Zero Time Dilemma may have been announced and revealed in a limited fashion in the West since 2015, but Famitsu magazine is currently gearing up to run an 8-page feature to formally reveal the 3DS and Vita title to the Japanese market. With any Famitsu feature comes, of course, a batch of intriguing details for fans in the West to translate.
First of all, an early scan shows the full cast of nine participants (details via Gematsu)
- Carlos (voiced by Tomokazu Sugita)
- Akane (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro)
- Junpei (voiced by Tatsuhisa Suzuki)
- Q (voiced by Aki Toyosaki)
- Eric (voiced by Akira Ishida)
- Mira (voiced by Maaya Sakamoto)
- Diana (voiced by Mamiko Noto)
- Phi (voiced by Chiaki Omigawa)
- Sigma (voiced by Daisuke Ono)
Snippets from an interview with game director Kotaro Uchikoshi have also emerged, part of which promises that mysteries from predecessors 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward will be solved. In addition it looks like the game won't pull any punches, with Uchkoshi-san joking that it could be a rare 3DS game to get the CERO Z (adults-only) rating.
As the final chapter, will all mysteries be resolved?
All of the mysteries from the previous games will be solved. We're making sure that the people who play it for the first time will also enjoy it.
Are there any extreme scenes?
The 'Ultimate Choice' is a thing where one's life is put at risk. I want the player to be well-worried. Since we don't want to soften up the presentation for the sake of age regulations, we're putting out the presentation how I want it without changes. So the possibility that this is the first Z-rated game for 3DS is high. (Laughs.)
Are you looking forward to the arrival of Zero Time Dilemma this year?
[source gematsu.com]
Comments 52
Anyone know of a good story only versio of 999 and VLR that I can use to recap as not sure I have time to play through them both again!!!!?
@STAGGLY Why not just input the escape passwords as soon as you enter the rooms in VLR? You could also just watch the endings (and the really important scenes) with your existing save file.
Am I looking forward to it? Of course?
I am so excited for this. Virtue's Last Reward was so awesome and Phi is back! Yes!
@kkslider5552000 And she's got specs!
I wouldn't be surprised. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge for Wii U is rated Z.
Got a copy preordered
@STAGGLY just watch it on YouTube
I think they should go for the Z rating if it means not cutting ideas.
Look at what Witcher 3 gets away with its rating
I never got to play the first one sadly.
Glad to see NL posting an update on Zero Time Dilemma. ZTD is my most anticipated game of the year. I'm guessing we'll get a trailer next week since Uchikoshi tweeted few weeks ago that he'll be attending GDC.
Junpei, Akane, Phi and Sigma? Things are going to get mighty confusing me thinks. And I can't wait.
Absolutely love these games. Once I start, I just get hooked and absolutely sink my teeth into them, my 3DS hours log is crazy for the previous 2, I expect this one will be the same!
GOTY material right here.
Damn son. I CANT WAIT. Oh and Diana reminds me of ... lol.
If ever there was a series watching me through the looking glass this would be it. Its something that I want but there's always something else getting in the way. I will pull the trigger one of these days.
The first one would be a great DS game to put on the eshop.
Would rather just read it than replay or watch..
These games are great, but shame about the tropey anime character design. This is a Japanese franchise I feel doesn't need to be strictly for the anime crowd, so some diversity in the character design would have been nice.
Amazing. Glad to hear Uchi's not making any compromises on the final chapter.
@Spoony_Tech You still haven't played these games?!
@Ralizah can't play what I haven't purchased as of yet. I'm doing so well getting though my backlog and I don't want to add more to it. I know I'll enjoy them but.......
ZTD FTW! I CANNOT wait!
I'm super hyped for this game.
From now on, I'm going to avoid all information about this. I think I enjoyed 9 Doors 9 Persons 9 Hours and Virtue's Last Reward a lot more by jumping into them with very little knowledge of them.
@STAGGLY There's an EXCELLENT iOS version of the first game, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. It strips out all the puzzles and presents the game as a visual novel. Highly recommended. I think it's called "999: The Novel" on the App Store.
Yes please, Yes please, Yes please
@yuwarite So you don't think that changing the art style solely for the new game would be unnecessarily divisive?
The game is very niche as is, and messing with something like the art style only breaks immersion between stories.
The 2nd game added 3D characters and from what I remember, ended up being a very unpopular decision at the time.
Changing things again is just asking for trouble.
If the developer wants to adopt a more 'Western' or realistic art style, it would be alot smarter to do so in another series.
The fact this is coming out for both handhelds should be enough to tell you that, yes, it is still a very Japanese game.
On a personal note, while I found Zero 2 MUCH more enjoyable than the first, I never finished a single playthrough of 999.
The touch controls, the presentation, the audio work, the character design, the menu system? One of my 10 most hated DS games and a game I sold for more than I paid for it.
Which was literally the only positive to owning it. Not anticipated.
@johnjon cheers :0)
didn't play either of the first two, and while this does intrigue me, it (I assume) will also be lost on me without knowledge of the previous games storyline.
I've been looking forward to this game for quite some time. Hopefully it doesn't get a "Z" rating though, so I don't have to look like "that person" when my friends see I bought the game.
Is Mira our big boobie girl this time? A La Alice & Lotus? I'm really enjoying the artwork. They all look really good.
Anyone who's not played the first two, it might be really difficult to get into this, I bet they'll talk a lot about the previous games once you're deeper into it. I played it in order, 999 to VLR and in VLR they talked a lot about 999. Also 999 was a bit rough to find in the stores, I think they need to make it at least downloadable for the 3DS in DSiWare form or something so people can get at it.
@NodesforNoids I'm not talking about the anime art style, but the lack of diversity in the character design (in regards to race, age, appearance, etc) and the game adhering to anime design tropes ( busty women, emo looking guys, fan servicey characters, etc).
Glad to see he wants to hold up to his artistic integrity and not be okay with his game being censored all over the place.
But than again, content censorship is more of a problem with localizations than original Japanese releases, in which the original creator often has little say.
I just hope it doesn't go too far down the 'Saw' style gotta shock route.
The real horror for me was the claustrophobic situation and confusion of the predicament. The slow burn made it for me, and Virtue reminded me why I'm still a gamer: because there are still those moments where you go "I wasn't expecting that!"
I fully understand these sorts of thing aren't for all tastes, but for me (and hopefully a lot of other people) this game coming out is an event.
I'm so glad a little gray cartridge (or minutes staring at little colourful squares) can still make me feel like that.
So - going from the left - Akane is 1, Junpei is 3, and Phi and Sigma are 7 and 9? That about right?
Also, I'm liking the plague doctor guy.
It doesn't matter if it gets a Z because they don't care about domestic sales. Virtues Last Reward tanked hard in Japan but sold REALLY well in the US. The only reason it got made was because Aksys stepped in and helped fund it due to western fan demand. The game was announced at Anime Expo in LA which goes to show which market they're targeting.
My most hyped game this year. Crazy to think we're just a few months away from getting it.
This is my most wanted game of the year. I will get this at launch, and play it as soon as I get the chance. I've been waiting a long time for this game and I hope it will be worth it.
Both of those responses by Uchikoshi are absolute hype. No loose ends and not compromising his vision for the inane sake of age ratings.
@Shire Yes. And 8 is most definitely Diana.
@CTMike I think those are the actual Junpei, Akane, Phi and Sigma from 999 and VLR since they all seem to be a bit younger then their VLR versions, the former 2 look in between their ages from 999 and VLR, and Zero Time Dilemma takes place in between 999 and VLR plot wise.
Honestly, I'm much more excited for this than Zelda u.;p also love how bada** Junpei looks.
This is gonna be good...
Ey, how come nothing was posted about the new Ace Attorney 6 trailer?
Hoping for reference to Funyarinpa.
Looking forward to this.
I am SO hyped.
Cannot wait! 999 is easily my favourite so far but curious to see how this will stack up. Four returning character too hmm
I thought the Resident Evil games on 3DS were also rated for adults only.
Also some scenes from SMT4 are some of the most creepy stuff I've ever seen in a videogame. It deserved a much higher rating in my opinion.
What happened to different ethnicity in characters ? Why are characters all prep school western white peeps? There are hundreds of ethnicities but the designers go with zero personality and only choose one type of character , This is for me the reason why the game doesn't interest me because i know for a fact the characters will be cliche and average .
@ASonic3582 yeah, seems to be the case though at the time of posting, I didn't realise it was set between to 2 games. I guess time frames doesn't matter for those guys though haha.
@AshFoxX
What's a Funyarinpa?
@Shire
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