Jump to content

Zero Escape

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Lee Vilenski (talk | contribs) at 06:02, 4 September 2023 (→Plot and themes: Fix formatting). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the series. For the first game in the series to be branded "Zero Escape", see Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward.
Zero Escape
The logo shows a posterized image of the Zero character's gas mask and the text "Zero Escape"; both are in red, and on a black background.
Series logo
Genre(s)Visual novel, adventure, escape the room
Developer(s)Spike Chunsoft, Chime
Publisher(s)
Artist(s)
Writer(s)Kotaro Uchikoshi
Composer(s)Shinji Hosoe
Platform(s)Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, iOS, Windows, Xbox One
First releaseNine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
December 10, 2009
Latest releaseZero Time Dilemma
June 28, 2016

Zero Escape, formerly released in Japan as Kyokugen Dasshutsu (Japanese: 極限脱出, lit. "Extreme Escape"), is a series of adventure games directed and written by Kotaro Uchikoshi. The first two entries in the series, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (2009) and Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (2012), were developed by Spike Chunsoft (formerly Chunsoft), while the third entry, Zero Time Dilemma (2016), was developed by Chime. Zero Escape is published by Spike Chunsoft in Japan, while Aksys Games and Rising Star Games have published the games for North America and Europe respectively.

Each game in the series follows a group of nine individuals, who are kidnapped and held captive by a person code-named "Zero", and are forced to play a game of life and death to escape. The gameplay is divided into two types of sections: Novel sections, where the story is presented, and Escape sections, where the player solves escape-the-room puzzles. In the first two games, the Novel sections are presented in a visual novel format, whereas the third uses animated cutscenes. The stories branch based on player choices, and include multiple endings.

In addition to Uchikoshi, the development team includes character designers Kinu Nishimura and Rui Tomono, and music composer Shinji Hosoe. The series was originally conceived when Chunsoft wanted Uchikoshi to write visual novels for a wider audience; he came up with the idea of combining the story with story-integrated puzzles. While Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors was initially planned as a stand-alone title, its success in the international market led to the development of two sequels, intended to be paired as a set; however, as both Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue's Last Reward were commercial failures in Japan, the third game was put on hold in 2014, only to resume the development for Zero Time Dilemma the following year, due to fan demand and the hiatus becoming big news. Critics have been positive to the series, praising its narrative for being experimental and for pushing boundaries for what can be done with video game narratives.[1][2][3]

Titles

Main games

Release timeline
2009Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
2010
2011
2012Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
2013
2014
2015
2016Zero Time Dilemma
2017Zero Escape: The Nonary Games

The series consists of three video games.[4] The first two games were released in English by Aksys Games in North America,[5] and the second game was released in English in Europe by Rising Star Games.[6] The third game was released by Aksys Games in both North America and Europe for consoles,[4] and by Spike Chunsoft worldwide for Windows.[7]

A bundle containing the first two games, titled Zero Escape: The Nonary Games, was released for Windows, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita in the West on March 24, 2017.[21] In Japan, the Windows version launched on March 25 and the console versions on April 13 the same year.[22][23] The European PlayStation Vita version was released on December 15.[24] The Nonary Games was also released for Xbox One on March 22, 2022.[25][26]

The updated version of Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors has separate Adventure and Novel modes; the Adventure mode presents the character interactions similar to the top screen of the original game, while Novel mode uses the additional narration from the bottom screen. Both modes have animated characters and voice acting. The updated version also includes a story flowchart, similar to the other two games in the series, to help players with getting to the game's true ending.[21] However, it does not include the additional story content that was part of the iOS version. The final puzzle, however, is different. The new version of Virtue's Last Reward is primarily based on the original PlayStation Vita version, but corrects some typographic errors.[23]

Other media and appearances

A novelization of the first game, titled Kyokugen Dasshutsu 9 Jikan 9 Nin 9 no Tobira Alterna, was written by Kenji Kuroda and published by Kodansha in Japan in two volumes in 2010.[27][28] An original video animation based on the beginning of the second game was made by Gonzo; it has been dubbed and released in English by Aksys Games.[29] An untitled Flash game was made for Virtue's Last Reward and made available on the official Japanese developer website.[30] An artbook featuring art from the first two games was published by SB Creative in 2012 in Japan;[31] an artbook for the third game was released as a pre-order bonus in Japan, and is sold separately in the West.[32] Music albums with the soundtracks of the first two games were released by Super Sweep on December 23, 2009 and April 19, 2012.[33][34] Aksys is also considering releasing merchandise based on the third game.[32]

Aksys and Spike Chunsoft worked with the Japanese puzzle event studio SCRAP to create Real Zero Escape: Trust on Trial, a real-life room escape game based on the Zero Escape universe, which was held at SCRAP's studio in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles for several months, starting in April 2016. Players had to solve real-life escape-the-room puzzles in the spirit of the Zero Escape series within a limited amount of time.[35]

Common elements

Gameplay

An Escape section in Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. The player escapes rooms by solving puzzles, which involves finding and combining items.

The gameplay of the series is divided into two types of segments: Novel sections – presented in a visual novel format in the first two games,[5] and as computer animated cutscenes in the third[36] – and Escape sections, which are escape-the-room scenarios.[5] During the Novel sections, the player reads dialogue, occasionally inputting choices that change the course of the story.[37] During the Escape sections, the player aims to find a way out of rooms by exploring the room and solving puzzles.[5][38] The player can move around during these sections, and can pick up and combine items in order to open locks or get access to new items. Each room also includes more complex puzzles, such as sliding puzzles and mini-games, which can not be solved without finding clues in the room.[37][38]

The games are non-linear: the first two games' stories branch depending on player choices, and lead to several different endings, with a final true ending that the player can only reach by playing through various different branches;[39] the third game divides the story into chapters called "fragments", each representing a 90-minute period, which can be chosen from a "Floating Fragment" menu and played out of order.[36] In the first game, the player has to start over from the beginning after completing each branch, replaying Escape sections;[37] in the second game, the branches are represented by an interactive flowchart, allowing the player to jump to any point in the game that they have reached, and try different outcomes.[2] This flowchart was also implemented in the iOS[11] and The Nonary Games versions of the first game. In the third game, fragments are placed in a flowchart upon completion, indicating where they take place in the story.[36]

Plot and themes

The three Zero Escape games are narratively linked, with events of Zero Time Dilemma occurring between 999 and Virtue's Last Reward. Each game in the series follows a group of nine people who get kidnapped by masked individuals who call themselves "Zero", and are locked inside a facility where they are forced to play a death game where the participants are locked inside rooms and have to solve puzzles in order to get out. In the first two games, the death game is referred to as the Nonary Game,[37] while the one in the third game is called the Decision Game.[40] The characters do not at first appear to have anything in common, but throughout the course of the games, it is revealed that each was chosen for a specific purpose, including connections to previous narrative elements from the other games in the series. The characters attempt to escape from the facility, to identify Zero, and to learn of Zero's goal.[37]

The series has science fiction and horror elements, and philosophical and supernatural themes.[39] A recurring theme is the concept of morphogenetic fields, which is explored in different ways in each game,[41] and is the main theme of the first game.[42] The second game focuses on game theory, specifically on the prisoner's dilemma.[39] The third game's main theme is morality, and it is the game in the series with the largest focus on philosophy.[43]

Development

A 2016 photograph of Kotaro Uchikoshi.
The series is directed and written by Kotaro Uchikoshi.

The first two Zero Escape titles were developed by Chunsoft,[44] while the third was developed by Chime.[45] The series is directed and written by Kotaro Uchikoshi,[44] with music by Shinji Hosoe.[33][34][46][47] Character design was handled by Kinu Nishimura in the first two games,[44] and by Rui Tomono in the third.[47] The series was originally conceived when Chunsoft contacted Uchikoshi and asked him to write visual novels for them; they had found success in the genre, but wanted to create a new type of visual novels which could be received by a wider audience. Uchikoshi's idea for this was to combine puzzles with a story, in a way where puzzles are integrated into the story and includes clues, and need to be solved in order for the player to make progress.[48] The inspiration for the first game was the question "where do mankind's inspirations come from?"; while researching it, Uchikoshi came across the theories of the English biochemist Rupert Sheldrake, and used them as the main theme. The game's setting was meant as a depiction of two of humanity's instinctive desires: the unconscious desire to return to one's mother's womb and shut oneself away, and the desire to escape and overcome one's current condition.[42]

Uchikoshi had initially written 999 as a stand-alone game, but its positive reception led to its sequels' development.[43] The tension present in its first sequel Virtue's Last Reward was deliberately toned down from that in 999, as the results of a survey indicated that some Japanese people had not bought 999 because it seemed "too scary". Uchikoshi stated that Zero Time Dilemma, the second sequel set to be released in 2016, will "tone it up" in response to feedback from players who praised the sense of fear present in 999.[41] The two sequels were specifically intended to be "paired as a set":[43] the second game has a cliffhanger ending,[49] while Uchikoshi intends for the third game to resolve all mysteries left from the second game, as well as all introduced in the third game.[43] While he intends for the series to be a trilogy with a story that ends on the third game,[43][50] he is open to "new incidents arriving" if fans still request it.[43]

While the first game performed well enough in the West for Spike Chunsoft to decide to develop a sequel, both games were commercial failures in Japan. Because of this,[49] the third game, which had originally been mentioned in 2012,[51] was not approved by the management at the company.[49] In February 2014, the development was put on hold indefinitely. Uchikoshi examined the possibility of financing the development through the use of crowdfunding on a website like Kickstarter, but felt that the idea would not be persuasive enough for it to meet the goal; he also sought out opportunities with executives and investors.[52] As a response to the news of the game's hiatus, fans of the series created Operation Bluebird, an online campaign to raise awareness of the series and support the development.[53][54] In July 2015, the development of the third game had been resumed;[55] the game being put on hold becoming big news, and fans being vocal about wanting a third game, was what led to the game being reevaluated.[56] With the third game, the development team wanted to renew the series' image in Japan; to do this, they used the English series title, Zero Escape, instead of the Kyokugen Dasshutsu title that had been used for previous Japanese releases.[47]

Writing

A photograph of Kurt Vonnegut
A photograph of Isaac Asimov
Among Uchikoshi's influences for the series are writers Kurt Vonnegut (left) and Isaac Asimov (right).

For Zero Escape, Uchikoshi conceived the storytelling as being gameplay; he said that while other games might consist of the player shooting people, with a story just there to enhance it, he thinks that the narrative of visual novels should be gameplay. As an example of this, the second game has players learn information and not being able to continue past certain points until they have input a solution; this was influenced by the 1994 video game Kamaitachi no Yoru, and was intended to make the story get "under the skin" of players, and allow the player and the player character to understand the game world in tandem, and progress together.[57] Among other influences for the series were writers Isaac Asimov and Kurt Vonnegut; Uchikoshi felt that 90% of any creative work consists of pieces from others' works, and that the remaining 10% is creativity, with the result being worthwhile hinging on how well a writer can incorporate their influences with their own ideas.[2]

Uchikoshi prioritized storylines over characters,[58] and used the feeling of discomfort as the foundation of the narrative.[59] He first came up with a setting, and then made characters along with the drama and stories behind them. After this, he decided on the core of the game's story, and created a flowchart based on it, which became the "bone structure of the story".[60] According to Uchikoshi, it did not matter that the setups of the games were far-fetched, as long as their internal logic worked; he said that as long as the story is interesting and immersive, implausible situations feel plausible to the player. On the other hand, he felt that if he had specifically tried to make it more plausible, by forcing explanations that justify the situations, the story would become boring and the implausible would look even more implausible. Instead, he chose to rely on players' imagination, saying that players can make things seem plausible in ways he had not even imagined himself. One thing he did to make the stories more believable was adding concepts such as Schrödinger's cat, which he felt added flavor and kept players wondering whether a particular concept could be the main idea of the game; he felt that when players wonder that, it makes the story feel more real, as they create the game world in their minds.[2]

After deciding on the story and the main character, he would balance the characters, in terms of genders, personalities, and ages represented; when making character personalities, he used the Enneagram of Personality as reference, which classifies people into nine groups;[61][62] the decision to do this came from the importance of the number "9" in the storyline of 999.[42] An important thing to him when making characters was to create a mystery behind them, to make players curious about who the characters are and what their pasts are like.[60] Another important element was the use of misdirection: by deliberately making certain characters seem like bad people, he would aim to get players to focus on them more, making it more difficult for them to see who the "real bad guy" is.[2] He aimed to not give the player characters strong personalities, in order to make it easier for players to empathize with them.[58] He chose to have the games be played from a first person perspective as he felt it makes for "a stronger impact" and is more interesting than a third person perspective; it was also used to limit the information that is available to the player in a realistic way, as the player only knows what they experience or are told. Because the player characters in most games can die many times, Uchikoshi felt that video game characters' deaths may be taken lightly, which he saw as a weak point in games. To combat this, he focused on trying to get players to want to keep the story alive, rather than trying to keep the player character alive; as a result of wanting to keep the story going, players would also avoid the death of their character.[2]

When writing the stories, he started with their twist endings, and then worked his way back from that.[63] He designed the flow of the story by using a spreadsheet, and wrote prototypes of potential outcomes of the different scenarios in the game; after this, he matched it with the flowchart he had made, and came up with the details of each story.[2] As he wrote each scene, he imagined what the player might be thinking as they play through it, and decided what to write based on it; this was one of the most important things to him when writing.[48] A key element to Uchikoshi when writing the outcomes of player decisions is that the importance of the decision usually is much greater after the player has made it, with the consequences only being revealed later on as the player learns more information; this was to maintain the high suspense level, and to avoid situations where choices end up not actually mattering. One big challenge for him was to maintain player interest through all branches; he tried to have each branch develop differently, as to avoid repetition and fatigue, and keep the player motivated.[2] While he came up with the set-up, the setting, and the characters on his own, he had a sub-writer helping him with writing the second game, and two sub-writers for the third game. They would help with brainstorming ideas and finding what does not work so well and how to improve scenarios.[56]

Puzzles

The Escape sequences were made to appeal to the players' instinctive desires; Uchikoshi wanted the player to experience the instinctive pleasure of "I found it!".[42] For the puzzles, Uchikoshi would think about the details within the overall story, and the gimmicks and props found in the game; after deciding on them, they were integrated with the puzzles.[63] He would also use puzzle-related websites as reference.[42] He did not handle puzzle design himself, instead leaving a lot of the direction to other staff, and checking it multiple times.[56] Because of the puzzle–story integration, the development team tried to avoid situations where the player gets stuck due to being unable to solve a puzzle, by including hints that would appear if the player repeatedly clicked on items; as the player continues clicking, the hints get more obvious, to the point of almost revealing the solution outright. In the second game, a difficulty setting was added, with puzzles being easier to solve on lower settings.[48]

While the first game was in 2D, the second game features 3D graphics; this change affected the puzzle creation, as the development team could choose to layer objects behind each other or have them all visible at once.[60] As the second game was made with a worldwide release in mind, Japanese characters and references to Japanese culture were avoided in the puzzle design; the puzzles ended up using numbers a lot since they are internationally used symbols.[41] For the iOS version of the first game, the puzzles were removed and replaced with new story sequences; this was done as the development team wanted to reach people who are not good at solving puzzles, or who do not play games at all and who might not have a game console. However, according to Uchikoshi, the staff felt that the game was incomplete without the puzzle sequences of the original version.[64]

Localization

The series is localized by Aksys Games;[65] Chunsoft was first introduced to Aksys through Spike, when Chunsoft was looking for a company that could publish the first game in the United States.[42] During Aksys' evaluation period of it, many people at the company did not believe in the game and turned it down; as many of the people who evaluate games at Aksys do not speak Japanese, it was difficult for them to determine whether a game was good or not. Eventually, they decided to localize it, which was considered a big risk for the company. They worked by the philosophy of keeping true to the spirit of the original Japanese version, opting to make dialogue sound like what a native speaker would say rather than strictly adhering to the Japanese wording. Ben Bateman, the editor of the first two games' localizations, did this by looking at the writing from a wider view, examining it line by line or scene by scene, rather than word by word or sentence by sentence, and thinking about how to convey the same idea in English. Most parts of the games that include a joke in the localization also have a joke in the Japanese versions, but a different one; Bateman did try to make similar types of jokes with similar contents and ideas. He was given mostly free rein in what he could change or add to the writing, as long as it did not disrupt the plot.[65]

The biggest challenge with localizing the series was to keep track of everything, as the games feature branching paths, and the characters learn different things in different branches, affecting word choices and attitudes. While a lot of this had been taken care of by Spike Chunsoft, many parts of the game required different word choices in English depending on if a character knew of a particular thing or not; in these cases, the localization team had to track the story backwards. During the projects, Aksys Games would do email correspondence with Spike Chunsoft, to make sure that they conveyed the message of the games as intended.[65] The title Zero Escape was decided on during the localization of the second game, when the localization team wanted to create a "branding umbrella" for both games. They chose the title based on what they thought defines the first two games and is common to both of them, concluding that it was the character Zero and how both games involve "a dangerous escape"; the title also has the double meaning of "you have zero chance to escape".[66] The title was later used as part of the Japanese title for Zero Time Dilemma,[67] and replaced the previous Japanese title Kyokugen Dasshutsu for the re-release of Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue's Last Reward.[68]

For the first game, a big challenge was getting the localization done in time; Nobara Nakayama, the game's translator, worked on it for 30 days, and the editing process took two months. Because of this, Bateman had to do most of the work "on the fly". Nakayama had started playing the game prior to starting work on the localization, but did not finish playing it until she was more than halfway through translating it; after learning that the plot hinged on a Japanese pun, they had to halt the localization, discuss it with Uchikoshi, come up with a solution, and go through the whole game to make sure that it still made sense. The second game took around three months to translate and four months to edit. A big challenge in localizing it was catching the several subtle hints to the game's ending that appear throughout the story.[65] Unlike the previous two Zero Escape titles, the North American version of the third game was produced alongside the Japanese version.[55]

Reception

Japanese and Western review scores
As of October 21, 2017.
Game Famitsu Metacritic
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors 36/40[8] 82/100[69]
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward 34/40[12] 88/100 (3DS)[70]
84/100 (Vita)[71]
Zero Time Dilemma 32/40[72] 81/100 (3DS)[73]
83/100 (Vita)[74]
80/100 (PS4)[75]
78/100 (Win)[76]
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games – 87/100 (PS4)[77]
86/100 (Win)[78]
83/100 (Vita)[79]

The Zero Escape series has been positively received by critics, with the first two games in the series attaining perfect scores in reviews from various publications.[80][81] Uchikoshi noted that the positive reception of 999 from international fans outside of Japan directly influenced the development of Virtue's Last Reward.[56] Meanwhile, the series has been a commercial failure in Japan, with the first two games underperforming;[49] in their respective debut years in Japan, the first game sold 27,762 copies,[82] and the second sold 14,023 copies across Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita.[83] As of July 2018, the series has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide.[84]

Several critics have praised the series' stories: Andy Goergen of Nintendo World Report commented on how 999 "truly expands what narrative video games can be capable of",[1] and Christian Nutt at Gamasutra said that Uchikoshi is "pushing the boundaries of what video game narrative can be".[2] Tony Ponce of Destructoid called 999 "one of the greatest videogame tales ever told", and a great example of how engaging and powerful narratives in video games can be.[37] Bob Mackey of 1UP.com featured 999 on a list of "must-play" Nintendo DS visual novels, citing its story and themes as being among the darkest on a Nintendo platform,[3] and called Virtue's Last Reward "one of the biggest, boldest visual novels to ever hit America".[85] Writers for Famitsu liked the tense story and the sense of accomplishment when solving puzzles in 999,[8] and the intertwined story and flowchart system in Virtue's Last Reward.[12] Jason Schreier of Kotaku included both 999 and Virtue's Last Reward on a list of "must-play" visual novels worth playing even for people who do not like anime tropes.[86] Schreier also wrote for Wired, calling 999's narrative "innovative" and saying that he liked the game's ending and cast, but that he thought that some of the game's prose was "sloppy" and that there was no sense of real danger.[87]

Reception of the games' puzzle sections has been more mixed. Virtue's Last Reward was featured on Gamasutra's and Game Developer's jointly created list of the ten best games of 2012 for having storytelling as gameplay rather than aside from gameplay.[88] Schreier disliked having to repeat puzzles in each playthrough of 999.[87] Mike Manson of Nintendo Life and John McCaroll of RPGFan found problems with the controls used in the puzzle sections of Virtue's Last Reward.[89][90] Austin Boosinger of Adventure Gamers felt that while the puzzles in Virtue's Last Reward were thematically appropriate, he thought they were "relatively uninspired in their variety" and that not many of them were fun or engaging.[91]

Notes

  1. ^ For the initial release of Virtue's Last Reward.

References

  1. ^ a b Goergen, Andy (May 9, 2011). "Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors Review -A horror-mystery so nice, you'll play it thrice, twice". Nintendo World Report. NINWR, LLC. Archived from the original on August 30, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nutt, Christian (January 11, 2013). "The Storytelling Secrets of Virtue's Last Reward". Gamasutra. UBM plc. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Mackey, Bob (December 12, 2011). "Six Must-Play DS Visual Novels". 1UP.com. Ziff Davis. p. 2. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Hannley, Steve (October 30, 2015). "Zero Escape 3 Officially Titled 'Zero Time Dilemma,' Logo and Concept Art Released". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d Davison, Pete (February 17, 2014). "Zero Escape Fans Band Together for "Operation Bluebird"". USgamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  6. ^ Ishaan (October 4, 2012). "Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward Only Has Japanese Audio In Europe". Siliconera. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Romano, Sal (May 28, 2016). "Zero Time Dilemma for PC launches June 30". Gematsu. Archived from the original on August 4, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c "極限脱出 9時間9人9の扉 まとめ (DS)". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  9. ^ Makuch, Eddie (November 14, 2010). "Shippin' Out Nov. 14-20: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on August 6, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  10. ^ Spencer (May 28, 2013). "Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors Is Now On iOS, But Without Puzzles". Siliconera. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Sarkar, Samit (March 10, 2014). "999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors hits iOS March 17". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on July 12, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  12. ^ a b c "極限脱出ADV 善人シボウデス (3DS)". Famitsu. Enterbrain. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  13. ^ "極限脱出ADV 善人シボウデス (Vita)". Famitsu. Enterbrain. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  14. ^ "Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward for Nintendo 3DS". Nintendo. Archived from the original on February 11, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  15. ^ "Virtue's Last Reward". Nintendo. Archived from the original on February 29, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  16. ^ Frank, Allegra (March 17, 2016). "Zero Time Dilemma launches this June — and is coming to Steam". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  17. ^ Beck, Adam (March 16, 2016). "Zero Time Dilemma Release Date Announced, Coming to PC". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  18. ^ "「ZERO ESCAPE 刻のジレンマ」の発売日が2016年6月30日に決定。PC版もSteamで同日リリース". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Aetas Inc. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  19. ^ Frank, Allegra (May 4, 2017). "Zero Escape trilogy to be complete on PS4 with Zero Time Dilemma port". Polygon. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  20. ^ Romano, Sal (August 26, 2022). "Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma coming to Xbox One on August 30". Gematsu. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  21. ^ a b Jackson, Gita (March 24, 2017). "The New 'Nonary Games' Remake Makes 999 Way Better". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 24, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  22. ^ Glagowski, Peter (February 3, 2017). "The Zero Escape collection released in March for the US". Destructoid. Modern Method. Archived from the original on February 5, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  23. ^ a b Lada, Jenni (February 3, 2017). "Zero Escape: The Nonary Games Will Come To North America On March 24, 2017". Siliconera. Curse, Inc. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  24. ^ Romano, Sal (November 9, 2017). "Zero Escape: The Nonary Games for PS Vita launches December 15 in Europe". Gematsu. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  25. ^ Romano, Sal (March 15, 2022). "Xbox Game Pass adds Zero Escape: The Nonary Games, Shredders, Weird West, more in late March". Gematsu. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  26. ^ "Zero Escape: The Nonary Games Available Now for Xbox One and Windows 10". Spike Chunsoft. March 22, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  27. ^ 極限脱出 9時間9人9の扉 オルタナ(上) (講談社BOX) (in Japanese). ASIN 4062837366.
  28. ^ 極限脱出 9時間9人9の扉 オルタナ(下) (講談社BOX) (in Japanese). ASIN 4062837374.
  29. ^ Ishaan (October 19, 2012). "Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward OVA By Studio Gonzo In English". Siliconera. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  30. ^ Eisenbeis, Richard (May 17, 2013). "I Don't Remember Virtue's Last Reward Being About Breast Slapping". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on April 26, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  31. ^ 極限脱出 - 9時間9人9の扉&善人シボウデス - オフィシャルアートワークス (ゲーマガBOOKS) (in Japanese). ASIN 4797367296.
  32. ^ a b Joshi, Shaan (May 27, 2016). "Zero Time Dilemma Gets PlayStation TV Support, Art Book, More". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  33. ^ a b Gann, Patrick. "Extreme Escape 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors Soundtrack". RPGFan. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  34. ^ a b Meyerink, Stephen. "Kyokugen Dasshutsu ADV Zennin Shibou Desu Soundtrack". RPGFan. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  35. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (February 19, 2016). "Zero Escape to receive real-life Escape the Room game". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  36. ^ a b c Schreier, Jason (March 16, 2016). "Everything We Just Learned About Zero Escape 3: Zero Time Dilemma". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  37. ^ a b c d e f Ponce, Tony (October 11, 2012). "Review: Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward". Destructoid. Modern Method. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  38. ^ a b Thomas, Lucas M. (October 23, 2012). "Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  39. ^ a b c Schreier, Jason (July 14, 2015). "Why People Are Freaking Out Over Zero Escape 3". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  40. ^ Romano, Sal (March 14, 2016). "Zero Time Dilemma prologue and characters detailed; first trailer coming March 17". Gematsu. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  41. ^ a b c Spencer (May 29, 2013). "999 And Virtue's Last Reward Creator Chats About Suspenseful Visual Novels". Siliconera. Archived from the original on April 28, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  42. ^ a b c d e f Spencer (October 3, 2010). "999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors Interview Gets Philosophical, Then Personal". Siliconera. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  43. ^ a b c d e f Sanchez, Miranda (July 7, 2015). "Zero Escape 3 'More Philosophical Than Past Volumes'". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on August 25, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  44. ^ a b c Spencer (August 24, 2011). "Extreme Escape Adventure Starts In An Elevator…". Siliconera. Archived from the original on January 9, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  45. ^ O'Connor, Alice (July 1, 2016). "Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma Released On PC". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on July 10, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  46. ^ Greening, Chris (January 15, 2010). "Shinji Hosoe Interview: Pioneer of Electronic Game Music". VGMO. Archived from the original on August 1, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  47. ^ a b c Romano, Sal (March 8, 2016). "Zero Time Dilemma participants announced [Update]". Gematsu. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  48. ^ a b c Parish, Jeremy (February 13, 2014). "Inside the Genesis of Virtue's Last Reward and the Challenges of Visual Novels". USgamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  49. ^ a b c d Hansen, Steven (February 13, 2014). "Zero Escape not profitable in Japan, trilogy end on hold". Destructoid. Modern Method. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  50. ^ Uchikoshi, Kotaro (January 25, 2013). "打越鋼太郎 on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  51. ^ Ponce, Tony (December 2, 2012). "Zero Escape writer talks early third game details". Destructoid. Modern Method. Archived from the original on May 29, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  52. ^ Smith, Carly (February 13, 2014). "Zero Escape Conclusion Put on Hold Indefinitely". The Escapist. Defy Media. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  53. ^ Schreier, Jason (February 17, 2014). "Fans Fight To Bring Virtue's Last Reward Back To Life". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  54. ^ Chieng, Kevin (February 17, 2014). "Operation Bluebird: A Fan Movement to Bring Zero Escape 3 Into Reality". GameTrailers. Defy Media. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  55. ^ a b Sanchez, Miranda (July 3, 2015). "Zero Escape Volume 3 Revealed". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  56. ^ a b c d "AX 2015 Uchikoshi/Zero Escape panel". Aksys Games. YouTube. July 5, 2015. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  57. ^ Nutt, Christian (May 31, 2013). "How gameplay and story intertwine in Virtue's Last Reward". Gamasutra. UBM plc. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  58. ^ a b Ishaan (October 26, 2012). "Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward Director On Designing Characters". Siliconera. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  59. ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (April 1, 2013). "Adventure games work well through digitally distributed platforms, says Virtue's Last Reward creator". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on July 6, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  60. ^ a b c Drake, Audrey (April 22, 2013). "Down the Rabbit Hole: The Narrative Genius of Virtue's Last Reward". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on September 9, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  61. ^ Uchikoshi, Kotaro. "999: Answers - 26". Aksys Games. Retrieved June 9, 2015.[permanent dead link]
  62. ^ Uchikoshi, Kotaro. "Q&A66". Aksys Games. Archived from the original on May 6, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  63. ^ a b Chapman, Jacob Hope (August 13, 2015). "Interview: Zero Escape series creator Kotaro Uchikoshi". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  64. ^ Hoffman, Chris (June 27, 2013). "Zero Escape's creator discusses the series' past and future". GamesRadar. Future plc. Archived from the original on July 7, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  65. ^ a b c d Lada, Jenni (April 5, 2013). "999 and Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward Interview: Aksys gets things done". TechnologyTell. NAPCO Media. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  66. ^ Bateman, Ben (March 14, 2012). "The Thinking Behind The Title "Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward"". Siliconera. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  67. ^ "ZERO ESCAPE 刻のジレンマ | スパイク・チュンソフト". Spike Chunsoft. Archived from the original on March 5, 2017.
  68. ^ "ZERO ESCAPE ９時間９人９の扉 善人シボウデス ダブルパック | スパイク・チュンソフト". Spike Chunsoft. Archived from the original on February 19, 2017.
  69. ^ "Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors for DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  70. ^ "Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward Critic Reviews for 3DS". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  71. ^ "Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward Critic Reviews for Playstation Vita". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 1, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  72. ^ Romano, Sal (June 21, 2016). "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1438". Gematsu. Archived from the original on June 21, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  73. ^ "Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma for 3DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on October 1, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  74. ^ "Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma for PlayStation Vita Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on October 1, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  75. ^ "Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  76. ^ "Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on October 1, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  77. ^ "Zero Escape: The Nonary Games for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  78. ^ "Zero Escape: The Nonary Games for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  79. ^ "Zero Escape: The Nonary Games for PlayStation Vita Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  80. ^ Ponce, Tony (November 17, 2010). "Review: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors". Destructoid. Modern Method. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
  81. ^ Peeples, Jeremy (October 26, 2012). "Review: Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on April 9, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  82. ^ "GEIMIN.NET／2009年テレビゲームソフト売り上げTOP1000（ファミ通版）" (in Japanese). Geimin.net. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  83. ^ "GEIMIN.NET／2012年テレビゲームソフト売り上げランキング（ファミ通版）" (in Japanese). Geimin.net. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  84. ^ "『極限脱出』の打越氏＆コザキユースケ氏が放つ完全新作ADV『AI: ソムニウム ファイル』がNintendo Switch/PS4/PCで発売決定". 2018-07-08 (in Japanese). Enterbrain. July 6, 2018. Archived from the original on July 6, 2018. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  85. ^ Mackey, Bob (October 24, 2012). "Zero Escape Review: Choose Your Own Misadventure". 1UP.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  86. ^ Schreier, Jason (August 20, 2014). "Five Visual Novels You Must Play, Even If You Don't Like Anime". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  87. ^ a b Schreier, Jason (January 10, 2011). "Review: 'Visual Novel' Nine Hours Mixes Gripping Drama, Spotty Prose". Wired. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on August 30, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  88. ^ "The 10 Best Games of 2012". Gamasutra. UBM plc. December 21, 2012. Archived from the original on October 29, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  89. ^ Manson, Mike (December 5, 2012). "Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (3DS) Review". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  90. ^ McCarroll, John (October 29, 2012). "RPGFan Review - Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Review". RPGFan. Archived from the original on July 24, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  91. ^ Boosinger, Austin (December 17, 2012). "Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward REVIEW". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zero_Escape&oldid=1173753202"