• Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

Should I play Zero Time Dilemma?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 221 78.6%
  • No.

    Votes: 60 21.4%

  • Total voters
    281

Portmanteau

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,499
Title says it all. I loved 999 and VLR. I own ZTD (got it free), but I remember people hating it so much on release that they said it retroactively ruined those two games and put it aside.

That was a few years ago, so I'm curious if time has maybe smoothed some harsh feelings over.

Play it, or just read what happens?
 

Deleted member 4375

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
973
I just played all 3 games over the summer, and while ZTD is a little less... easy to follow in terms of flow of story, it's totally worth playing if you've played the first two games you mentioned. It at least gives you closure and explanations as to why some things were as they were in the previous games. Moreso VLR than 999.

Definitely play it. Just expect some rough edges.
 

Taruranto

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,045
It's one of the worst things I have read, but may as well? Either that or no conclusion.
 

Korigama

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,482
Personally, I only liked 999 out of the Zero Escape trilogy and found VLR very disappointing (to this day, I still wish that 999 got to be standalone instead of being made part of a trilogy that Uchikoshi never planned for). That said, ZTD went beyond that, and I would agree with the assessment of it making the previous two games worse retroactively. Even without getting into ZTD not even being a VN at all in favor of going for a TV show format, the story it tells isn't particularly good.

Basically, the only reason to play it would be to see how the trilogy ends. Don't expect every question from VLR to be answered though, as a lot of plot points were dropped altogether between games.
 

Aexact

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,254
I think in the moment, I felt the twists and puzzles were enjoyable though reading analysis, the big meta mindfuck at the core doesn't stand up to scrutiny but in the plot itself, it felt on brand for the series.

That said, the ending was disappointing and Rui Tomono's more grounded designs didn't suit the wild scenarios of the series. I don't think it's as disappointing as, like, the major 2020 series disappointments as the tone and ideas are still close to the original (and VLR already didn't hit the highs of 999 so I wasn't full of high hopes for ZTD going in, that kind of experience can't be easily replicated with the same tricks you know?).

... I think you posted this in Hangouts.
 
Oct 25, 2017
1,857
yes but just under the argument that it honestly has some solid moments, one really solid puzzle room that i'm a sucker for, and some of the most (unintentionally) hilarious moments in the zero escape trilogy.

it's honestly awful, but it's an entertaining awful imho.
 

Korigama

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,482
I think in the moment, I felt the twists and puzzles were enjoyable though reading analysis, the big meta mindfuck at the core doesn't stand up to scrutiny but in the plot itself, it felt on brand for the series.

That said, the ending was disappointing and Rui Tomono's more grounded designs didn't suit the wild scenarios of the series. I don't think it's as disappointing as, like, the major 2020 series disappointments as the tone and ideas are still close to the original (and VLR already didn't hit the highs of 999 so I wasn't full of high hopes for ZTD going in, that kind of experience can't be easily replicated with the same tricks you know?).

... I think you posted this in Hangouts.
I considered the character designs one of the few positives about ZTD even with the change of artists, definitely an improvement over what they had Kinu Nishimura go with in VLR (Nishimura's 999 designs being the only other ones I liked in ZE).
 
OP
OP
Portmanteau

Portmanteau

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,499
I think in the moment, I felt the twists and puzzles were enjoyable though reading analysis, the big meta mindfuck at the core doesn't stand up to scrutiny but in the plot itself, it felt on brand for the series.

That said, the ending was disappointing and Rui Tomono's more grounded designs didn't suit the wild scenarios of the series. I don't think it's as disappointing as, like, the major 2020 series disappointments as the tone and ideas are still close to the original (and VLR already didn't hit the highs of 999 so I wasn't full of high hopes for ZTD going in, that kind of experience can't be easily replicated with the same tricks you know?).

... I think you posted this in Hangouts.
I did. Whoops. Reached out to get it moved.
 

KOfLegend

Member
Jun 17, 2019
1,794
It's quite possibly the most disappointing game I've ever played, but you should. Might as well.
 

Foxnull

Alt-Account
Banned
May 30, 2019
1,651
No, especially if you loved 999 and VLR. Don't do this to yourself, it's not worth your time.
 

calloumiii

Member
Sep 14, 2018
188
It gets a lot of flack, some of which is warranted, but it also has a few of those crazy signature twists that define the series that I still think about to this day. It's very rough around the edges and is definitely a low point of the entire trilogy, but I don't agree with the idea that it's so horrible that it shouldn't exist.

Just go in with tempered expectations and enjoy it for what it is, not what it could have been.
 

sredgrin

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
12,276
Finish the fight.

It's not great but I think people overstate some of its faults, and even if it fucks up some of the plot elements, it still has that compelling central gimmick and atmosphere.
 

Cheezeman3000

One Winged Slayer
Member
Jan 5, 2018
1,092
It's a pretty good game that only gets crap because it's not as good as the really really good games preceding it. There's definitely some poor moments, but there's also some really good moments that make it worth it IMO.
 

PsionBolt

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,298
Sure. It's not that bad. Folks really oversell VLR and undersell ZTD, in my books; they're really not that different in writing quality, especially when you look at it in terms of how far both of them lag behind 999 (which is quite far, I'd say).

And hey, ZTD has one of gaming's most unforgettable twists of all time! Literally, you will not forget it as long as you live. It's really something. lol
 

Snowfruit

Teyvat Traveler
Member
Jun 8, 2018
1,770
United States
It was the VN community's Half life 3 basically. People asked for Zero Escape 3 for years and when it finally happened, it didn't live up to the expectations of being the epic conclusion to their beloved series.
It's much easier for someone to enjoy it now who wasn't a fan religiously following the series back then.
 

Patitoloco

Member
Oct 27, 2017
23,614
Yes.

It's not as good as the other two, but it's not like it's as terrible as some people love to exagerate.
 
Oct 25, 2017
5,593
Yes, play it and form your own opinion on it. While it's def the weakest of the 3, the amount of hate it gets is overly exaggerated. I still enjoyed it quite a bit after playing the first 2.
 

TLH

Member
Oct 29, 2017
220
I actually liked ZTD more than VLR, but I think both of them are far behind 999.
As long as your expectations aren't too high, you should be OK, I guess.
 

KingBae

Member
Oct 28, 2017
717
Play it. I put it off initially because of all the negative reactions it gets. It has plenty of moments where you rolled my eyes really hard, but then again the whole series had moments like that. It def has some good exciting and wtf moments as well, kind of like the axe ending from 999, so for that alone, it's worth it. With some hefty suspension of belief and ignoring some bad writing and voice acting, I think it has some brilliant moments. I enjoyed it overall, quite a bit even, but I'm not gonna pretend it's clever or high art. I would've eaten this shit up wholesale if I was a teenager, but I can appreciate it for what it's trying to do in my 30's still.
 

Flevance

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,550
Go for it, not as good as the previous games but it has its moments, and the puzzles sections were as enjoyable as ever
 

ffvorax

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,855
You loved the previous, so why not?
It probably the weakest of the trilogy, but still a fun ride.
 

NightShift

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,999
Australia
Personally I didn't think it wasn't worth the time. There's nothing about it that's really inventive or clever and it ruins a lot of the draw the other two had for me by keeping the three groups of characters seperate for 99% of the game. The puzzles are also worse by not really having thematic points to them and just not being as fun. Not to say it was bad, it has its moments but overall I found it painfully mediocre.

Also I played all the games after VLR came out so it's not about having high expectations.
 

Jane

Member
Oct 17, 2018
1,253
It's not as good as the first two and a disappointing ending to the trilogy, but I don't think it's really a bad game. If you played the first two already, you might as well play ZTD as well.
 

Starlatine

533.489 paid youtubers cant be wrong
Member
Oct 28, 2017
30,366
if you have it already why not

its not a good game, though. retroactively ruining the other games is hyperbolic nonsense though
 

herminihildo

Member
Oct 30, 2017
677
I would be saying no but that would be lying because you still want some of those answers from VLD (not all of the btw). Just play it for closure. Just keep you expectations low.
 
Jun 13, 2020
1,302
It's not good, but I find it interesting. It's also the conclusion of the story. Give it a try, you might appreciate it more than most fans.

A warning: no matter what you think of the main plot, the little epilogues you unlock after beating the game are complete garbage. I suggest not reading them and assuming they're not canon.
 

Cirrus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,116
Yes, is decent, not as great as the other 2 but still worth playing.

Also, I think one of the possible endings in it is probably one of the best and emotional in the entire series.
 

awake4ages

Neo•Geo Saver
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,050
It has its own high points (and its own low points) but if you go into it with tempered expectations you'll probably have a decent time.

For me, it was the most I'd ever been disappointed in a video game sequel. But at least you have the added bonus of not waiting around for four years or so to see how certain VLR questions would be answered, only for them to not be answered at all.

So I say go for it. The writing and music are compelling as usual, but just know that the game never reaches those exhilarating peaks the first two do.

(Completely unrelated but if you or any others in this thread haven't played AI: The Somnium Files, definitely check it out! It's a different vibe from Zero Escape but it's a great game especially for fans of Uchikoshi's previous works)
 

EarthPainting

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,875
Town adjacent to Silent Hill
If you already own it, might as well play it. I think it's the worst of the three, but I didn't regret my time with it.
It has its own high points (and its own low points) but if you go into it with tempered expectations you'll probably have a decent time.
I assume this was everyone's high point:
7PtVaBM.gif
 

Symphony

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,361
It's a pretty crappy conclusion that either ignores or retcons most of the plot threads still left hanging from 999 and VLR, has awful stilted animation, poorly structured gameplay, puzzles that no longer have a theme or link to the story, a mostly unlikeable cast, a terrible twist and an ending that makes Mass Effect 3's look like a masterpiece.

If you're either not paying for it, or getting it in a hefty sale then sure go ahead - you can see first hand how badly a story heavy trilogy can end when the creator has lost interest (only part of the story was written by Uchikoshi). If you're actually thinking about paying a decent chunk of money for it though, don't.

retroactively ruining the other games is hyperbolic nonsense though
Calling it hyperbolic nonsense is itself hyperbolic nonsense. Any time you revisit a story with knowledge of the ending it changes your view of it, particularly with mystery stories where the suspense is such a large component to the initial enjoyment, an unsatisfying answer makes the entire mystery unsatisfying. Sure, with time you can mentally seperate the stories out, and nowadays I'd say ZTD being utterly awful has no bearing on the other two for me, but people were very much justified in feeling that way at launch.
 

Polyh3dron

Prophet of Regret
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,860
Coming from a diehard Zero Escape fan who had played the whole trilogy...

No. The game is godawful and will retroactively make you look at the previous installments through a much more negative lens.

EDIT: now that I see some other posts ITT I see I'm not alone in this.🤣
 

Ushojax

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,927
I don't regret playing it because I wanted to see where the story went, sadly the game was shit. They bit off more than they could chew trying to to a more Telltale-like presentation and only a third of the story worked for me. Most of the characters are terrible and overall it feels half-baked.

The big reveal fell completely flat and just made it difficult to care about the whole series. I was never expecting answers to everything but it would have been nice to get answers to something.
 

SxP

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,867
The thing about ZTD, is that if you really want a conclusion to 999 and VLR... well, this isn't it.

And just on it's own merits... it's abysmal. Just shockingly terrible. The story is obviously the most important thing and (for me) this ranks as one of the all time worst stories in video games. Sure, some games have a worse story in isolation, but those games at least aren't about the story and thus it doesn't matter. This one is all about the story, and for it to be this bad... Wow. Technically and gameplay wise it's nothing special. So you're left with... a waste of your valuable time, really.
 

Starlatine

533.489 paid youtubers cant be wrong
Member
Oct 28, 2017
30,366
It's a pretty crappy conclusion that either ignores or retcons most of the plot threads still left hanging from 999 and VLR, has awful stilted animation, poorly structured gameplay, puzzles that no longer have a theme or link to the story, a mostly unlikeable cast, a terrible twist and an ending that makes Mass Effect 3's look like a masterpiece.

If you're either not paying for it, or getting it in a hefty sale then sure go ahead - you can see first hand how badly a story heavy trilogy can end when the creator has lost interest (only part of the story was written by Uchikoshi). If you're actually thinking about paying a decent chunk of money for it though, don't.


Calling it hyperbolic nonsense is itself hyperbolic nonsense. Any time you revisit a story with knowledge of the ending it changes your view of it, particularly with mystery stories where the suspense is such a large component to the initial enjoyment, an unsatisfying answer makes the entire mystery unsatisfying. Sure, with time you can mentally seperate the stories out, and nowadays I'd say ZTD being utterly awful has no bearing on the other two for me, but people were very much justified in feeling that way at launch.

No matter how bad ZTD is it wont erase the good time i had with 999 and VLR. Sure, it sucks that the big conclusion is so disappointing, but the games were not ruined by it just like mass effect wasnt ruined by the ending of 3/andromeda and pretending one bad experience erases all previous good experiences you had is very silly
 

XaosWolf

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,939
If you played the other two you may as well finish the set. Its not as good as the others but theres still good stuff in there.
 

Gezech

Member
Oct 28, 2017
159
I feel like the only thing ZTD retroactively ruined for me is
Akane. They turned her from one of the most deep characters in video games when they revealed who she actually was in 999, to a generic-ass yandere in ZTD and actually made me lose a bit of respect for Uchikoshi.
 

ZeroX

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
21,266
Speed Force
Sure. I felt like it was a fine game, although I was of the opinion that 999 was much better than VLR which was just okay and was also aware that that VLR's special ending wasn't canon.

One of ZTD's three routes is very well written and just as emotionally resonant as the other two games (the Uchikoshi route I believe).

e: hilarious how much people hate it in the thread. If you didn't spend years building it up in your head it won't disappoint you nearly as much. The VLR over hype is much worse.
 

Eblo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,643
I was expecting the poll to overwhelmingly say "No". It seems like Era has complex motives.