If you're in a rush then you need go no farther than the next sentence in this review. Go play 999 as soon as humanly possible, you won't regret it. For those of you that hung around longer than that last sentence, 999 has to be one of the coolest games that I have ever had the joy of playing this past year. The depth of the characters struggle, and the overarching plot sank their hooks into me in a manner that left me wondering what was going to come next. Albeit, the vast majority of these feelings came from my completion of Virtue's Last Reward, but we'll get to that in time a well. First up, nine hours, nine people, nine doors.
999 is a visual novel. What this means is that unlike many other games there is a lot of reading. A LOT OF READING. In order to really get involved and invested, one has to be playing 999 for the story more so than the actual gameplay mechanics. The reason for this is because Kotaro Uchikoshi, the man who wrote and directed this particular marvel, was asked by developer Chunsoft to create a new type of visual novel that could be more widely received by the people. By focusing in on the story, the gameplay of 999, which revolves around puzzle solving, takes on a whole new tangent. The process of completing a puzzle opens up dialogue with other members of the cast, each of whom has an integral role to play in bringing about the games eventual conclusion.
Over the course of 999, we play as Junpei a pretty easy going guy who randomly gets kidnapped one evening by a stranger wearing a gas mask. When he wakes, he finds himself trapped in a room that slowly begins to fill with water. Powered by our quick wits and puzzle solving prowess, Junpei manages to escape drowning. However, it becomes quickly apparent that Junpei is trapped on what appears to be a sinking cruise ship.
Confined on a sinking ship with eight other people, Junpei and company are made to play a game known as the Nonary Game. The premise of the game is that there are a variety of doors, and as such, numerous pathways by which to complete the game. By opening a door, the people entering the room are faced with a puzzle that will allow them to escape from their room. Only by repeatedly doing this will the players be able to reach the goal of the Nonary Game; locating the number nine door. Once the number nine door is found, the players must work together to open it up and finally escape from the sinking vessel. And that's just the basic premise of the story without any REAL spoilers.
All of this sounds pretty straight forward, and could have taken a more light hearted turn. Unfortunately for those of you looking for a feel good story, 999 is not that kind of game. Over the course of the story, Junpei is made to interact with each of the other individuals on the ship and only by interacting with the entirety of the cast and making some choice decisions along the way are players able to truly arrive at the conclusion of the game. In essence, 999 has a host of endings and depending on which paths you take and how you interact, you'll end up seeing one of many endings. The vast majority of said endings do NOT end well, and are both discouraging and disturbing to experience. In most cases, this also means that you might have to play the game more than once in order to get to what is considered the "true ending".
Initially, the text based components of the game can seem slow at first and this might make some players worry about having to go through what will surely seem like a long process after the first playthrough of the game. Fortunately, Chunsoft adds a function that allows for conversations to go by much quicker on later playthroughs, and this allows for a greater enjoyment of new dialogue and puzzles.
The puzzles of 999 are all fairly challenging, and require you to think about more than just the obvious answers in order to escape a room. Regularly, players have to interact with just about every single facet of their environment in order to arrive at a final answer. This makes for a lot of careful searching and critical thinking, much like one might expect if they actually were trapped in a room and forced to think of a way out. Its this realism that makes the puzzle portions of 999 standout, in addition to being the only real "game" mechanic within the entire visual novel.
As a visual novel, 999 does an amazing job of blending together epic storytelling and puzzle solving scenarios. Each character is carefully crafted, and filled with a depth that makes each one interesting and yet intimidating when interacted with. The eerie soundtrack that permeates 999 does an amazing job of increasing the stories tension as plot points are revealed and decisions are made. Its easy to see that every aspect of 999 has been carefully crafted to provide a strong, and well rounded experience for even the most casual of gamers.
As I said at the beginning of this review: Go play 999 as soon as humanly possible, you won't regret it.
999 is a visual novel. What this means is that unlike many other games there is a lot of reading. A LOT OF READING. In order to really get involved and invested, one has to be playing 999 for the story more so than the actual gameplay mechanics. The reason for this is because Kotaro Uchikoshi, the man who wrote and directed this particular marvel, was asked by developer Chunsoft to create a new type of visual novel that could be more widely received by the people. By focusing in on the story, the gameplay of 999, which revolves around puzzle solving, takes on a whole new tangent. The process of completing a puzzle opens up dialogue with other members of the cast, each of whom has an integral role to play in bringing about the games eventual conclusion.
Over the course of 999, we play as Junpei a pretty easy going guy who randomly gets kidnapped one evening by a stranger wearing a gas mask. When he wakes, he finds himself trapped in a room that slowly begins to fill with water. Powered by our quick wits and puzzle solving prowess, Junpei manages to escape drowning. However, it becomes quickly apparent that Junpei is trapped on what appears to be a sinking cruise ship.
Confined on a sinking ship with eight other people, Junpei and company are made to play a game known as the Nonary Game. The premise of the game is that there are a variety of doors, and as such, numerous pathways by which to complete the game. By opening a door, the people entering the room are faced with a puzzle that will allow them to escape from their room. Only by repeatedly doing this will the players be able to reach the goal of the Nonary Game; locating the number nine door. Once the number nine door is found, the players must work together to open it up and finally escape from the sinking vessel. And that's just the basic premise of the story without any REAL spoilers.
All of this sounds pretty straight forward, and could have taken a more light hearted turn. Unfortunately for those of you looking for a feel good story, 999 is not that kind of game. Over the course of the story, Junpei is made to interact with each of the other individuals on the ship and only by interacting with the entirety of the cast and making some choice decisions along the way are players able to truly arrive at the conclusion of the game. In essence, 999 has a host of endings and depending on which paths you take and how you interact, you'll end up seeing one of many endings. The vast majority of said endings do NOT end well, and are both discouraging and disturbing to experience. In most cases, this also means that you might have to play the game more than once in order to get to what is considered the "true ending".
Initially, the text based components of the game can seem slow at first and this might make some players worry about having to go through what will surely seem like a long process after the first playthrough of the game. Fortunately, Chunsoft adds a function that allows for conversations to go by much quicker on later playthroughs, and this allows for a greater enjoyment of new dialogue and puzzles.
The puzzles of 999 are all fairly challenging, and require you to think about more than just the obvious answers in order to escape a room. Regularly, players have to interact with just about every single facet of their environment in order to arrive at a final answer. This makes for a lot of careful searching and critical thinking, much like one might expect if they actually were trapped in a room and forced to think of a way out. Its this realism that makes the puzzle portions of 999 standout, in addition to being the only real "game" mechanic within the entire visual novel.
As a visual novel, 999 does an amazing job of blending together epic storytelling and puzzle solving scenarios. Each character is carefully crafted, and filled with a depth that makes each one interesting and yet intimidating when interacted with. The eerie soundtrack that permeates 999 does an amazing job of increasing the stories tension as plot points are revealed and decisions are made. Its easy to see that every aspect of 999 has been carefully crafted to provide a strong, and well rounded experience for even the most casual of gamers.
As I said at the beginning of this review: Go play 999 as soon as humanly possible, you won't regret it.