Zero Time Dilemma - The End of a Trilogy (Blue Route)
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- Опубліковано 31 лип 2024
- Here it is. The finale to the Zero Escape trilogy, Zero Time Dilemma. Although the series is beloved by fans, this is the entry that was the most divisive. While there is much to be said about the game's shortcomings, this game succeeds in plenty of areas, especially its endings. It's been a long time since the last Zero Escape video, but join me as we dive into how Zero Time Dilemma manages to link its endings together brilliantly and how it falls short as the ending to the trilogy!
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Timestamps:
Feeling Blue 0:00
A Brief History of Zero Escape 0:47
ZTD's Setup 6:19
The Characters 9:11
Bad Endings 15:06
Circle of Fate 21:24
Apocalypse 27:36
The Hope of Two 30:24
What is Love? 37:57
The Real Zero 43:15
Pay-off 2 (True Ending) 45:59
Conclusion 52:28
Credits & Thanks 55:37
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If you enjoyed Mappy's voice work as K then please be sure to check him out at his Twitch and Twitter!
/ properlymappyva
/ mappythesquire
Check out my Twitter for video updates and random posts!
/ kayjulers
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Credits to:
CaptainCrisby (Zero Dancing Clip & Time to Decide Green Screen)
• (ZTD End Spoilers) ZTD...
• Zero Time Dilemma - 'T...
Exogenesis (Operation Bluebird - Let's Support Zero Escape 3!)
• Operation Bluebird - L...
Zero Escape Wiki
zeroescape.fandom.com/wiki/Ze...
LKGamingART (Smash UI Template)
www.deviantart.com/lkgamingar...
Bob Mackey, USGamer ("Zero Time Dilemma Brings Spike-Chunsoft's Sci-Fi Thriller to a New Frontier)
www.usgamer.net/articles/zero...
Joel Todd (John Cena Green Screen)
• John Cena "are you sur...
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Zero Time Dilemma and Zero Escape is developed by Chime and published by Spike Chunsoft, Aksys Games, and Rising Star Games. All rights are reserved under fair use!
#ZeroEscape #ZeroTimeDilemma #analysis - Ігри
As always, it was an absolute delight working on this with you. A privilege, a pleasure, and god DAMN are you good at analyzing shit.
Love you lots, brother.
Carlos and Dianna in the “I could have stopped the end of the world sorta easily but didn’t due to a friendship with people I just met who claim to have magic powers” club.
rip Diana Klim
I love how zero escape uses the same plot twist three times, and yet you never see it coming, in each game, you are Zero. You are Akane on the top screen, hoping from timeline to timeline, helping Junpei so he can help you. You are Sigma Klein, who set this thing up, but you are also just another participant. And finally, you are Delta, watching each teams security footage from the comfort of your wheelchair, only ever a shadow that pops up.
Honestly, when he said we were zero, I was like “THE MAD LAD DID IT AGAIN!”
Not every writer can reuse the same same story concept and twist on each instalment and still make it a surprise
When you said they use the same plot twist, I thought you were going to mention that all Zeros had a motive that could best be described by the Bootstrap Paradox. It is because of this series that I have an ironic hate of the Bootstrap Paradox.
In case you don't know, the Bootstrap Paradox is a Time Travel Paradox where the cause of an action is its own effect. It is named such by the phrase "Pull yourself up by your Bootstraps."
With ZTD and how much Carlos loved shifting my head cannon was “shoot Delta for the catharsis of all he did to me then shift to the reality where I did not shoot him”
There is a prequel taking place at DCOM in the artbook, and when you combine it with information in the Apocalypse ending, something interesting happens. The artbook prequel has Sigma, Phi, and Akane discuss the possibility that the Akane that Sigma spoke to on March 13th, 2029 lied to him about her knowledge (or lack thereof) of what happened at the Mars test site. In the Apocalypse ending, Delta invites Akane to a Free the Soul meeting on March 12th, 2029, and instructs her to wear a set of robes he provides her. Given the fact that she is wearing these robes when she meets with Sigma on March 13th, it can be concluded that she attended the meeting. For clarity, I will refer to Akane from the moment she attended that meeting all the way to the end of the AB Project as "Future Akane". The Akane that has not yet attended the meeting (i.e. the one in ZTD) is simply Akane. In the artbook prequel, it's made clear that Akane is relying on information sent to her by Future Akane, as regular Akane does not yet know how to SHIFT. When you combine this with the idea that Future Akane was lying to Sigma and the fact that Future Akane has attended a meeting of Free the Soul, we can make an assumption: At the Free the Soul meeting, Akane learned of Delta's ultimate goal to create a timeline where the 9 Decision Game players are united with the goal of finding the religious fanatic. She then got on board with this goal and thus became Future Akane. She then lied to Sigma and told him that the AB Project was meant to prevent the Radical-6 breakout, when in reality is was simply meant to allow Sigma and Phi (and even trick them) to participate in the Decision Game, which would then facilitate the Payoff 2 ending.
What's wild to me is the thought that the PLAYER is actually not switching the character they're playing as, but is always playing as Q/Delta/Zero. That seems to me to be the implication of the explanation of what mindhacking can do, but it doesn't necessarily align with everything else in the game, so it's kind of a half-formed theory.
Yeah the decisions are done by mind hacking, which is symbolized by the decision at the very end not being one you make and so many characters not actually wanting it.
Delta also has the weird glasses that he uses to look through the cameras that are everywhere and that is sometimes how he perceives the other teams. (Idk how different it is in the timelines he is dead in)
Yeah, I feel like this theory is hinted at. The only problem is I'm 99% sure Delta dies on some of the routes where you make choices. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.
@@OnlineVideoSurfer Im pretty sure he is dead in most routes where it's stated q is dead the only time I can think of when he is not dead is when d team presses the shower button and mind hacks Diana into staying
Can I just say the fuckin genius of the name Decision Game
A Nonary Game has 9 people, Nona is 9
The Decision Game had 10 people, Deci is 10
Oh my gosh, I never thought about that. WOW, that's super smart!
2 years late but just like how the goal of 999 was to find a door that carries a "9" in order to escape, in ZTD you have to leave through the "X" door. X in Roman Numerals = 10.
Also Zero Time Dilemma itself is an anagram for: Me, I'm Delta, I'm Zero.
Z E R O T I M E D I L E M M A
M E , I ' M D E L T A , I ' M Z E R O
I have to agree, as good as the themes and the actual "twist" was on ZTD it felt in general like it was not an actual ending of the series but rather a prequel to the actual final part, I'm sad that it was never really concluded but the games are and will always be one of my favorite series of all time.
Zero Time Dilemma finally gets the essay video it deserves
Recently Joseph Anderson has played through the trilogy and it was such an interesting way of reexpetiencing the game. Joe went into 999 with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised, like most people who played it. VLR didn't go so well, but he praised the way it told its story. I'd say most of his audience expected him to dislike ZTD the most, since that was the experience of most Zero Escape fans. Surprisingly, perhaps because he expected this game to be silly and didn't take it seriously as he really hated the ending of VLR, he enjoyed it a lot! He enjoyed 999 a bit more, but I think it's very interesting how ZTD can be interpreted much differently by someone who really disliked VLR.
Also an iconic Joe moment was when he guessed that "What is Q's true name?" was Delta literally the second he heard that name for the first time, he truly experiences games in his own way
The little bits of parody with K sounding like Kronk are absolute comedy gold.
Great video! I agree with most of your video. Particularly, I feel like VLR built up this game so much only for it to feel like it didn't actually conclude the story. It felt like it was going to be an intense mission but then Sigma and Phi go back and do...like nothing. I feel like it could have been so much more. That said, I still enjoyed it and I'm glad it exists.
Yeah, I think the game lacks a lot of that necessary punch for some moments expected of ZTD given the state of the world in VLR. I think Kyle Klim is one of the missing subjects from ZTD that I see the most discussion about.
@@KayJulers I agree, I think the end of vlr hyped up ztd to be something it wasn’t. Even if I love ztd as a game on its own, I do think it felt a little wierd to play after vlr
I literally finished ZTD yesterday. I've never seen one of your videos before, but the UA-cam algorithm really came through here. You made me realize so much more about the ending that I didn't realize at first, so thank you! While this game isn't perfect, I'm so glad we got it here in the west. I know that we'll probably never get another Zero Escape game, but I'm content with what we got. It's become one of my favorite series of all time, and I've even been preaching these games to no end on Twitter for all my friends. I've given some of them the chance to experience this series they've never heard of, and they love it so far.
I'm so thankful to Uchikoshi and the rest of the Zero Escape team for these games.
Welcome, and glad to have you! Congrats on finishing the series. I feel the same way since 999 is probably the game I've gotten the greatest number of my friends to play. The series is just too good not to share. I'm looking forward to what Uchikoshi and his new team do next.
You too? I just finished a week ago!
You took the words out of my mouth on so many things. The game gets a lot of flack (sometimes rightfully so), and although it might not have been everything I wanted, there are things it does remarkably well. In a way, I think VLR set things up that were very difficult to wrap up in a satisfactory way. Considering the game’s likely low budget, I think it’s impressive it came out as well as it did. Sometimes I hope the series gets some kind of revival, but I’m ok with it staying as is.
Oh man, the music for this series just hits me so hard. Blue Bird Lamentation's ZTD version is just such an emotional epoch, I will listen to it at any funeral I ever attend after hearing it and will put it in my will that it must be played at mine. While I was also left feeling uneasy after the final entry in the series, and a bit dissatisfied with the handling of things like Delta being less of a mystery character and more of a "surprise, there was someone else here all along" that was lightly hinted at along the way (I always just thought those shadows were from things like counters and furniture, not another character), I also still really appreciate the game. The twist of the mysterious, even greater threat that is the religious cult just never felt like it hit, especially since we know that cult does exist in the future in VLR. It's just a bit... awkward, I suppose.
For me, 999 still feels like the most well composed story while VLR feels like the first part of a cryptic duology in and of itself, even if 999 storylines carried into it. ZTD feels like a "this is all the budget you get to finish it" type of release and I do regret that it didn't capitalize on the Schrodinger's cat situation with Clover and Alice. Quark felt like his reason for existing in the games was just as emotional fodder for old Tenmiyoji, and nothing ever hinted at why Junpei would adopt a kid in his old age. I love some of the through lines, like Akane's ring, that they put into ZTD, but it's definitely one of the games I'm most conflicted on. I love it, I'm annoyed at it, but, most of all, I just want more. I know Ai was kinda a spiritual successor, and I own it, it has been out into my Switch multiple times, but I just can't really get myself to sit down and play it. Maybe cause I like these games handheld and just don't play my Switch handheld, but I always feel like, whenever I put it in, I'm just gonna be annoyed it's not another ZE game. That all said, I'm so down to play 999 again now. I'm totally in the mood for it, so thank you. What I wouldn't give to be back in college and have 10 hours a day to just put into a game I love, but even if I only have 2 or 3 hours, I think I'll spend the next week reliving the experience that started it all. This series deserves so much more love than it could ever receive
I totally get what you mean with ZTD's twist. I think the conversation with Delta about the cult and fanatic in the apocalypse ending is a good start, but it doesn't feel like enough to justify its execution.
I originally thought VLR was my least favorite entry in the series, but I actually really came to appreciate it after replaying them all with a friend. It always seemed like it lost the surprise factor that 999 has, but I came to appreciate how it takes the established concepts from 999 and evolves them. Plus, it has the best puzzles of the three IMO, so that certainly helped. 999 is still the king for me, though.
Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy your replay of 999!
This game was one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever had. Its the least good game of the series, hell, some people would even call it bad. But this game is one of the unique things I’ve ever played. The whole series was such an experience to go through
I share a lot of similar feelings about ZTD with it being my semi-ironic favorite in the series (999 is my actual favorite). I think the most interesting part of this game is how hard it doubles down on the SAW style death game thing, leaning super hard into the gritty setting and gore, with Delta being as ridiculous an antagonist as Jigsaw, to the point that the game kinda feels like a parody at times. Despite its many, many, many flaws I still find myself enjoying ZTD (can't say the same about the series that inspired it).
I think a super interesting aspect of the game that you only kinda touch on is how the whole game is through Delta's perspective. The implication with the "hand of the devil" stuff is that Delta is mindhacking the characters, and it's no coincidence that the leaders of the teams are inexperienced espers and a robot he has full control of, since people like Carlos, Diana, and Eric are all of pretty weak mind and would be easy to control, at least compared to others. It's also established with the Quantum Computer that Delta is able to see the outcomes of every history beforehand using Sean as a conduit. This fits with the fragment system, where you, like Delta, have to observe all of these chunks of reality and piece them together into the full picture. It's because of this that I think the "You are Zero" twist in this game is the most interesting. I also really like how the final decision in the game, whether Carlos shoots Delta, isn't in your hands. Because you're not Carlos, you never were Carlos, and Delta is purposefully taking his hands off the wheel to see how everything pans out.
The one change I think I'd really make to this game is changing how Delta's status as Brother works, because as is he's completely out of line with what Dio represents. I think an interesting twist would be if Delta were Brother and the founder of Free the Soul, but wasn't the leader at the time of the game, being betrayed instead. That would explain why Delta was alone with Mira working on the project, and "the religious extremist" being a member of FTS like Dio would make sense, with the Brother Dio knew being someone completely different.
Finally K in ZTD.
I definitely had problems with this game compared to the other two. I think my biggest problem is with mind hacking. While it is foreshadowed a bit, I feel like it just isn't a big thing that is mentioned throughout the story. With the morphogenetic field, and shifting it was something that happened throughout, and the characters are using it before they fully understand or recognize it. With this, it's just "oh i didn't mean to press that" and "eric kills everyone", then zero shows up and is like "I can control people with mind hack". Also, mind hacking is just too powerful. He can read everyone's mind without fail, and can control people for a short time. At least with the morphogenetic field, and shifting there are limitations. At least it helps explain how Brother was able to create Free the Soul. Most of my other problems you went over in your video, and I did enjoy this game, but it leaves a bit of a bad taste, when the other two felt so well put together, but this one has a good number of flaws.
The hope of two is the primary reason I recommend this game because it absolutely threw me for a loop with the revelations it would lead to
I know this video is three years old, but god do I love this series so much! I really wish we got some closure on Clover and Alice from VLR, as well as the whole Ice-9 stuff from 999 but alas we'll probably never know 😢
Amazing set of videos over the games! Very well written and the bits are great keep up the great work
I was honestly so excited to see this video recommended to me because I adored your other two videos and I agree with a lot of your points here! This was so nice to put on the TV and be reminded at how amazing this series is and we are so fortunate to have this game at all!! 😊
Just finished an LP of this a few days ago. Then talked about the morpho field differences in 2 & 3 afterwards with other fans. The whole series is fascinating and I doubt there'll ever be anything like it again. At least, not anytime soon and not without quite a bit of effort.
Edit: It's great to see the return of Kronk-K.
Talking about all the concepts and story beats in these games after completion is one of the best parts IMO Thanks! I was happy that I could finally bring back Kronk K again.
Well, I mean, if you want more stuff like this that's written (in part) by the same writer, the Infinity series exists, and it came out before Zero Escape. Ever17 and Remember11 are particularly close.
such an amazing video. I have played this game 3 months ago, yet here you are making me see it in different light. love how you analyze stuff and big love to K lol. thank you for talking this amazing series
This was such a great video. The K and Kay dynamic is great.
About the Radical-6 Ending.... Isn't the whole thing with Sigma not knowing because of the shift in End and Beggining? The Sigma that will be in Rhyzome-9 and help create the AB Game, is his 22 year mind that never went to DCom... Also, Phi's mind would eventually go to the VLR's future. Basically creating a thing where Old Sigma and VLR's Phi know what happens, but with no way of interfering in the past again. While their time appropriate selfes have to deal with Radical-6 in the past, without knowing anything that happened during ZTD
The only issue I see with the whole thing is Old Sigma not letting at the very least, hints of what happened in Dcom to his 22 year self or to Akane... But then again, he might be too afraid of the future that sort of interference might create... Like ZTD's say, even the existence or non-existencd of a snail on one road might lead to infinitely different worlds
im so happy youre continuing the zero escape content!! i love the series and your videos on them
Thank you so much!
This video was wonderful! I played this game about a year ago now and this video was a good way to refresh my memory on what happened while gaining a new perspective on various parts of the game. I'm glad to hear you are continuing to talk about the series because it quickly became one of my favorites as well.
Thanks a lot, Johnnel! Yeah, there's so much content in ZE that it didn't feel right to stop after only three main videos. I love story heavy games for that reason.
Thank you for the in-depth analysis of ZTD. I've been waiting years for a good one on UA-cam, and you did not disappoint. Looking forward to any Uchikoshi videos you have planned!
Thanks for watching and I'm glad to hear it was worth the wait!
26:00 The way I see it, the Akane in END or Beginning purposefully withheld information from 22!Sigma, in order to not change the actions of 67!Sigma in Dcom in unforeseen ways.
Interesting, I've never heard that idea before. That's probably the best explanation I would know of for why that's the case.
Spectacular video. Thanks so much for this man!
Thank you so much for watching! Glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic video! I really enjoyed ZTD, you did a really good job to summarize it.
On the ending, I liked it. Been a while since I played, but my thinking at the time was that "my" player perspective was there with Delta all along. Questions in that on player agency etc. But... Since I played VLR, and exist in that reality (and the extra ending to VLR), for a good ending to exist "I" can't see it. Lots of mind bending thoughts, love these games!
Dude. This series of videos is fire. I don't even know where to start it's just. Damn.
Fantastic analysis as always, Love the extra bits of flair and presentation you work in as well. Covered some stuff I didn't realize even after playing this whole series who knows how many times.
ZTD may have issues, and at times suffer from sticking so closely to its themes, but despite the gripes we may have with it it's still a fantastic rounding off of the Zero Escape series. Far better than never getting the answers at all.
Looking forward to the additional content you put out as well, both covering Zero Escape and in general. Maybe even AI: The Somnium Files in the future. Uchikoshi's wild ride certainly isn't over just yet.
Thanks a bunch! It's taken me longer than it should've, but I'm definitely going to look more into AI: The Somniun Files soonish.
Excellent video and mostly agree and I love all three games. The one thing I disagree with is the open ending. I think it's perfect to end on the choice to shoot or not. At least as I interpret it, every single choice in the game has been controlled by us the player using Zero's mind hack abilities. When he gives the gun and no option pops up, it shows the characters finallv are free and now have real agency to make a decision. Love the game despite some clear faults, the Delta twist is especially good.
Not sure if it was intended but having K "join" Q team and renaming it to K team feels like a subtle reference to how Delta was a part of Q team as a hidden 4th member, and he was the leader that the team was named after.
I have thoroughly enjoyed every second of this video
Great job! I'm surprised you didn't talk about the escape rooms/decision games more (specifically Fire, Suspicion, pop off) but you did a great job covering the endings! (Especially the hope of two ending)
Thanks! Yeah, I figured I had talked long enough that anymore might've been too much haha. Hopefully I can touch upon other stuff from these games in the future.
Woo! I've been waiting for this!
P.S. I eagerly await the next video. I'm sure it'll be great!
Thank you!
I don't know how, but I stumbled upon the 999 analysis video and then immediately followed it with the VLR one, only to click on your channel and discover that this was JUST uploaded.
I'd say that's some perfect timing right there. Thanks for watching the videos!
@@KayJulers Thanks for making them!
I really like topic and structure of your video, but because of the attempts of humor I couldn't finish it. Still thanks for making videos about the 999 series.
This channel is a masterpiece
Epic, epic video, really reminded me of why I loved my time with this game, despite not quite being satisfied with the ending (too many big questions and moral dilemmas brought up without being satisfactorily addressed). I also gotta say, I actually liked Grumpy Jumpy, I like it when you see these kind-hearted protagonists truly be affected and changed by the horrible stuff they've been through. Same reason I liked Angry Harry in the 5th Harry Potter book, it felt real and justified.
Another thing I found interesting about this game, touching on religion: Akane is the 1st Zero, and in ZTD she is the most explicitly theistic (God-believing) character in the game. Sigma is the 2nd Zero, and in ZTD he is the most explicitly atheistic character in the game. Does it mean anything, or is it just a coincidence? I have no clue, but I certainly found it to be an interesting detail.
I feel like normally I'm with you on that. My favorite character has that sort of life changing arc, but something about the way Junpei acted in ZTD just didn't click with me fully. I still love his character at the end of the day, though.
That's a really cool discovery! I've never considered that before and, even if it's not completely intentional, I think it helps character building for Akane.
This was such a great video, I'm so happy you're gonna keep making videos about this series!
I might think this is the weakest game of the trilogy over all but I can't deny that it also has some of the best moments, and watching this video reminded me of all of them...
Oh by the way, I would love it if you also covered AI: The somnium files, it's along side VLR my top 1 uchikoshi game and it shares a lot with this series.(Also it does the cinematic style of ZTD but well done)
Thank you! I've heard AI is incredibly good and stands up there with the original two ZE entries, so it's good to hear more people feel that way. I might just cave and get a PS4 copy if I can't find a good price for a Switch copy.
@@KayJulers if(when) you end up buying it I would recommend to go with the PS4 version if portability is not an important factor, I bought the collectors edition for switch and I think it's totally worth the price I paid but sadly touchscreen implementation is basically the bare minimum and the frame rate and resolution dip a bit some times(not a big deal but I think you should at least know it before you make your decision)
Also PS4 copies are half the price of the switch version.
Oh right! The pc version is at 60% off in steam right now, just in case you didn't know!
@@Poruasecas That's actually a big help, so thanks for the info! And apparently we might be getting a sequel as of just a few minutes ago, so... yeah, I need to play it lol.
@@KayJulers WAIT WHAT
Probably your best out of your 3 zero escape videos as a fan who was part of operation blue bird upon finishing ztd for the first time I was very disappointed and didn't know what to think but upon a couple replays and talking to friends about it I now like the game for what it is rather than what we didn't get there was also a teaser for something with spike chunsoft that is a site called nineeyestv also released yesterday on ztd 5th anniversary so it could be a potential teaser for zero escape 4
Thanks for giving the series that extra push it needed to get ZTD made! Yeah, as I mentioned, there are still a handful of aspects in ZTD that don't sit right with me, but it still has some really great things going for it. Glad to hear you came around to liking it after all this time!
I saw that teaser and managed to solve the puzzles on the site. Looks like we'll be getting an announcement later this week, so I'm super pumped to see what happens.
being an uchikoshi fan i'd imagine you've probably already played it but in the small case you haven't I'd love to see a video from you about Ai: The Somnium Files. One of my favorite games of all time. it's not really super connected to Zero Escape but it does seem to be implied to be in the same universe as it. I was told it takes place in the timeline where The snail didn't kill all those people but I don't know how accurate that actually is. even so it's a great game on it's own. I think the universe connection is more of an easter egg thing than anything else. Anyways I just found your videos and already love what i've seen. The bits with K were really dang funny. I look forward to watching more of your stuff
Amazing video!
Lmao. I just discovered this channel and just finished ZTD for the first time. Crazy how this video just came out
Seems like I caught a lot of people at a good time with this video lol.
It’s cool how the circle of fate speech from D was the same as it was in VLR (in the I think medical bay )
I really enjoyed ZTD and was so hyped to play it at launch. I had ordered the 3DS version and it was delayed, so I got it on PC so I could play it ASAP. I enjoyed the game immensely and you summed up a good amount of my concerns with the story. It's been so long that I forgot how the game ended so ambiguously. The Files with the extra stories were great, but I wish we could have seen Junpei and Akane happy together. Or at least have a definitive ending like stopping the fanatic or whatever...
The game doesn't feel like a true ending to the series because the main goal of saving the world is left incomplete.
I agree that we should’ve gotten a concrete ending however I’m glad uchikoshi seems to be happy with how it ended himself and it fits the multiple timeline narrative. He may have not shot delta but instead gotten delta to help take down the fanatic, he may have shot him and they beat the fanatic or lost and everyone died. It’s not the most satisfying but it makes sense and I’m glad I saw this series of games through because they are amazing overall.
However, if any of these got a remake, ZTD needs it the most. I think a way for them to make the final decision more impactful is making it one of the 2 times they shift completely over. Removing all other times except for Carlos shift and the final shift. Since it won’t be used so much and instead they’ll just shift over small parts of their memories. This will make the final decision truly impactful because up to that point they haven’t been able to completely shift up til now except Carlos in that one ending so now they actually are making a big Choice. Or you know just don’t let them shift at all for 90% of the game because of Q’s mind hacking so the final decision is the only shift
Some of these deaths remind me of Itchy and Scratchy cartoons, but I feel it added to the stakes.
I will never change my opinion, this series is one of, if not the best story game series of all time. I have NEVER been so involved in story games, this a exception. The plot twists are perfect and the ending has me so happy.
god I fucking love that you put Cruel Angel's Thesis over the elevator
Excaped = A superhero who used to wear a cape
idk if anyone will read this, but i have this weird feeling that Eric was supposed to be Zero/Delta but it was cut/changed/whatever by production. Time and time again Zero tells us of the snail story and it gave me a feeling that they were there just for that. To either punish them for the snail or prevent the woman in the snail from dying, because life is unfair. That got me thinking how they are all connected to the snail in some way. As you know, akane's father was falsely accused, junpei is there cuz akane, phi sigma and diana cuz they are delta's family, mira is the killer, sean is the boy who never got the surgery, and eric lost his mom that day. We know that losing his mom made eric go ....unhinged, to the point of ruining his life and either him or the father killing his brother Chris whom he loved dearly (more on that later). We've seen wht happens to Eric when he is unhinged. Zero has an adoptive brother and seemed to think fondly of his adoptive parents (just like eric if the family was adopted). Both Delta and Eric's brother died prematurely, Delta loved his brother so much that he decided to clone him. It's really weird how suddenly the transporter malfunctions and Delta and Phi go back to 1904 instead of 2009. If that hadn't been the case, Phi and Delta would be the same age and Eric could fit that age.
Moreover you could still fit them both existing (the old man I mean) if you use transporter shenanigans. Why was Phi the only one transported to the 2000s? Even if phi was transported, ther would still be an old lady behind who would also be 124 years old right? Not only that but if (bear with me) Eric (if he was a delta that was transported to the future), after the snail incident decided to go back with the transporter to the 1900s in order to orchestrate the Dcom events, you would have 3 deltas.y
Idk it just feels that the snail is more personal to zero than the ending let it out to be and Eric would fit perfectly. The ending as it stands is just lacking empathy for the delta/zero char. Which isnt the same in 999 and VLR. Giving the main chars a training arc is cute and all and it does play with how morally right he is or not, but it has no personal tragedy and no idk...it's like he doesnt mind it happening. ("Radical 6? Eh. could be worse)...so idk this bridge would be really cool. And iy would give Eric, one of the most detested chars in the series, a new light
Just finished this game today. Hit me hard.
The reason they don’t know how the virus escaped probably has to do with the fact old Sigma goes back to his original body after the escape.
Okay, about the visuals... I at least ZTD looked more complete compared to the little animations we got in VLR. Not to say those were bad, but they were so short.
Glad to see this entry getting some credit. It’s underrated!
AITSF is a strong contender for my favourite game ever, honestly. The Infinity series is fantastic as well, do not sleep on those.
Quality Content
God that part of super Carlos with the mario party 3 music.. I'm gonna fuckin cry oml
Loved the games too, loved watching this, thank you.
Someone should really make a mod for this game that edits some of these scenes to be more impactful.
ok i had the voice acting set to japanese when i played ztd so... at 13:21 does eric actually sound like that in game..?
Everytime I think of the coin toss I think of that scene from mouse hunt, where they flip the coin and it just lands perfectly sideways. Not on heads or tails just literally in the middle.
Zero II: [Looks at the one in a infinity coin toss] “ Let’s do that again.” [does it again and it still lands on sideways]
Mira: “ Wow…”
Junpei: “ I’m too impressed to be mad.”
Zero: “ There! Make your pick-“
Carlos: “ Red.”
Zero: [Checks it] “ Damn it!!!”
So actually I can explain why Sigma doesn't know, it's because the Sigma in End Or Beginning is actually 22 year old Sigma, who's consciousness had just shifted from his much older VLR counter part, and his older consciousness which would've been aware of the explosion was shifted back to his much older form.
Obviously it makes sense that Akane wouldn't know since in the timeline radical-6 was released Akane, Junpei and Carlos were executed and all three of them being alive only happened as a result of actions in other timelines, but yes, that's why Sigma was unaware at the end of VLR of what happened
this was a great defense of ztd, what a good series if videos
I admittedly never finished Time Dilemma due to spoilers and being confused as fuck on the flow of the story. But sitting down to watch this whole video since I enjoy your analysis on these games.
I feel that. I remember being super confused by the game's structure when I played it on the 3DS back in the day and it still trips me up now. I guess that was kind of their objective, so they got me lol? Thanks for watching the video!
As far as I care, the ending isn't as "open" as it might seem. Timelines split in this series all the time, so there is a timeline where Carlos shot / didn't shoot, as well as a possible timeline where the gang stops the fanatic, and that's what matters, right? If we accept that the existance of good endings in-game is a symbol of hope, then so does the possibility of out-of-game "good endings". I think that's the take away mesaage.
I could see that. There most certainly is a timeline where they stop the fanatic and all ends well. I think I find it to be open ended because A.) the last points of dialogue take place in the files before they find the fanatic, and B.) that we can trace the previous conclusions of ZE games to a single timeline that carves the path toward the next game. I think the justification behind ZTD's ending does make sense within the context of the series, but it just failed to give me that strong sense of emotion like the previous entries, something I really want out of the conclusion to a series.
This has made me want to learn modeling/animation to try to improve the stiff cutscenes.
I had a question but, do you normally read Visual Novels Kay? Or is the Zero Escape series more of an exception for you due to it having alot of gameplay in the form of its puzzles?
Man what a game (minus Q team shenanigans). I knew I liked the C and D team stories and dynamics, and seeing those scenes again made me realize how much I loved those two teams and how much stuff I had missed during my playthrough. The stuff with Akane's ring being on Akane's model in VLR, Delta's shadows & guts & thumps, and other things like that. Q team really did bring down the overall experience for me and like the games structure, my play sessions were very fragmented with gaps of time in between sessions because I just did not enjoy Q team. I didn't like the cast we got or their interactions within the context of the narrative. They were kind of insufferable?
I'm in the camp that still wants a Zero Escape 4 or at least, a remaster of this game or new textures and animations to really present this game as it should have. I was fortunate enough to be able to fill in the gaps in the visual presentation with my own images and interpretations of how the game should look, building upon the presentation we do have.
Zero Escape 4 would be the hunt for the religious fanatic, perhaps infiltrating their facility and a few different teams/compositions of characters, kind of in a similar vein to ZTD where there are junction points where certain teams meet and pre-existing decisions determine where they go next (like the true ending requirements in 999). I'm also assuming there's no budget or time concerns/restraints and Uchikoshi and his team could just go to town with what they want done.
As for the cast, there's a good mix of characters to pick from as to who would actually go hunt the fanatic. All of C-team would be in. I think this version of Junpei and Akane would finally tackle something together, side-by-side, as a step forward from Akane essentially using Junpei as a pawn in 999 and VLR (assuming it's the Junpei and Akane where they do decide to get married. It's very hard to keep track). Carlos does also get along with Junpei and Akane and does have that sense of duty that I'd find it hard for him to turn down hunting the fanatic. Sigma and Phi for sure and maybe Diana. I'm 50/50 on her. It's hard imagining her throwing herself into maybe another hellish situation with hellish decisions to make. I can't see Eric or Mira going on the hunt. I'm hoping the two of them just settle down somewhere, out of sight and out of mind. Maybe Sean would as a sort of new purpose. As for legacy characters to come back, I'd like Seven to come back. He was Junpei's partner when taking on Free the Soul, so they're close. Alice and Clover could be brought back (though they wouldn't have any of their memories of VLR since this is a whole new branching timeline in which Radical-6 wasn't unleashed). Maybe even bring Santa or Snake back. For new cast members, there's Lotus' kids who were working with Alice and Clover and possibly Maria, Carlos' sister who is now a SHIFTer too.
I'm sooooo psyched for the new Zero Escape videos in store! Are they going to be done in a similar vein to the Dramatis Personae videos?
Q-Team to me is really unfortunate because I don't think there are any characters in ZE I downright hated aside from Mira and Eric. Sean gets a bit of a pass for me since he's just a kid robot that's stuck with two lunatics. When my friend and I replayed it, we were kind of just doing Q-Team's stuff to get it over with before going to C and D-Team's sections.
I had come to accept that ZTD was the last entry, so if ZE4 did happen by some miracle, it would take me some time to process that. I think I'm pretty on board with your characters picks if it did have a returning cast. Seven or even Santa would be great to see return, but I'd also like to see some new faces since that sense of uncertainty is what made 999 and VLR's cast so magical for me. You have to learn who these characters are and how they fit into the bigger picture.
I've had an idea ever since the 999 video to cover a Zero Escape character in the Dramatis Personae fashion, but I wanted to discuss all three games before doing so. Other videos will probably be focused on specific topics within the series kind of similar to what I've done with my Xenoblade videos following the original XC2 and Torna videos.
@@KayJulers Other franchises have come back from the dead before to mixed results, so a man can dream, though my expectations are definitely in check. Hopefully the Steam sales have at least helped the series' reach to new audiences and shown the publishers that there is still an interest somewhere on the Internet!
Yeah if I had to pick a legacy cast, Carlos, Akane, Junpei, Sigma, Phi, and Santa. Seven, Alice, and Clover could make a cameo appearance by like dropping them off, being their mission control, or holding down the perimeter or something but they are not fully present. Santa is in because of his strong dynamic and partnership with Akane as demonstrated by the original Nonary Game and overall intelligence and cunning that will help the mission succeed. That leaves three slots for entirely new cast members. We might also see a return of the Sigma at the very end of VLR's main story going to the ZTD timeline instead of the Radical-6 timeline to mix things up.
I'm definitely excited for topic-oriented videos on Zero Escape too. I've been watching the Xenoblade 2 ones now that Chugga's LP of the main story is done and I'm getting a kick out of those. There's a lot of time in between your bigger videos, but they're definitely extremely well thought out and polished by the time they air so keep doing what you're doing!
20:10 A mood.
In order to see the ending, you must have seen the other route video first
Zero time Dilemma was my first game in the nonary series. I always wondered how it affected my perspective of the other two games. I definitely think sigma and phi's interactions in the 2nd game with the context of zero time dilemma is weird.
It could be that them knowing or not knowing in VLR was a lie. Kyle klems post game segment everyone is secretive, refusing to give even small details, because we were Kyle and we were going back aswell. So wouldn't also be that information would be controlled in the ambidex game? Giving Phi and Sigma the information they need to know for the mission, and not information that could cause a divergence in the timeline.
Like for example Ben 10 handled knowing the future in a intresting way. Ben witnessing that future erases it and replaces it with a different one. So Phi and Sigma going in knowing Diana is patient zero risks breaking the loop that leads into VLR, thus making it important to keep that detail out of the priming in the ambidex game.
Another possibility is that each loop changes how the virus gets out, and this loop happened to align the outbreak start start with the bomb, where the failed timeline in VLR it happened in a seperate event prior to the bomb.
So since it's timetravel it could either be a lie to preserve events that need to happen incase another loop must happen or each loop doesn't play out exactly the same way each time except for crucial beats.
27:44 isn't it implied that they were injected one last time by zero to forget how they got infected with radical 6? that was my takeaway from that, especially because in the twins ending akane never comes back for sigma and diana despite her presumably having heard the casualties list in order to get the x-passes
Just binged your playlist while I was at work and now I feel like playing this series again
Also I must agree Q-Team sucks lmao
Frankly my biggest issue with this game is simply that it. Doesn't follow the established continuity.
For instance: Akane's presence in the mars mission test site. We know from the ending of VLR that she wasn't present, she doesn't know what happened there and for that reason can't tell Sigma what to do for a better timeline. And then you play ZTD, and there she is. In the test site.
Also the existence of the transporter is a personal annoyance, it just felt like a cop-out so that they didn't have to come up with a better method of time travel. That being said, it's existence was clearly intended through Phi in VLR, so I'm not as mad about it as I could be. Mind hacking is dumb though. It has no build up in the other games, Delta is literally the only character we know of to have this. The plot works perfectly fine without it, and it feels like it's just in there to make Delta seem more powerful. It doesn't even really connect to the themes of the series like SHIFTing does. In fact, it's more of an antithesis to the themes. The series has a focus on multiple timelines and jumping between them, keeping your memories from the past attempt in order to try again for a better ending. Mind hacking literally doesn't let you jump, all it does is let you gain information on what timeline you're in if you already know about it. I just. I have a lot of gripes with this game, and I desperately wish Uchikoshi would release whatever his first draft was.
every once in a while ill think what was the point of ztd other than tying up some loose ends, but then i remember the diana line "i killed them... all six billion" is the same confusing line heard in virtues last reward and i start screaming just like i did when i first heard it in zero time dilemma. geez. it has its flaws and to me is nowhere near as good as 999 or vlr, but damn. it has great parts to it. i really loved d team
I'm glad to see my impressikn ov the uktimate villains reasons for doing anything was kinda silly wasnt...for no reason. I wish the game had been able to be as good as the previous two with its budget.
I think one of my personal bigger gripes with ZTD is how you have to pick certain moments from a list without knowing where they take place instead of following a continuous path like in the other two games. It made the game feel very disconnected to me in a similar way that the Memory Scenes from Breath of the Wild did (and I wasn't a big fan of those either).
My favorite character in everyone of these stories tries to kill someone, and succeeds (sometimes) Clover, the advocate for yandere family love, Alice sassiest suicidal girl, and Mira, cause FUCK mira
I constantly dream of a remake of ZTD with 3d graphics befit of the 2d....
this is the part with the car
Man I havent even played 999 yet, and probably just got spoiled as fuck lmao.
But still I watched the whole thing and it didnt feel boring at all, great job at narrating and explaning all the stuff in the game while being entretaining to watch
I can confirm you probably were spoiled LOL I would still recommend checking out the series if you're interested, though! Thanks for watching and I appreciate the kind words!
I mean each time I saw images of 999. I just passed 20 seconds and probably will forget about It when I get to play It.
So I Don't worry that much about It lol
If you enjoyed the video about it you'll definitely enjoy the story of the game. 999 probably has the hardest true ending to get, but it's such a great ride. Highly recommended
Stop a religious fanatic? Like that of niax or the order of percent ? From Ai the somnium files?
I got a chainsaw ad during this video.
Have you ever played Disco Elysium or The Talos Principle?
"Q-Team includes..."
I see what you did lol.
What r the chances we get another game????
Joe Swanson K is now canon.
Patrick Warburton K in Zero Escape 4, Uchikoshi. Make it happen.
I wonder how 22 year old Sigma would react to his 67 year old self having kids with his body
Great video man
For me Ztd is a good game but not better than 999 and vlr
Still good tho
Yeah, I also enjoyed my time with ZTD. But I also hated it at the same time. I mean, Akane chasing a guy with a chainsaw ? Seriously ? The acid shower ? As a player I spent dozens of hours getting attached to characters through 2 games I loved, to see them turn into a pile of crap ? At times, the game felt more like a Jigsaw ripoff than a Zero escape game.
Still, the mysteries were great. One of my best WTF moments in a video game is when you input the name "Delta" in the crosbow scene. It made no sense until the game decided to give its secret. Masterful.
Still, I am unsatisfied with the ending. I also wish we'd see Snake come back. Overall, I believe 999 and its two sequels should have been different stories altogether. I'm happy I played VLR and ZTD because they are still awesome games. By in my own canon, 999 ends on a happy note and Akane and Junpei get married and live a happy life ! Yeah, it's my imagination, I do whatever the hell I want :p :p
I think for me, I just hated the Q team stuff. None of the characters felt important and was just there as a vehicle to reveal delta. I wish Q team was made from other cast members from 999 or something like that. It doesnt help that Mira and fuckface (forgot his name) are irredeemably shit people that you just want off screen when they are there. But I think realistically the game suffers too much from it barely getting out the door, I would love to have seen this game as it was meant to be and not the slimmed down version we got. Still, we get A.i somniunm files now and they are fun games, so its not all bad
ZTD suuuuure did make some choices. For the first time in the series I found myself annoyed with some of the plot twists, especially the big reveal on the player of what all the other characters already knew. But there was a lot to like, too. (I also credit this game with finally explaining the Monty Hall problem in a way I understood)
I've played these games several times. I still understand NOTHING
I'm not sure how much I agree with everything you stated. To me, the only game in the trilogy that really gripped me tightly from start to finish was the original Nintendo DS release of Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. The reason for this, is that it's the only entry in the series that forces the player to play through the entire game from start to finish in order to get an ending. To me, this sets up an idea of continuity in the storytelling: I can see reasons to care for each Nonary Game Participant that's on the (supposed) ship, and I feel like my decisions matter more since I can't just jump back through a flowchart to see what would've happened if I chose a different option. This is also one of the reasons I wasn't as hooked by Virtue's Last Reward as most other people were. I simply couldn't be bothered to care about whatever outcome whichever AB game I was playing had, and that led me to choose the options in a systematic manner which would guarantee me to see every ending in the game. The way Zero Time Dilemma just further fractures its storytelling, had me struggle to properly get into the mood that you desperately need to vibe with this title. I just couldn't care about the decisions. It was just a random event. "Will you press the button or not?" I don't care. I just want to see both endings. Let me do that, and things will go swimmingly. Further, whilst we're talking about the decisions, it's so weird how there's no trolley problem. It would be a perfect decision game for C-Team. Just imagine edgy Junpei wanting to kill as many people as possible by doing nothing. That would've been fun, but nah.
On a different topic, I'm sad this title only has 14 escape rooms, and not 17 like the first and second games had. Also, I was very pissed off that the last thing you do, is just do a decision game which didn't wow me at all. I wanted a grandiose puzzle room like the study in Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors or room q in Virtue's Last Reward that combines every puzzle mechanic in the game and throws in some twists and turns as well. One of the escape rooms in Zero Time Dilemma is my least favourite one in the whole series. It's the one with bomb defusing since you're timed on some of the puzzles and it doesn't bloody matter if you solve them or not. Like great, why make the puzzle then. I don't get it.
Zero Time Dilemma was actually so damaging to me that I wondered if Uchikoshi was still capable of producing great stories. But when I played AI: The Somnium Files in 2019, those fears were extinguished and I now trust the man can write great narratives.
I suppose I should be happy at least some people seem to have found some enjoyment out of playing Zero Time Dilemma. It just didn't do anything for me, I'm afraid.