Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma Reviews

[h1] You are going to need to do some tinkering if you want to get this game to have working controls and no crashes on Steam Deck. I'm not sure why it's Deck verified. [/h1] Let me just start by saying this: if you're coming to ZTD straight off the high of VLR, you are most likely going to be disappointed. I also believe it is worth mentioning that I went into all of these games blind. I don't think that ZTD is a good game, but at the same time, I can't not recommend it if you're a fan of the series. The way ZTD is structured is vastly different from the last games. You advance the story by progressing through "fragments", which are glorified cutscenes with some Escape Room and decision puzzles sprinkled throughout. I do think that the fragment storytelling is interesting, although it was VERY frustrating at times trying to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do next. The story is no longer told through text based dialogue that you can skip to read at your own pace, instead it is told almost entirely through cutscenes. Very, very, very janky and awkwardly animated cutscenes that made it difficult for me to take seriously at times, but it's kind of fitting considering how batshit insane the story is. You can turn on the option to skip scenes if you want, but it's easy to accidentally skip over some lines that are relatively important. There is a log so you can read any lines you may have missed within the current scene, but you can't rewatch any actions that any characters may have made without restarting the section. I didn't have much of an issue with this though. The art style is much different this time around. I'm not a huge fan of how they made [spoiler]Akane, Junpei and Phi[/spoiler] look, but the character designs grew on me after a while. The gameplay consists of Escape Rooms and decision segments. The escape rooms are good, not great. They're nowhere near as challenging and rewarding as the previous two (I miss having to find the digital root lol), but some of them still provide those moments that make you feel like a genius. The decision games are exactly what they sound like: little breaks between scenes where you make decisions that move the story forward. I don't hate this game at all. The cutscenes are so bad that you can't help but be entertained, and the story is really what we all came here for. I know people have mixed feelings on the story, but I thought it was satisfying enough to motivate me to finish it. If you're a fan of Zero Escape, you owe it to yourself to play this game. Just don't have incredibly high expectations and you'll be fine. 6/10

The Zero Escape Game Series, has been the most favourite and greatest games of mine that I have EVER played. But I have no idea wtf this game is, to say the least it is incredibly disappointing and heartbreaking to see it turn out like this. I've played the first two games atleast twice over many years. Idk if its normal for newer age visual novels to be like this but I'm almost an hour in and all I've done is sit back and watch cringely animated cut scenes and press one option or the other. The writing for the lines... is awkward, the voice actors clearly doing the best they can when it doesnt even match the facial expressions right.. It's like they tried really hard to do so many things in this game but then had to half ass it because it was too much. It is better to do less and do it right, than try to go over the top but do it badly. I swear there was a scene 3 of them were walking and it was the most robotic walk pasted on all 3 of them.. I also still dont know anyones names because well it doesnt tell you unless they mention it in their voice lines. I really dont know if I'm even going to be able to bother with this game or just have my answers and knowledge about the universe of Zero Escape through a wiki instead. I'm also confused why theres so many clearly negative reviews that are with thumbs up, thats kinda funny lol. If you loved absolutely everything in the first 2 games, well sorry for the bad news on this one, its nothing like it... I'm actually gutted (was funny hearing Keith Silverstein in this, one of my fave voice actors LOL but because the animation is crap, everyones voice acting seems so out of place too T-T)

While possibly the weakest of the Zero Escape/Nonary Games series, it is definitely worth playing and provides a satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy. It's gameplay initially comes off as very disjointed compared to the other games, though this does improve as you progress the story and come to understand the writing choices. I applaud the writers for blowing my mind once more. I do not recommend playing this game if you have not at least played Virtue's Last Reward, unless you just like puzzles and do not care about story. This game runs perfectly on my five-year-old basic laptop.

3rd game in the series. Russian roulette is best played strapped to an electric chair.

it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion it's kind of peak in a so bad it's good way and very funny to play with a friend but absolutely not a good game it's actually really bad. obviously play this after the first two games or you'll be lost as hell. THIS IS NOT A GOOD GAME BUT IT'S SO FUNNY WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THAT i hope eric dies in every timeline forever and ever and ever. -10/10 this is the video game of all time

I have a lot of mixed feelings towards this game and although I love the series, I really don't know how to feel about the conclusion to this franchise. The Zero Escape team had a short development time and budget so I honestly don't blame them at all. If you truly love the first two games then you should play it. The best thing the game has to offer is the escape rooms; they're the absolute highlight of the game. The rest of the game are just cut scenes. Cut scene after cut scene after cut scene. It's not in a visual novel format by the way, they're just full cut scenes. Which could be a good thing or bad thing depending on preferences. The franchise's most insufferable character exists in this game-- Eric. You will never like Eric. No matter how much backstory they give him to make the player try to sympathize with him just a wee bit they ruin it by making him suck. Sometimes you may think "Oh he seems pretty nice now" but then the next cut scene plays and he is the most intolerable character to be made. The writing for Akane and Junpei in this game is also very interesting... My biggest gripe with Zero Time Dilemma is the ending. I liked the [spoiler] Q Delta [/spoiler] plot twist and it seemed pretty clever, but the motives behind this Zero are bizarre. The true ending is left in a cliffhanger with no epilogue or anything. So the issue of [spoiler]humanity being endangered[/spoiler] from the finale of VLR still felt unresolved to me. To add on to that, I really wish that Sigma had a more central role in this game. The VLR finale made it seem like HE'S the only one to save the world but the true decision maker to this game seemed to be [spoiler] Carlos at the very end (although Carlos is a great character). [/spoiler] The game really didn't hold to the standards of Virtue's Last Reward which made it somewhat disappointing. Still, if you really liked the previous two games I think you should play it-- just don't have too many high expectations.

I really enjoyed the first two zero escape games and couldn't wait to play this one. After doing so I wish I never did. Gameplay stuff There are legit hours of unskippable cut scenes in this game. It's painful. 3D models they use are actually nice but sadly the animation direction isn't. Models are constantly clipping into themselves or the ground. It might sound like a nitpick but I promise you it is extremely noticeable. All the girls (minus Phi) have their hair constantly clipping into their bodies. Akane's has a tendency to spin around wildly as well. Puzzle room are actually good. If you only care about the puzzle room gameplay then I'd recommend grabbing a complete save off the internet and just playing through the rooms. They're easier than VLR but still a good time easily best part of the game. Controls are a bit eh. For some reason they're different from VLR which messes with muscle memory if you play them in quick succession like I did. Also not matter if your using controller or keyboard the UI will always display controller controls which was a bit annoying. Camera movement is also strange you get used to it though. Time to decide sequences are also fun. I like the graphics and sound design that went into them. Also they lead to some pretty wacky places which gives you a small break from the pain. Lastly story fragments are a thing. The way it works is your presented a bunch of unique scenarios but with no set order. This sounds really cool in theory but in practice it's not the best. It doesn't take advantage of it's non linear gameplay since no early fragment really feel like they flow into other ones. Story The story in ZTD hurts me on a deep level. The game ends on a cliffhanger which sucks since we're not likely to get another Zero Escape game. Other than that the actual story in the game is a mess. Major world building happens only to be dropped, the twists feel more like rug pulls than organic turns in the story and the characters in this game are just no fun. New characters are a mixed bag. Q and Carlos are the ones I like but they're nothing to write home about. Mira is fine. Diana is complicated. Her character is fine but her role in the story is frustrating. But Eric is potentially the worst character in Zero Escape. Horribly mean spirited, can't tell if he's supposed to be sympathetic or not and unlike (VLR spoilers) [spoiler] Dio [/spoiler] he's not even any fun. Additionally Junpei is so weird in this game. It feels like every scene they flipped a coin to see if he should be in character or not. The way they write him is like he's going through his emo phase. To end my review I will state I am biased in my opinions here as one of the twists in this game pissed me off personally. I can't tell if part of the reason I dislike the game stems from that. ([b] major ZTD spoilers [/b] only click if done or you [b]really[/b] don't care) [spoiler] So I was a SigPhi shipper after VLR and he's revealed to be her dad. That was upsetting to me but I think the real reason it pissed me off is because of Diana. She has no chemistry with Sigma. She only exists as a plot device and not as her own character. She so bland and is missing the zany spark all previous characters in this series had. Also Phi ends up getting little screen time for some reason. For such a major player in a major plot point you think they'd give her more to do. [/spoiler] Well that was way longer and drawn out than I wanted it to be kinda like this game was. But hey life is often unfair.

This is a very mixed recommendation. I don't recommend this to anyone who hasn't played both of the Nonary Games (999 and VLR), so this brief review is for those who have played both. This game is easily the worst of the three but I wouldn't say it's all bad, I enjoyed my time with it, but I wouldn't say it captured much of the feeling from the other games. The puzzles were middle of the road, better than 999s but much worse than VLRs, the story is odd, but mostly fine for most of it, and the characters may be the most hit or miss thing ever. I'd recommend any Zero Escape fan to at least give it a try, you may enjoy your time...or not. I think this one is something you need to experience yourself to know if it'll be for you, it goes cheap on a sale so wait then.

Had lot of expectations from the game after Zero Escape 1 & 2 only to get such a disappointing ending with too many loose ends...

[h3]Zero Time Dilemma is part of a Trilogy and should [u]only be played after completing the 2 previous games[/u]: 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors & Virtue Last Reward.[/h3] [h3]I posted a full review of the trilogy for The Nonary Games store page, I'll only include the ZTD section here, [b]spoiler-free[/b]:[/h3] [hr][/hr] [h1]Zero Time Dilemma[/h1] This a good but heavily flawed final act. Definitely the trilogy's weakest game. It's best appreciated if you're already invested in the ZE story [b]AND[/b] you accept its circumstances: [b]the game was canceled, uncanceled, given <2 years of development and a small staff & virtually no budget. The final game, sadly, isn’t even what Uchikoshi originally envisioned, but it’s a miracle it actually released.[/b] ZTD is [b]an ugly game[/b]. The character design is not as good as 999/VLR, due to Rui Tomono taking the artistic lead (probably due to budget constraints) but it's not bad. Unfortunately, the 3D models ARE BAD. On top of that, the characters constantly make comically exaggerated expressions, and the camera often zooms in on them in a distorted, awkward way. Some characters do look better than others, but in the end they all look pretty rough. Ironically, the only character who looks good is the NIER Emil-looking kid… cause you can’t see his face... It really saddens me to say that the setting and characters often feel like they’re just a means to an end and not very well developed. The game clearly suffers from having a smaller script, though on the plus side, it cuts back a lot and is a shorter game with virtually no repeated content. (A big improvement compared to VLR.) Another major drawback when it comes to the characters, is that splitting them into separate groups in ZTD meant far fewer opportunities for meaningful interactions between the different teams. The storytelling has pros and cons. This time the "routes" are split in the Fragment System, which is narratively brilliant, as it REALLY reflects the core nature of the story, asking you to literally piece together the plot like a puzzle. However, it can be confusing and/or even off putting for some as keeping track of what’s actually happening takes more effort from the player. [hr][/hr] I can’t recommend this series enough, not just to VN fans, but even to those who don’t usually play/like VNs, just because the storytelling is so incredible that anyone who loves a great mystery should experience it at least once in their life. It’s a perfect example of how video games can be just as powerful a storytelling medium as any other form of art. This is a series you’ll remember forever. Its narrative has the power to shape you. It’s truly a gem. Sadly, it didn’t get the recognition it deserved on release, likely due to a mix of factors: horror VNs’ lack of popularity in Japan, the negative association with the number 9, incoherent art direction, character designs struggling to appeal to the eastern audience (looking at you, Danganronpa), and the more complex story. Life is unfair. But this series is one of my favorites, so maybe this timeline isn’t so bad after all.