999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors. New DS Visual Novel From The Writer Of Ever 17

[4as]

@MidoriHiME Have you already check the answers?

[MidoriHiME]

Originally Posted by 4as

@MidoriHiME Have you already check the answers?

Yes, yes I have. They were more like things I found unnecessary than actual questions (besides the question about multiple timelines, which I think I finally understand). Thanks anyway though!

[VDZ]

Originally Posted by VDZ

That's an interesting question to ask. It's a more complicated version of what I've already explained about 999 on another board.

Spoiler for Major Ever17 spoilers:

Okay, let's see if I can make this clear in one try.

In the Ever17 timeline, 2034 LeMU is built after 2017. Let's call the building of 2034 LeMU 'Event A'.
Event A is caused by another event, namely that You'Haru establishes contact with Blick Winkel. Let's call this 'Event B'.
Blick Winkel takes notice of a specific timeline. Let's call Blick Winkel taking notice of this timeline 'Event C'.

The basic structure of the causality of these events is as following:
-Event B causes Event A.
-Event A causes Event C.
-Event C causes Event B.
In other words, the causality goes in a loop, B->A->C->B->A->C->B->A->C->etc.

To make this possible, there are two solutions:
1) There exists only one timeline, and all events on that timeline are predetermined. Causality is not a problem here, as the future event will take place with certainty and is therefore a completely valid cause. A future cause can have a past effect. However, Ever17 does not use this idea.
2) There are entities with free will, or there is randomness (or both), so depending on the actions of those entities or the randomness, the timeline splits into different branches whenever an action is taken or a random thing happens. In this case, neither A, nor B, nor C has happened, and therefore cannot cause the other events. The solution is simple: Find a new Event D, that is possible without Events A, B or C, and that causes one of those events.

Let's say I have a computer program with boolean (true or false) values A, B and C. Every 50ms, the program checks if one if them is true, and if B is true, it makes B false and A true, when A is true, A goes off and C goes on, and if C is true, C goes off and B goes on. Naturally, when I start the program, nothing happens, because each of those variables are false.
Now, I adjust the program, adding a new boolean D. When D is true, D becomes false and C becomes true. I add a button to the program that the user can click, and once it's clicked, D becomes true. Now, when you start the program, you can actually start this loop by clicking the button and causing D to be true. It only has to be pressed once, and from that point on, all of the initially false variables keep turning each other on, even when D isn't true.

Applying this logic to Ever17, it basically means that if in even a single timeline,
A) 2034 LeMU is built and the situation is reconstructed; or
B) You'Haru establishes contact with Blick Winkel; or
C) Blick Winkel takes notice of the situation and decides to change it,
the loop becomes possible and endlessly repeats itself.

Assuming Blick Winkel's lifespan is not finite, there are as many timelines as there are possibilities, and humans have free will, it is extremely likely that in one of those timelines there is an Event D that causes either event A, B or C.

Event D could be anything. You'Haru could become so obsessed with Blick Winkel she tries Event A because it's the only chance of ever reaching him, or Blick Winkel might coincidentally stumble upon You'Haru who tries to reach him (B), or Blick Winkel decides it'd be interesting to try and save Takeshi and Coco (C), there only has to be a possibility, no matter how infinitely small, that one of the events happens. Once one of the events happens, the entire loop can take place in any timeline, as Blick Winkel is not bound to a single timeline.

Basically, the problem is that an effect in the past cannot have a cause in the future if there is no certainty that this effect will take place. However, both Ever17's Blick Winkel and 999's Zero are not affected by this;
-Blick Winkel can travel to any point on any different timeline, so a cause on any point on any timeline can be a cause for an effect Blick Winkel performs on any other point on any other timeline.
-Zero can take any information from any possible future (any point on any timeline that could branch off from the current point on the current timeline) and bring it to the current point on the current timeline. Therefore any cause in any possible future allows Zero to perform an effect on the current point on the current timeline.

Also interesting to note: Zero's cause/effect reversal trick differs from Blick Winkel's in that Zero's effect is instantly undone in any timeline that does not contain the possible future that was used for the effect. For this reason, Zero disappears whenever Zero's cause is no longer possible, as Zero's existence is the effect of that cause.

Having read Never7 now, I can safely say that it provides a canonically plausible event D.

Spoiler for Major Ever17 and Never7 spoilers:

You, Coco and (probably?) Kaburaki's belief in a four-dimensional being, combined with You and Kaburaki's desire to save Takeshi and Coco, causes them to 'be able to contact a four-dimensional being that could save their friends' through Cure Syndrome. As a result, Blick Winkel comes into existence (or rather, has already come into existence from that moment onwards), with the paradox already in place so as to make his appearance at that time, in that place possible.

[Mcfart]

The sequel to 999,Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is out on the 3DS and Vita. IGN gave it a 9.5/10. They said that although the game's marketed as a "spirtual sequel", it's actually a sequel, so play 999 first :P.

[Hiroi Sekai]

Originally Posted by Mcfart

The sequel to 999,Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is out on the 3DS and Vita. IGN gave it a 9.5/10. They said that although the game's marketed as a "spirtual sequel", it's actually a sequel, so play 999 first :P.

Absolutely LOVED the first game, so you bet your boots I'll be playing this new one too. Guess I'll have three 3DS games to buy within one month now.

[Dengar]

I only finished 999 a few days ago. Hopefully the VLR will appear in my mailbox soon.

[Poetic Justice]

I have yet to finish this game, Got 1 bad ending and haven't played since.

[Dengar]

Which one did you get?

[Poetic Justice]

Spoiler for bad ending:

Junpei finds Lotus dead then gets stabbed in the back.

[Hiroi Sekai]

Originally Posted by Poetic Justice

Spoiler for bad ending:

Junpei finds Lotus dead then gets stabbed in the back.

Knife ending, then. Definitely recommend you pick it up again, since some of the other endings are downright creepy, and the buildup to the true ending is epic. Just remember that there an ultra-fast skip option for the dialogue you already saw, and remember to not pick any options you already have, or you'll just end up in the same place.

[Dengar]

Yeah, you can hold the D-pad right button to scroll through any text you've already read. And you can breeze through rooms you already visited.

And one word of advice:

Spoiler for Not a story spoiler but it's a situation I got in that can be avoided:

Just don't ever pick door #2 if given the choice. No seriously don't. If you wanna know why just PM me or something.

[Hiroi Sekai]

Originally Posted by Dengar

Yeah, you can hold the D-pad right button to scroll through any text you've already read. And you can breeze through rooms you already visited.

And one word of advice:

Spoiler for Not a story spoiler but it's a situation I got in that can be avoided:

Just don't ever pick door #2 if given the choice. No seriously don't. If you wanna know why just PM me or something.

I swear you could push Select or something once and the text would whiz by faster than a speeding airplane.

Oh, and you will have to pick Door 2 once to get one of the other endings. There's a workaround to going in it, but it's a different door that leads back to going through 2, leading to the bad ending. You do need all of the endings before going for the true ending.

[Dengar]

^ Not really. You just need to get 1 particular ending before getting the true one. Anyway, door 2 is chosen automatically on a specific route. That's why I said it's a bad idea to choose door 2 when given the choice.

[Poetic Justice]

Finally managed to finish it, while it was a good story still was nowhere near as good as ever 17. Ending was a let down as well.

[Izayoi]

Originally Posted by Poetic Justice

Finally managed to finish it, while it was a good story still was nowhere near as good as ever 17. Ending was a let down as well.

I agree! Some of the plot element feels terribly forced in. The biggest problem people had with the story is that the author forcefully bait a sequel(VLR).

Spoiler for Ending and story element:

Even according to the Q&A on their main website, the author asserted that All-ice had no roles in the game. She was just there so she could be in the next game. Then I had a problem with the sudden switch in Akane's morality. While the whole game was entirely based on her, she didn't get much development until the last minute. And thanks to the final revelation, I didn't get that much satisfaction from saving her at all. She seemed to be as bad as Ace is and is better off dead. Also, there were rather forced explanations for plot holes like how Seven had "implanted memories" . By that point, the story was completely crap. Then there were the replay mechanics. I basically had to solve a puzzle two or three times just to get the ending I want and most of the endings are complete let downs.

But nevertheless, it was a good story. I just had high expectation since this was compared to Ghost Trick and was written by the same writer of Ever17.

[FFTHEWINNER]

Finished it a few days ago (the nonary games version on PS4 that has full voice acting). It was enjoyable, but it kinda failed to stick the landing and the ending had many plotholes. Here is the link to my playthrough topic for anyone curious, as it has far more details on my experiences with it and thoughts about it:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards...games/78488429