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999 endings (spoilers)
I’ve got 4 endings in 999 and they are starting to annoy me now:
1st one I got
Stabbed out of nowhere after finding the 9 door and Lotus dead, had no idea what I did wrong
Okay, I knew the game was meant to be replayed, so I tried a different completely different approach
2nd one:
Was a jerk for most of the game and everybody was killed including me at the entrance of a submarine, still had no idea who or why
3rd:
Murdered with an axe by Clover, this one was a great moment because I finally had an understanding of what I did wrong and so I worked towards the relationship with Clover
4th ending:
Some excellent twists with some new information at the end, Clover didn’t go berserk and Santa made hostages. Someone is knocking in a coffin and then suddenly, the game ends and I have to restart because I don’t know the code… What?
So, some questions:
- Why do I have to restart in the 4th ending? I didn’t die…
- Why so many endings that give no new information?
- Will it all make sense when I finally get the best ending?
- Do I have to keep repeating the same fisrt room puzzle over and over and over?
- Does the sequel improve these mechanics?
- Why do I have to restart in the 4th ending? I didn’t die…
That’s probably the most frustrating part of the game: you think you’ve figured things out and picked all the right choices to get to that point, and then, bam, black screen. It sucks, I know, I’ve been there.
The thing is, the game has two “big” endings, one bad, one good, and you need to have played through the big bad ending before the game will let you proceed with the “true ending”. Which means, yes, that when you’ve finally played through that ending, you’ll have to replay the exact same path leading to the coffin room and finally see the “true ending”. I think the pay off makes it worth it, but yes, it’s pretty frustrating.
- Will it all make sense when I finally get the best ending?
Yes.
- Do I have to keep repeating the same fisrt room puzzle over and over and over?
Unfortunately, yes. I must have played that one a dozen times, and I don’t think I ever understood the logic behind the puzzle.
- Does the sequel improve these mechanics?
Considerably:
1) With the new flowchart feature, the game keeps track for you of the story paths you’ve explored and those you haven’t, and (more importantly) allows you to jump back to any decision node you’ve reached previously. So gone is the need to restart and replay the same sections over and over again to explore all the branches!
2) More puzzle rooms. In 999, different paths correspond to some combinations of rooms you’ve already played through. Not so in VLR, in which you’ll never have to play through the same room twice.
3) Each of the 9 main endings gives you some interesting info about (one of) the characters, and usually some bit of info you need to unlock another ending on another branch.
4) Most endings are behind “story locks” that can only be unlocked once you’ve played through some other ending. This allows the writers to have a much better control over how the player experiences the story (rather than stumbling upon this or that ending at random), and makes it stronger. This is like the coffin room, except on a much wider scale, and made infinitely less frustrating by the fact that you can jump across the story branches as will.
So VLR is a much more pleasant experience. Still, at this point, you should probably finish 999 first. You might want to use this spoiler-free flowchart if you’re getting tired of exploring paths at random.
ouuuch. Im afraid you have to play through 2 more times to get the true ending.
for your next playthrough you need to do:
door 5 -> 8 -> 6
for the true ending youre going to use the same door combination in your last playthrough with the coffin at the end, and make sure to answer questions the same way you did too, so:
door 4 -> 7 -> 1, and get the bookmark from santa, say its odd when they ask you why the ice didnt melt, when seven says “do you..” answer “know about ice9?”, and lastly give the bookmark to clover.
on the plus side you’ll have seen all the endings. But theres so much repetition. The final ending certainly makes a lot of veeery big reveals. For me it became too ridiculous and implausible, but many people like it.
wilco, I know how you feel.
After getting the sub ending twice in a row, I just looked for an even more spoiler-free flowchart to get all the bad endings first, then the “necessary” ending (the one you currently lack) and then the true ending (which counts as both the “coffin” and the “true” ending at once if you have the necessary “safe” ending).
Replaying can get tedious, but the true ending is absolutely worth it.
And it’s an absolute mindf%#@ too! 
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
Thanks for the feedback, sound like it’s worth it so I’m going to stick with it.
I’m liking the game but some design choices are frustrating. Yesterday I was screaming at the game “Open the coffin!!! Snake is probably in there! (Or not I have no idea at this point) - what? end? Back to open blue and red suitcases?...”
Glad to hear about VLR, sounds like it fixes the major problems I have with 999.
Just an update:
Got the ending I was missing and after that the true ending. The payoff was excellent by the end with most little stuff from the various paths falling into place.
Really felt like a refreshing adventure. Some of the mechanics were annoying but with VLR changing that it’s definitely one of my next games to play.
Also I laughed hard when the final puzzle ended up being a SUDOKU!!!
I loved 999 - one of my favorite adventure games of all time. I thought VLR was better - and the best part is, they are making a third!
The DS/3DS is getting huge sales of adventure games and the genre still sells millions of copies of adventure games as shown:
According to VGchartz - these are the 10 best selling adventure games:
1 Myst PC 1994 Adventure Broderbund
4.91
2.79
0.00
0.33
8.03
2 Professor Layton and the Curious Village DS 2007 Adventure Nintendo
1.18
2.33
1.03
0.51
5.05
3 Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box DS 2007 Adventure Nintendo
0.77
1.82
0.92
0.39
3.90
4 Professor Layton and the Unwound Future DS 2008 Adventure Nintendo
0.48
1.43
0.82
0.28
3.01
5 L.A. Noire PS3 2011 Adventure Take-Two Interactive
1.09
1.04
0.11
0.44
2.68
6 Riven: The Sequel to Myst PC 1997 Adventure Red Orb
1.52
0.82
0.00
0.10
2.43
7 Professor Layton and the Last Specter DS 2009 Adventure Nintendo
0.22
1.27
0.68
0.23
2.40
8 L.A. Noire X360 2011 Adventure Take-Two Interactive
1.31
0.81
0.02
0.25
2.39
9 Heavy Rain PS3 2010 Adventure Sony Computer Entertainment
0.97
0.86
0.06
0.36
2.26
10 Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney DS 2007 Adventure Capcom
0.23
0.01
0.64
0.02
0.90
It is interesting that the award winning games 999 and Ghost Trick sold about 300,000 copies each.
I would guess that VLR will sell in that range too - maybe more because it was released on the VITA as well as the 3DS.
I enjoy playing adventure games on my Alienware M17 r4 and my Nintendo Switch OLED.
Also I laughed hard when the final puzzle ended up being a SUDOKU!!!
Lol, I “spoiled” this last year (in the archives) because mentioning the type of puzzle doesn’t really spoil anything about the story (nor the puzzle, in fact).
My words were:
The funny thing is, when stripped to its essence, the entire point of the game was so you’d solve a sudoku…
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
Finally, a fresh thread for fellow-999/ZE: VLR fans! I’m currently playing VLR and out of the 17 endings, I’ve finished about 6 with most of them ending with “Game Over,” and so far I’ve only had one of the 9 main endings, the Clover Ending.
Quick question about the 999 endings though, it’s been bugging me for over a year now but I really want to go back and do it right. See, I’ve already gone through the REAL Ending, but I missed out on the “Alice Ending” (or the so-called sub-ending). How do I go there? It would seem that you have to do the exact same thing/same pattern as the real ending, but there should’ve been something that you DIDN’T do in order to get that one first. If I understood it correctly, I should do the (in proper order) Alice Ending > Bad Ending > Real Ending. However, since I’ve gone Bad Ending > Real Ending, I can’t get to the Alice Ending anymore. I haven’t played that game in over a year now so I’m not exactly familiar with the details any more but I could still remember the Submarine Ending wherein I’m pretty sure Ace pretended to be dead, killed June then pushed me down the water. As well as the Clover Ending and the Knife Ending. I hope you guys can help me out. Heck, if you have a YouTube video of it (I can’t find it anywhere), I’d be content to just watch it. Thanks!
@ McCoySmoove: I’m not entirely sure, but are you referring to the “incomplete” ending, where you’ve gone on the path of the “true” ending, but hadn’t done the necessary “safe” ending first, so you have to restart? Basically, that’s the ending OP was alluding to as his 4th.
If you are, then I don’t think it’s necessary to play it. If you’ve seen all the bad endings (“sub”, “knife” and “axe”) and did the “safe” ending, then the true ending gives you both the “coffin” (incomplete) ending and “true” ending.
The only difference is going to be one or two lines of dialogue giving you a “Game Over” because you don’t know the code you acquired in the “safe” ending.
It’s only an artificial means of keeping you from seeing the true ending if you haven’t done the safe ending first…
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
@ TimovieMan OH MY GOD. Seriously? That’s it? There was a part of me that didn’t want to start playing VLR until I go all the way back and do the Alice Ending first but I went ahead and bought the game anyway as soon as I got my 3DS. Thank you big time, man. That was such a relief knowing that I didn’t miss out on even a tiny bit of the storyline after all!
Gotta go back to my game, I just hit a “to be continued…” on the Luna Flow wherein I went ally, then ally, then the only living people left are me, Phi and a supposedly alive Quark WITHOUT his bracelet. Currently working on the Luna Flow where I betrayed her in the first round and is presently in the Pantry with Clover and Alice. Can’t wait to get all the endings!
Thanks again! 
im reading minimal posts in this thread as a precaution to not spoiling anything! (as i know how easy it is to get spoiled with these games). But wow, so far the mechanics changes in VLR are pretty huge. Not only are the puzzle rooms better, but having played through a few paths i havnt had to repeat a single puzzle room yet (unless i wanted to). Iv come to terms with the fact that the story is going to be ridiculous and far-fetched, and hopefully i’ll be pleasantly surprised by the end.
im reading minimal posts in this thread as a precaution to not spoiling anything! (as i know how easy it is to get spoiled with these games). But wow, so far the mechanics changes in VLR are pretty huge. Not only are the puzzle rooms better, but having played through a few paths i havnt had to repeat a single puzzle room yet (unless i wanted to). Iv come to terms with the fact that the story is going to be ridiculous and far-fetched, and hopefully i’ll be pleasantly surprised by the end.
Also playing VLR now, was surprised to see the 3D models at first and I’m still very early in the game but I’m liking the puzzle rooms and new mechanics so far (touch-screen navigation, archives, finally speeding up text!).
This is about 999, but creating a new thread is probably not worth it
Just finished VLR!!! 37 hours and so worth it!
It’s the crazy plot of 999 x1000! Like Memento, 12 Monkeys and… Sophie’s Choice? all bundled together 
They absolutely fixed everything that was wrong with 999 and also made better puzzles around solid gameplay. The original voice acting was a nice touch also.
Only things that I think were better were the character models (Why Flintstones Clover, circus Dio and naked Alice? )
I played it on the Vita but I’m guessing the 3DS version is the same.
Regarding the plot, a question:
Was Brother ever explained? I think they mentioned he also was a “jumper” but unless I missed it they never revealed his identity. For the sequel maybe?
Was Brother ever explained? I think they mentioned he also was a “jumper” but unless I missed it they never revealed his identity. For the sequel maybe?
thats definitely somthing theyr saving for the third game. And according to the devs, the third game is supposed to be the finale.
*bump* and *crosspost*
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (replay) - 4.5 / 5
Great story, interesting concept, and an awesome mindscrew of an ending.
Like a true visual novel, you’ll be spending a lot more time reading in ‘999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors’, than you’ll be actually playing. Fortunately, the “Nonary Game” (as it is called in-game) is a very intriguing and engrossing concept, and the writing for it is top notch (and that’s a good thing, because this game really is very text-heavy).
You’re immediately drawn into the story with the first “escape the room” puzzle and despite the fact that you have all the time in the world to solve the puzzles, the game gives you the illusion of danger and urgency. 999 excels at giving the impression that your character’s life really is at stake here, and you get sucked into the game even more because of that.
Once the plot for this game becomes apparent, you’ll have difficulty putting this game down. The premise is a really compelling one, and with the multitude of characters you’ll meet, it’s actually quite difficult to know how the game will unfold (and which of the characters can be trusted and which can’t). To make matters worse, the writer throws quite a few curve balls that leave you guessing all the way to the end of the game. Things are rarely as they seem, and the events in the game are guaranteed to pique your curiosity.
As an extra layer in the story, one of the characters has a history with your character (that’ll be gradually revealed), which leads to some emotional investment as well and makes the impact of the story a lot more poignant…
In general, the game consists out of two parts: there’s the “escape the room” puzzle sequences (there are a total of 16 rooms in the game), and then there’s the “story” parts where you’ll be reading about the events (and where you occasionally get to make a choice). The choices you make in the game determine which rooms you’ll enter (and consequently will have to escape from), and they will also determine which ending you get. There are a total of 6 endings in the game, most of them bad, one of them necessary to “unlock” the true ending, and then of course there’s the true ending - your goal in the game.
It’s definitely worth it to play through ALL the endings (not just the necessary one and the true ending), to get the maximum amount of info about the other characters and about the situation you’re in.
The downside of these multiple endings is the fact that you have to restart the game from scratch after an ending. While the game gives you the option to fast-forward through text that you’ve already read, you will have to replay most of the escape-sequences a few times (the very first one will even need to be replayed on EVERY playthrough). While these “escape the room” puzzles are extremely well-designed and pose a moderately difficult challenge the first time around, they can get tedious if you’re doing the same puzzle for the third or fourth (or more) time.
The other downside to the game is inherent to Japanese visual novels: some plot elements are explained ad nauseum, and some of the characters have a tendency to state the obvious at every turn, so part of the writing may feel redundant as a result. The humour in the game is relatively scarce, and half the time it fails as well (for instance: one character starts singing into a shower head because he believes it’s a microphone, and another character acts surprised as he thought the shower head was “a mushroom growing out of the wall”). I’m not sure if some of these “jokes” were lost in translation or not, but they’re definitely hit-and-miss.
But don’t let these small gripes discourage you, the story in this game IS going somewhere and once you work your way through to the true ending, its mindblowing conclusion will knock you off your feet.
The ending has quite a few twists in it and most of the assumptions you made throughout the game will be proven wrong. The main twist in the game is one that you won’t see coming, and it turns an already great game into something unforgettable…
All in all, this is one of my favourite games for the Nintendo DS…
As this was my second playthrough of the game, I didn’t complete *all* the endings this time around, just the bad “sub” ending, the necessary “safe” ending and the true ending. And I only played the “sub” ending because it allowed me to play every “escape the room” sequence in the game (I would have missed three of them otherwise).
Despite this being a replay for me, and despite skipping two bad ending playthroughs, I still clocked in at 16 hours total.
That means I probably got about 30 hours of gametime out of this the first time around. Not too shabby, imo, even if most of it was reading…
Next up: the sequel!
Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward
The one I bought a 3DS for… 
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
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