999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - The Pinnacle of Immersive Storytelling
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- Опубліковано 23 бер 2019
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999 offers one of the best stories I've ever experienced, but I don't see too much content or large scale discussion about it. I've always wanted to talk about the game and how it effectively innovates gaming narratives, so I figured no better time than now. This video is a love letter to a game that caught me off guard and one of my favorites of all time.
Chapter Timestamps:
Chapter 1: Gameplay and Aesthetics
3:28
Chapter 2: Seek a Way Out!
7:39
Chapter 3: The Wrong Path
23:30
Chapter 4: I am Zero
29:34
Credits to:
Jesu Relax
/ @josurelax
Protanopic Midget
/ power2thepwnage
kittykatstar
/ kittykatstar
AnimeReUploader
/ animereuploader
#Zero Escape #999 #Analysis - Ігри
The game with literally THE most emotional game of sudoku
Me with my flipped 3ds crying
@@statesminds LMFAOO
I legit couldn’t solve sudoku so I cried as I opened a guide. I know it wasn’t good of me but I can’t do sudoku. I became Akane crying for help
Wait that one was Sudoku??? Thats so much easier than how I went about it…
Nevermind I realized it wasnt sudoku in the Nonary Games release…
Length of the video: 44:37
4+4+3+7 = 18
1+8=9
Underrated comment
this game teach me additions better than my grade school teach
YOU FOUND IT
Damn that's clever
It's like The Number 23, but better
Akane set up the most complex escape room of all time so her childhood self could learn sudoku. A true masterpiece of a game
Fun fact, Santa has 2 stories he can tell after the engine room. One about his status as his sister's "Santa Claus" and the other about the two Santas.
You only get the one about his sister's Santa Claus if you do the Safe ending before doing the knife ending.
I missed the santa convo where he mentions opening his sisters letters to santa when going down the flowchart
@@jossebrodeur6033 i think it actually comes from the coffin ending
Yes in the original DS game I had no idea about the story of the two santas; I had only heard the one of his sister. Pretty sure I got the knife ending way before the safe too
@@jossebrodeur6033 I'm not sure about that, I got the knife ending before the safe ending and I remember reading the story about him being his sister's Santa claus
this game gives history lessons at the worst possible times and I love it. I was actually dying of laughter when June was like "I was just thinking about futility"
God, its so sad that the zero escape series has such a small fanbase, with ZTD only selling 23 thousand copies. This series needs to be known more. I can't believe that somethong so brilliant was overlooked and only sold 400k copies worldwide
Just want to say, according to SteamSpy, It's sold around 500k to 1M copies on steam.
@@FriedFrenchFries ah, thats good to know
It's 2021 and i just joined the fandom because i have ai the somnium files on switch and heard about these games and bought them and just finished all of 999. And damn
zero time dilemma was my biggest gaming disappointment so unfortunately I feel no pity for any failure it experienced
@@vermilionpt0 I mean, ZTD was made via Kickstarter and even the Uchikochi didn't get the budget required to make the game he really envisioned. So of course it wasn't gonna be of the highest quality.
I really loved the fact that when you have to choose between door 7,8 and 3, the game doesn't go 'nooooo you can't go door nb 3 because you're a good guy!'.
It is a fairly realistic scenario given how Junpei cares about June the most and that the 9 man and Snake 'died' with the 9 man taking Clover Hostage and Snake possibly having been killed by someone in the group.
It also shows a clever side of Junpei in a dark sense as he fools the rest of the group into doing his bidding.
Many times you'll see protagonists being labeled bland, dense or stupid but the fact that the protagonist can act like an antagonist while not using any kind of excuse to justify his choice is great.
He doesn't fall to the dark side or becomes corrupted by someone else, he makes this choice on his own volition knowing the consequences which solidifies his character.
also showed when he switches the papers when voting for which of the last doors he took
And amazingly enough, that's the very same Junpei that later faces off with Ace and singlehandedly corners him. That same manipulation and cleverness gets used for a real cause in the Safe ending. Junpei may be a puss and an idiot in most of his screentime, but he actually does have a lot of competence. I personally don't think that his ZTD self contradicts his 999 one -- he's just had a lot more experience this side of himself.
@@runefaustblack Yeah, I like how clever Junpei is on top of being able to act evil/deceptive. It's kinda shocking how few games let their protagonists be like that.
Also, people think that ZTD Junpei contradicts 999 Junpei? I don't really get how they came to that conclusion. They seem like the same person to me, just with ZTD Junpei having mental scars from years as a detective seeing the worst of humanity, and having to chase after his girlfriend that pseudo-betrayed and pseudo-abandoned him.
The revelation that Santa and June are siblings will forever be my favorite plot twist in video games. I can’t even explain but it fits SO WELL. It’s something I never sam coming but once I knew.. it made so much sense and rewatching the game was such an enjoyable experience. Just watching these two deceiving everyone into thinking they’re strangers to me is more brilliant than the entire ending.
Yeah. I always loved the little connection the two have with the bracelets, being the only ones whose bracelets are OVER an article of clothing (Santa's gloves and June's sleeves respectively). It's such a small little thing, but it's just a really nice touch. It really highlights that they are victims, despite taking on a somewhat antagonistic role. They weren't unaffected by their experiences; they can't even bare to have the bracelet touch their skin, even if they know its fake.
There's no such thing as too much love for the Zero Escape series.
This is most definitely true
I just got all 3 of the games and my mum loves watching me play the game
I must say having an audience who knows just as much as you is the way to play
@@topnotchcupoftea that's amazing! I personally played through all 3 games by myself and only one of my friends has played the trilogy too. I wish these games got more love and attention. I wish it got as much recognition as Danganronpa, made from the same studio
@@topnotchcupoftea You've got a cool mom. Give her a hug next time you can. 👍
God, I remember that final puzzle just absolutely breaking me. I didn't just feel Junpei's desperation to save Akane- *I* was just as fucking desperate. I remember actually tearing up at the emotion of the situation and panicking when I mistyped a number because I feared I would waste too much time. I'm so glad I played this game for the first time on DS completely spoiler-free; it truly is the best way to play the game. Literally one of my favorite games of all time now.
Also, my favorite track is Morphogenetic Sorrow. If you know why, you know why. If you don't, play the game and find out.
@film fan "transmitters" and "receivers" are just better at transmitting and receiving, it doesn't mean they can't do both
Jumpei's perspective being on the top screen of the DS and Akane's on the bottom was awesome.
Honestly this is one of my favorite games ever, everything about it is amazing. I remember looking back at the Number 5 room and realizing that when you interact with a light, Junpei says something and Snake reacts, which at the time you think is just a joke about him being blind, but come to find out it's because Snake is Light. It's the little things that build up into an amazing story all around, I even remember years later how my hear dropped when Seven revealed near the end of the game that Akane was the one who died nine years ago
This is one of the few games I actively come back to watch blind play throughs. Knowing what happens and seeing people either notice or not notice things really is interesting. It’s just so engaging and Junpei is a fantastic narrator over Sigma in my eyes(since he seems to grasp concepts simply and is just a more interesting character) and the rest of the cast keeps me coming back
wow, even years after beating the game, i just noticed about the boxart foreshadowing after you pointed it out. this series has alot of foreshadowing and it works so well with the concept of the games
I remember finding myself marathoning the final hours of the game, completely hooked to the plot, wanting to know the truth behind everyone and everything within the game.
I must've got a brief connection to the Morphogenetic Field
back when I 1st played this, because I managed to reach
the coffin ending on my 1st playthrough. Drove me nuts.
(Naturally, I _immediately_ decided to "do the opposite" next.. and got the submarine. Bone-chilling.)
(Spoilers?)We are killed near the yellow submarine ~
yellow submarine~
yellow submarine~
Though the endings are meant to be discovered, here's the order for a fleshed out cinematic context:
•Submarine
•Knife
•Axe
•Safe
•Coffin & True
I don't remember how I finished all the endings, but I think I may have done it this way:
-Axe
-Knife/Submarine (Unsure which comes first, more confident on Knife being the 2nd ending I got)
-Safe
-Coffin & True
Seeing the ending in this way just gave me that "Aha!" moment as I understand what's going on
Before voice acting was added; I always imagined Ace with the voice of Liam Neeson.
I always imagined him sounding like Dojima, or nowadays like Jeralt
@@xuanathan me too lol
This is an absolutely great video! You do an amazing job sharing your opinion and personal experience. I can’t wait to watch the VLR video
what is a call of duty gamer doing in an analytical video of a neiche visual novel?
@@lordjay7530 idk man
It’s clear you love this series. Even though I already played the whole series, it was great reliving it with your vid because your passion shone through with everything you said. It’s refreshing to listen to this labor of love, keep it up, hopefully you’ll make a sequel video for VLR and ZTD soon
Thank you so much. Honestly, this is probably my favorite video I've done and I'm really happy to hear that my passion was apparent and you enjoyed it. I definitely have some video plans for VLR, ZTD, and Akane in the future!
I accidentally got the true ending on my first play through because my brother didnt want me to reset the game and he "didnt think I'd get the right ending on the first go" thx bro. You can imagine how confused I was hearing I missed such crucial parts of the game. I think I did miss some of the experience yes, but honestly the only thing I was really confused on was the prosopognosia bit. Everything else gets explained expertly in the true end.
Damn that sucks
why even live
Bruh, how fucking lucky you got!
@@Barakon you should mean unlucky! I'd rather have gotten the safe ending first hahahaha,,, I feel like part of the experience of the game, of having to play multiple endings has been taken from me lol
How is that even possible? Dont you need to play the safe ending first if you want to unlock the true end? Otherwise you would just get the coffin ending
It's amazing how good your content quality is for how little this channel is. I really think you are an up and coming youtuber that'll gain lots of traction! Please keep up the good work, as I'm greatly enjoying your videos.
Thank you so much and will do!
@@KayJulers Woah, it feels weird that you're not huge
This game made my cry while solving a sudoku on an upside-down Nintendo DS. Twice. I love 999 so much.
Btw you mentioned the Infinity saga and I highly recommend playing Ever17, the second title of the series. It has some elements in common with 999 and shares the Mindfuck Factor. The only problems are that the game is a pure visual novel (so there's no gameplay, only reading and choosing options) and it partially is a dating sim (although the romance is actually pretty well written and well contextualized), but the story is just sensational.
Just the song that plays during the true ending makes me emotional lol.
My wife and I just finished getting through 999's true ending and this is the exact video we were looking for. The cleverness of this entire game is on such a high level it is mind blowing. We played on PC so I totally missed the extra immersion from the two screen setup of the DS, but I did highly appreciate the voice acting. There has not been a single game that caused us to stop and exchange theories on what we thought was going to happen as often as this one. A somewhat silly idea I had was I thought for sure that Lotus was Alice. I feel the game didn't answer a lot of questions I had about Lotus, *but* I never went through door 2 for the extra context. That context introduces more questions though :P.
We are now about 5 hours or so into VLR and I already noticed you have a vid on that one as well. I know where I will be going once we beat VLR. Great video sir!
This video reminded me of the sheer emotion that I felt during my playthrough. I had known that akane was zero because of the way that I found out about the game, but I really, really, really enjoyed it. Your video brought up the emotions and when you were talking about morphogenetic sorrow, I felt tears come to my eyes as you talked about the song.
As someone who played the nonary version of 999 the final puzzle broke me, I was crying and panicking trying to save Akane. The "Bad" endings scared the hell out of me. I was so enthralled by 999. The zero escape trilogy is one of my favorites.
Same. While i agree the DS version is superior due to the reasons stated in the video, the nonary version was my 1st experience with this game. After i completed the 1st section of the puzzle and was confronted with the password screen i was stumped. I had no idea what to put there. I actually started to panic. What the hell does that got to do with the previous section?? Couldve been anything (zero, 0, 9, akane, siblings, cradle). And with that, young me started to cry. I refused to input random answers. I didnt want to fail akane. I cannot imagine how much i would have suffered if that illustration of akane crying was actually in the nonary games.
Despite this, i do think they couldve somehow bring the DS experience to the Nonary version.. Perhaps the puzzle could show the screen both akane and junpei are seeing, in which the sudoku puzzle is shown. Maybe you could also switch perspectives between them, despite not being relevant for the solution. What that would do is show a dim reflection of each character: Akane with tears in her eyes and Junpei with determination in his. Perhaps thats closer to the original intention.
Kay: makes a video on Xenoblade 2
Me: I’m not lookin for u
Kay: makes videos on the other two Xenoblade games
Me: you may have flap and the others fooled. But it’s gonna take more than that to impress m-
Kay: *MAKES A VIDEO ON ZERO ESCAPE*
Me: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Fish, can I just say how happy I am that you pulled out a reference to the flipping dog scene? That scene kills me every time.
@@KayJulers Man I just had it stuck in my head for a hot minute because of an old Fire Emblem meme, but it needs so much more exposure, it's a classic
This analysis perfectly describes how I feel about 999, it was a great listen. I played 999 last summer and iirc, I got the safe ending first which confused the heck out of me but at the same time had me craving for more. When comparing 999 to VLR and ZTD I honestly think 999 was the best one out of the three. My main issue with VLR wasn't really related to anything the game did wrong, but more so because of the fact that I played all the endings from right to left, which is in my opinion one of the worst ways to go about it. My reasoning as for why this is is because this way very little information gets revealed early on which leads to less thought provoking story elements in the first half of the game. This made it harder for me to get invested along with the fact that it's these thought provoking story elements that made me like 999 as much as I did. Another small complaint I have about VLR is the amount of time spent solving puzzles vs story progression. This may have something to do with me not being invested at all in the first half, but I did feel like I spent way more time solving puzzles rather than progressing through the story compared to 999 and ZTD. Especially near the end I just couldn't really be bothered by them anymore and just looked up the solutions to most of them, which I do regret now. That doesn't change the fact that I do still think VLR is an amazing game though, just not as great as 999.
As for ZTD, I don't think getting rid of the visual novel format was a good idea. The cutscenes didn't look very good and the lack of inner monologues was another minus point for me. It did atleast make it possible to make a game with no real main character. I found the voice acting to be pretty lackluster as well, both in Japanese and English. It wasn't bad per se (except for Eric), but I just didn't find the voices very fitting for most of the cast. D-team is probably the exception to this with some of the better lines, but the other two teams could've been a lot better imo (oh and I should probably mention that I LOVED Zero's English voice. Not Delta, just Zero). This is the first game I've played where I had to change the English voices to Japanese because I couldn't stand them, only to be almost just as dissatisfied with the Japanese voices that I switched back to English for the sake of convenience. Right now I'm probably making it sound like I hate this game, that's not actually true. These things did bother me at times, but generally didn't hurt my enjoyment of the game that much. While I personally found ZTD to be the weakest installment in the ZE franchise, I do believe that it has the most interesting aspect out of the three games: the decision games. These always kept the stakes high, and ending the game (and franchise for that matter) with a final decision game in which we do not get to decide the outcome was imo, one of, if not the best way to end it.
On a side note, I think it's pretty crazy how similar our game tastes are, I started playing competitive mons back in gen 6 and have put over 1500 hours into XY/ORAS+ a lot of time on showdown as well. Both the Xenoblade and Zero Escape franchises are in my top 5 favorites and I'm also a smash player, although I'm not that good at it.
Anyway, I've rambled on for long enough now. Thanks for reading this insanely long comment and please keep up the good work with the analyses!
999 is also my favorite of the series. I love VLR, but it was my least favorite due to the "lighter" tone, Zero III, and other aspects. I did a replay with my friend recently and I definitely view it more positively now, but some of my issues persist. However, I do adore VLR's puzzles, characters, and connections.
My friend and I view ZTD in a very strange way. We say that its low points are the lowest of the series, but it's high points are absolutely incredible. I couldn't care for Q team at all, however, those emotional moments with C and D team are wonderful. I agree, though. The voice acting is quite rough and I think that's only worsened with the low budget animations. I really think some of these voice actors improved their game in the Nonary Games (i.e. Junpei and Akane). I do miss the visual novel aspect and its method of storytelling works for its twists and basis, but I find it overall less enthralling (I do love how you can see Delta's shadow in some cutscenes, though).
That's actually quite interesting how similar they are. Yeah I started competitive Pokemon around very, very late B/W2 and early X/Y. My friends and I would always be so excited to bring our new Pokemon to a battle during our senior year free periods. Fallen out a bit with competitive in US/UM, but hoping to get back into it with Sword/Shield.
Thanks for the comment and for watching the video! Glad you enjoyed!
I got this game for christmas a long time ago, got frustrated at the first room (because I never found the second note hidden under the pillow), and never touched it again. I came back a few years later and I LOVED it. Seriously, this is one of the best games I have ever played, and definitely a big reason of why horror/thriller visual novel games are absolutely my favourite kind. I know this video is kinda old at this point, but thank you so much for making it! You pointed out so many things about the game that I never even noticed on my first playthrough, and I can't wait to see it all when I play it again sometime! ^_^
Couldn’t put it down until I saw the end. What a game.
Holy shit this is such a good video, please make more ZE content if you're in the mood for it. You're really good at wording things and I'd love to hear more of your thoughts!
Thank you so much! I have some plans down the line to cover VLR and eventually an analysis of Akane's character, which I'm incredibly excited for.
Great video. 999 is my favorite game and more people need to play it! The way you explain and analyze the ending sums up my feelings pretty well.
One of the best analyses I have watched in a while, thank you.
This is so great. I absolutely adored this game, so I look forward to your video on Zero Time Dilemma!
The soundtrack is absolutely amazing it makes me happy when people acknowledge it
Absolutely fantastic work capturing the essence of why this is also one of my favorite games of all time with my favorite story in a video game of all time.
Really glad to see a high quality video over this game that I rarely hear about. Keep up the good work!
Thank you!
I honestly feel like I watch this video once every two weeks or so, I honestly adore your ZE analysis videos (Akane is one of my favorite characters of all time too, there is so much to analyze with her, she’s so brilliantly written). Honestly this game is a beautiful experience and I’ll be replaying it for the rest of my life ^^
Awesome video, helped me relive such a beautiful game 😭
Looking forward to your ZTD video!
Thank you!
Finally, someone that loves 999 as much as I do. Just remembering how it made feel, brings tears to my eyes. I played for a week, and it was one of the most emotional weeks of my life and made me find my favourite games of all times. Your review was just perfect and I hope you continue to make videos with this good quality.
Really late to the party, but WOW. This video was so enjoyable to watch, and the editing was such a nice touch. Definitely checking out more of your content!
That feeling of hopelessness but air of determination is what I felt waaaaay back in 1997 when red XIII finds out his father was NOT a coward as he grew up to believe, but an unsung hero as his petrified statue had guarded and protected his tribe from invasion. What a powerful emotion.
This video was explained so well, thank you ❤️
One of my favourite songs in this game is Chill and Rigor, it just gives off a vibe of pure terror unlike the other songs which are much more ambient and creepy
I just recently subscribed and I have been bingeing on your videos, great stuff keep it up, you deserve more subs man!
Amazing video, will watch the following ones on VLR and ZTD as soon as I have the time!
Really captured what I loved about the game as well
This is still my favorite game. Lovely video. I cried at the final puzzle and will never forget the feeling of the revelations.
what a clever way to write a video about this game. i know i'm a little late to the party but this video is seriously great and exemplifies everything i loved about 999.
Omg I love you. Please make more videos! I love your kind of content. Keep it up!
Wow, I'm flattered. Thank you so much!
I have been wanting to play this for years, but never had the time. Thank you for this video!
I agree on how you spoke of Morphogenetic Sorrow and the feelings it evoked. After I finished 999 last month, I just remember the emotions I experienced during that last puzzle, and when I listened to the song the first time after the finished, I couldn't help but feel and the emotions return to me. I just sat there, remembering how I felt so hopeless, but I couldn't give up, I needed to save Akane. Game ost's are some of the most memorable parts of a game for me, and I wish I could experience the first feeling from it all over again. There are a few games that I wish to experience for the first time again, and 999 and VLR are definitely part of that. I love this video man, it really brought back those feelings from when I first played it and is a really thoughtful video for those who have played 999.
Watching this video, along with trying to get people into this game as one of the best (videogame) stories written that utilizes multiple endings and time travel in fresh ways, really makes me want to play through 999 and VLR again (despite how big my game and anime backlog is). They're in my top 3 video game stories list within a single entry with how well they stand on their own and would easily top Ace Attorney for video game stories within a series were it not for ZTD. ZTD was fine, but had a lot of issues
I'd love to see your take on VLR after watching this video and your incredible Xenoblade foreshadowing video
I share that backlog sentiment and luckily was able to experience these games again through a joint playthru with my friends. It was awesome seeing somebody else experience the twists and turns. I really enjoy ZTD and it has some of the strongest moments of the series IMO, but the issues can really weigh it down. Thank you! I definitely have plans to do VLR in the future once I get the ideas sorted out.
After taking a second to think about what I liked about ZTD rather than my final thoughts, D-Team definitely had some of the strongest moments of the series due to the strong connection between all of them. C-Team also had some pretty good moments. Can't say I remember too much about Q-Team. We're probably a long ways away from a fourth game since Uchikoshi is working on other projects, but I'm still hoping that another game comes out and takes place shortly after ZTD to close everything out and (hopefully) not have new cliffhangers
@@BlueLightning2554 I definitely agree. I always felt that D Team was the "get stuff done" and story relevant one, while C Team gave me more time with my favorite characters in Akane and Junpei. I felt Junpei was a bit too much of a jerk, but they had good moments. Carlos is also the MVP. Yeah I rarely found enjoyment with Q Team and Eric is probably my least favorite ZE character. I would've loved to have seen those post game extra file moments acted out.
I remember my first time playing 999. It would have been around 2014 time as I borrowed it from a friend and I got to my first ending. The axe ending. After that for some reason I put it down and eventually gave it back to my friend. A couple of months later, I decided to play it again. And I got hooked. I played through the entirety of 999. Played through all of Virtues last reward and then waited patiently for Zero time dilemma. I'm so glad I eventually picked the game back up and finished it as it is a series I wish more people talked about.
Yes! I played the DS version was amazed by that realization that the text was more than the system! You verbalized my experience perfectly!
God, 999 was an amazing, mind-blowing journey that I had to play twice to fully get the depth of. The beautiful weaving of the multiple paths, the excellent music, the realistic characters, the shocking mysteries of the bad endings, the mind blowing and heart breaking moments of the true endings, the duel screen revelation. I love all of it.
And this video made me relive the whole game. Excellently done.
10:18 was a weird inclusion and 29:45 payed it off very well.
21:49 The knife ending was also my first ending, and it also left me *needing* more (and looking over my shoulder irl for a few days). Axe and Sub also honed *the need*.
42:32 Finally! Someone else who's questioning decision to let Clover drive!
I've been considering getting the Nonary Games on steam so I can replay 999 with voice acting as it seems to be quite good, but the change to the final puzzle is putting me off. I've got a bunch of other games to play so I was considering not doing a replay, but this video is feeding *the need.*
I've loved this game for 3 years now, I love the story, and the end along with the music makes me cry
I don’t know how to express just how happy I am to have found this video, oh my gosh
I watched part of a let’s play of this game years and years and years ago, when I was definitely far too young to understand or appreciate it, and I’ve had it on the mind ever since even though I couldn’t remember the title or what the game was about. I hope I can someday find a physical copy of the game somewhere now!
Great retrospective. I do love the door 3 path just because it's so crazy. It's the only choice that can't lead you to either the Safe or Coffin endings, which means it's the only path that's completely hopeless. And boy does it make you feel it.
Hey Kay! I recognize this video was released before AI: The Somnium Files was released. If you like Zero Escape, I highly recommend you try out Somnium Files as well, if you haven’t already. Since it’s from the same writer, it’s just as well-written and emotional, maybe even better (I personally think so, but that’s just my opinion)
Snake taking down ace in the incineratoe has burned itself into my brain
its one of my favourite "bad" endingns in any ame ever , followed only by the ones from the other 2 games
Very well done, was presented in a very high quality way
This game changed my life. I also found it through Dookieshed and that makes me feel a great sense of fondness for you already. I know this is an older video but I needed a solid review for an upcoming project I'm working on and this felt as good a place to start. Thank you for this retrospective! I'm feeling most invigorated!
The game was absolutely astonishing!
Thank you for doing a video essay on it. Like yourself i didnt put it down until finishing it.
Some things in my own play through:
Screaming at All-ice realization.
Snake.
The Funyarinpa. I've given it as an unapologetic "factual" presentation in college 3 times. Once seen you cannot un-see.
First play through was the canotical way to play the game. All next choices were wrong. Couldnt figure it out for a while.
I tried to put this in front of as many people as I could. Just wanted them to experience it.
There was a give away to recieve a 999 watch and I got one. Its relatively poorly made, but wore it until it broke. Loved it.
999 a slept on diamond in the rough. I love this masterpiece it's sadness, agony yet filled with unpredictable determination. I played this game and beat it 5 days ago. 999 has to be one of the best games I've ever played . I'm thankful for the port with voice acting to xbox ones game pass for I would have never known of this gem. The writing , the characters, the music , the imagery, the puzzles all work to to tell a brilliantly dark story that has just enough light at the end of the tunnel to make it all worth it. Snakes sacrifice, Clover's snap, Ace being a murder in the worst way and not being the father figure I thought he was at first all building toward the true ending which was a well done mindfuck. Novel games on a whole are slept on but I've always loved a game with a great story and this one doesn't disappoint! 10/10
Just played this game in 2022 and I agree with everything here. One of my new favorite video games of all time
God I love this series and I wish I could wipe it from my memory so I could experience the plot twists again.
This game has some of my favorite uses of foreshadowing. Of course, there are more obvious and more questionable (in terms of how the theories discussed in each puzzle room are relevant) examples but the subtle ones are amazing. The true values of the bracelets, Santa telling Junpei and June not to trust anybody in the game, Santa talking about his sister dying in the Safe route (he knows June is going to die from incineration in the past). My favorite one is almost missable in the console/steam port and can only be read in the Novel Screen. In the Safe Ending route, when the clock strikes 5 am, the narrator says "We only have an hour left." This is the first time that the narrator includes themself among the other characters because young Akane only has an hour before the Gigantic in the past sinks.
Why does this video only have 6k views. It deserves way more :-(
Thank you for doing this one
Of course and thanks for watching!
Now that I finally finished the “first two” nonary games, I can watch these two videos. Can’t wait to play zero time dilemma next!
damn i just finished this game. i knew nothing about its reception going in and only now got to search for people talking about it. glad to see im not the only one who loved it.
When morphogenetic field kicks in...
These are the kinds of reviews I want. Someone who actually loves a game telling me why I should try it. It's easy to try to talk about a game in a bullshit "impartial" way, but I wanna hear why I should like a game from someone who did. What should I look for? what elements can I look forward to? That's the kind of things I'd love to encounter in a review.
*Spoilers here if you haven't played the game or finished the video. Only warning*
There's actually an additional thing to note when playing the original DS version as opposed to the rereleased version. In the original version, there is no scene select or flow chart. It took me about eighteen playthroughs(Which I believe is every possible combination plus two, since I went the true ending route first even though you can't get it first, and then accidentally did the same route twice once). On my fourth playthrough or so, I started to write down the fastest way to clear each puzzle room as I completed it. This is ACTUALLY something happening in the narrative, as Junpei would just be walking into these rooms and having these eureka moments and solving these puzzles almost instantly. YOU are doing what Akane would do, fast-tracking many Junepeis through these puzzle rooms in an attempt to find the universe where you "win", and using the solutions from the puzzles the both of you found together in other timelines to make that possible. When I beat the game I realized that the repetition wasn't a failing of the game's design, but a narrative device in and of itself. It's just the cherry on the top of the game's narrative that you really are part of the game in a real sense.
Unrelated, I had my own morphogenetic field moment where I solved one of the morse code puzzles with a ridiculously lucky guess as a joke and was like "Holy shit how did I do that? It just.. sounded right to me." and then several years later I tuned into a stream on twitch of the game RIGHT AS THEY GOT TO THAT PUZZLE. I was like "Woah. That was freaky."
Hi I want you to know that I stopped at 22:22, bought the game, and now I’m in the home stretch for the true ending, thank you for making this video and shedding light on such a beautiful and thrilling game, im loving every moment of it
Another thing, and I think I’m alone in this factor, but until recently (like- this morning while I was playing) I really disliked Akane. For some reason I found her presence to feel so out of place and the crush aspects to be overbearing, I found it tiresome when the game and cast would go out of their way to show how much he and Junpei liked eachother. It often took me out of the story and made me roll my eyes, in fact, the first ending I got was the submarine ending, all because I was making the conscious decision to avoid spending any time with akane
But as soon as I realized her role? It changed everything. I do believe that her feelings are true for Junpei, but it retroactively explained all of her behaviors and why it seemed so hammed up.
She’s an excellent character, even if she doesn’t mesh well with me, and I am so happy to have played and experienced it with minimal spoilers
I look forwards to your zero time dilemma video :)
god ive watched this video SO MANY times (great work btw!!) but that cdi zelda bit gets me every time hfhjvfjhfjhfv
Just finished this masterpiece. Your video is pretty good too, 0 dislikes tho.
Dude great video
Not the Lotus erasure...on a serious note great essay glad to see there's video essay on 999 !
i love these games. found a playlist and guy to sub to.
I played 999 on my DS on a whim one summer and left with a game that I will gush about to my friends any chance that I get.
Truly a masterpiece of a game
wow! only 2 minutes in, but I'm sure this is going to be a great video - it's so long and thorough! thanks for making this, as I really was shocked (in a good (and bad :P) way) by this game's story
Someone talking about one of my favorite games? And my favorite series of stories ever in ANYTHING? HELLO!
Currently I’m live-streaming 999 for a few friends. (Well, more like discord streaming where everyone can talk back to me.) But of course now, every second that is not “show friends Best Game” is consumed wishing I was. I have been specifically requested to give them all the bad endings before the true ending, and we just got our first ending (Knife) last session. Having this kind of control to lead them towards certain choices is very Dungeon Mastery.
All of that to say THANKS FOR THE ZERO ESCAPE CONTENT IM DESPERATE.
I actually hadn't played sudoku before when I got to the final puzzle as well, but I knew how they worked and decided I wouldn't look up an answer and spent a while just trying to figure it out. This actually ended up making the scene even more impactful for me, slowly trying to figure out the puzzle while morphogenetic sorrow played in the background, having worked through multiple playthoughs and bad endings just to get here, It just really got to me. I don't think I'll ever play another game that hits me as hard as 999, and it's too bad some features where impossible to be brought beyond the ds, though I think they did the best they could considering.
Thanks for this and your video on VLR. I'd love to see you cover ZTD as well. Metal Gear Solid 2 is another fantastic game story.
I can't believe I started to cry when I recalled that final puzzle moment, I really loved the game but can't explain this feelings this game bought to me rn
Here in July 2023 and love how your channel has grown
I have to say, I heard about this game over the years as well and when I found a copy I didn't hesitate to drop the money for it and oh man was it worth it. Such a good game. Despite knowing everything it was fun to hear you reflect on the same feelings and emotions I still recall feeling as I played the game. That reveal that we the player were kind of the morphogenic field they were working through the whole time was such a wild twist I don't think I'll ever play anything quite like it ever again. The DS had a few games that really played with the hardware outside of the box but nothing quite compares to 999. I might have to hunt down the Nonary games now just to enjoy that delicious voice acting and enjoy the game all over again. Thanks so much for this lovely review!
P.S. LoZ themed Nintendo hardware is my goal always. And if I can't it gets stickered.
Are you planning on doing a video on Virtue's Last Reward? This channel has become a recent favorite, thanks for making such good content.
At some point, for sure! It might be a bit, however, since this video took a lot out of me and VLR has a ton of content to work with. I might break that video into parts or certain aspects. I'm happy you've been enjoying and thank you for the support!
Very well made video.
When I first played 999, I got the coffin ending and was confused as hell lmao. I couldn’t believe they would end it like that and had to play more-and then I discovered there were more endings, thank god 😭
Your discussion over which ending was the best to get first was absolutely hilarious to me, based on my blind playthrough experience. Started out with the Coffin ending, which was satisfying and infuriating at the same time. Next? I got the Submarine ending. 5 times in a row. Then the Safe ending. And then I had the information for the true ending! So I didn't get the Knife or Axe ending until after the True one, whoops. :P
Edit: I should probably clarify that I was playing the DS version
This video made me shed a slight tear towards the end 😿
I got the submarine ending as my first one and I was *broken*. Not only I did know nothing but also Akane's end? My god, was it brutal, and I was hooked.
This is a real good video, i want morw
Thanks I now want to play this game again.
honestly, i got the axe ending first, and I *loved* it. idk what it was exactly, but it's such a cool ending.
I just beat the Game like an hour ago
I‘m left with such a thirst for more
I can’t wait to start the second one!
(I also find it quite funny that I also binged the game until I beat it at 6 am)
SAME. I got the true ending around 6am today.
A masterpiece of a videogame
I played the ds version first and I remember getting all the bad endings first hahaha, honestly I loved that game and the same thing happened to me as you, I never solved a sodoku before that game. I had a very good experience and recently I had the chance to play the current version, what I loved was the voice acting, but I was disappointed with the final puzzle, I think that happened to all of us but well, I can honestly say what great that the game is but I can't describe all the feelings that happened, on top of reliving it I felt like the first time, it's simply magical. I love this game and I will watch your virtual last reward video when I finish it, since I couldn't play it because I didn't have a 3ds, but by getting the game on steam, I try to get as much juice out of it as possible. very good video.