Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward: Review
The attitude to games with Japanese color among domestic players is very polar. Someone, seeing the first screenshot, shouts something about “resour-like robots” and “pink hair”, and someone treats them calmly and plays for pleasure. Moreover, if we recall the stubbornness of the Japanese regarding the quality of the product, then often those who say their “f” lose a lot. Yes, this small remark can be attributed to a kind of warning, because in the game that will be discussed today, there is a girl with pink hair, and a nyastic hare, and even the genre of the game is exclusively Japanese.
Here, with a little reasoning about the origins, we will begin, perhaps, because the visual novels are an extremely rare guest in our area. They go into roots in such an initial-friendly fun as text quests. And in those days when all normal people began to explore new genres, spiting graphics, and subsequently go to the third dimension, the Japanese decided to slowly develop these very text quests into full interactive literature. Well, or succeeded in this more than others. Now the genre of visual short stories has already a number of sucks, has its classic representatives (Saya No Uta, Chaos; Head, Fate/Stay Night) and developers, as well as perhaps the widest range of the.
This animal causes tenderness? Let’s see what you say when he puts the bracelet on you and orders to fight for his life!
A distinctive feature of „visual“ is an outrageous study of a local plot. Due to the fact that the authors do not need to bother either with gameplay or with left-end, but just draw a pack of backs and springs for heroes and put atmospheric music for this, they have a lot of strength to write out a intelligible character,work to the smallest details of the game world and endow history with depth and multi -layer. For example, if it seems to you that in the series Deus Ex The theme of cyberpunk is deeply digging, then this is not a comparison with how this topic is beaten in Kikokugai (translated as a „cyberubian“).
But there is also the reverse side of the coin-most of such serious works have the highest of all possible age ratings due to the presence of nudity, cruelty, and extremely shocking moments. This is a real adult literature that does not recognize concessions and simplifications.
Another problem is an almost complete absence of a gameplay. You just need to read. A lot to read and soak what is happening on the screen. On average, somewhere for an hour and a half continuous contemplation of letters, only one choice of further path is given. But due to such an infrequent involvement of the player, the phenomenal strength of the psychological impact is sometimes achieved by the player.
I want to play the game with you ..
If Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward was a clinical „visual“, then the existence of this review would be under a big question. However, it stands out against the backdrop of its relatives of interesting innovations, so let’s already begin to study our today’s ward.
So, Zero Escape It is a sequel of the game 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, which entered the Nintendo 3DS console about two years ago and produced a local splash there. And, as often happens, immediately acquired plans for a sequel. As a result, after 2 years of calm development, the continuation came out the same. First on the portable console from Nintendo, And now on PlayStation Vita.
Immediately doom all hopes that these games are somehow closely interconnected. In order to play in Zero Escape, Knowledge of the prequel is not required at all. Of course, there is some connection, but it is present on the rights of the light “Easterns” or the stories of the characters themselves. The plot is quite integral and does not depend on what happened before.
At first glance, the tie of the story is quite banal. Nine completely different and strangers with each other come into consciousness in some huge complex with incomprehensible bracelets in their arms. This is Sigma, a young student and our protagonist, Fi, a mysterious girl and the main stronghold of logic among all nine, a dio – a pompous young man, also not without mind, the moon is shy and modest, the quark is a strange little boy, Tenmoyuji – a inconspicuous old man, Alice and Alice andClover – two girls in rather frank outfits and K – a mysterious citizen, chained in armor from head to toe. And it was worth all our heroes to get to know each other more or less, when suddenly a certain organizer of this event appears in the image of an elegant rabbit, calling himself Zero III, and makes a number of interesting statements.
Firstly, it turns out that he is just an artificial intelligence created in order to monitor the purity of the experimental. Secondly, the numbers that are displayed on bracelets for participants are glasses. If you type 9 points – you are free. If the score has dropped to 0 – you, as you might guess, is a corpse.
FI. Collected, cold, reasonable. And also pay attention to the correct spelling of the word „borsch“.
Initially, each of the nine subjects have 3 points. This balance is changing during a simple mini-game, during which players according to certain rules are divided into pairs and must vote whether they trust their partner. If both vote “yes”, then both get 2 points each. If both choose no, then no one gets anything. But if one votes yes, and the other – “no”, then the gullible receives 2 points of the fine, and incredulous – 3 points of the bonus.
And here the obscure psychological thriller begins, because the presence among the subjects of the killer unequivocally and uncompromisingly undermines the mutual trust of everyone to everyone. In order to additionally add oil into the fire between the rounds of the peculiar “I don’t believe”, we, accompanied by a constantly changing circle of characters, have to rush throughout the complex and look for different key cards.
As a result Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward globally divided into two games that constantly alternate. At first there is a stage-nolla, where there is a bunch of everything interesting, after which the hero enters the closed room, from
which you need to get out, and then again-the short story.
The stages of salvation are a very local variation of the quest, which there is an additional meaning to describe. It is worth mentioning that overcoming one such room takes at least twenty to thirty minutes, but can easily take away an hour.
Two Milkmen Go Comedy
In general, it is worth warning that the game turned out to be difficult. And not only because the authors were reflected in complex riddles, but also because the script is extremely firmly knocked down. It is strongly impossible to play „on a relaxation“. Even if you take into account that most of the time you just have to read, the action captures and makes the extremely carefully monitor each replica of the characters, track the logic of their actions, the ways of movement, possible motives … plus a million more and one question hangs around. What is this complex? What is this game? Why exactly these nine people? And what’s wrong with them? Because very soon it becomes clear that each of the heroes in the closet is far from one skeleton.
Ultimately, the story, despite all its non -linearity (implies about ten endings with meaning, and the same amount of mediocre deaths), comes down to one and global storyline, which in the best traditions of psychological thrillers will change your attitude towards heroes the more oftenThe closer the finale. And when you get to it, a real meat grinder will begin there.
However, despite all the confusion and multi -layer, to keep track of what is happening is quite real, although sometimes it is very difficult. The fact that most of the thoughts that come to mind the player often immediately immediately immediately occur from someone’s lips inside the game, due to which the most obvious moments and the far from the most obvious chains of thoughts of certain characters are also saving.
It’s a pity that the game came exclusively on portable consoles and is unlikely to receive at least some localization in the near future. And without knowledge of English, there is no sense.
Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward is a not quite typical representative of games for portable consoles. This is an extremely thoughtful, confusing and complicated work, which in the subway car is a rather controversial pleasure. But if you areolated from the whole world, sitting in a chair, for example, and systematically, without flickering and unnecessary haste, plunge into the proposed atmosphere, then the game generously repays a heap of emotions and upheavals that will not be forgotten very soon.
Pros: delightful plot;High complexity, challenging not the speed of the reaction or the ability to shoot accurately, but to the mind.
Cons: Well, unless the notorious „Japanese“.