The Zero Escape Series by Kotaro Uchikoshi

[Marcello]

New artist is disappointing. I quite liked the one from the previous games.

[Salamander]

New artist is disappointing. I quite liked the one from the previous games.

[kboyrulez12345]

I think my biggest problem with the concept art is not that it's more realistic. It's just the fact that we had two games with an animesque design, and suddenly switching to a more realistic design is just a little jarring. With that said though, is that really gonna be the official art of the game, or is it just concept?

 

[kboyrulez12345]

Sorry for double posting early, but I just thought of something. How would a Zero Escape movie work? It just popped into my head all of a sudden and I realize how making a movie/tv series whatever based on the games would be pretty hard since well...the actual puzzle segments don't have an element of danger in them. Would be pretty boring just to watch characters solving puzzles.

[Salamander]

The non-linear narrative and the amount of repetition and slightly altered repetition would play havoc with a non-game adaptation.  I'm not sure how you could do it except as some kind of hypertext fiction where you film adaptations of every timeline and then let the viewer jump about them as they like.

[kboyrulez12345]

So I just finished another playthrough of Virtue's Last Reward, and then I went to the Q & A. And question Number 25 brought up a good point. Spoilered for spoilers obviously:

 

 

In 999, Akane disappears when you don’t reach the True Ending. This implies that changing the past affects the present.

 

 

In VLR, Tenmyouji explains to “?” at the end that even if Sigma could change the past, the timeline that they live in will remain the same.

 

 

If Sigma can stop Radical-6 in the past, this will only create a new timeline. This implies that changing the past does NOT affect the present. Don’t these games have contradicting ideas?

 

Kotaro answered with the following:

 

 

Even if you had changed the past and prevented Radical-6 from spreading, the setting is made so that there will be no changes made to the VLR history.

 

 

And let’s say VLR’s history does get destroyed. Then Sigma’s old consciousness won’t be able to return to 2028 and as a result he won’t be able to stop the Radical-6 outbreak.

 

 

Same goes for 999. The true end is where Junpei accesses the Morphogenetic Field 9 years ago and saves Akane, but if he isn’t successful, then a new timeline is created. And the extension of that history is the Junpei who couldn’t find Akane at the chapel. (*We call this end that isn’t the True End the B End.)

 

 

However, there may be some of you that will say “Hey, Akane did exist in the B End route though”. Well you’re exactly right. In that history Akane should not have existed.

 

 

So in other words, the contradiction isn’t the setting between 999 and VLR, but rather it is in the B Ending. However, if you consider that Akane had jumped to the B End route with her whole body and not just her psyche then it would all make sense…

 

 

If that is the case, then Akane did not disappear in the chapel but she just made her escape, or you can say that her whole body jumped to another time line.

My question is this...how did Akane jump with her body? I thought you could only jump with your consciousness?

[Salamander]

Bearing in mind that my memory of the series is very shaky, my thoughts on that are:

 

It may be that full-body jumps are actually possible for particularly powerful espers.  The VLR Q&A also suggests that Brother's body has jumped to a different time.

 

But this got me thinking about Alice and Clover, and how they're going to return to their own time.  The ending of VLR suggests that they can return to their own time thanks to Schrodinger's Cat, I think?  And since Uchikoshi confirms that VLR has to happen even if Radical-6 is prevented from spreading, I wonder if it's actually necessary for VLR to take place on the Moon in the future at all; if it could all have been staged on Earth and far in the past, so Clover and Alice can just walk right on out of there and return to their ordinary lives.  Because the real world in VLR is Schrodinger's Cat; outside the facility is the same as inside the box, and it's not determined what it's really like until you observe it.  The only people who would need to be fooled would be Sigma and ?, I think, and anyone else could be lying about what the world is like outside and what they remember.  So VLR's true end timeline might even have already happened at the time of ZE3...

[kboyrulez12345]

Ah, I see. Yeah, that's an interesting way of looking at it, and the author DID mention that Brother can body jump as well...hmmm.

 

Your theory also makes sense. If that is the case, all that's left to wonder is:

 

Exactly HOW can Akane and Brother jump with their body's. The series only gave us information on jumping through worlds with consciousness. It'll be interesting to see how this is explained in ZE3...which in turn might require multiple playthroughs lol.

[Marcello]

Under the Twitter account "Crash Keys", Spike Chunsoft or Aksys have been posting art of the participants of the Nonary Game of ZE3 as in the past few weeks. Here they are:

Spoiler

Sigma

https://twitter.com/_crash_keys_

Spoiler

Participant 7 seems to be the woman from the key art from last year, who was presumably Diana due to having the same necklace as Luna. She's missing the necklace here, though. However Participant 6 is clutching her own necklace, so presumably those two things are linked.

My guess? 7 is Diana, the woman Luna was based on and 6 is her sister and she takes the necklace after 6 dies.

Participant 2 looks like a new (creepy) character.

[Salamander]

Good ideas; there has been some confusion over which of those images is supposed to represent that particular character, and your theory lines up.

My own thoughts on the subject:

Spoiler

It's been speculated here and there that Participant #2 is, in effect, Dio - that is, a Left clone.  That such a character would be in the game was hinted at way back.  Actually, I believe we also have it confirmed that Junpei, Sigma, and Phi will all be participants, and if you throw in Diana and Dio it adds up to quite a few returning characters for the cast, so I've been thinking for a while that several of them might be disguised - that they'll be in the game, but we won't necessarily know that it's them.  Nobody fits the bill better for this than Left.

There's also an elaborate theory that the dog which will appear in this game is going to be Phi.  I'm not even touching that because it's both a ludicrous idea and makes too much sense.

I also have a theory about the game's structure and, if you like, "gimmick"; major VLR spoilers here:

Spoiler

The conclusion of VLR suggests that you, the player, a.k.a. ? (or Blick Winkel, if you prefer), can jump between the bodies of different characters.  Considering this, how I think ZTD will be set up is as follows:

When you start the game, you can choose between playing as any of all nine characters.  Regardless of which you picked, that character will wake up with amnesia, but nobody else will.  This is because you are actually playing as ?, possessing the character in question.  This allows you to neutralise the aims and control the actions of that particular character, regardless of what they would do if you were playing as a different character, and also disguises the possibility that any one of these characters has a secret agenda, because you are playing as ? in their body and don't know their secrets.  The twist on top of the twist is that Brother is also body-jumping and is operating as a different character in each timeline, so the "villain" of the timeline is different depending on who you play as.  As a result, the story plays out very differently even before you get into actual decision points along each timeline.  This also allows you to potentially pull off more viewpoint twists, like we're actually not playing as the character we thought we were, etc.

On a separate note, based on what happens to Sigma, there's speculation that decision points in the game are labelled according to what body parts you sacrifice.  I wonder if there's a timeline where you can lose both eyes, and the rest plays out in complete darkness?

 

Edited February 3, 2016 by FFWF
Edit: Forgot a few things.

[kboyrulez12345]

Holy crap, I like your second theory so much that I think I would be kind if disappointed if ZTD isn't like that.

[Marcello]

Man, I need to replay the first two games. I've forgotten a lot.

Spoiler

What dog?

Participant 1

Spoiler

 

I think this might actually be "Dio"? Reminds me more of him than 2.

Link

[Salamander]

2 hours ago, Marcello said:

Man, I need to replay the first two games. I've forgotten a lot.

  Hide contents

What dog?

Participant 1

Hidden Content

Link

Spoiler

There will be a dog in the game, but we don't know anything about it, not even if it's a numbered participant.  I can't wait for it to be Participant #0 so we all flip our lids.

Also, yeah, I've seen more agreement out there that #1 looks more like Dio than #2 did - but you never really know in a game like this, and whatever the truth is I bet neither of them is going to be openly calling themselves either Dio or Left.  Hmm, I wonder if Junpei's going to be #5 again?

 

[Marcello]

Pariticpant 3 has been revealed and the character is very familiar!

Spoiler

It's Seven!!!!

 

[Salamander]

Uchikoshi has also indicated that the game is going to be formally revealed to the press during (but not actually at) GDC in mid-March, so that's something to look forward to.

2 hours ago, Marcello said:

Pariticpant 3 has been revealed and the character is very familiar!

  Reveal hidden contents

It's Seven!!!!

 

Don't be silly...

Spoiler

Their number is 3, so clearly it's actually Santa!  (And heck, it might be, as well.)

So we're missing 4, 5, and 8, right?  The first character revealed was Sigma as #9, so it might be fitting to end with Junpei at #5 again.  Not sure how I feel about the possibility of seeing Clover show up as #4, but there's a pretty good chance that that number's being held off purely to keep us in suspense.

 

[kboyrulez12345]

So now that we have a few character portraits to go off of, what's the consensus about the art style change? You guys like it?

Personally they don't really stand out, but...I think it's fitting at the same time for some reason. Don't know why that is.

[PSI Wind]

I was afraid it was going to look more like the first artwork we were shown, which while I like it, I wouldn't have been a huge fan of. This doesn't look all that different and the characters still look like they belong in the 999 series, so I'm okay with it.

[Marcello]

Participants 7 and 9 are kind of drawn badly, but the others are good. The old style was better, but participant 3 looks relatively close to the old style. I do wish they could've gotten the same artist, though. I do like the more realistic designs, though. No anime-esque clothes or hair so far.

[Salamander]

It's quite hard to tell how the current artwork is going to relate to what we'll actually see on our screens, so I'm reserving judgement for now.  I didn't much like the character models in VLR either, though, so I guess bad art wouldn't exactly be a deal-breaker for me.

[kboyrulez12345]

Quote

The Zero Escape series is all about escaping a facility under mysterious situations. While previous experiences have been limited to Zero Escape: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors on the Nintendo DS and Apple iOS devices and Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward on the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, Aksys and SCRAP Entertainment are preparing a Real Zero Escape: Trust on Trial escape room experience for Los Angeles, California.

 

Real Zero Escape: Trust on Trial is SCRAP’s first licensed escape room. People who participate will have 60 minutes to escape the room. The number of players able to participate and event duration have yet to be announced, but the promotion material’s quote says, “Divided and doubtful, can your faith in each other overcome this test?”

 

The Real Zero Escape: Trust on Trial escape room will be in Weller Court in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo neighborhood. Tickets for the event will go on sale starting February 29, 2016, and the escape room will open on April 15, 2016. The official website says cosplay will be allowed, but says participants should be dressed comfortably in clothing that easily lets them move and search. The escape room will open ahead of the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita’s Zero Time Dilemma, the third entry in the Zero Escape series.

 

http://www.siliconera.com/2016/02/19/escape-room-inspired-zero-escape-coming-los-angeles/

Why can't I live in Los Angeles whyyyyyyy....

This sounds pretty cool though, a nice way of advertising the third game. Wonder if they'll be a prize for the winner. Actually, is anyone in Los Angeles who's a fan of Zero Escape here on SSMB? Cause it would be nice if ya'll could go there and take pictures.

[Marcello]

I have an aunt near Los Angeles. If it's there for a while, I might go there if I ever am able to visit her...

Anyway, meet Participant 5

Spoiler

Also known as Jumpy.

 

[kboyrulez12345]

Y'know, knowing how Kotaro just loves his crazy ass twists, it wouldn't surprise me if the characters that crash keys keep releasing are someone different lol.

[kboyrulez12345]

On 2/17/2016 at 10:47 AM, Marcello said:

Participants 7 and 9 are kind of drawn badly, but the others are good. The old style was better, but participant 3 looks relatively close to the old style. I do wish they could've gotten the same artist, though. I do like the more realistic designs, though. No anime-esque clothes or hair so far.

Welp, sorry to disappoint you on that front:

Spoiler

 

What was that you were saying about animesque clothes? lol. 

Anyway, she looks new. Don't recognize her from any of the previous games.

[Marcello]

Spoiler

 

Ha. She's more clothed than Lotus and Alice, and they look like normal clothes, so I'd still say it's more realistic than before. Though, of course we can't see anything under her chest.

Looks-wise she could be Lotus, but I'm guessing she's someone new.

 

 

[Salamander]

Participant 8 talk:

Spoiler

It feels a bit weird to say for this series, but her clothes aren't the most outlandish by a long shot... from what we can see so far.  Which isn't much, of course.

I just realised that the Participant reveals are actually alternating genders each time, which means that the final Participant should be male - which means, despite the fact that they're saving 4 'til last, that it's probably not Clover.