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 Zero Time Dilemma is the third and final installment in the Zero Escape series of video games, preceded by 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue's Last Reward. For the uninitiated, the games combine (actually fun) escape-the-room puzzles with thriller elements, and are infamous for being a mindfuck and a half. As far as ZTD is concerned, if you aren't familiar with the previous two, you really need to be. They have both been LP'd excellently by Dragonatrix and Fedule respectively, so either go read them right now or buy and play them yourself. They're even all available on Steam now! Maximum accessibility! ZTD was released in 2016, four years after the last game, largely due to fan support as the series hasn't been all that successful in its home country of Japan. The fact that ZTD and VLR were released on opposite ends of the 3DS/Vita's lifespan is pretty apparent, because the production quality has massively improved since the days of VLR's awkward CG stills. The game outside the puzzle sections is entirely composed of cutscenes, the textures are much nicer, and it's fully voice acted. It's also probably the bloodiest game in the franchise, which is really saying something. And as for the story itself, well... The game follows the participants of the "Mars experiment" mentioned in VLR, and that's all I'm going to tell you about it. There will be a complete ban on spoilers for ZTD in this thread, even in spoiler tags. Discussion of 999 and VLR, however, is entirely fair game, so tread carefully. Seriously, dude, read those LPs first. As I mentioned above, ZTD has a ton of full motion cutscenes in it, which makes it a bit more difficult to SSLP. I'm going to try to do that anyway, since I know a lot of people (including me) are too lazy to watch videos--especially since, in true Zero Escape fashion, those videos contain a lot of people standing around talking about pseudoscience bullshit. That said, I recommend you watch them anyway for the Full ExperienceTM. DRAMATIS PERSONAE (spoilers only for 999 and VLR) C-Team    Comprised of Akane Kurashiki the mastermind behind the previous two Nonary Games, Junpei Tenmyouji, her time paradox love interest and participant in the previous two Nonary Games, and Q-Team    Comprised of Q, Eric, and Mira, who seems to be our requisite Lotus/Alice if that outfit is any indication. Stay classy, Chunsoft. D-Team    Comprised of Sigma Klim, the protagonist/antagonist of the previous game and also, if you remember, currently has his mind swapped with his older self from like forty years in the post-apocalyptic future, Phi a main character of the previous game and also currently brainswapped with her alternate timeline self oh god don't ask me to explain it, and Diana.
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May 7, 2018 19:31
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| # ? May 3, 2024 20:43 |
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TABLE OF CONTENTS UPDATE 01: COINCIDE UPDATE 02: EXECUTION UPDATE 03: SUPPRESSION MISCELLANY "Pre-Decision" short story transcribed by whitehelm Heckspawn fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Jun 11, 2018 |
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May 7, 2018 19:32
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UPDATE 01: COINCIDE [ VIDEO: HEADS OR TAILS ] [ MUSIC: "DCOM (THE BEGINNING)" ]  We start by jumping right into the action, as Zero Escape loves to do.   Hey! Open up!    poo poo... What's wrong with you... A mistake? Maybe Diana's...?   I don't want it near me! Where the hell did this thing come from...   This is a confinement room. The bars only open from the other side...  That kid locked us up!  I...  [ MUSIC: "ANXIOUSNESS 2ND MIX" ]    Don't you think? There are moments when a single snail can make life go extinct.Uh... sure.   Who are you... I'm sure you'll determine that eventually. I require all of you to take part in a game. With the fate of you, me, and the human race in the balance. Let's get started, shall we.    [ MUSIC: "TREPIDATION 2ND MIX" ]  One side of it is red, while the other side is blue. Which side of the coin is facing up? Make a guess. However, you only get one chance. Your freedom.  You all lose.   It's red. Right! Red! It's gotta be red!  The odds for each are the same...  Wait! Akane's right!   I will take your decision as everyone's final answer.  Pick red! It's blue...  No, Carlos! Don't answer him! You are that solitary snail. The fate of the world rests on your decision.No pressure or anything!   [ MUSIC: "TOUGH DECISION (MAKE YOUR CHOICE)" ]  Oh poo poo oh gently caress uhhhhh Don't worry guys I got this! Always bet on blue! [ VIDEO: CQD ] [ MUSIC: "DIVULGATION 2ND MIX" ]    See? drat I'm good.   Hmph.  It was just luck. It's not too hard to get it right. Hey, hold on a sec!  Everything worked out fine. Fear not. I promised to release you, and I shall. Ah, but before that... I apologize, but you must all sleep. When next you wake, you will have forgotten everything that just happened here. Hmm, I wonder...?     You're...    [ MUSIC: "TRANSIENT TRANQUILITY" ]     Hey, hold on. Why are we outside? I have no clue.  What is it? Didn't we all have something attached to our left wrists...?  Huh? Nothing. I saw an image of a coin flash in my mind... It was flipped, and falling...    Me neither... Neither can I. Someone...? What kind of bet...?  Hey, uh, could I ask all of you something?   Well, that's the end of Zero Time Dilemma. Thanks for reading, everybody! Yeah, of course not.   As you might have guessed, it doesn't actually matter what color you pick--it'll always be the "right" color, which immediately locks you into this ending. It's a cute introduction to the way this game is going to work, and it's only going to get crazier from here on out. Speaking of game mechanics, the gimmick of ZTD is that you don't choose doors to go through this time. Instead, you choose which team to play as. In future updates, I'll leave this up to a thread vote, but this time you get the same cutscene no matter which team you pick, so I'll just move right along.   Well, that's not much of a flowchart, is it? Which brings us to our second gimmick: you get single pieces of the whole game map--called "Fragments"--one at a time, and as you progress and unlock more you slowly get to see how they all fit together. It's... certainly unique. Right now, we only have one choice, but later on we'll have a lot more. [ VIDEO: HEADS OR TAILS ] [ MUSIC: "BEREAVEMENT" ]  So let's pick wrong this time.     Told you it was blue. Carlos... What were you thinking?! Hey, wait a second!   So. What now? You should know already.  At least six. It's possible there may be more than that. Before you begin, I'm going to need all of you to go to sleep. When next you wake, you will have forgotten everything that just happened here. There's no point to telling you now. Pleasant dreams...      [ VIDEO: INTRO MOVIE ]
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May 7, 2018 19:32
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I'm so happy someone is going for this. Good luck and god speed.
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May 7, 2018 20:00
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Fedule posted:I'm so happy someone is going for this. Quoting this to find it more easily two to four years from now.
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May 7, 2018 20:02
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Oh goodness yes. Sometimes, life is simply... fantastic.  I had a good long cackle when I figured out that you always choose right first time. That's so good. Only a few minutes in and already the quantum probability bullshit has started.
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May 7, 2018 20:20
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I dug that they kept the same VAs for all of the games...even retroactively, Junpei's actor here reprises him in the remake of the first game
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May 7, 2018 20:34
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Good luck, mate. My notes for this game looked like a madman's ramblings.
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May 7, 2018 21:06
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Oh my god I'm so happy I'm on the ground floor for this. I wish you the best of luck in doing this in any less than multiple years.
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May 7, 2018 21:10
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Ibblebibble posted:Good luck, mate. My notes for this game looked like a madman's ramblings. I started VLR while on a work trip and I used a notepad for figuring things out. When I got home my wife found it on my desk and was rather confused/worried until I explained it to her...
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May 7, 2018 21:15
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Yeah, I'm aware this is a... pretty ambitious undertaking.  I love this series, though, so I'm pretty committed to seeing it through.I'm already working on the next couple of updates, by the way, hoping to get them up in the next day or so. For the most part I don't expect to be updating that fast, but I want to at least get to where the thread can vote on something soon.
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May 7, 2018 21:17
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LPs are simply unfair. The posters will have time to think and formulate a post whenever they want to react to something, diluting the experience. Imagine if the snail was capable of thinking before it Very excited to follow this, for the first time in this series having played the game myself before the LP.
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May 7, 2018 21:18
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hell yes, i'm psyched for this. good luck!!
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May 7, 2018 21:32
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I hope you all are prepared for a third trip on Mr. Uchikoshi's Wild Ride.
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May 7, 2018 22:17
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I'm assuming you're playing the Steam or Vita version, because the 3DS version....takes a bit of a graphical hit, I'm afraid. Particularly in the textures.
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May 7, 2018 22:27
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Ground floor. This is gonna get interesting.
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May 7, 2018 22:29
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Here we go, people. Welcome to the madness, please leave your sanity at the door, and we hope you enjoy the pseudoscience, philosophy, quantum bullshit and death.
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May 7, 2018 22:46
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I see someone on the design team was a fan of Nier: Automata. Good luck with this, I've heard lots of cool things about this series!
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May 7, 2018 22:50
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We're doing a LP of this? DeathChicken posted:I dug that they kept the same VAs for all of the games...even retroactively, Junpei's actor here reprises him in the remake of the first game Well, technically, Junpei has a different VA in VLR.  I think Young Akane was recast from VLR, too. Blueberry Pancakes fucked around with this message at 23:14 on May 7, 2018 |
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May 7, 2018 23:04
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Waffleman_ posted:I'm assuming you're playing the Steam or Vita version, because the 3DS version....takes a bit of a graphical hit, I'm afraid. Particularly in the textures. Steam version, yeah. I actually own the 3DS version (yes, I bought it twice) but I haven't played it since release and don't remember the differences, so I just assumed it had the same shiny, shiny graphics. Oh well. Hobgoblin2099 posted:I think Young Akane was recast from VLR, too. They redubbed her with this actress for the Steam release of VLR (and for the remastered 999 port as well), so now everybody's consistent through all the games. Clover's voiced by her VLR actress for 999, too. I feel kinda bad for Akane's original VA, I liked her. Anyway, next bit should be live soon since I got nothing but time today.
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May 7, 2018 23:21
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Welp, glad to catch this as it starts. The bullshit this game pulls makes the first two look like reasonable, straightforward plots and I look forward to see everyone's reactions.
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May 7, 2018 23:28
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ZTD, awesome. Since I've played and can't say anything else, I will say this game features my favorite of the three Zero personas. Yes, even more than Zero the 3rd Jr.
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May 7, 2018 23:37
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I like his aesthetic and voice, for sure.
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May 7, 2018 23:38
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UPDATE 02: [ VIDEO: EXECUTION ] [ MUSIC: "SINISTERNESS PHASE 2" ]  Carlos!      It's not me... Let it go, Eric. Mira...    You should listen to her. So have you, smartass.  That's what it was called a year ago. Junpei...  How are you feeling? Who's this?[ MUSIC: "CQD WARD BGM 2" ]  The second Zero. Let me make one thing clear.  I'd like to tell you an old story. Seventeen years ago, on a rainy morning, a woman went jogging in a large park. Her usual route led her to a fork in the road.  Surprised to see her, they asked, "Why did you come this way today?" This was her reply.  Murdered. They found her in some bushes along the left path. Don't you think? It's the same for all of you. The pull of an unjust fate carried you along to this moment.  [ MUSIC: "PORTENTOUSNESS 2ND MIX" ]  Carlos, Akane, and Junpei. You three are in Ward C. Your leader shall be Carlos.  As evidenced by the name, the leader is Q. Is this a joke?!  That makes you the D-Team. There is a time limit, however. Ninety minutes.   As a result, you'll all fall into a deep, uninterrupted sleep. You will also forget everything that occurred in those past ninety minutes. The bracelet has an additional function. A watch. Pressing the buttons on each side simultaneously will display the time. Wow. These things are getting fancy. 12:10... The year turns over in less than half a day. Unfortunately, very few of you will find yourselves able to welcome a new 2029. It's clearly marked with an "X."  The door is easy enough to open. Six X-Passes are needed for it to unlock.  Gasp!  Shock!!  ...I don't know what Mira's face is doing there.  the rest will gain all of the passwords, and will be able to open the X-Door. [ MUSIC: "DCOM (THE BEGINNING)" ]  Once that passes, it will automatically close. And never open again.   Oh yes. With this information, surely some of you at this point are thinking, "How can I kill six people..." I'll give you one opportunity.   The team names of your newfound enemies will be displayed on that monitor.  The leader must submit it for the group. Any team that hasn't voted before the time limit is up shall be penalized two votes. The group with two or more votes will lose. Every member of that team...will be executed. This is the Decision Game. A game of fate. The lives of you, me, and the human race hang in the balance. Like before, this is a fake choice; the game makes you play as each team once before you can progress anyway, so all you're choosing right now is the order you do it in. Said order doesn't matter at all, so I'll go ahead and just do them from left to right. Our first vote is coming up, though, so hang tight!
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May 8, 2018 00:23
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SmugJunpei is amazing
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May 8, 2018 04:23
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Such a complex game, by both Zero and the developers. I look forward to the twists and turns of this game. But, I don't think I'll say much other than this. I do already know how it plays out. Good luck in getting this game finished, Heckspawn.
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May 8, 2018 04:44
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I'll be following along, if only to see how this LP goes! This game is a ride and I'm glad you're showing it off.
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May 8, 2018 06:39
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As somebody has already 100%ed the game: The inevitable deaths can be pretty disturbing. I think that's all I can say in this sort of LP threads.
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May 8, 2018 08:22
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My feelings regarding this game can be summed up as: Mhm, Mhm, I see, Yup. Gotcha. Standing up and then throwing a book halfway across the room walking out into the night.
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May 8, 2018 08:26
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I'm playing this game at the moment (the Vita and PS4 versions are both heavily discounted on the UK PlayStation Store until the end of tomorrow!), and I'm enjoying it immensely. I knew I was in for something special when five minutes of credits rolled after ten minutes of gameplay. What a magnificently stupid series. Looking forward to the reactions.
Rith fucked around with this message at 09:29 on May 8, 2018 |
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May 8, 2018 09:27
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Fedule posted:I'm so happy someone is going for this. Didn't see this thread when it first went up, but yeah this.
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May 8, 2018 11:44
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Good luck! Watching the thread will be entertaining, at least.
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May 8, 2018 13:07
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what everyone else said here for the reactions
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May 8, 2018 14:27
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Heckspawn: How do you feel about the prelude story from the preorder bonus artbook being posted? There aren't really any spoilers besides a minor one from the next update.
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May 8, 2018 16:01
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For various reasons, this game is exactly the right kinds of stupid. I love it.
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May 8, 2018 16:41
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Oh, discussion of VLR is allowed. In that case, I'm really confused as to why Akane says she had no idea what was going on in the Mars Testing Facility considering she's here in the game.  Also, her hair is purple now for some reason.
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May 8, 2018 17:59
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Ah, yes, a running theme with ZTD is that it is very easy to tell that the story had changed from what was originally planned and teased in VLR.
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May 8, 2018 18:02
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Hobgoblin2099 posted:Oh, discussion of VLR is allowed. To be fair, they just knew "something went wrong at the MTF." Nothing about murder-games.
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May 8, 2018 18:32
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whitehelm posted:Heckspawn: How do you feel about the prelude story from the preorder bonus artbook being posted? There aren't really any spoilers besides a minor one from the next update. Go for it, I'll link it in the OP. Actually, asap would be great since, like you said, the information in it becomes relevant in the very next update. I'd have posted it myself but I don't actually own the thing.
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May 8, 2018 18:46
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| # ? May 3, 2024 20:43 |
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Will keep an eye on this for the reactions. I thought VLR was quite out out there when I first played that game. And then this came out. 
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May 8, 2018 19:16
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