Another common concept is the idea of branching timelines and multiple endings. However, it wasn’t until Zero Escape: The Nonary Games release last year, that updated and re-released the first two games in one package, that I finally had a chance to check on them.Īs mentioned, all games are made with the same basic structure: most of the story is told via visual novel segments, which tend to have no puzzles or choices (though that gradually changes with every next game), while at times game switches to the escape the room puzzles, which require you to solve puzzles, find items and do the usual puzzle game stuff to get to the next visual novel bit. It was also one of the first attempts, to my knowledge, to bring the Cube (the movie) ideas to video game format, mixing horror, thriller and mystery novel and becoming somewhat of the “What if Cube, Saw and Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” were anime”. Virtue’s Last Reward followed 3 years later on PS Vita and 3DS, and then in 2016 Zero Time Dilemma was released as a final chapter of the plot on the same systems, but also on PC. Original 999 (Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors) was released back in 2009 on Nintendo DS to very positive reviews on how it tackled the mix of visual novel and “escape the room” puzzles, while also using it’s branching narrative, common for visual novels, as a plot point for many worlds interpretation influenced plot. I’ve been curious about what became Zero Escape Trilogy for a while now.