Fantastic
Here is a little game I didn't even know I was excited for. Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward! This is the sequel to the beloved 999, which I admit I haven't finished. I started it like the day before I get Virtue's Last Reward, but I did read the story and trust me...its amazing. So play that or read the summary of that before you play this.
Virtue's Last Reward is a game in the niche genre of Visual Novels. Think of this game as Professor Layton for the big kids. You read the story, and occasionally make choices in the game, which will lead you too one of several endings. These endings can be good, or bad. Choice is what makes you think in this game. Because as small as a choice may seem, it will lead you down a totally different path.
You play Sigma, and you wake up in an elevator with a girl named Phi. After completing a puzzle, you meet with 7 others, and get told by a talking AI rabbit named Zero III, that you are going to play the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition. All of you are wearing bracelets, that will inject you if the number on your bracelet reaches 0 or you break the rules.
This game also has puzzles. Some of these puzzles can be hard, easy, or just generally creative. From what I've played of 999, I think the puzzles are better here, save for the final puzzle, which while creative, didn't have anything epic surrounding it like the final puzzle in 999. In fact the ending is like two hours after you finish the final puzzle in this game.
And thats what this game is about. Managing all your different endings, waiting until they all add up in to something beautiful. Thanks to a handy flow chart, you can jump from one story path to another. Sometimes you'll come upon locks in a story, which require you to go and do another story path. I'm not going to explain why you need to do this, but lets say the answers that await you can be very rewarding for your patience. Well most of the answers.
I haven't talked about the Ally or Betray system yet. This game has a lot to do with the Prisoner's Dilemma. You can look up what that is, and the game will tell you in one of its story paths. After completing a puzzle, you will get an Ambidex Card that is used to open the elevators you woke up in. You enter that elevator with your partner if you have one, and you have a simple choice. Ally or Betray.
You see, when you did that puzzle you were with two other people. Either you were a solo, or you were a pair with one of the people in that room. Now you and your partner have to choose to Ally with the other person for two points, or Betray them for 3 points. Betraying them means they lose two points as well. Same thing goes if they betray you. If you betray each other, than no one gains or loses anything. This is what Zero calls the 'Why Even Bother' outcome.
What are the points for you ask? Well once you get 9 points you can open the door and leave. You start off with 3 points. What happens if you hit 0? You die.
Right off the bat, you have to chose to trust or not trust the person in the other room. And remember you just met these people. Is the nice girl you met, really that nice? Is the Old Man really old enough to fall for your tricks?
One issue I have with this game is the information it gives you has a tendency to repeat. When something happens, it may happen in another story path. So thank god there is a skip button for the text you have already seen.
Everything in this game eventually adds up too one true conclusion. That also ends on a Cliffhanger. So while this game does give you some answers, it also leaves you hanging. Be aware of that.
However the Journey is far better than the conclusion and this game is fantastic. Seriously, get.this.game.
