Some endings can only be accessed by learning information from one timeline, giving you answers allowing you to progress in a different timeline. You can visualise this as a branching flowchart of different possible timelines, which the games let the player see. The games have multiple endings, and in order to see them, you are able to hop back to decision points in the story and choose different outcomes to see how things change. But what makes this saga special, apart from the quality writing and interesting characters, is the clever structure of these games.ĭuring the story, you get to make important decisions - such as who to team up with, or where to go next. Breaking up the narrative are escape-the-room puzzle sections, where you explore a small area, solving devious puzzles in order to progress and see the next section of the story. Developers Chime included a special message thanking their fans for making the game possible in the credits and Uchikoshi is forever brimming with praise for his loyal fans.įor anyone who hasn’t read my previous Zero Escape reviews - what are these games? Primarily they’re interactive novels, with lots of character dialogue and twisting, intertwined plotlines. It’s a heartwarming tale in the financially cut-throat world of the games industry. This collaborative effort persuaded the publishers to continue Zero Time Dilemma’s development, and reportedly Uchikoshi even used a fan-made vocal track based on a song in VLR during his pitch for the game. They began an online grassroots movement called “Operation Bluebird”, gaining thousands of supporters. But when passionate fans heard that Uchikoshi’s wish to finish the series was being dismissed for financial reasons, Zero Escape lovers worldwide banded together. The previous titles in the series 999 and VLR, hadn’t been very commercially successful. The backstory behind the game’s creation is a tribute to the power of social media. It’s actually a miracle that Zero Time Dilemma was made at all. It's a shame, because, as I said earlier, there are some fantastic moments in the game, and solving the puzzle rooms is as satisfying as ever, but it could, and should, have been so much better.First, a bit of history. However, such a significant drop in overall quality, warping the established rules of how things behave, and failing to conclude (or even address parts of) the ongoing narrative is hard to swallow. If this had been a standalone game, or the first entry in a new series, many of these complaints would be a lot less severe. The animations are clunky to the point of being distracting, and it doesn't add a great deal to the game (I might even say it makes the reveal even less believable) The choice to move to a more "cinematic" (rather than a visual novel) style served the game poorly. Could have been an interesting element if properly explored or given a better explanation ) A piece of technology is introduced in the mid to late game that is hand-waved into the narrative, and it feels like the game had written itself into a corner and this was a crutch to get out. The pseudo-science elements are utilised haphazardly, and pretty much behave however the plot requires at any given time (in 999 and VLR, they more or less felt like they had well defined rules/behaviours). The post-game files are especially bad, and felt, to me, like I was reading bad fan-fiction The quality of the writing fluctuates throughout the game - the first half or so of the game is well-written and engaging, but the ending feels rushed (both in terms of how quickly in wraps up and in how poorly some scenes are explained/written). It fails to solve the problem that was introduced in VLR (Radical-6), meaning there's no meaningful conclusion to the series as a whole, and the ending left me feeling the same way I felt at the end of VLR - it's a hook for the next game (despite this being, presumably, the last game) rather than an actual ending Technically it's foreshadowed, but large parts of the game intentionally mislead the player meaning that instead of a revelation it just introduces confusion) The late game reveal is dreadful compared to the standards of the series (999 and VLR both have moments that instantly enlighten the rest of the game, whereas in ZTD I was left thinking "OK.I guess you could do that.". It fails to pick up the blatant sequel hook that closed VLR (parts of it are completely ignored despite being introduced almost entirely to be used in the third game) Main complaints I had (that I can mention without spoiling anything): It has some exceptionally good moments (the opening scene is a stroke of genius IMO, and it has some of the best puzzle rooms in the series), but I found the game as a whole hugely disappointing, despite really wanting to enjoy it (I had major issues with how VLR ended, but the majority of that game was damn good, so I was hoping ZTD would resolve that ending in a satisfying manner).
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