Zero Time Dilemma

 

The finale towards the Zero Escape trilogy, thanks to the support of fans including me, Zero Time Dilemma was able to get developed and released. And it ends with satisfaction on a large note.

It has been a big time adventure so to speak, where characters would had to shift with history and thoughts in order to reach the games´s twists and bendings. This time, it´s both a sequel and a prequel, plus the main game within the game is now called the Decision Game, where characters will have to decide on difficult choices in order to progress, or to have zero escape.

Fan favorites Junpei, Akane, Phi and Sigma return from Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue´s Last Reward, while Diana, Q, Mira and Eric are more or less new faces. In order to uncover the truth, or various truths, the player and the characters will have to shift through several histories in order to reach the goal, understand the Decision Game´s principles and reveal Zero II´s true identity.

Zero Time Dilemma this time has integrated pleasant harmonic puzzle rooms in the sense that they make sense logically, but the lack of a hint system unlike previous entries makes it also the most challenging and cryptic, as there are plenty of passwords to pass through, next to the puzzle rooms themselves.

Another issue which was poorly received by the audience are the stiff and desynchronized animated cut scenes, where the lips would not always match what was being said, and the movement of the bodies would be unnatural. Other than those two negativities, it is the darkest and most mature of the trilogy, with heavy emotions and the traditional gore scenes amplifying your immersion with them.

Seeming as there are several big conclusions to reach, the comedy from 999 and to a lesser extent VLR has almost completely disappeared, but that´s okay. Connecting all of the dots with the reveal of Delta and his various aliases, Phi´s true parents and the whole framework of time travelling makes Zero Time Dilemma a very worthy ending to the trilogy, and it ends with ambiguity.

With a slick designed presentation it´s worth the trip, but personally I was dissapointed to see the new behavior and the new appearances of Junpei/Tenmyouji and Akane/June in particular, as if they were different persona's.

Rating: 8.4