Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - the game is out!

[Thane]

Hello everyone.

I don't know how many people are into the series here, but I do recall a few people talking about it, so I've decided to create a topic where we can discuss the upcoming installment. The most recent information is a few days old, but I've been a bit busy and just found out about it. So I'll post it here for anyone else who might've missed it.

The Japanese website has opened, and the promotion video airs on the 17:th of March - http://www.spike-chunsoft.co.jp/zeroescape/

The trailer is up!

All the characters + Zero (guess who that is). Here's the information about each of them (not my translation):

[spoiler=Character information]Characters:
Three teams exist, the leaders of whom are the protagonists.

TEAM C:
Carlos: A hot-blooded man with a strong sense of justice, who cares deeply for his younger sister, who is suffering from an incurable disease.
Junpei: After the events of 999, he joined a detective agency to track down Akane, who had vanished completely. Currently technically "ran away from home".
Akane: Though she appears to be a proper young woman, her true personality is Machiavellian.
[Two characters from 999 in this group.]

TEAM D:
Diana: A pacifistic young woman who hates fighting. Works as a nurse.
Sigma: Although only 22 years old, he seems to have led a long and complicated life. Occasionally called "old man" by Phi.
Phi: A curt young woman who joined the DCOM experiment to save the world.
[Two characters from VLR in this group, with Diana holding Luna's pendant.]

TEAM Q:
Q: A young boy who has lost his memories and who is wearing a mysterious spherical helmet.
Eric: A young man working at an ice cream shop going out with Mila.
Mila: A sexual young woman going out with Eric.

OTHER:
Zero: An unknown person hiding their identity behind a mask and disguise, who seems to be controlling the deadly games. Their goal is unknown.
Gab: An old dog able to fit through air vents humans can't and travel between sections of the facility.

Here's the information about the setting found on the website, translated by Chimpoozle on Reddit:

[spoiler=Setting]It has been 6 days since cohabitation began at the experimental facility Dcom. On that day 9 men and women awoke inside a detainment room. An unrecognized black wristband on their left wrists - a bangle. There the image of an unknown masked figure appears and announces the start of the Decision game

"This is a game that decides the fates of you, me, and all of mankind." Afterwards, they are conveyed to a basement shelter, split into 3 divisions, C-Q-D, and interred. Sure enough, the surviving team is...? The future of 8 billion people - all of man-kind - depends on their decisions!

About: This game is a high tension adventure X escape game in which a group of people imprisoned in a facility by a mysterious person named "Zero" are forced to participate in a mandatory death game.

The underground shelter which becomes the story's setting is made up of 3 divisions and a central elevator hall. Each division contains 3 people, with 9 imprisoned total.

To get above ground they need to head for the central elevator hall. The road to the elevator hall is blocked by the X door whose lock requires 6 passwords. For every person who dies, one password to open the X door is disclosed. Will they kill the other teams via the facility's prepared gimmicks.... or search for another way? That decision is left in the player's hands.

And, finally, comments by Kotaro Uchikoshi, the series' creator:

[spoiler=Trivia and comments]Initially the plan had been to develop 2 and 3 simultaneously, but after the 3DS and Vita were announced they decided to make 2 and see how it went.

Because sales and fan demand was so strong in the West, they were able to get 3 greenlit.
The title felt very 'clean' to him.
The game aims to make the player question what is "right".
The player will have to make extreme decisions where there is no right answer - hence the "dilemma" in the subtitle. These will have an effect on the endings and the game.

All the mysteries of the past games and ZE3 will be solved.
He feels the game is even better than the past two. The three protagonists know nothing, so they'll learn about the past games through dialogue.
For the extreme decisions, often times they'll be accompanied by scenes where someone's life is on the line.
Because they don't want to soften the content, the game may be rated Z (it would be the 3DS' first.)
This game is mostly serious, so he put a lot of his "jokes" into Punchline instead.
He had planned to ask Kinu Nishimura to return as character designer, but once he hammered out how ZE3 would differ from the past games he decided to change things up. This was also because they needed to make the backgrounds and characters more cinematic.
He feels all the characters, new and old, really have strong designs this time.
They aimed to make the event scenes feel like you were watching a drama.
No narration this time, though there will be a few "tricks"...
It'll be a game you can enjoy standalone and the pinnacle of the series.

The reason for multiple protagonists was to show the tensions and killings between teams from many viewpoints, and they initially considered making Sigma a protag. If the player follows the route where he winds up like in VLR, something terrible may happen...

I'm incredibly excited about this game and can't wait to find out how everything ends. I think he has also mentioned that all mysteries will be solved and that some 999 characters will make cameos, but don't quote me on that - I would be surprised if Santa DIDN'T show up though.

I'm curious about the decision to make three newcomers their teams' respective protagonists; that means we won't play as Junpei, Phi and Sigma like many people had previously speculated.

Update: reviews

wegotthiscovered: 5/5 - http://wegotthiscovered.com/gaming/zero-time-dilemma-review/

Destructoid: 9.5/10 - https://www.destructoid.com/review-zero-time-dilemma-370574.phtml

Playstation Insider: 10/10 - http://playstationinsider.com/2016/06/zero-escape-zero-time-dilemma-review-vita/

Gameinformer: 8.75/10 - http://www.gameinformer.com/games/zero_time_dilemma/b/3ds/archive/2016/06/23/a-mind-bending-adventure-through-a-maze-of-death-and-heartbreak.aspx

Famitsu: 32 (8/8/8/8) - Can't find the article, only the score from other sites.

Update: the game is out! Please tag the spoilers!

Edited June 28, 2016 by Thane

[Dotty]

This looks fascinating, thanks for posting because I wouldn't have seen this.

I'm really intrigued by the whole three groups thing! I can already see that playing out in super interesting ways!

[Sylphid]

Wow, looking forward to this since I loved Virtue's Last Reward. Thanks for making this thread Thane, I wouldn't have known about this without you.

Kind of related: Is it worth it to get this iOS version of 999 for 5€? Since the original game never made it to EU, I haven't played it, though I know the important plot points via internet. Apparently that version doesn't have much gameplay to speak of though, being called "novel" and all...

Also, "man working at ice cream store"? Yeah right...

[Noma9]

HNG. THE HYPE. I FEEL IT.

Seriously, I'm so looking forward to this. I am objectively terrible at the series, but I just can't stay away. And I love the new art direction! Our old friends are lookin' good up there.

I have no specific hopes for the game, since they always out-do my expectations, but I'm really glad they're keeping the game dark. VLR was great, better than 999, but it lacked a certain sense of dread and horror that I thought the first game did so well. I'd love to see the series go back to that feel.

[Irony]

OOOOH YEAH BABY! :D

*coughs*

I'm hyped for this!!! :)

[Thane]

Even for such a small series, the fan artists are quick to get to work, and they immediately target the team dynamics:

[spoiler=Team Sigma]

[spoiler=Team Junpei]

I love the completely different reactions and expectations.

[Irony]

Even for such a small series, the fan artists are quick to get to work, and they immediately target the team dynamics:

[spoiler=Team Sigma]

[spoiler=Team Junpei]

I love the completely different reactions and expectations.

Dat fan art.... :D I should do some. :)

[Thane]

Dat fan art.... :D I should do some. :)

Oh, you can draw? Please do! This series deserves more love and attention - I'd contribute too but...well, I suck at drawing and don't have the patience or discipline to learn.

Anyway, as for discussion topics: what do you want to see in this game, and what do you expect? I suspect there'll be multiple endings, and many of them bad, and I'm not sure any of them will be 100% good, although at least one SHOULD save the planet, otherwise it'd feel kind of like a cop-out.

I also suspect Santa will make an appearance, and I don't think Junpei and Akane will end up together for one reason or another; it doesn't seem like Uchikoshi's style.

[animeapple]

oh yeah btw there is a reason they are releasing the trailer when they are

march 17th 2016

3/17/16

3+1+7+1+6=18

1+8=9

the date has a digital root of 9 lol

[Sylphid]

I also suspect Santa will make an appearance, and I don't think Junpei and Akane will end up together for one reason or another; it doesn't seem like Uchikoshi's style.

I'm honestly half-expecting either Junpei or Akane to be fake or have amnesia (which would probably be another word for fake here anyways). That, or their team gets separated right away.

I was going to say I can't figure out the protagonists in these team... And then I looked at the team names, lol. Unless it's red herring

Also, though I pointed it out already, "man working at a ice cream store" in this series? As if.

[Soledai]

oh yeah btw there is a reason they are releasing the trailer when they are

march 17th 2016

3/17/16

3+1+7+1+6=18

1+8=9

the date has a digital root of 9 lol

If they made a release date with a digital root of 9 as well, that would be neat.

Still, this is pretty clever.

[Irony]

I'm curious about Q. Like, He's the only character Crash Keys DIDN'T LEAK, plus there's that mask that he's wearing. He's got to be important, but why? Maybe he's a Left Clone (but then everyone says the same thing about Carlos), he might be working with Clover & Alice.... HE COULD BE QUARK, or related to Quark in some way.

Whoever Q is, I'm keeping my eye out on him.

Also- there's 4 females in the main cast this time, not three...Interesting.

If they made a release date with a digital root of 9 as well, that would be neat.

Still, this is pretty clever.

That would be pretty awesome if they did that! :D It's two days to go until we possibly find out! :)

[Noma9]

I'm curious about Q. Like, He's the only character Crash Keys DIDN'T LEAK, plus there's that mask that he's wearing. He's got to be important, but why? Maybe he's a Left Clone (but then everyone says the same thing about Carlos), he might be working with Clover & Alice.... HE COULD BE QUARK, or related to Quark in some way.

Whoever Q is, I'm keeping my eye out on him.

Also- there's 4 females in the main cast this time, not three...Interesting.

That would be pretty awesome if they did that! :D It's two days to go until we possibly find out! :)

As soon as i saw Q I was like, "Oh hey, Quark is here, too?" because they're both Q's, have weird junk on their head and are little kids. But Quark being there doesn't make any sense so. . . I dunno. But the letter "q" has always been important in the series so I'm watching him (her?) too. Shady.

[Koneko]

Ahhhhh I've been excited for this ever since Kotaro Uchikushi announced it ;; I'm glad to see where it's going and just can't wait for the release if the game's anything like VLR and 999!

[Soledai]

Seems like there's a June 28th release and a port to Steam as well.

And the JP trailer if you feel so inclined.

That would be pretty awesome if they did that! :D It's two days to go until we possibly find out! :)

It would've been indeed, but alas this isn't the case.

[Irony]

Seems like there's a June 28th release and a port to Steam as well.

And the JP trailer if you feel so inclined.

It would've been indeed, but alas this isn't the case.

It would have been awesome, but yeah it didn't happen. However, I still can't believe that we're getting this game on the same day as America (I'm from Europe btw) and before Japan. It's crazy. It's like a dream come true. :D In all seriousness, the trailer looks so good. I'm enjoying the English VA. Come on June, I'm waiting for you! :D

[Thane]

Dang son, that's one bloody trailer.

Does that June release date apply to Europe as well?

[animeapple]

Dang son, that's one bloody trailer.

Does that June release date apply to Europe as well?

yes, the western release of the game is going to be the 28th which is surprising because its 2 days before the japanese release date on the 30th

[Thane]

The second trailer is up!

Junpei sounds cold, and Phi and Sigma might have something going on between them. Interesting. Well, unless she's talking about Diana, which is also possible.

Eric's voice acting leaves a lot to be desired. Edited April 24, 2016 by Thane

[Pull My Devil Trigger]

The voice acting in general in that trailer leaves a lot to be desired, it's pretty dreadful.

Wouldn't be the first time a trailer game me a much worse impression of that compared to the final product so I'm still giving them the benefit of doubt.

Now I just need to actually finish VLR before this hits :^)

[Thane]

The voice acting in general in that trailer leaves a lot to be desired, it's pretty dreadful.

Wouldn't be the first time a trailer game me a much worse impression of that compared to the final product so I'm still giving them the benefit of doubt.

Now I just need to actually finish VLR before this hits :^)

The European version is confirmed to have dual audio, at least. I think Japanese to English dubbing has improved considerably these last few years, but it's possible that the English dub has somehow suffered due to how small the series is.

Then again, it's worth remembering that Virtue's Last Reward's dub was overall really great, while the original Japanese had several actors who didn't fit their roles, if you ask me, Tenmyouji beng a prime example; the guy doesn't sound bitter at all.

[Pull My Devil Trigger]

Some new info:

-Vita version should have PSTV support

-Aksys will bring over artbook included as a preorder bonus in Japan, but not as a preorder bonus

-PC release coming "just a few days" after 3DS/Vita

[Thane]

Some new info:

-Vita version should have PSTV support

-Aksys will bring over artbook included as a preorder bonus in Japan, but not as a preorder bonus

-PC release coming "just a few days" after 3DS/Vita

Oooh, interesting, thanks for sharing!

9 minutes of gameplay. Animations look weird and the voice acting is shaky, but the rest seems really nice.

[Soledai]

The animation was... something it was.

Still very interesting all the same.

Also PC's specific release date is June 30th, I still don't get why they release the third game on PC, but not the first two.

But you could probably safely assume that means the other two will be ported to PC in the future.

[Sylphid]

Something about the 3D models' faces really unsettles me... And not in a way that would help me get immersed with the game.

Mostly Diana though