Zero Time Dilemma
This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (August 2016) |
Zero Time Dilemma | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Chime |
Publisher(s) | Spike Chunsoft
|
Director(s) | Kotaro Uchikoshi |
Artist(s) | Rui Tomono |
Writer(s) | Kotaro Uchikoshi |
Composer(s) | Shinji Hosoe |
Series | Zero Escape |
Platform(s) | Nintendo 3DS PlayStation Vita Microsoft Windows |
Release | Nintendo 3DS, PS Vita
|
Genre(s) | Adventure |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Zero Time Dilemma[a] is an adventure video game developed by Chime. It was released for Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita in June 2016, by Spike Chunsoft in Japan and Aksys Games in North America and Europe. A Microsoft Windows version was also released worldwide by Spike Chunsoft in June 2016. Zero Time Dilemma is the third entry in the Zero Escape series, following Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (2009) and Virtue's Last Reward (2012).
The game is directed and written by series creator Kotaro Uchikoshi, and features music by Shinji Hosoe and character designs by Rui Tomono. Uchikoshi had started planning the game's story in 2012, but its development was put on indefinite hiatus due to the commercial failure of the series in Japan. Development was later announced in 2015 to have resumed in response to high demand from the series' fan base. The story is set between the previous two games and intended to resolve all remaining mysteries from Virtue's Last Reward.
Gameplay
Zero Time Dilemma is an adventure game, and is divided into multiple chapters, representing 90-minute periods; each chapter consists of a narrative section, followed by an escape-the-room puzzle and a moral decision. Narrative sections are presented as three-dimensional animated cinematics, with camera movements and full voice acting in Japanese and English. The chapters, referred to as "fragments",[2] are chosen through the Floating Fragment system, in which the player gets to choose a fragment to play based on an image and a vague description of it.[3] The fragments can be played out of order; the characters lose their memory after each 90-minute period, and do not know where they are in the timeline. When the player completes a fragment, they are returned to the Floating Fragment screen, and the completed fragment is placed in a narrative flowchart, indicating where it takes place in the story.[2]
Plot
Setting and characters
In the fictional chronology of the Zero Escape series, Zero Time Dilemma is set between the events of Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue's Last Reward.[4] The setting is inside a facility intended to test the logistics of a Mars colony, and the psychology of the people living within the enclosed colony.[5] The game follows nine characters who have been locked up in an underground nuclear bomb shelter and are forced to play a death game called the Decision Game, which is led by a masked person known as Zero (D.C. Douglas). The shelter is divided into three sections, with three people placed in each section, making up three teams: C-Team, Q-Team, and D-Team. To get to the central elevator hall and escape, the characters need six passwords; one password is revealed each time one of them dies.[6] The characters are all wearing watches that inject them with a drug every 90 minutes, inducing memory loss.[2] Heavily involved in the game's lore is the many-worlds theory, where every decision made creates alternate universes where the opposite was chosen; these timelines make up the game's multiple routes.
C-Team includes Carlos, a firefighter with a strong sense of justice; Akane (Rena Strober), a member of a secret society working for a peaceful future, and who pretends to be a "neat and clean, ideal Japanese woman"; and Junpei, a childhood friend of Akane's, who has joined a detective agency to find her after she has not been heard from. Q-Team includes Q (Joni Goode), a naive amnesiac boy wearing a spherical helmet; Eric (Keith Silverstein), an ordinary ice cream shop clerk who easily cracks under pressure; and Mira (Rachel Kimsey), who does not show much emotion and is in a relationship with Eric. D-Team includes Diana (Eden Riegel), a pacifist nurse who dislikes fighting; Phi (Karen Strassman), an intelligent woman who participated in the colony together with Akane and Sigma to save the world from a deadly disease called Radical-6; and Sigma (Matthew Mercer), a 67-year-old man in the body of a 22-year-old. Additionally, there is a dog named Gab who is able to pass through vents between the sections to deliver messages between the teams.[6]
Synopsis
Nine people participate in the Dcom (Dwelling for Experimental Cohabitation of Mars) experiment, then are kidnapped by a masked individual known as Zero, who forces them to play a coin toss. If they win, they will be set free; if they lose, Zero will force them to play the Decision Game, where if six participants die, the rest receive passwords to escape through a door that will only open once, trapping any who don't go through in time.
In the timeline where they win the coin toss, they are set free, with no memory of what just occurred. In the timeline where they lose, then awaken in a facility separated into three wards. Carlos, Junpei, and Akane are placed in ward C, Diana, Sigma, and Phi in ward D, and Q, Mira, and Eric in ward Q. Zero says that every 90 minutes, their bracelets will inject them with an anesthetic and an amnesia-inducing drug. At this point, each team is required to vote for another team. The team who gets the most votes will be executed. Teams that abstain will automatically be executed.
In a timeline where Q-Team is executed, Phi is killed, and Sigma and Diana are trapped in the facility. They discover a transporter device, which they use to send themselves to another timeline. However, their original selves remain in the current timeline. The transporter must recharge for 10 months. Over time, Sigma and Diana start a relationship. Diana gives birth to fraternal twins, a boy and a girl whom they name Delta and Phi. They use the recharged transporter to send the twins to the past where they will be safe from Zero.
In a timeline where the other participants die and Mira escapes, the boy in the helmet learns that he is a robot named Sean, created by Zero to help run the Decision Game. Zero tells Sean the code to remove his helmet.
In a timeline where D-Team is executed, Carlos and Akane find Junpei's dismembered corpse in the pantry. If Carlos accuses Akane of the murder, she cuts off his hand, removing the injection bracelet. Carlos kills her in self-defense. Later, Q-Team finds that Mira has been strangled. In a rage, Eric destroys the escape door's password input console with a shotgun.
In another timeline, C-Team plays the Ambidex Game, a version of the prisoner's dilemma. Carlos is able to send his consciousness back to before the Ambidex Game. Akane realizes that Carlos has the ability to perform Spacetime Human Internal Fluctuating Transfer, or SHIFT, so she creates a life-or-death situation, which, combined with resonance from Carlos's ability, enables all three to SHIFT. C-Team attempts to obtain passwords in one timeline and use them in another timeline to escape, but Zero sends Sean to attack them for the rule violation. Carlos SHIFTS to the timeline where Akane cut off his hand.
There, Carlos sees a vision that enables him to notify Q-team of a hidden yellow door, and later Q-Team finds the words "Twins' Birthday" on the door. Sigma and Diana are transported to this timeline. Diana sees a vision of the Twins' Birthday hint and unlocks the yellow door from the other side. They reach the sleeping-pod room and awaken Eric and Sean, finding the others' dead bodies. Eric, armed with a shotgun, demands to know who killed Mira. Carlos claims innocence because he was in C Ward, but with knowledge from another timeline, Diana realizes that the wards are not separate, and there is only one lounge, which uses projection mapping to hide the hallways to the other wards. They discover that only one team is active at a time, while the other teams are asleep in the pod room.
Carlos learns how to use the transporter, then goads Eric into killing him so he can SHIFT back to where Sean attacked C-Team. After Eric kills Carlos, Sean reveals that Zero is Delta, a.k.a. Q, the wheelchair-bound, deaf, blind, and mute man who was with the others in Dcom. Q has always been with Q-Team, but off-camera from the player's perspective. Delta stands and speaks. He admits to killing Mira. Sean leads them to the quantum computer to open the escape door, and Delta tells Sean the code to access the computer, but then Delta controls Eric's body, making Eric shoot himself after killing everyone but Diana.
In another timeline, Phi is infected with Radical-6, a virus that causes suicidal intention in 75% of people, causing the events that lead to Virtue's Last Reward. During this timeline, Junpei and Akane learn that Zero is Brother, and he caused the Radical-6 outbreak in the hope of killing a religious fanatic who would cause humankind's extinction. Radical-6 would allow 2 billion people to survive instead. Carlos rescues Junpei and Akane in this timeline, and Akane uses a bracelet to give Junpei amnesia, then vows to use the Ambidex Game to prevent the Radical-6 outbreak.
In the timeline where all participants survive, the SHIFTers in each team recall their memories from other timelines while attempting to unlock a Force Quit Box in the lounge. Delta, armed with a shotgun, says he ran the Decision Game to ensure his and Phi's birth, and to cause epigenetic changes in Sigma and Diana, giving Phi the ability to SHIFT and Delta the ability to read minds and briefly control others' bodies. After disarming Delta, they activate the Force Quit Box, which starts the facility's self-destruct sequence. Delta makes Eric shoot him, then dies before he can tell the participants their final decision.
Akane realizes they all can SHIFT because of the other SHIFTers' resonance. However, they can only SHIFT to where they won the coin toss, sacrificing their other selves in the explosion. After some debate, they SHIFT. They threaten to call the police on Delta, but he points out that he has committed no crime in this timeline, and he removed all incriminating evidence from the facility. Delta says there will be no Radical-6 outbreak, so mankind will go extinct, but the participants are determined to change the future. Delta admits that one of his goals was to get them into this frame of mind.
Delta gives Carlos a handgun, with the choice of killing Delta or letting him live, saying mankind's fate is on the line. Carlos aims the gun, and the game ends.
Development
Zero Time Dilemma was developed by Chime,[7] and is directed and written by Kotaro Uchikoshi,[8] with music composed by Shinji Hosoe.[9] Uchikoshi first mentioned details of a third Zero Escape game in 2012,[10] stating that it would be the last entry in the series.[11] In June 2013, he said that he had finished planning the story, but that development had not yet begun.[12] In February 2014, it was announced that the project was put on hold indefinitely in response to the series' poor commercial reception in Japan.[13][14] Uchikoshi examined the possibility of financing the development through the use of crowdfunding on a website like Kickstarter, but felt that the idea would not be persuasive enough for it to meet the goal; he also sought out opportunities with executives and investors.[13] The series' fandom created Operation Bluebird, an online campaign to raise awareness of the series and support the game's development, in response to its hiatus.[15][16] At the 2015 Anime Expo in July, Aksys Games announced that development of the third game had been resumed,[17] citing the high demand and awareness for the game as key factors for its reevaluation.[5] By March 2016, development was 80% finished.[9] The porting of the game to Microsoft Windows was handled by a Japanese developer, with consultation from Abstraction Games.[18]
The game's characters were designed by Rui Tomono; Uchikoshi had considered asking Kinu Nishimura, the character designer for the previous two games in the series, to return, but wanted to show that the series had changed significantly. He also felt that, as the production had moved from backgrounds and drawn characters to 3D cinematics, "more impressive design" was needed, and that Tomono's designs were likely to be accepted outside Japan while still having a "Japan-like touch".[9] Zero's character design was also changed to suit the story's focus on a virus; the character wears a plague doctor mask as opposed to a gas mask in the previous games.[19] Two puzzle creators were enlisted with designing the escape-the-room scenarios; Uchikoshi described one of them as creating "orthodox" puzzles, and the other as creating "unique and out-of-the-box" types of puzzles. He gave them a rough idea of what he wanted each puzzle to convey and how he wanted them to resolve. The puzzle designers would come up with a draft, which he would finalize together with them.[20] Uchikoshi stated that the budget partly dictated the game's setting in an enclosed space as it required few assets to develop.[21]
Story and themes
The game was originally planned to be developed simultaneously with the previous game in the Zero Escape series, Virtue's Last Reward,[22] with the two games being "paired as a set",[23] and with Virtue's Last Reward having a cliffhanger ending.[14] With Zero Time Dilemma, Uchikoshi intended to resolve all mysteries left from the previous game, as well as all introduced in the third,[23] while also attempting to make the story enjoyable for first-time players.[9] This was used as a "basic framework" to write the story within. In addition to figuring out how to explain the mysteries while avoiding contradictions with Virtue's Last Reward, they added side stories to the narrative to give it "a little extra punch". They also took the time-travel ability some characters in Virtue's Last Reward have into consideration, as it opened up for more narrative possibilities. Uchikoshi worked with two other writers; the three helped each other come up with ideas and figure out the best ways to make the story work.[21] When coming up with the story, he knew from the start that he wanted Sigma, Phi and Diana to be on one team, and Akane on another; this left open slots in the teams, which were filled with other characters as story development progressed.[24] The script took one year to write.[20] While Uchikoshi had already had an idea for the setting and events of Zero Time Dilemma when writing Virtue's Last Reward, the game structure changed when the time came to implement it. One reason was that characters "take on a life of their own and make their own decisions" when he writes from their point of view, and that characters might pull the story in a different direction than he had originally planned; most of the time, he would let the story go where the characters want to go rather than forcing it to follow his original plans, leading to changes in story and structure.[21]
The game's main theme is morality, and it is the game in the series with the largest focus on philosophy; Uchikoshi intends to have the player's "way of thinking, values, [and] virtues" shaken intensely while they play the game.[23] The "dilemma" in the game's title reflects this, as the game asks the player whether choices they make are the right thing to do.[9] Another main theme is identity, and how people try to figure out who they are. This came from Uchikoshi's personal struggles with identity issues: he said that he is "always thinking about who [he is]" and that he thinks he might have a multifaceted personality; his characters, like him, deal with this issue.[21] Among other major themes are "multiple-probability histories", with the player being able to move between different equally probable histories depending on the choices they have made;[20] and the big effects small coincidences can have, which was reflected in the use of randomizing events. The idea to include randomization came from how Uchikoshi wanted to "spoiler-proof" the game, and felt that FAQ websites that tell players how to beat the game make playthroughs uninteresting.[19] He had always been fascinated by the concept of coincidences, and how actions done in the past lead up "where we are today", so he did a lot of research and reading on the topic to prepare writing the story.[21] The theme of no absolute good or evil came from Buddhist literature Uchikoshi had read, particularly the Zen Buddhist idea of "shiki soku zeku", which he described as "matter is void and form is emptiness". Because of this idea, Uchikoshi tried to give each character "their own sense of personal justice that they believe to be true", resulting in characters with different philosophies who play off each other.[19]
While previous Zero Escape titles tell their narratives through visual novel segments, Zero Time Dilemma replaces them with cinema scenes,[3] intended to feel familiar for Western players and "emulate the feel of a big-budget American TV show". To further this effect, the option to turn off the subtitles was included.[22] Due to this more cinematic approach, Uchikoshi was able to make use of his experience with writing the anime series Punch Line (2015).[21] The inspirations for the change in format were the Telltale Games adventure game series The Walking Dead (2012–)[3] and the Level-5 adventure game Time Travelers (2012).[24] Uchikoshi said that this would make for a lower barrier of entry for people not necessarily interested in visual novels,[22] and that mass appeal is important to Spike Chunsoft, as just a Japanese audience is not enough for the production of adventure games.[3] The non-linear and episodic nature of the game's chapters was done to appeal to more casual players and people new to the series, as they can uncover the story at their own pace without being "railroaded into doing one storyline from start to finish".[22] The use of fragments added some challenge to writing the story: Uchikoshi had to be careful when planning the progression of the story, as changes to one fragment would also affect the fragments surrounding it. When breaking the story up into fragments, he considered what would be the most entertaining for players.[21]
In response to feedback from players, Zero Time Dilemma is planned to be more suspenseful than Virtue's Last Reward:[25] Uchikoshi and the game's producer decided that, as Zero Time Dilemma is the final Zero Escape game, they should no longer hold back and instead do what they had always wanted to do. Because of the life-and-death theme, they felt that there would be less of an impact if they had held back, and that they instead should make the violence in the game "extreme" to make the player's choices hit home.[19] According to Uchikoshi, the development team wanted the player to feel worried, and that the game would be done as he wants it without any changes done for the sake of age ratings:[9] they had originally considered aiming for a CERO D age rating – 17 years or older – but decided to aim for a Z age rating instead, which is the highest age rating in Japan, as they felt they could not get the visual and emotional impact they wanted within a D rating.[19] Despite this, CERO ended up assigning the game a D rating.[26]
Promotion and release
In March 2015, Aksys Games launched the website 4infinity.co, which consisted of a countdown timer;[27] the countdown ended in July, coinciding with the game's announcement at Anime Expo.[17] The game's title and logo were revealed in October,[28] and in December, a teaser Twitter account was launched, revealing artwork of characters from the game.[29] The game was unveiled during a presentation in March 2016.[30] For the Japanese release, the English series title, Zero Escape, is used instead of the Kyokugen Dasshutsu (極限脱出, "Extreme Escape") title used for previous Japanese releases, as the developers wanted to renew the series' image and bring over the Western title to Japan.[9]
Unlike previous Zero Escape games, the game was localized alongside the production of the Japanese version:[17] it was published by Aksys Games for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita in North America and Europe on June 28, 2016, with a Japanese release following on June 30.[31] The PlayStation Vita version is compatible with the PlayStation TV.[32] The Nintendo 3DS version does not support the system's stereoscopic 3D effect.[33] A Microsoft Windows version was released worldwide by Spike Chunsoft on June 30, 2016.[34][35][36] The game is available both digitally and physically on the Nintendo 3DS and the PlayStation in North America, and digitally only in Europe.[28]
In North America, a limited edition that includes a wristwatch is planned to be released.[37] Because the watches were damaged in transit, they have been delayed, and are planned to be sent separately from the game, along with some sort of bonus as compensation.[38] Japanese pre-ordered copies came bundled with the 48-page Zero Escape: Premium Booklet, which includes production material, illustrations by Tomono, summaries of the previous two Zero Escape games, and a prequel written by Uchikoshi;[39] a digital edition of the booklet was bundled with the Microsoft Windows release, together with a "mini-OST".[40] Aksys plans to localize the booklet, but also sells it separately.[36] Aksys is also considering releasing other merchandise based on the game.[32]
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 84/100 (Vita)[41] 83/100 (3DS)[42] 75/100 (PC)[43] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Destructoid | 9.5/10[44] |
Electronic Gaming Monthly | 9/10[45] |
Famitsu | 32/40[46][47] |
Game Informer | 8.75/10[48] |
GamesRadar+ | [49] |
IGN | 9.2/10[50] |
Nintendo World Report | 7.5/10[51] |
Polygon | 8/10[52] |
Metro | 8/10[53] |
Zero Time Dilemma has been met by "generally favorable reviews" on all platforms, according to the review aggregator Metacritic.[41][42][43] During its opening week in Japan, it sold 5,375 copies on the PlayStation Vita and 3,916 copies on the Nintendo 3DS, for a total of 9,291 copies sold.[54] It was the third best selling digital PlayStation Vita game of June 2016 in Europe, despite being released three days before the end of the month.[55]
Famitsu's four reviewers enjoyed the game's setup of three different teams and non-chronological plot progression, with the player getting a greater understanding of the story as they play; one of them said that learning what was going on in the fragments was "fantastic", and that they liked the emphasis on "interpersonal human drama". Another of them commented that the "light banter" dialogue is helpful in motivating the player. One of them said that the game would be enjoyable even for players who have not played previous entries in the series.[46]
The reviewers at Famitsu noted that the puzzle rooms were challenging and fun, but wished that the game had included a hint function for people who primarily play the game for the story; one of the reviewers also commented that the way the player uses items is difficult at some points. They appreciated how the puzzle rooms, unlike many other escape-the-room games, do not feel artificial.[46] IGN praised the "inventive" puzzles, "stellar" storytelling, darker tone, decisions and consequences, "beautiful character moments," and "mind-bending plot."[50] Metro praised the "excellent script" and said it is "one of the best narrative-driven video games" they've "ever played," and "a milestone in video game storytelling, pushing it forwards in terms of thematic complexity and decision-making".[53]
Destructoid called the game a "hallmark of excellence" ruined only by the "abysmal presentation" of the cut scenes.[44] One reviewer at Famitsu liked how the game allows the player to skip past already viewed cutscenes, while another commented that the cutscenes are not perfectly lip-synched to the Japanese voice acting.[46] Metro said the "voice-acting can be of variable quality and the animation is very low tech."[53]
Notes
References
- ^ "【先出し週刊ファミ通】『極限脱出』シリーズついに完結! 『ZERO ESCAPE 刻のジレンマ』ニンテンドー3DS&PS Vitaで発売決定(2016年3月10日発売号)". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2016-03-08. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
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- ^ Spencer (2013-05-29). "999 And Virtue's Last Reward Creator Chats About Suspenseful Visual Novels". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
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