999 is game that everyone needs to play, this is just amazing.
The story is creepy, compelling, and totally perfect. I'll get one thing straight: it is crazy. By crazy, I mean, "Holy ****, did that actually happen?", and "What does this mean?!", and by those I mean it is awesome. A basic summary would be hard to find, but this is the story in a nutshell: You are a 21-year old man on a sinking ship with 8 other people and you need to find your way out before you drown. Sounds simple, right? Well, no it isn't.
There's a reason you're on that ship: you've been kidnapped by some psycho named Zero, and you and the eight others are being forced to play the Nonary game on that sinking ship. You have a bomb in your small intestine that will go off if you break the rules of the game and in order to escape you have to seek a door with the #9. Oh, and you have nine hours to escape, and since the time is 9:00 p.m., you have until 6 a.m. God, what a mouthful that was. I hope I never have to do that again.
If this sounds the least bit interesting to you, it gets better. What you (possibly) will experience are a few betrayals, some gruesome deaths, a decent amount of f-bombs, a few funny innuendo moments, many interesting real-life facts that somehow tie into the story, a few important decisions that could get you out or get you killed, and six awesome (and unique) endings. All of this comes together into an incredible narrative filled with excellent dialogue and many shocking twists. The only complaints is that some of the plot twists are kind of obvious, making some mildly important events too easy to figure out. That, and the text sequences occasionally drag. However, that doesn't stop me from giving the story a perfect score.
This game just isn't all story, though. In between the long text sequences are exploration/adventure segments that are not only suitably challenging, but are incredibly satisfying. The premise of it all is you're trapped in a room or two and you need to "seek a way out," as the game puts it. The exit is always a locked door, and you need to unlock it somehow. Finding your way out will not be easy, though. It takes lots of brains and memorization to get past these toughies. You need to find/combine items to help you, solve plenty of logical puzzles, and unlock that door.
All of this is controlled by the touch screen. There's no specific function that needs to be performed, you just point and click. It controls very well, though are occasionally unresponsive. The puzzles are quite unique, too.
Throughout the game, you'll be playing baccarat and slot machines, spinning a wheel, putting together mannequin boy parts to get a specific weight (Don't even think about it), doing a round of Sudoku, and using various items for lots of things. Overall, the gameplay is a lot of fun, but suffers from some repetition during multiple playthroughs. Still, this gets another high score.
There are three parts to these graphics:
Full-Motion video
Artwork
Animation
And all three are incredibly well done. The video is the first (and best) part of the whole graphical style of the game. The people doing these graphics is MobiClip, who also did the Kingdom Hearts DS games and the relatively new Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, both games known for having great graphics. The results here are no different: it's quite amazing. Sure, the color is dreary, but in motion, opening doors and more looks incredible.
The next part involves the artwork, which is done by former Capcom artist, Kinu Nishimura. The character designs look great, and in many situations, amazing. But what brings them to life is the beautifully done sprite animation. There may only be a few of them, but (like the video) it's fantastic. With all three combined, the game has a great look that exceed very well in all three categories. Another high score.
There's a lot to say about the sound, because like the graphics, it's awesome. Firstly, let me say there's no voice acting, even if it looks like the game could hold it. Is that a problem? Nope. You'll forget about that issue within a minute. Ok, the sound effects are very, very realistic, and add to the creepy mood of the game. From the opening of doors, to the unlocking of keys, the numerous ruffles and rumbles, and, heck, even the splattering blood, these are some of the best sounds on the DS.
The music is even better. The soundtrack consists of many synthesized pieces the equals every situation in the game, but there are a few pieces that include piano and some rock and roll, and those are the best in the game. I loved all of the songs in the game; I mean it. I even listen to some of those songs on Youtube while I do my daily crap, so, yeah, it's that good.
……………………….. Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just trying to think of something to say about the replayability of this game. Why? Well, it's hard to describe it. I mean, you are not gonna want to put this game down until all the endings are unlocked which will take several hours and at least six playthroughs. But what if you cheat and just find the true ending first and the game ends there? (BTW: That's not a good idea, I recommend finding the other five endings to understand the whole game, and then get the true ending) I guess that changes things. But what if you just buy the game, regret doing so, and throw it in a highway ditch? That, too, can happen……………….. (Ok, I'm starting to get ridiculous. Let's just do the first decision).
Because there are six endings, it will take an extensive amount of time to finish the game. After those seemingly endless hours are up, what's next? Well, nothing actually. There's nothing to do after you beat the entire game, except replay those puzzle segments and maybe the whole game again (I doubt you'll do the latter). So, because of the multiple endings in this game, it's definitely got a lot of replayability, but there's little to do after you beat it.
999, was a giant, uh…, a, giant, well, a giant. It has everything you'd expect from a visual novel, and then some. Not only that, but this is a game everyone (and I mean everyone) needs to experience. It's such an awesome game, I just can't stop loving it (lol, Michael Jackson reference). If you have a DS, this is a game that needs to be in your collection. If you're even slightly into games with awesome stories, this is the one you need to get. 999 is one of my favorite video games of all time. Now all I need to do is get a 3DS and wait for the announcement of Aksys localizing this game for late 2012. Let's do this!
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 9.5/10
Story: 10/10
Sound/Music: 9.5/10
Replay Value: 9/10
Overall: 9.5/10
+ Chilling, yet compelling, sorry; the best I've ever experienced in a video game.
+ Satisfying puzzle segments with unique concepts.
+ Beautiful artwork and awesome graphics.
+ Fantastic sound effects and music.
+ Six endings provide a lot of replay value.
- Can be a bit repetitive when finding different endings.
FINAL WORDS: I'm gonna tell everyone I know to get this game. They need to know about 999. EVERYONE HAS TOO!!!
The Life Memo Review, Feb. 4th, 2012