predict or reason out beforehand to some degree, making it a very satisfying game to really sink into as opposed to just skim. It does not make it a bad game, but rather a very well-written game with many layers of intrigue that take the right nudges and exploration to finally understand.
Note that these are games in the 'visual novel' style, so don't think of these games as being about any sort of real-time 'gameplay'. Think about them as having a really deep, multi-layered reading experience with branching paths and escape room puzzles mixed in, all of which leads to an ever-deepening mystery that is meant to suck you in really deep. :)
There are three games in this trilogy:
- Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
- Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
- Zero Time Dilemma
You can get the entire trilogy here, currently at an 80% discount (the lowest it has ever been!):
Zero Escape Trilogy Bundle (Steam)Wondering why there is only two games in the bundle? When the game was released on PC, the first two games were bundled into a package called 'The Nonary Games'. So it is in fact a trilogy.
This is a trailer for the first two games:
This is a trailer for the last game:
If you end up getting them, let me know how you enjoy the games. I loved 999 and will soon play the next two games! :)