#zero escape golm

[the-robot-bracket]

Clank wins!

Loser Poll

Clank propaganda

G-OLM propaganda

[fioras-resolve]

I started Zero Time Dilemma! Here are my notes.

-So like, up front, this is a very different game from VLR or 999. Its intro starts not with an escape sequence, but with a choice. This sets the stage for what this game is Really about, and it's definitely a shift. It might turn out to be a lot for me, as someone who's not used to decisions as core gameplay

-The fact it's all an autoplaying cutscene gives ZTD a very different vibe from previous Zero Escape games. Not sure if I like it, but I might like it soon.

-So like, okay. After doing some cursory research, this game was inspired by Telltale's "The Walking Dead." It's a more cinematic experience, to appeal to the West. The thing is that Telltale had been doing games like this for a decade, and also clearly had more of a budget. So while Zero Time Dilemma being able to have actual shot composition is cool, the characters animate less than characters animate in a Telltale game, or in previous Zero Escape games for that matter.

-SHE SAID AMONG US, SHE SAID ZERO IS AMONG US LET'S FUCKING GO

-God the redesigns of pre-existing characters for this game are so fucking funny. ZTD!Phi feels fucking engineered to be hot, her design shows less skin than Alice or Lotus but manages to feel so much more horny. Although maybe that's just my tastes.

-Oh my god the choice to remix songs from 999 as well as VLR is inspired. VLR already straight-up reused songs from 999, but there's some songs remixed from 999 that didn't show up in VLR. Love that! Genuinely, it's cool.

-Wait so is Diana actually American? Or is she just a redhead with blue eyes for aesthetic reasons?

-Oh my god Carlos is the most Nathan Drake-ass White Guy to ever be put into a Japanese game. He's got the face, jacket, the voice, the Blonde White Dude Haircut. I love that Zero Time Dilemma's new wacky creatures after VLR's GOLM and Zero III are just white people. (Please ignore this if being a Latino turns out to actually be part of Carlos's character)

-So the big thing is that even though this is cribbing from The Walking Dead, its time travel mechanic means that I'm exploring possibilities more than living with my decisions. Although I am VERY early on still, I haven't even gotten to an escape room yet! Speaking of,

-I have not gotten to an escape room yet. What the fuck? That's usually the start of the game! Instead the game starts me off with the decision mechanic and the fragment of time stuff.

-Oh my fucking god, titty physics? In a game where the characters are animated this little? Mira is this game's scantily clad big-breasted woman, and this game immediately services the fans.

-I mentioned Phi's design earlier, and I've gotta say it feels like these character designs were all intended to be either relatable or titilating to a western audience. Like yes, Mira, Akane, and Phi are all different brands of hottie, but there's also Carlos, aka the most Video Game Guy ever, there's Eric, who's just some dude, and also Sigma is also looking incredibly Mid-2010s Western Game Protagonist too. And Diana is the first playable female character in Zero Escape so I feel like she is designed to be at least a bit relatable to femme audiences.

-I love how this is literally just Saw. "Each of your rooms has a small yellow button. Pushing it will let you escape, but send a shower of hydrogen flouride to the other rooms, killing them. The early bird gets the worm." This rules.

-I remember playing 999 and VLR and feeling like they were kind of bloodless, despite all the blood and death. The thing is that in those games, I almost never had to live with the consequences of causing someone else's death, in a way that wouldn't also be causing the death of the entire group. You know, a Game Over. But here, living with the consequences of causing someone else's death is the entire gimmick of the narrative. It's horrifying! I love it. Since this is Zero Escape there's prooooobably gonna be a relatively bloodless True Ending, but the fact that I don't know if that's true here is definitely worth commending.

-I also love how extremely straightforward the gimmick is here, there's no Ambidex Game or Digital Root to deal with here, you just decide who to kill and when.

-Okay I know that fact-checking is anathema to Zero Escape's mystique but I refused to believe that the Sleeping Beauty Problem wouldn't be solved at this point, that's a mathematics thing, there's no way they just don't have an answer yet. So I check on Wikipedia, and apparently yeah, it's still open for debate! Shit! Wonder if this'll still be true in 2028 when the game takes place!

-…Yeah, this is definitely a game I'm gonna have to play in spurts. I'm kinda surprised, for a series that's always been about deadly games, just how much darker this one is. I kinda like it a lot, but it's definitely a lot to have to go through.

[chessanator]

Top 5 Zero Escape puzzle rooms?

This one’s interesting.

ZTD Control room. First of the two ‘I know the maths for this, and Akane faints before she can explain it’ rooms, so obviously I’m going to be in favour.

ZTD Infirmary. The other‘I know the maths for this, and Akane faints before she can explain it’ room. This one loses out to the first because I wish they’d given us the option of picking who tested which samples each of C team tested to make the maths harder.

Gaulem Bay. GOLM!!!

Security: I’m biased here because it was absolutely crucial for getting Empty Virtue up and running, but I’ll at least give it fourth.

Pod Room. Another mathsy one. I’m ashamed to admit I wasn’t quite instant on the testing the alien numerals, though once it was made clear that it was base thirteen the rest was pretty mice. (also gets a minus for certain pod activities.)

Thanks for the ask!