999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

[rainetemplar]

This DS title recently came out and I've been playing for quite a while now.

 

 

"999 is a text adventure game that follows the story of Junpei. He and 9 others have been kidnapped and must play a series of deadly games to win their freedom."

 

The story is very well written and if you're a fan of text adventures this is a must-have.

(If this all isnt reason enough to get it, I'm sure the guys on this forum won't mind there's a fair amount of boobs.)

[brida]

Tell me more. Nobody has reviewed this game I am still WAITING ON DRAG to tell me about the title

[rainetemplar]

Tell me more. Nobody has reviewed this game I am still WAITING ON DRAG to tell me about the title

 

Well the main point of the game is to get off the ship as soon as possible. You've been kidnapped along with 8 other persons and you all have to find a way out.

You're being 'watched' by Zero, the person that monitors the entire thing. He tells you you have only 9 hours, otherwise you basically all explode.

 

To escape, you have to team up with the other hostages. You split up in teams often, and each team has to solve puzzles in order for you to move on. Needless to say things go wrong almost immediately.

The music, text and graphics work really well and create a really tense atmosphere.

 

There's backstabbing, drama and murder.

[drag]

Tell me more. Nobody has reviewed this game I am still WAITING ON DRAG to tell me about the title

 

i've got three, nearly four endings now (out of six) so ... getting there. might have to look at a guide to get the others though which is pretty lame.

[brida]

http://ds.ign.com/articles/114/1140602p1.html

[drag]

people are getting way too over-excited

[Yantelope]

[Yantelope]

Also, demonoid reviewed it and freaking loved it.

[drag]

it's a good game, everyone should play it ... just doesn't warrant all this shit-losing all these reviews are doing.

[Mister Jack]

Fucking hell, the DS seems to have more of these surprise sleepers that simply must be played than anything else (excluding the PC)

[rainetemplar]

Okay, I just had my first ending..

 

 

It was the knife ending. I want to know who the killer is. Goddammit it better not be June

 

 

Also, the fastforwarding option when you play the game again is very welcome.

[SeniorPuffyPants]

people are saying that this is better then phoenix wright.... is that true?

[rainetemplar]

people are saying that this is better then phoenix wright.... is that true?

 

Hmm.. I don't really know how to answer that. I'm a big Phoenix Wright fan. You can compare it to 999 but to a certain extent.. they are both text adventures. I wouldn't say AA is better per se, it's just different.

Personally I would choose the Ace Attorney games over 999 any day, but that doesn't mean I don't still enjoy 999. It's a refreshing game and I would really advice people to get it.

[FMW]

I am bringing back one of the longest abandoned forum threads because I have just completed this game and I have all SORTS of things to say about it. This is talking about the resolution of the story, this is absolutely filled with spoilers, and nobody who hasn't played through this game completely should read another word of this.

 

This plot makes no sense: Okay, so let's break this down. Who, exactly, was "in" on the big charade that was the second nonary game? Santa was in on it. June was in on it, though her ability to influence matters was dependent on how far off the "correct" path Junpei had strayed (when her fever flares up, that's because she's getting incinerated in the past). Ace and Nine were definitely NOT in on it, as they were intended victims. Junpei was definitely not in on it. Lotus never, in any ending, gives any hint of knowing what's going on at all. But that leaves us with three wild cards:

• Did Seven know what was up? I'm inclined to say yes. Otherwise his amnesia and gradual incredibly convenient memory recovery has no explanation. One of the very last lines in the true ending also indicates that he may have been playing Junpei all along. I think this is a pretty strong theory, because far too much hinges on his information getting shared to the right person at the right time. Though he does get killed in the submarine ending, it's established that Ace has a revolver at that point so even if he already knew Ace to be a bad guy he could have been slain.
  
• Did Clover know what was up? This one is a pretty obvious "no". Her actions in the axe ending (wherein she goes mad with grief and kills everybody) make it clear that she has no knowledge of any sort of ruse. It's by bouncing things off of her that most of your figuring things out happens. What confuses me though is... why? If the entire point of the second nonary game is to manipulate Junpei to being in just the right desparate situation at the end of the 9 hours then... what benefit is there to having a player in the mix who isn't operating under instructions to help create that scenario? Same goes for Lotus and Snake. I can understand having Snake participating if he knows what's going on... but it doesn't seem like he does. If he WAS in on the ruse, then it would hardly have been necessary to lock him in a coffin now would it?
  

See, that's the crux of what I think might be a giant logic loop in the game. We know that Santa and whatever organization he worked with had 9 years to create this elaborate charade, this recreation of the first nonary game. Their budget was nigh unlimited since they could play the stocks off of June's visions of the future, and time wasn't too pressing either. Hell, they even got the original building so construction would have been minimal too. The best path forward to their goal, then, would be to hire professional actors, educate and train them, and then run the entire game with the only variables not under the game master's control being Junpei, and the bad guys who were to kill each other.

 

I mean, they grabbed Snake to put him in the game but had to give him specific instructions not to share any of his knowledge of how the nonary game works! Then why is he even there? If you really feel like you need to spook Ace by making him think that Snake is gonna figure out his true identity, just use an actor pretending to be Snake. If you use the real one there are all SORTS of negative side effects including but not limited to: You need to lock him in a coffin when you're baiting Ace into killing decoy Snake, you run the risk of Snake going berserk and fucking everything up (as seen in the safe ending), you run the risk of Snake sharing any of the juicy information he has about the nature of the nonary game with people despite orders not to, and, oh yeah, you don't need to KIDNAP him.

 

New topic: Were the not-evil players ever actually in danger from the game? In all endings they either survive, or are killed by another player. At no point do the actual hazards of the nonary game (Reds, Deads, and the puzzle rooms) in any continuity ever hurt any good guys. Which, given that the game exists not to kill the players but to get them scared of getting killed, leads me to think that the game may not actually have fangs. I mean, think of the climax in the incinerator. Do you think it really would have turned on? I sure don't. What would the logic there even be? Santa's just sitting there at the controls thinking "well fuck, all this time and effort and it didn't work out. My sister's dead. Well, that's it for this experiment, might as well let those fuckers burn." That is to say, there would be no logic. Or could Junpei have actually drowned in the beginning? Again, I'm inclined to say no. Why would they even take a CHANCE with that? If he's just a little bit stupider than they think he'll be or he slips and hits his head or whatever, then EVERYTHING has been for naught.

 

This does, however, justify all of the puzzles that are supposedly "timed" actually giving the player unlimited time. Except for the last one where the timer is real, not made up by the Nonary rules.

 

Speaking of: Oh my god that was the worst final boss challenge ever. They've had all this build up and evil Ace is cackling outside the door (in the past) and the timer is ticking down to incineration (in both times) and the computer comes up. "Yes, puny ones! To escape, you must solve my FINAL PUZZLE! Look upon it and weep... and BURN!" And what is the ultimate puzzle? ...it's a Sudoku. It's a piss easy sudoku. This is maybe the LEAST intimidating puzzle in the entire game! This game had some difficult puzzles, some disturbing puzzles, and some that were both. That they were all leading up to a coffee table brain teaser (and again, a super easy one) is SUCH a let down. Yeah yeah I know it kinda fits the 9 theme, but that's no excuse. I honestly laughed.

 

Last topic: Allice. You know what? I don't even want to go there. That was sort of a red herring sub-plot through the whole game that wasn't of any particular importance, but then at the very end they decide to just throw her back into the mix for some reason. "You know the whole nonary game thing that you just found out was actually a charade constructed on the biggest budget EVER? Yeah, that was all fake, but the thing about the time traveling Egyptian princess was true." Not cool guys.

 

Edited December 17, 2012 by TheMightyEthan
added spoiler tags

[SomTervo]

Can you spoiler tag spoiler shit plz bro?

 

Always wanted to play this, haven't fixed my DS up yet (lost the battery charger cable/plug).

[excel_excel]

I absolutely loved it but I do agree it has flaws, it was such an engrossing piece of story that I couldn't stop playing. Let me try and explain some of these things.....

 

 

I am bringing back one of the longest abandoned forum threads because I have just completed this game and I have all SORTS of things to say about it. This is talking about the resolution of the story, this is absolutely filled with spoilers, and nobody who hasn't played through this game completely should read another word of this.

 

This plot makes no sense: Okay, so let's break this down. Who, exactly, was "in" on the big charade that was the second nonary game? Santa was in on it. June was in on it, though her ability to influence matters was dependent on how far off the "correct" path Junpei had strayed (when her fever flares up, that's because she's getting incinerated in the past). Ace and Nine were definitely NOT in on it, as they were intended victims. Junpei was definitely not in on it. Lotus never, in any ending, gives any hint of knowing what's going on at all. But that leaves us with three wild cards:

• Did Seven know what was up? I'm inclined to say yes. Otherwise his amnesia and gradual incredibly convenient memory recovery has no explanation. One of the very last lines in the true ending also indicates that he may have been playing Junpei all along. I think this is a pretty strong theory, because far too much hinges on his information getting shared to the right person at the right time. Though he does get killed in the submarine ending, it's established that Ace has a revolver at that point so even if he already knew Ace to be a bad guy he could have been slain.
  
• Did Clover know what was up? This one is a pretty obvious "no". Her actions in the axe ending (wherein she goes mad with grief and kills everybody) make it clear that she has no knowledge of any sort of ruse. It's by bouncing things off of her that most of your figuring things out happens. What confuses me though is... why? If the entire point of the second nonary game is to manipulate Junpei to being in just the right desparate situation at the end of the 9 hours then... what benefit is there to having a player in the mix who isn't operating under instructions to help create that scenario? Same goes for Lotus and Snake. I can understand having Snake participating if he knows what's going on... but it doesn't seem like he does. If he WAS in on the ruse, then it would hardly have been necessary to lock him in a coffin now would it?
  

See, that's the crux of what I think might be a giant logic loop in the game. We know that Santa and whatever organization he worked with had 9 years to create this elaborate charade, this recreation of the first nonary game. Their budget was nigh unlimited since they could play the stocks off of June's visions of the future, and time wasn't too pressing either. Hell, they even got the original building so construction would have been minimal too. The best path forward to their goal, then, would be to hire professional actors, educate and train them, and then run the entire game with the only variables not under the game master's control being Junpei, and the bad guys who were to kill each other.

 

I mean, they grabbed Snake to put him in the game but had to give him specific instructions not to share any of his knowledge of how the nonary game works! Then why is he even there? If you really feel like you need to spook Ace by making him think that Snake is gonna figure out his true identity, just use an actor pretending to be Snake. If you use the real one there are all SORTS of negative side effects including but not limited to: You need to lock him in a coffin when you're baiting Ace into killing decoy Snake, you run the risk of Snake going berserk and fucking everything up (as seen in the safe ending), you run the risk of Snake sharing any of the juicy information he has about the nature of the nonary game with people despite orders not to, and, oh yeah, you don't need to KIDNAP him.

 

 

 

 

This was because June had seen the entire game taking place exactly through Junpei's mind and eyes 9 years earlier. They had to make it exactly the same as June saw it. That's why Clover was in there, that's why Lotus was there. June had seen them all 9 years earlier all through the eyes of Junpei. If you think about it, running the risk of Snake going rogue or whatever, would be just another alternate ending that June would see and not the true one. June had seen ALL of this, including Snake being looked in the coffin. To be honest, its my biggest problem with the game's story because its pretty much a paradox. June sees Junpei do the Nonary game through her powers, but she only sees it because SHE is going to set it up, but she'll only set it up because she seen it taking place in the future.

Of course, Snake could have been on it. He was there and knows what happened to June and Seven and Santa. In fact, I think him being in on everything makes sense, because having Clover there and having her be safe means he's a lot more likely to remain calm and follow the plan.

Yeah, now Seven, I believe he was in on it too. But I think the temporary memory loss was inflicted on him by Santa and June to make his behaviour more convincing. Or maybe that was just a story made up too.....

 

New topic: Were the not-evil players ever actually in danger from the game? In all endings they either survive, or are killed by another player. At no point do the actual hazards of the nonary game (Reds, Deads, and the puzzle rooms) in any continuity ever hurt any good guys. Which, given that the game exists not to kill the players but to get them scared of getting killed, leads me to think that the game may not actually have fangs. I mean, think of the climax in the incinerator. Do you think it really would have turned on? I sure don't. What would the logic there even be? Santa's just sitting there at the controls thinking "well fuck, all this time and effort and it didn't work out. My sister's dead. Well, that's it for this experiment, might as well let those fuckers burn." That is to say, there would be no logic. Or could Junpei have actually drowned in the beginning? Again, I'm inclined to say no. Why would they even take a CHANCE with that? If he's just a little bit stupider than they think he'll be or he slips and hits his head or whatever, then EVERYTHING has been for naught.

 

This does, however, justify all of the puzzles that are supposedly "timed" actually giving the player unlimited time. Except for the last one where the timer is real, not made up by the Nonary rules.

 

No, the game didn't have fangs. Nobody aside from the 9th man and the guy they replaced with Snake were going to die. There were no bombs in anybody but those two. As for the incinerator, I don't believe it was real but of course only Santa and June would know that. As for Junpei drowing at the start, June would have seen him survive that part so they wouldn't have had to worry. If not, then I think June was already on her way to get him out of the room, hence where you bump into to her at the start of the game.

As for the puzzles not being timed, I think that's just a game thing. They are 'timed' in the story as far as I can tell. You are given hints by characters if you fail certain bits multiple times.

Speaking of: Oh my god that was the worst final boss challenge ever. They've had all this build up and evil Ace is cackling outside the door (in the past) and the timer is ticking down to incineration (in both times) and the computer comes up. "Yes, puny ones! To escape, you must solve my FINAL PUZZLE! Look upon it and weep... and BURN!" And what is the ultimate puzzle? ...it's a Sudoku. It's a piss easy sudoku. This is maybe the LEAST intimidating puzzle in the entire game! This game had some difficult puzzles, some disturbing puzzles, and some that were both. That they were all leading up to a coffee table brain teaser (and again, a super easy one) is SUCH a let down. Yeah yeah I know it kinda fits the 9 theme, but that's no excuse. I honestly laughed.

 

I agree, it was quite easy, but storyline wise we are also looking at Sudoku being solved by a 12 year old, who's never heard the game before, who was under immense pressure and would die if she failed it. She had what, like 9 minutes to solve it? That's actually quite a short time for a Sudoku puzzle. Totally understand it being a disappointment to you but it makes sense storyline wise.

Last topic: Allice. You know what? I don't even want to go there. That was sort of a red herring sub-plot through the whole game that wasn't of any particular importance, but then at the very end they decide to just throw her back into the mix for some reason. "You know the whole nonary game thing that you just found out was actually a charade constructed on the biggest budget EVER? Yeah, that was all fake, but the thing about the time traveling Egyptian princess was true." Not cool guys.

 

Her being in the story was to explain the concept of Ice-9, and the mophorgenic field. As for her appearing at the end, that was just a throwaway little bonus, not intended to be taken too seriously. Although considering the other fantasy elements in play revealed at the game's conclusion, her existence isn't that jarring.

 

 

[FMW]

Can you spoiler tag spoiler shit plz bro?

 

Always wanted to play this, haven't fixed my DS up yet (lost the battery charger cable/plug).

 

You know I tried, but by the time I was done typing everything out when I pasted it into the the special spoiler font box the text stretched it too wide and I could no longer access the "Okay" button as it hand been pushed off the right hand of my screen. So I put in an explicit warning in the first paragraph. Sorry if that wasn't warning enough for 'ya.

[TheMightyEthan]

You can also manually put things in spoilers by just typing in the tags, like this:

 

[spoiler]
Your spoilers go here.
[/spoiler]

 

That's how I did it when I edited your post.

[SomTervo]

You know I tried, but by the time I was done typing everything out when I pasted it into the the special spoiler font box the text stretched it too wide and I could no longer access the "Okay" button as it hand been pushed off the right hand of my screen. So I put in an explicit warning in the first paragraph. Sorry if that wasn't warning enough for 'ya.

 

Lol my bad dude, I was skimming away, didn't notice that. Eager to get to the content of your post, so missed the spoiler-warning preamble.

 

I usually make it obvious if I'm going to just write out a spoiler warning, give the phrase its own paragraph or embolden it or some shit. And yeah you can do it manually with [ spoiler] and [/spoiler ]. Easiest way. Same with [ b] and [/b] for bold or [ i] and [/i ] for italics.

[Mister Jack]

This game is getting a mobile port, however it's being modified so it's less a puzzle game and more a visual novel.  Are the puzzles a highlight of this game?  Would I be missing much if I just downloaded it digitally?

[TheMightyEthan]

Event he DS version was too visual-novelly for me and I ended up quitting.  But I don't like visual novels so that may not be the best perspective to go off of.