Topic: 999

@WolfRamHeart: That's not a bad price -- I paid that much plus tax in person for it last night. :3

Since discussion has halted, I'll list what I didn't like about the game, spoiler-free. Too much hype and praise makes for unrealistic expectations and I don't want to ruin people's experiences of what is otherwise a good game. I know I once wrote something along the lines of the game being virtually perfect, but I had just finished it and my unfettered post-ending love for it hadn't faded away yet, so please forgive me. Anyway, the limited print run was certainly done for a reason.

• People who don't like reading will hate this game. Kind of goes without saying. The descriptions sometimes get to the point of "well, duh". Having to reread instructions when retrying puzzles was a drag too. The speed the text appears is a little slow but I think that's because they didn't modify it from the Japanese version of the game. One English letter is not the same as one Japanese character, Aksys.
• At times the story pretty much asks, "am I more interested in this theory or surviving?" which can ruin the tension and pacing terribly.
• People who don't like horror/thrillers like Saw won't enjoy this. If you can't stand thrillers then seriously don't bother with this game. My brother and I both found the gory descriptions offputting as well, tbd. I found it interesting because we've played other games which display similar levels of gore (exploding bodies, guts, etc.) but never responded so intensely to it as with these text descriptions. I guess our imaginations can conjure worse images than artists can come up with.
• People who don't like straight puzzle games like Prof. Layton or Crimson Room will hate this game. And playing through the puzzles repeatedly is a drag. If I could have skipped the puzzles altogether in my repeat playthroughs I would have.
• And as I said before, a number of other adventure games do the actual gameplay side of things far better - like Phoenix Wright, Hotel Dusk and many of the old PC adventures. Many of those keep up the gripping atmosphere and pace while asking you to do things. Not so in 999.
• The translation was at times poor. Sometimes it seemed like too much of a direct translation of the Japanese wording, making its delivery sound odd in English. Considering it's a small release this isn't surprising though.
• A lot of the endings are unsatisfying. A lot. I don't think they're meant to be satisfying though. My first playthrough had me put the game down for a couple of days because of the... shock? And disappointment.
• The game only properly delivers when you reach the true ending. Until then you're constantly left hanging and unfulfilled. I hated that and it requires too much commitment before you get any payoff.

All that said, I think the critic and user reviews - both positive and negative - as well as the ongoing heated discussion on other sites about the game speak for its overall quality.

yeah... sorry, i had no idea the game would be that descriptive. I knew it was a mystery, and that i'd be having to escape drowning in order to survive, and that's it (i didn't look up anything specific because I didn't want to spoil myself on it)... i really did my best to like this game, but i'm just not a fan of the horror genre. everything else was straight-up visual novel goodness, though, not really much wrong with that except for the fact that each character had to weigh in on stuff that you'd already heard three times and understood the first time, lol :3

Yeah I think they could've toned down the content and still had a good game that would then appeal to a wider audience. Oh well.

@tbd I commented on your BL. Yep this is a true hard-as-nails thriller.

Ah, so that's the repetitiveness you mentioned. I actually didn't notice that myself for some reason lol. It is true though, thinking back.

Please trust me when I say reserve judgment of the game for a while. The story gets a lot better - as in, good things do happen! I'll just say that the true ending puts all of your fears to rest, so to speak. If it didn't I would have a very different opinion of 999's story.

Have you decided to drop the game then? If you don't want to play further but you're interested in how things turn out I'd be happy to PM you a summary on BL or something. Seems kind of a waste to play a little way through, experience all of that tension and violence and then not reach the happy stuff, haha.

@Od I think it would have lost a lot of its appeal though, personally. The suspicion and danger is actually a central part of the plot. And the overall premise of the story (mass kidnapping amongst other things) isn't for kids in the first place.

@HM: thanks, but i already found videos of the various endings on YouTube before coming to the decision to trade/sell it. yeah, it's kind of a waste (mainly because i went out of my way to find it and spent money i'll probably never get back for it), but at least i can say i gave it a shot. :3

Well not kids per se, but from the sounds of it certainly not all of the game's content contributes to its quality.

@tbd Ah, good to hear. Anything to say about the endings then? They probably give a different impression from playing your way up to that point.

@Od Oh, but the violence is central to the game's plot. It's actually important that it's there. I can't say more without spoilers though.

I'll just have to take your word for it about the violence since I haven't played the game. But does the language and innuendo really add anything to the game? Not trying to sound all critical or whatever, just curious.

The swear words don't add anything to the game. They could take those out, but then you'd still have a lot of other issues getting it T-rated...

The innuendo is typically Japanese (you know them) and overall it's quite tame. Nothing explicit and it's few and far between - maybe 5 or 6 instances of innuendo/flirting in total. It doesn't add anything to the game, but you can tell it's just the writer having some fun. There's more of a focus on real romance, though this only shows up towards the end of the game. It's very sweet actually... Funny, you could actually say the plot is a love story! lol |:

Hmm, after reading the descriptions not sure I will like this game afterall... Oh well, I have it on order so will see.

@Ristar My positives still stand, so reread those if you're unsure about it. The negatives are there but imo they aren't overwhelming unless you take issue with 1) reading, 2) violence or 3) puzzles. The rest are niggling complaints but we have those for almost any game we play. I wrote the list to balance out my previous opinion of the game - it's certainly not perfect but if it's the sort of game you like then you will be astounded by it.

Oh, and you should check out the critic reviews and user reviews. They are quite fair overall. Beware spoilers though!

Personally, even acknowledging those flaws it's one of the most immersive DS games I've played and one of the best stories I've seen in a game yet.

I read a lot, I dont like the particular horror film mentioned (more of a Zombie fan within the genre), I do like puzzles - same time, I like to give games that are different a go. Once I get to play the game will most likely post some thoughs, been keeping spoiler-free much like tbd.

OK, all endings complete and I really liked the game.
It actually compelled me in a way few other DS games have, mainly as the story slowly uncovered across the multiple endings and all the characters gained greater depth.

Only bad thing is there is not much incentive to replay once you have the true ending, I think some unlockable art or charater profiles would have been nice, in addition to the 'preview' videos.

Overall, very glad I imported this one, thanks for the recommendations HolyMackerel.

I need to get this sometime, along with Ghost Trick... Unless someone who has completely finished the game and viewed all the endings would like to donate their copy!

_{...yeah I thought so}

@Ristar Glad to recommend it to you and glad to hear you enjoyed it. That's what game communities are all about, right? It is a strangely compelling game, like you get sucked in to the world and you can't get out for a while. And like I said, I wrote my negatives to balance out my view, not because they are really big issues with the game. Having no replayability after completing the true ending is a problem with all story-based adventure games, not just 999. I guess it's like reading a book. Might be worth going back to it a few years down the line.

@zez I wish I could but shipping costs to the US are a killer. D: Also, I might slip 999 in my friend's bag and see how he reacts. He loves crime dramas and he has a DS - it's the perfect opportunity to mysteriously give a horror game to someone. I've always wanted to do that. _{Uh, and I trust him enough to return it when he's done, lol.}

DUDES, I GOT IT!

I was going to buy it with Christmas and birthday money but I put all of that together to get a PS3. Yesterday, while getting Pokemon Black, I saw it at GameStop, just one copy. I had the money on me so I snatched it up. IT'S SO GOOD.

Enjoy! It is so good, and it only gets better as you unravel more of the truth. I had no idea it was still on shelves, lol.

^ Yeah, I checked on GameStop's site a month or so ago and it said there wasn't a copy available within a hundred miles of me. XD I have no clue when my store got the copy I found but I'm glad they did!

I can't wait to get farther! =D Right now I'm a little bit past where they all gave themselves names. I LOVE how they chose their names, very cool and so much more interesting than just going by the number on their watch.

@Popyman Steel yourself, there's some serious stuff about to happen very soon. Expect that paranoid tension to rise to astronomical levels!