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999[DS] / VLR[3DS/PSV]: Wassup. You have Zero chance of Escape. Siggyyyyyy. Phidoooooo.
Posts
3DS: 3007 8087 2767 | Nintendo ID: AngryFrog
I don't think I missed your point. You want to know what the chance is that somebody would stumble across a route that leads to the final ending right off the bat.
There are 14 possible "door paths" through the game, but also a few choices to be made on certain paths that can affect things too. If it were totally random, a little less than one in seven people would get one of those endings on their first try.
But as I said I think the sort of people who would buy this game are probably more likely to make certain choices than others:
A typical RPG/adventure gamer would probably have the intuition to take Santa's clover and later give it to Clover on that path, unless they thought possessing it would have some positive effect for Junpei later.
Personally I made my first game decisions this way:
Behind door 5 I got to know Seven a bit and really liked him, and decided to follow him. Also, Lotus isn't too bad when you're in rooms with her, but during the in-between segments she seems like a really untrustworthy bitch. I didn't want to do a room with her.
I want to say I picked door 1 last because I cared for Clover, but mostly I wanted to get up on the top floor of the ship to see if there was some way out to the deck, to see how the game would handle that. I didn't want to be underwater.
Nintendo Network ID: unclesporky
Gaming Unplugged columnist and video game reviewer at Snackbar Games
Don't you get it?
Want further proof? Have you noticed that every time you make a choice that diverts you from the True Ending, June ends up getting a fever?
And I just did. Humorous thing here, major spoiler:
Nintendo Network ID: unclesporky
But it's a neat thing to think over, eh?
Thank you for that spoiler. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how that twist worked.
Outside of the "escape the room" puzzles, this is closer to an interactive novel than a game. If I remember right, Hotel Dusk had a lot of dialogue options and ways to influence the conversation. This game has maybe 10-20 dialogue decision points per playthrough, and they're not even all that significant, usually.
I'd say it is both better written than Hotel Dusk and a better story than Hotel Dusk. Hotel Dusk was fun and awesome and all, but it played too safe, too family friendly. Not enough action, too tame a conflict. 999 gets into some high stakes situations and is a really awesome mystery. And there's actually something at stake, as you will be reminded multiple times before you see the real ending.
It's pretty long too. I think my final playthrough took 5-6 hours, and that's including the ability to skip stuff you've already seen. The climax of the game is like 3 hours of nothing but reading, and I loved it.
Nintendo Network ID: unclesporky
I'd agree with all of this.
Thank you, that was a major source of confusion about the true ending.
The other is the mention that
And Gaming-Freak: I get how the game is supposed to work within its own logic. My idle curiosity was if the theory presented in the game (especially the portrait conversation with Lotus) would apply outside of the game.
Gaming Unplugged columnist and video game reviewer at Snackbar Games
Well, certainly would be interesting, but until it's actually proven, the Morphogenic Field theory would remain fictional.
As for your second thing in spoilers:
Some people theorize that he knew everything all along and was a co-conspirator along with Santa, but if so, he's got to be the greatest actor in the world. Even if he had received a note with instructions like Snake, that probably wouldn't be enough to keep him from going after Ace, he seems like a really down-to-earth guy.
Other people say that the ending hints that June was alive all along and he intentionally lied about her being dead, because in order for her to ultimately be alive, they needed to influence Junpei to be there to transmit the information across time. I still don't think I buy this. Seven just doesn't seem like the conspiratorial type.
I think perhaps the most plausible solution (though the most "mystical") is that the universe actually altered as Junpei made the correct actions. June had died, but when he solved the puzzle it changed the course of history. Similarly, Seven had lost his memory, regained it and knew that June died, but as the puzzle was solved his memory altered as well, and perhaps made him out to have lied intentionally earlier. Some evidence to support this is Seven's headaches and dizziness throughout the game, especially his breakdown right at the end.
Just wish we knew for sure.
Nintendo Network ID: unclesporky
It's also possible that...
That hardly seems like a fair reason to put her through this.
Gaming Unplugged columnist and video game reviewer at Snackbar Games
Well, if you think about it...
I thought I addressed that...
Nintendo Network ID: unclesporky
If I had to guess I'd say that to get the true ending you go door 4, door 3, door 1, right?
The only reason I would doubt this is because you learn about prosopagnosia in door 8 and so you wouldn't be able to catch Ace later on.
Also, is it better to complete the other rooms before going for the true ending or go for the true one and do the other rooms later?
I'd say it's better to get some of the other endings before going for the true one, personally. If you haven't seen any other endings, here are some tips on getting more:
- Demand to go through door 3. This auto-chooses door 2 for your last one...which incidentally means you shouldn't pick door 2 at any other time, because you're going to be going through it this way anyway.
Essentially, before following the path to the end, go through every other door you haven't gone through yet.
Nintendo Network ID: unclesporky
http://www.aksysgames.com/store/
Alternatively, at the very bottom of the store list is the watch itself for $4.95.
Though the bit I just read seems really stupid
"That makes perfect sense!"
NO IT FUCKING DOESN'T
3DS: 3007 8087 2767 | Nintendo ID: AngryFrog
D:
3DS: 3007 8087 2767 | Nintendo ID: AngryFrog
Well, it is logical based on the wording, but yeah, ultimately there is no reason to assume that. It could easily be an attempt to mislead.
Nintendo Network ID: unclesporky
I'm just going to chalk it up to making more sense in Japanese.
That one's just depressing. I think it's the worst, although 6 is right up there.
Gaming Unplugged columnist and video game reviewer at Snackbar Games
I've realized that I can just go for the true ending now and I'll have visited all the rooms. Is there any really good reasons why I should get any of the other endings first or should I just go for it now?
Now that you've gotten ending 4, you can't get ending 2. (The path to ending 2 is the same as the true ending, just without getting 4 first.)
Endings 3 and 5 are interesting and give some clues to the overall story, but you won't be missing anything by not seeing them before you go through the long slog to the true ending.
You might get ending 3 by accident if you don't play your cards right on the way to the true ending.
Nintendo Network ID: unclesporky
3DS: 3007 8087 2767 | Nintendo ID: AngryFrog
I did exactly that
Oh well, one more try and I think I've got it.
Yeah, I blasted through all six endings in the space of two (non-work) days.
Also, my review went up earlier than I expected.
Gaming Unplugged columnist and video game reviewer at Snackbar Games
I read somewhere that besides the obvious thing to do, there is another discussion you need to have as well:
I don't know for sure that that's required, but it's worth doing. Just in case you don't know the other thing you have to do, here it is:
Nintendo Network ID: unclesporky
One thing though... Is there any way to skip the yellow "THIS IS HOW YOU CHANGE NUMBERS" text, or a way to stop it from showing up every single damn time you try to interact with something?
Or, was that just there for the first puzzle?
The tutorials are hardcoded into the first puzzle. You have to click by them every single time you solve the first puzzle (which, if you're anything like everyone else here, will be about five times). But they don't appear again.
Nintendo Network ID: unclesporky
So depressing.
A small hint for getting ending 4:
Exact directions for getting ending 4:
So dorky.
Thanks for this, I forgot all about that.
I'm really digging the music in this game, especially This track.
Also this one.
At parts, it sounds like the electronic pieces you'd hear in Half-Life 2, but never loses that tense, suspenseful quality. Er, ignore the comment in the first song's link, though, I swear it isn't mine.