Gnosia Is Out On Switch Today, And It Looks Like Among Us Crossed With Virtue's Last Reward

Dang it looked so promising, but that's a pass from me.

I'm interested in this one, I'm a big fan of the Zero Escape/Danganronpa series and virtual novels in general, so I like the vibe this one gives off. I don't have time to play it right now, but I'll probably pick it up later this year.

It does look great but I really don’t know if I’m sold on each ‘game’ taking 10-15 minutes. It’s strange alright.

@Cynas I loved Virtue’s Last Reward but absolutely hated Zero Time Dilemma. I’ve never been burned so hard by a game I was looking forward to for so many years.

Oh man, I just finished the entire Zero Escape Trilogy and Virtue's Last Reward was an amazing entry. Color me intrigued by this.

@nessisonett I didn't mind Zero Time Dilemma, but it was definitely my least favourite of the three. I sorta figured the conclusion of the story wouldn't live up to expectations, but what really bugged me was some of the characters felt completely unnecessary. In the first two games each character felt like they served an important purpose to the story and why they were there, but I didn't really get that feeling in ZTD. Also the 3D animations were really ugly, but I got used to that eventually. I still enjoyed my time with it overall.

I'm maxed out on games at the moment, but this is definitely one I'll come back to at a later date.

@Cynas Yeah, the plot twists really felt like a letdown after the previous two games. It probably isn’t as bad a game as my initial reaction but the build-up probably accentuated the flaws.

Sounds interesting, might bite when its no doubt on sale.

I'm pretty interested in this one, as I really like this type of game (zero escape serie, danganronpa which is my favorite of all time, and more recently Ai the somnium files) but the time loop big me a little. Will it the story be engaging enough if the time loop are this short, and if the killer change each round?

I'll wait for more info!

Picking this up tomorrow!

Really excited for this one. The art is absolutely stunning, and it's the sort of creative, unique experience we don't get enough of on home consoles.

@nessisonett ZTD was definitely disappointing compared to the previous two games, but I feel like it's primarily the victim of high expectations. Taken on its own, it's still a pretty decent experience. It would've been 100% better if it had opted for a more visual novel-y set-up, ditched the awkward 3D models for sprites (or at least the less obtrusive 3D models from VLR), and actually lived up to the promise of VLR's final hours.

It's definitely not a total fall from grace like Corpse Party: Blood Drive, though.

@NightMiroir It's not really... I've played it for two hours about now and after certain mechanics get introduced (skills you can use when debating and role calling as well as lying) it just gets into a loop (pun intented) of finding out who the killer is.
I hope it changes soon since it has a solid base game.
Also the fact that you can level-up and use skill points you get for leveling up to customize your character to be logical, influencial or perceiptive is pretty nice.
Until now I'd give the game a 8/10.

Famitsu 36/40 isn't that the score they give 99% of stuff like the look of this but Famitsu are just awful. Worst review site out there would get a more informative and less biased review from a chimp.

" includes more than one non-binary character"

Is that the alien?

I played a few loops earlier today. Game gets more characters and more options with each loops. You never start from scratch.

I remember seeing this coming soon on the eshop- i've been waffling over if I wait for more reviews to come out, but even the C-range reviews have gotten me very intrigued in how this goes. The fact that some of the major characters are non-binary (although going by something I saw in a review, handled very...frustratingly? to put it one way?) might actually be one of the things tipping me over into just trying it out now.

Can't believe people actually liked VLR, it was by far the worst one of the Zero Escape games for me.
As for Gnosia, it actually looks like a really fun game, probably gonna pick it up at some point.

Played a few hours so far, it's a pretty fun game (that I happen to be terrible at). The game does a very good job of pacing to slowly introduce a new mechanic, let you play around with it for a round or two, then introduce another mechanic. The gameplay is very much like Werewolf or Mafia. The "base" rules (which can be changed after progressing through a dozen or so loops) are:

The Gnosia are trying to kill everyone. Each round has a few turns of debate, where the player can try to sway others' opinions, or sit back and let things play out to some degree. At the end of each round, the player and the NPCs all vote on who to put into Cold Sleep, effectively removing them from the game. After that, the ship goes into a hyperdrive, and during the hyperdrive, the Gnosia erase/remove one character. The Gnosia win if they outnumber the normal members of the crew. The crew win if they put all the Gnosia into Cold Sleep. There are several roles as well:

The Gnosia: "Imposters" that try to kill everyone. They automatically know who the other Gnosia is/are.

AC Follower: A crewmember that will scan as human, but is on the Gnosia's side. They do not know who the Gnosia are, but will also win if the Gnosia win.

The Engineer: At the end of each round after hyperspace, the Engineer can scan one person and find out if they are crew or Gnosia. The Engineer can choose to reveal their role and their discoveries. A Gnosia can claim to be the Engineer to cause confusion.

The Doctor: At the end of each round after hyperspace, the Doctor can scan the person put in Cold Sleep to see if they were crew or Gnosia. The Doctor can choose to reveal their role and their discoveries. A Gnosia can claim to be the Doctor to cause confusion.

Guardian Angel: This crewmember can protect one other crewmember from a Gnosia attack. They choose who to save prior to the hyperspace jump; if the Gnosia try to erase the protected individual, that individual will not be erased. No one can ever try to claim to be the Guardian Angel.

Guard Duty: Two crewmembers will receive this role. They are guaranteed to be humans and can choose to reveal this. Gnosia cannot claim to be Guards.

There's actually one other role I've seen at this point, but it's kind of cool to see it play out with how it's woven into the story.

So it's pretty much Werewolf or Mafia.

There are several things that differentiate the game from simply being a player vs. computer version of those games, though. The player character has stats that can be increased; experience is gained as you play more loops, with wins generating more EXP than losses. Putting points in different stats can make it easier to persuade the NPCs, make the Gnosia less likely to target the player, make the player have a chance of detecting lies, etc. Increasing stats can also unlock some new actions, such as requesting that a certain role (like the Engineer) announce who they are.

The story seems to play out as the loops occur, with each loop introducing more mechanics, characters, and complexity. I think I'm at the point now where I've seen most of the basic mechanics, but haven't unlocked some of the higher actions. It sounds like the story will also play out via random events and cutscenes that tell more about the various characters, but I haven't really hit that part of the game yet. I did see one event where a character with the Gnosia role revealed that they were Gnosia to everyone because that character hates lying that much. It was an interesting twist to hit in the middle of a loop.

So far, it's a quite neat little game that feels familiar, but also unique.

@Trajan Nope! The alien is actually male.

@GH7cloud @PerishSong

Thanks to both of you for your input.
The fact that you can level up is pretty interesting! It will make the game more engaging in my opinion

Can you change role too? Or are you lock into your own role as the player? I would like to be able to be the Gnosia!
Is the story interesting enough?

@NightMiroir Yep, you can change your role at the start of a loop. You can choose it yourself or set it to Random. Roles in previous loops also get shuffled. Let's say person X was Gnosia, while person Y was innocent -> in the next loop both of them could be innocent. It's pretty much on you to figure out who "it" is because of how the people on the ship act.
Story is kinda dry imo - the fun in the game is getting to know the characters and their traits, as well as knowing who to trust because of said traits.
There is a character called "Comet" - She is pretty perceiptive and can tell if someone is lying - she usually is always a good starting point for me.
Also: if you are the Gnosia and like to play as it, you usually have to stay quiet in voting from what I can tell since you stand out, more people will focus on you. You can also have a high stealth stat so people don't focus on you if you choose to talk.
It's a fun little game and I still have much to learn about it.

I'm currently 85 loops in, so far really impressed by the game. If you liked Danganronpa and/or Zero Escape you will very likely like this one as well. Just note that while the games mentioned are like 80% VN and 20% Puzzle game, Gnosia is more like 80% Puzzle game and 20% VN.

This is why I like this site : there is always someone to answer your questions and to give you advice! Thanks to @SigmaNoire and @Gh7Cloud

You know what? All of you made me so curious I just purchased the game (currently downloading)

Had my eye on this one for a while and so happy it is finally out. I discovered the Zero Escape series when I got my Vita two years ago and absolutely love it to pieces (VLR being my favourite). I'm in the process buying VN games second-hand for my Vita (Danganronpa, Stein's Gate etc etc) and have AI: The Somnium Files on the Switch to play at some point. I've really been looking forward to this one!

I've had my eye on this ever since it was announced. I hope we get a review soon!

I'm addicted to this game!