Zero Escape 2: Virtue's Last Reward

[Elija2]

You might want to put a case on your Vita if you're gonna be chucking it every time someone dies.

How are you finding the puzzle rooms? I know you hated them in the first game.

[Hakudamashi]

Not anyone, just Luna

Aha, but back then I had a hatred of puzzle games in general cause I was impatient, but since then I trained myself to obtain a mind more tolerable to "figuring things out" with games like Portal, the LoZ and Metroid franchises, etc. I got dis now.

And I gotta say, unlike other Point n' Click(Or Tap, as it were) games where you can solve the puzzle by just clicking/tapping randomly everywhere, this game requires you to have a well thought out plan and keen observation before you proceed, and these are solutions that make sense, fuck you easy mode, you suck and noone wants you.

Although I must question the rationale of the pool stick in the Rec Room. I mean, you get a ppol stick, and there's a pool table in the room, so naturally I assumed the 2 would be related, but NOPE, you use de stick to fuse with a wrench to make a key for a coin box for a children's ride...
But other than that's, it's been good so far... Quark scares me now...

[Elija2]

Yeah, the only people I trusted at the beginning were Moony and Phido. I didn't even trust Cleaver because I knew the shit she pulled in the last game.

I must admit, I did use the easy mode to figure out the alternate solutions to some of the puzzles to get the secret documents. Some of the puzzles are really obtuse and not explained well. Two in particular I was stuck on for at least an hour before giving in and switching to easy mode.

[Hakudamashi]

So IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!!!!!
I told K to fuck off and picked Betray, but he didn't mind it too much, I was left unsatisfied...
We found Captain Quark in a tube, I wanted to torch him, but K said no...
Then we found out The lion tamer dude killed the old lady, that jerk. So I sent my robot at him and locked him up in a pod. That'll learn him >=U
Cleavage and Gurmpygramps went missing, so we had to split up and find 'em, but more importantly, K's backstory, or at least some of it... It's quite the beautiful story, made me feels for the dude, *sob*
Then a phantom killed Dio in his tube, normally I'd rejoice, but without him, Phi n' Potassium can't progress, and they'll be executed, and I'll be sad.
Will not-Junpei be able to figure out how to save them before the door closes? Where are tits and blueshirt? Why is Luna not my wife?

Find out all the answers... later, cause I'm done for the night...

[Elija2]

I already know all the answers.

[Hakudamashi]

Well, I got one of the endings that actually has ending credits and a piano song playing, but alot of sh*t went down and I need time to sort out my thoughts
So instead, here's a picture of Luna cause she's awesome and snuggable.

[Elija2]

And so it begins...

Also, the dude who wrote these games has a swimsuit fetish. I believe it's actually pointed out in one of the secret documents and is personified by Sigma who occasionally makes lewd remarks involving swimsuits. There is also official art of Phi and Clover in swimsuits floating around (pun intended) out there. Not Alice though, but I guess her clothes couldn't get more skimpy. I'm slightly upset by there being official art of Luna in a swimsuit. It just doesn't seem like something she would ever wear.

[Hakudamashi]

I'm slightly upset by there being official art of Luna in a swimsuit. It just doesn't seem like something she would ever wear.

coughunlessshewasorderedtocough. Besides, it looks good on her >=U

So like, does this game do multiple character specific endings and some bad endings in conjunction with a true ending? Or is there still a one true ending?

[Elija2]

So like, does this game do multiple character specific endings and some bad endings in conjunction with a true ending? Or is there still a one true ending?

There is one true ending, but I won't say more than that.

[Hakudamashi]

Well, I wanted to continue the game again, but as per Eli's request, I'm gonna chronicle all of my play sessions with the game, and if I continue it now I may forget some of the things I did prior...

So, IN ANOTHER UNIVERSE TIMELINE
This time, I decided to go to the Gaulem area with Alice and  Luna . I think it's high time Dio and K settle their differences anyway =P
This is the time where I wish I got the 3DS version, this game needs a stylus, cause there's this certain cabinet under a computer that I needed to get, but because my fingers are quite large, I keep tapping the computer itself rather than the cabinet. This very issue made other puzzle rooms carry on a tad longer than I would've liked...
Anyway, solved the puzzle room, got the gold secret file(fuck yeah) and GTFO'd.
But then we got stopped by Yangus A robot with an accent who told us about the birds and the bees if ya know what I mean 8D, then he exploded... This is a sad day for DQ8 fans...

AMBIDEX ROOM TIME!!! But first we had to search for Quark... I know where he is, but because of timeline bullshit, I'm prevented from telling these bloke to go to where he is... But alas, we had to search... and K took Luna with him... I'll end him. Well, at least I got more quality time with Phi, and that's just as precious . Apparently she likes food, good to know, food is good and keeps you alive.Noone could find Quark to my annoyance, but we did find a dead body... Alice's to be exact... She was too hot for this world I suppose. Then Cleavage got all angst and jolted off, like she's never seen a dead body before or something, the wimp.

Then it was time to vote.My opponent was Luna , so of course I chose Ally, cause c'mon, regardless of my promise to her, which cold hearted monster would even think to betray this gentle soul? Itou that's who, and I hate him  .
Phi unleashed her inner Samus Aran and won 69 internets, while Cleavage and Temni bickered about...something. But now we searched for Quark... again.... even though I know where he is... They won't even let me go with Luna this time to make this search more pleasant, instead I go with the almost equally as awesome Phi who's always fun to chat to, she makes the trip worth it .
We found the next set of chromatic doors, Dio's still acting suspicious, and K told us that Luna 's dead...

And Cleavage n' Temni are missing... Can this day get any more shit?

But anywho, drama happened about opening the doors, tl;dr, K decked Phi n' Sigma cause they got cold feet.
Then to the Security Room we went, where I really wish I had a stylus ._.
But anyway, got the gold file, and the key, but thanks to Yangu...er... the Golem Gaulem robot with the funny accent from earlier, we gots info on the motherfuckers who killed Alice and Luna , then Sigma's brain stopped working... well shit...
After, we went to look for Cleavage and Temni... and we found them... I think you know where I'm going with this...
Soooooooooooooooo, we went to look for Dio and K...and we found them.... eeyup... that armour is apparently just for show after all...
Sooooooooooooooooooooo, Phi n' Sigma got tense, which I mean Sigma was being a pussy, and Phi had to keep her pimp hand strong.
We poked around in the Director's room and found a computer which I knew the username and password to, cause NOW he wants to use the power to manipulate the timeline...
So we found out Luna 's a robot... She really was too good to be true... But now she "lives" again, and that made me happy.

VOTE TIME!!!
Phi n' I had to choose to either Ally or Betray Luna ... but... even if she is a robot, even if she is under Zero's control, even if she may be responsible for all this, she was still Luna , nay, my Luna , and there was no way I could bring myself to ever betray her, ever. And guess what, she did the same, she believed in me as I believed in her, and I got a tad giddy when I saw "999", made me feel like I made the right choice. Now Phi and Sigma had enough M'cguffins to escape, but first, we gotta find Quark, we haven't seen his dead body, ergo, he must be alive. And so said so done.
Phi wanted to leave with Sigma n' Quark, but fuck that, either I leave with Luna , or I don't leave at all. But Phi did get out, and that made me happy and relieved...

I found Luna , and we had a nice long and hard talk. I proposed to her and she said yes, then we used the dragon balls to make her human, and we had many beautiful children together and lived happily ever after.

THE END?

That last part was bullshit btw.

[Elija2]

You can't use the thumbstick to manually move a pointer around the screen and select things? You can in the 3DS version.

And I'm surprised you got Luna's ending so soon. It was one of the last ones that I got (it was the first path that I took but I didn't know the credentials to the computer). I was hoping you wouldn't have gotten it until near the end too because I found you lusting over someone you didn't know to be a robot to be pretty funny.

[Hakudamashi]

You can't use the thumbstick to manually move a pointer around the screen and select things? You can in the 3DS version.

Oh you can, you most certainly can, but it's got some sensitivity issues, and it twitches like a guy trippin on acid. The slightest tap in one direction sends it half-way across the screen. Not to mention it seems to have an issue with picking up changes in direction...

Also can I just say that my least favourite character so far is Sigma? I find his overractions and his need to lash out at people to be unfunny and annoying... To me, he's a step down from Junpei.

It also appears to me that this cast is...um... "less intelligent" than the 999 cast.

[Elija2]

That's weird, the sensitivity on the 3DS version was totally fine.

I liked Junpei better too. Better get used to Sigma though because I think he'll be returning in the third game.

And explain what you mean by "less intelligent". Phi, Alice, and Luna are pretty smart, and Quark's a kid so what do you expect.

[Hakudamashi]

If I recall correctly, whenever the cast of 999 entered a puzzle, through their dialogue they clearly show how well educated they were by talking about all this science stuff, and I don't remember anyone having to explain much of anything, most of the explanations came from Junpei's inner thoughts since he too understood what was going on.

But in this game... well... noone knew what a drink mixer was until after they tried it out?
Mind you it doesn't bother me too much, but still, other than Quark, these are supposed to be adults...


But I think I did figure one thing that is bugging me about this game. Maybe it's just me, but isn't there a lot less banter in the puzzle rooms? Before, whenever something went right or wrong Junpei would make smartass remarks, or a joke, and your partners would respond and converse for a bit, and they got fleshed out more. In fact, wasn't it in a puzzle room where Santa made a remark about Lotus' outfit?
But in this one, they simply just acknowledge that something happened, or didn't happen, then they just move on. Character development is done strictly in the novel sections.

Or was 999 like that too and I'm just remembering wrong?

[Elija2]

Yeah, you're kinda right. I think they may have dumbed this game down a bit to appeal to a greater audience. The writer himself even said that he was forced to make this game less violent than 999 because that game was apparently too gory for some people. As I said before though, characters like Phi, Alice, and Luna seem to know what they're doing. Also, I will say that the ending to this game is more confusing than 999's and requires more thought to understand it.

And you're right again that there is less banter in the puzzle rooms compared to 999, but there is still a decent amount of banter and character development being made there. I'd give examples, but I don't want to spoil things you may not have come across yet. In 999 certain dialog choices that you made in the puzzle rooms (which were fairly obvious) could unlock different endings, so that contributed to character development as well. I'm glad they took that out because it was kinda pointless. "Oh, a four-leaf clover bookmark? Nah, I won't take it with me even though I have no reason not to."