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9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

Platform : Nintendo DS |
Rated: Mature
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 887 ratings
$99.97
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  • Nine Hours: You only have 9 hours before Junpei and the other 8 kidnapped drown. Numerology, music composition and logic puzzles are just a few of the 32 plus obstacles that stand in the way of their freedom
  • Nine Persons: Uncover the mystery surrounding the lives of the 9 captive characters and how their blurry pasts reveal a disturbing future. Help all the characters escape but beware! A wrong decision or careless mistake might put their lives in jeopardy.
  • Nine Doors: Each hostage is cursed with a digital watch that displays their special number. These numbers are the keys to unlocking the 9 doors. Explore your surrounding for clues to unlock the next door by picking up and examining objects.
  • You must use everything in your environment and personal experience to get out
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9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

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Product Description

Product Description

Junpei, a fairly normal college student finds himself involved in a deadly conspiracy that he couldn’t have possibly imagined. He awakes aboard an old passenger ferry, dazed and confused he stumbles around the room trying to reclaim his memories. First thing he noticed was a number roughly drawn on the cabin’s door… A bright red number 5. Junpei’s memory then returned and he remembered what happened right before becoming unconscious! A mysterious person with a gas mask crossed his mind. He remembered the haunting words he spoke, “I’m gonna make you play the game… the ‘Nonary Game’… the game of life or death”. “We’ve decided to call 999 an ‘Adventure’ game,” say Ben Bateman, Localization Editor, Aksys Games, “but I don’t really feel that’s entirely accurate. 999 is a game that simulates life, or at least it would if your life was about being trapped on a sinking ship and forced to complete a series of incomprehensible puzzles before your practically inevitable death. It is about relationships, and how they will ultimately kill you. There is also some blood, and an ax, so if you’ve always wanted some blood and an ax in your life, there you go. But what really brings 999 to life are the people who inhabit it. You will learn to care for them; to feel as though you are there and they are your friends, and then they will die because you made the wrong choices. Just like in real life.”

Amazon.com

999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is a gripping single-player Adventure game for Nintendo DS in which players are forced to use their problem-solving and exploration skills in a desperate life and death race against time. Set in an isolated, enclosed environment from which their is no easy escape, the lives of all nine characters of the game are defendant on the decisions made by the player. Additional features include: a mix of video cutscenes and graphic novel style presentation, puzzle-solving dependent on several factors, character dialog and exploration gameplay, diverse characters, and six possible endings that ensure a high replay value.

Life and death puzzle play for DS.
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A Puzzling Game of Life and Death for DS

Junpei awakens in a mysterious room, dazed, confused and unable to recall how he got there. As he searches the room for clues, he notices he's wearing a mysterious bracelet. Unable to remove the it or leave the room, Junpei suddenly remembers his kidnapper, a mysterious person in a gas mask, and these haunting words, "I'm gonna make you play the game... the 'Nonary Game'... the game of life or death." Could that actually mean what it sounds like? If so, you must save yourself and others if you can, but remember that every choice has consequences.

Key Game Features

  • Named Story of the Year 2010 by IGN - 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors blends thrilling visual novel with mind-boggling puzzle and exploration play, seamlessly into a complex story.
  • Nine Hours - With only nine hours until the boat sinks, Junpei and eight others must find a way out. Numerology, music composition and logic puzzles are just a few of the dozens of obstacles that stand in the way of freedom.
  • Nine Persons - Uncover the mystery surrounding the lives of the nine captives. Help all the characters escape but beware, a wrong decision, careless mistake or even an ulterior motive by one of the others might put everyone's life in jeopardy.
  • Nine Doors - Each hostage is cursed with a digital watch that displays a special number. These numbers are the keys to unlocking the nine doors. Explore your surroundings for clues to unlock the next door by picking up and examining objects.
  • Six Possible Endings - The game's multiple possible valid endings encourage players use what they have learned, and ensure a high replay value.
  • The Adventure Has Only Begun - Play the spiritual sequel, Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, available on the Nintendo 3DS or PS Vita system.

Additional Screenshots

Multiple possible game endings.
View larger Easy to follow text prompts.
View larger Use puzzle play skills to survive.
View larger Additional exploration gameplay.
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
887 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the storyline interesting and engaging. They also describe the gameplay as unexpectedly enjoyable, outstanding, and unique. Customers also appreciate the interesting and complex characters, with distinctive personalities and realistic dialogue. They are satisfied with the graphics, and re-playability. However, some customers are disappointed with the text speed. Opinions are mixed on writing style, and ease of use.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

256 customers mention204 positive52 negative

Customers find the storyline engaging, interesting, and challenging. They also say the controls along with some challenging puzzles will definitely tempt them. Customers also say that the story seems relatively straight-forward in the opening hour or two, but soon begin to appreciate the plenty of clues.

"...The upside is the puzzles are really simple once solved, so finding and combing the right elements make them that much faster on the second or even..." Read more

"...is one of the most creative stories you'll find on the DS, the puzzles are great, and it's one of them games that will keep you coming back for more!..." Read more

"...the person in your life who you want to read more--999 is a perfect blend of story, intrigue, and imagery--at least, as long as they like scarier..." Read more

"...This is where 999 truly shines. The story seems relatively straight-forward in the opening hour or two, but you soon begin to realize that there is..." Read more

176 customers mention172 positive4 negative

Customers find the gameplay enjoyable, outstanding, and fun. They also describe the game as unique, addictive, and hard to put down. Customers also mention that the game has a lot of replay value.

"...The endings, there are 6 in total, are compelling and keep you wanting to play more...." Read more

"...The puzzles are challenging, yet fun, and the feeling you get from completing them is the best reward possible...." Read more

"...WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT: it has a great, original, unpredictable storyline...." Read more

"...Thank goodness, because it's so enjoyable that I will be sad to finish it.Graphically, this game gets good marks...." Read more

53 customers mention46 positive7 negative

Customers find the characters interesting, complex, and recognizable. They also appreciate the unique wardrobes and nice animations.

"...The characters are developed in a way that makes you care about them, but at the same time stay wary of their intentions...." Read more

"...The cast is quite varied and memorable. Every character is immediately recognizable and entertaining...." Read more

"...First, what it does well. The characters are distinct from one another, and each feels different...." Read more

"...Junpei himself is an interesting protagonist, growing into a confident leader who is willing to stake his life to escape the ship with everyone in..." Read more

39 customers mention39 positive0 negative

Customers find the graphics in the game nice, great, and well designed. They also say the escape sections are well designed and the puzzles are very well designed, keeping them interested and challenged. Overall, customers describe the game as one of the best visual novels they've ever played.

"...sketched scenes depicting the current action going on which are beautiful to look at and give the text that much more life...." Read more

"...The game design is flawless, the story is one of the most creative stories you'll find on the DS, the puzzles are great, and it's one of them games..." Read more

"...WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT: it has a great, original, unpredictable storyline...." Read more

"...you want to read more--999 is a perfect blend of story, intrigue, and imagery--at least, as long as they like scarier things!..." Read more

36 customers mention36 positive0 negative

Customers find the re-playability of the video game excellent, worth every penny, and worth every minute. They also say the game has high replayability aspects and six different endings.

"...The best part of the game is the multiple endings, which give 999 great replay value...." Read more

"...Is 999 bad? No, it's decent and worth a play though. Is 999 one of the best DS games? Nope, not even close...." Read more

"...plethora of "bad" endings and only one true-ending, "999" contains massive replay value...." Read more

"...I've only played 5 times so far, but I would still call that excellent replay value (which was obviously the intention)...." Read more

44 customers mention28 positive16 negative

Customers are mixed about the writing style. Some find the novel incredibly written with nearly perfect dialogue. They also say the characters are memorable and the story is spectacular. However, some find the dialogue and narration wordy at times, unnecessary, and drags a little too much.

"...action going on which are beautiful to look at and give the text that much more life...." Read more

"...I also found a lot of the dialogue and narration to be poorly written...." Read more

"...Smartly written, the game's band of loveable characters pulled at my heart-strings...." Read more

"...The game's narration is great too, horrific scenes are typically off screen, but the internal dialogue of the Main Character (Junpei) probably..." Read more

42 customers mention20 positive22 negative

Customers are mixed about the ease of use. Some mention that the game isn't too difficult, and easy to navigate. They find the puzzles fairly easy and challenging without feeling unnecessarily difficult. However, some say that the puzzle can be tedious at times, and annoying in that you have to manually complete each puzzle every time you encounter it.

"...The rules are simple, you have nine hours to escape the ship, and in order to do so you must find the door with the 9 on it...." Read more

"...In a few places, it's actually laborious to get through...." Read more

"...well designed and always kept me interested and challenged without feeling unnecessarily difficult...." Read more

"...Then others were quite difficult and for a while I could only stare at the screen wondering "Wtf am I supposed to do?"...." Read more

31 customers mention0 positive31 negative

Customers find the text speed of the video game tedious, slow, and snail-like. They also say that there's no way to fast forward through the text and that the game takes forever.

"...that you think might be even a little important, and there is WAY to much text when it comes to instructions and whatnot...if you can get past that,..." Read more

"...The games only major fault is having to skip text and solve puzzles you have already solved a couple times over and over again..." Read more

"...HOWEVER, I loaned this game to a friend and he found the amount of text unbearable...." Read more

"...You cannot advance the text as it's being spoken for the first time; you can only speed it up once you have reached one of the endings...." Read more

Nice status
5 Stars
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Probably the best game of the zero escape series. The product arrived in the best status.
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Top reviews from the United States

JD
5.0 out of 5 stars Where Game and Story Telling Meet
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2013
Verified Purchase
QUICK OVERVIEW:
+Interesting characters give way to a compelling and complex story
+Puzzles are fun
+Multiple endings give the game great replay value
+Simple sprites and the sketched scenes work great in tandem with the text

-Playing the same puzzle over and over again gets tedious after the second or third time

Once you start playing 999 you won’t be able to put it down. It’s a dark, twisted tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end of the game. To put it simply Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors is a book in video game format, so if you hate reading then turn away now and never look back because this is not for you. If that isn't the case then continue on!

The main character Junpei is an average college student awakens to find himself aboard a sinking ship. With a vague memory of how he got there or what happened, he sets out to discover what's going on. After meeting up with eight other people, all who share the same story and experience, it's then that ‘Zero’ the mastermind behind the kidnappings reveals that Junpei and the others are lucky enough to participate in something known as the Nonary Game. The rules are simple, you have nine hours to escape the ship, and in order to do so you must find the door with the 9 on it. The number on your bracelet determines what rooms you can enter and with who, break any of these rules and the punishment is simple- death.

Fair warning though, the game earns it's M warning, while never going over the top, 999 leaves the details to your imagination, and the text.
There’s never a relaxing moment through the course of the game, you always have the fact that death is imminent if you don’t solve the puzzles, follow the rules, or escape the sinking ship. Every moment and choice you make counts.

Game play is split into three different sections, novel, puzzle, and room. Novel like the name suggests is the narrative portion of the game, where the plot tends to move forward, and takes place in between the puzzle and room sections.

The room sections are essentially point and click, if you’ve played an ‘escape the room’ game online you’ll get the basics of what’s going on pretty fast. You are able to look around the area, must locate and combine clues to solve puzzles, then move onto the next room.

The real action is with the puzzles, they vary from paying a song on the piano to putting down a winning hand in blackjack. Never fret because the game always gives you a hint or how to, especially when it comes to the more interesting puzzles. In the beginning puzzles are simple but as you progress towards the end they become more difficult though never to the point that you can't accomplish what you need to.

What 999 does an excellent job of is incorporating themes into the puzzles and rooms. For example a little snippet of conversation about ice might seem completely irrelevant to the current situation but in the long run has great significance.

The characters are developed in a way that makes you care about them, but at the same time stay wary of their intentions. From the hulking giant only known as Seven to the sparsely dressed woman going by the codename Lotus each one has a back story and almost seem real.
The best part of the game is the multiple endings, which give 999 great replay value. The endings, there are 6 in total, are compelling and keep you wanting to play more. Be wary though, if your like the person who had played the game before me (I bought the game used) then you might feel cheated with what you get, don't let it discourage you, unlike most games out there, these endings each carry weight and are important to the overall plot. There are four ‘bad’ endings, one true ending, and one joke ending. While this might not make sense right now it does when everything comes to the light.

The best thing about the replay is the fact you have the option to zoom through the text you’ve already read. When you come across text or a scene you haven’t experienced the game stops the fast forwarding and resumes normal speed. Another thing that 999 does right is you don’t have to remember all the choices you’ve made in the past, the game highlights previous decisions you’ve made making it easier for you to choose another route or path.

There are only one real negative, repetition. You'll have to go through some of puzzles you’ve already played, while this doesn’t really hinder the game, it does make it tedious at times. The upside is the puzzles are really simple once solved, so finding and combing the right elements make them that much faster on the second or even third time through.

Graphic wise 999 isn’t that impressive, it does feature sketched scenes depicting the current action going on which are beautiful to look at and give the text that much more life. Characters are portrayed as sprites and have little hints of animation here and there, such as a hair bouncing, mouths moving, or arms swinging every now but nothing really notable. You won’t find any voice acting throughout the entirety of the game, but that’s not really a problem.

The music and sound effects are moving and applied very well creating tension in an already tense environment. Little things like listening to ship creek while the characters argue amongst themselves about the best course of action give the game its impact and effect.
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NettoSaito
5.0 out of 5 stars NGR Review: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors - One of the best stories you'll ever see on the DS!
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2013
Verified Purchase
In the sea of Nintendo DS games, it is very rare for you to come across one of them hidden gems. A lot of the lesser known DS games are normally known has shovel ware, and a lot of the time they just aren't worth it. Back when 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors came out not many people really knew what it was. Here was this game called "999" with a box art style that looked like Marvel vs Capcom 2's artwork, and it had anime characters on the front. Just, what is this game? And why is it M rated? Is it just another one of them cheaply made DS games? There's are just some of the questions people might have asked themselves when they first saw this game on the shelf, and chances are they would have just walked away; however in the off chance that they did decide to give it a try, they would then find themselves being sucked into one of the best games the DS has to offer.

The thing about 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (999 for short) is that it IS in fact a hidden gem on the DS! While a lot of people may have just pushed it aside, others who actually knew about the game would do whatever they could to get their hands on a copy of it. But, just what is this game? Why did people want it so badly? Well, for anyone who had been following the game's development, that answer is quite clear.

999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors is a visual novel developed by Chunsoft, and that alone made it worth it for a lot of people! Although Chunsoft is best known in the west for developing the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, they are also known in Japan for developing some of the greatest visual novels, and for creating some of the best stories (428: In a Blockaded Shibuya being one of them, which later was turned into the anime Canaan). For a Chunsoft visual novel to be released in the US is just about completely unheard of, and it truly is a big deal. Still, what is 999, and is it really all that great? Well...

The Story of 999:

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors is in fact a visual novel, and because of that it's story plays a MAJOR role. The game starts up with a 21 year old man named Junpei waking up in a very strange room. There are bunk beds all around him, there's a giant door with a red number 5 painted on it, and really can't remember what has happened to him. At first Junpei simply takes a look around the room to try and see if he can figure out where he is, but soon things take a turn for the worst, and Junpei soon finds himself fighting for his life. As he looks over and notices the round window on the wall, he slowly begins to realize he is on a ship, and one that is about to sink at that. Soon the window cracks, water flows into the room, and Junpei begins to search the room to find a way out. This is when he finally remembers what happened to him.

After returning to his apartment late at night, Junpei noticed that his window was strangely left open. At first he really doesn't think too much of it and simply closes it, but that's when it happened. Junpei turned around only to find a strange person in a black coat, with a gas mask, and a white can spewing smoke at his feet. Soon after Junpei passed out, and woke up a few hours later in the room he now stands in.

Knowing that he didn't have much time to think about what happened to him, Junpei then continues to search the room to find a way out. He really didn't know what he was looking for, but after noticing a card scanner on the wall, he began to slowly work his way through a series of puzzles in hopes of opening that number 5 door. After a few minutes of searching, and puzzle solving, Junpei finally escaped the room, and then made a mad dash down the hall to "safety."

Once Junpei reached the end of the hall, he opened a door, and then found himself in a huge bright room with a large stair case in front of him. This is when he finally came to understand just what was going on. Much to Junpei's surprise, eight other people were coming down the stairs, including Junpei's long lost childhood friend Akane. As Junpei just stands there in shock, and as he wonders why his childhood friend was there, a voice then comes over the loud speakers. The man over the loud speaker goes on to explain that the nine people have been chosen to take part in a little game; the "nonary game."

The rules of the game were simple; everyone has a watch with a number on it, and there are 9 doors. They all have 9 hours to use their watches to open each of these doors, find the number 9 door, and to finally escape; however only 3-5 people can go through a door at a time, and if you break the rules, you die. To open each door, and to make it through each door and live, 3-5 people had to put their hands on a scanner, and if their number's digital roots added up to the door number, they could then enter; however once entering they would also have to find a second scanner to deactivate a bomb which was apparently inside of each person. If the people who went through the door failed to reach the second scanner within 90 seconds, they died.

After hearing the announcement made by the man who called himself "ZERO," the group of 9 people began to discuss their next move. Would they go along with Zero's game, or would they find another way out? None of them really knew quite what to do, but one thing was very clear; if they wanted to make it out alive, they would have to work together.

Since no one really knew how much Zero knew about each of them, each person in the room decided to give themselves a code name to prevent Zero from knowing their true identity; after all Zero could have just kidnapped them all at random. By looking at each of their watches, each person decided to go under a name which would directly relate to their number. The older man with a number 1 watch decided to go by the name Ace, the number 2 blind man chose the name Snake, the young white hair man with a number 3 picked Santa, the young number 4 girl chose Clover, Junpei (who was number 5) kept his name since he already said it out loud, Akane (who was number 6) became June, the number 7 man decided to simply be Seven, the female dancer who was number 8 became Lotus, and the 9th man stayed the 9th man.

Soon after everyone picked their code names, the 9th man pulled a knife on Clover, and forced her to put her hand up against the scanner by the large number 5 door that was in front of them. After forcing another person to put their hand on the scanner, he then scanned his own hand, and stepped through the door while leaving the others behind; however, this was to his own demise. Once the 9th man entered the door, his watch began to beep, and soon after an explosion could be heard. The 9th man had broken the rules of the game, and because of this he was punished.

Now with one man dead, the other 8 people slowly started to realize that Zero truly wasn't joking around. The only way to survive was in fact to play his game, and they had to play it right. So, with that, the remaining people broke up into two teams, placed their hands on the scanners next to the number 5 door, and the number 4 door next to it. Both doors opened, both teams stepped inside their respective doors, and the nonary game officially started.

The Mystery and Endings of 999:

Unlike most games, 999 isn't simply a game you will play from start to finish and never go back to. The game is filled with many different options to pick from, and each of these options will actually take you down a different path in the story. For example at very start of the game, before the game actually starts, you are given the option to pick between entering the number 5 door where the 9th man's corpse could be found, or you could enter the second door with a number 4 on it. Depending on which door you pick, you'll go with different team members, solve different puzzles, and see different parts of the story; however it just doesn't stop there. Not too long after your initial choice, you are presented with another, and another, and another. At each of these choices the paths become split, and because of that you will WANT to keep replaying this game.

999's story is actually filled with mystery, and you will need to see the entire game to unravel it. While at first you may simply be playing to escape the ship and survive, but soon you'll find yourself actually questioning where you are and what you are doing. What IS the nonary game? Why were these characters chosen to be a part of it? What is with this ship? This room, it's just a 1st class cabin right? Or does it actually serve a purpose? This game actually makes you question just about everything, and the more you play it the more you will actually come to understand just what 999 really is. While in one story path you might learn one thing, you might actually learn another fact which is related during another story path, and then you may learn something that ties both of the pieces of story you learned in the other two playthroughs in with the main game's story. Really it's kind of hard to explain, but to sum it up, each story path will offer different pieces to a much larger puzzle, which you will then figure out by the very end of the game.

The entire story of 999, the way it's told, the alternate story paths, and the way it makes you question your actions is just something very unique, and something you don't see with most games today. It's a story that keeps you coming back for more, and it will shock you so many times that you truly will have no idea what to expect. While the game may be going in one direction at first, soon it makes 180 in the opposite direction, and then it does it again! By the end of each story path you will be questioning everything you know, and that's where 999 really shines. If you're confused already, well, welcome to the club!

999 is also a very psychological game as well. Although the mystery of the main game will have you questioning yourself, the game's use of sound and description will start to get to you as well. The music changes to fit the mood of the different scenes, violence, although not actually shown on screen, is graphically detailed, and the creaking of the ship will constantly remind you that you're just hours away from dying. The entire atmosphere of this game will really draw you in, and it helps make it extremely enjoyable.

The Gameplay:

Although 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors is in fact a visual novel, which you'll spend most of the time reading, there's also portions of the game called "escapes" where you must solve puzzles to advance. These escapes happen after each numbered door you enter through, and they will test you as a player in MANY different ways.

Escape portions play out like old PC adventure games where you'll have access to a few different rooms, and by clicking on different objects with the stylus you can search them; however it really isn't that simple. During your escape different characters will comment on different objects you search, and sometimes offer you hints on what to do next, but for the most part you have to figure things out on your own.

Even though 999 is rated M due to its violence, and strong language, the puzzles in this game really aren't puzzles most kids will be able to solve. Even if a kid were to get a hold of this one and play it, chances are they would become stuck within the first few minutes. For example early on in the game you have to create a home made bomb to escape a room, but how do you do that? Sure the characters in game will give you hints, but if you really don't think about the tools you have at your disposal, you'll never escape. The nonary game itself is also based around what is known as a "digital root" as well. For anyone who doesn't know, a digital root is what you get when you add numbers together, and then add the second digit to the second to get a final single digit number. For example 4 + 6 + 7 = 18, and 1 + 8 = 9, therefore the digital root of 4, 6, and 7 would be 9. The game also later goes on to use other numbering systems to solve puzzles as well, such as hexadecimal.

999 is one of them rare puzzle games that will test you in many different ways, and also force you to call up a lot of them pointless facts you may have buried in the back of your mind. The puzzles are challenging, yet fun, and the feeling you get from completing them is the best reward possible.

The Good and the Bad:

I am going to just flat out say it; 999 does NOTHING wrong, and it does EVERYTHING right! The game design is flawless, the story is one of the most creative stories you'll find on the DS, the puzzles are great, and it's one of them games that will keep you coming back for more! There's even a special section on the official website to help clear up any unanswered questions! Still, not everyone likes this sort of thing...

The only bad points about this game is that not everyone will like it. If you don't like reading, you don't like visual novels, you hate solving puzzles, and you don't like slow moving games, you should stay far FAR away from this one. It is in fact a visual novel, and there's no voice acting at all. For the most part you will be looking at backgrounds, and you will read about what is going on.

If you like visual novels, or just good stories in general, GET 999 NOW! It's one of them games you don't want to miss out on. The good news is, as of the time of this review (1/4/13) the sequel has already been released, and the original has received a reprint as well (which makes it a lot easier to find)!

Overall, I give 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors for the Nintendo DS a 10/10.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Pon a prueba tus habilidades de investigación y deducción.
Reviewed in Mexico on April 16, 2019
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Si te gustan los juegos de misterio o las novelas gráficas, este juego te va a gustar. Hermosa presentación, puzzles retadores y un conjunto de personajes memorables hace de este juego una de las experiencias más adictivas del género que yo haya jugado. Tomando en cuenta que es posible jugarlo en cualquier DS, 3DS o 2DS; no hay pretexto para que no vivas tú mismo la experiencia. El primer título de una trilogía que sin duda debes jugar y tener en tu colección. Vale cada centavo y minuto que inviertas en él.
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Antoine
5.0 out of 5 stars Une aventure textuelle parsemée d'énigmes bien pensées, emballée dans un scénario dérangeant et en béton !
Reviewed in France on March 28, 2017
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Non recommandé aux plus jeunes (le jeu est d'ailleurs en anglais uniquement, n'ayant jamais été localisé en France), ce 1er épisode de la saga des Nonary Games est un superbe jeu d'aventure textuelle de survie qui vous met dans la peau d'une des 9 personnes qui doit s'échapper du piège mortel dans lequel elle est placée au début du jeu.

Le jeu est parsemé de longues phases purement rédactionnelles (la maîtrise de l'anglais n'est donc pas accessoire, on notera toutefois que le niveau de langage employé est très accessible) et n'est donc pas destiné aux joueurs les plus allergiques à toute forme de lecture. À beaucoup d'occasions, le joueur investi aura l'occasion de regretter de voir l'énigme se résoudre ou une décision être prise sous ses yeux alors qu'elle aurait pu donner lieu à une intervention du joueur pour maintenir en vie son attention.

Dans cette aventure, vous appartiendra de découvrir tous les tenants et aboutissants de l'entreprise criminelle qui vous a placé là mais pour cela, une seule partie n'y suffira pas puisque le jeu propose pas moins de 16 parcours différents. Il n'est pas nécessaire de tous les faire (ce serait même une perte de temps), mais il est inconcevable pour qui serait investi dans l'histoire de ne pas faire les 4 ou 5 parcours fondamentalement différents qui : 1) vous permettront de lever le voile sur toute l'intrigue 2) proposeront une fin satisfaisante et 3) vous proposeront toutes les énigmes que le jeu a à offrir, lesquelles sont fort réussies et accessibles.

Une forme de "New Game +" sera activée après votre 1er parcours, vous permettant d'accélérer (non pas de zapper purement et simplement, à mon regret) les conversations que vous avez déjà eu, mais pas les énigmes que vous avez déjà résolu. Il vous appartiendra de tenter d'autres itinéraires et de prendre d'autres décisions dans les itérations suivantes, ce qui peut s'avérer hautement fastidieux si vous ne consultez pas d'aide en ligne pour connaître l'arbre des différents itinéraires. Le jeu ne vous proposant pas de visualiser les chemins que vous avez déjà parcouru, je vous recommande de les noter dès la 1re aventure si vous comptez vous passer de cette assistance.

Une superbe et dérangeante aventure dans l'ensemble, absolument indispensable pour les amateurs du genre et pour ceux qui sont prêts à mettre l'action un peu de côté pour 2 dizaine d'heures.
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Adrian
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing. I've been fantasizing a game like this since ...
Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2016
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Amazing. I've been fantasizing a game like this since I was young. It combines all my interests into one: point-and-click adventure, visual novels, and psychological/fringe sciences, while also possessing high quality writing. The dialogue and humour makes you relate to and admire all of the characters. Plus they all have great chemistry with each other, which is quite difficult to pull off with 9(?) main characters.

I'm really into point and click adventure games where you can examine and combine things to solve solutions. 999 does just that, with just the right amount of difficulty. It does suck that you can't skip the puzzles you've already completed, but it's worth it for the extremely surprising plot twists in the 6 different endings. You WILL want to get them all. Trust me.

This game really made me rethink a lot of things as well. The stuff they talk about is crazy interesting. It's so unusual to see such intriguing topics being discussed and analyzed in a video game--especially in a DS game. For example, they talk about telepathy, but not like in a superhero way, but in an actual "there's real-life proof that humans can actually do this" way. You'd have to play the game to know what I mean (cuz I don't wanna spoil anything).

Give it a go! You won't regret it!
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Gilen
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing game
Reviewed in Spain on March 2, 2016
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This game is awesome. Very interesting and engaging story. Original and complex. The only thing that some people may dislike is that you have to play the game many times to be able to get the full story, although the text parts will be quickly skipped once you have been through them once. If you do not mind having a dense story, i am sure you will love it too. Mind that the original Nintendo DS was region free, so it does not matter if the game comes from a different region :) It will work as well with Nintendo 3DS and New 3DS, even though these are region locked.
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Manuel Maccarone
5.0 out of 5 stars Visual Novel epica e dalla trama coinvolgente
Reviewed in Italy on November 27, 2014
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999:Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors è il primo titolo della saga "Zero Escape" scritta e diretta da Kotaro Uchikoshi e distribuito dalla Spyke Chunsoft.
Il gioco ha una trama tanto semplice quanto inaspettata e dai risvolti epici; 9 persone, rinchiuse in una nave che devono scappare in 9 ore attraverso una porta che reca un numero 9 sulla facciata principale.
Tramite una serie di scelte sarà possibile ottenere diversi finali (in tutto 6) che porteranno il giocatore a capire come mai, all'improvviso, 9 persone sono state rapite e segregate in una nave che a distanza di 9 ore affonderà.
La colonna sonora è la ciliegina sulla torta, insieme alle atmosfere cupe del gioco riuscirà sicuramente a coinvolgere qualsiasi tipo di giocatore. Un titolo da non perdere assolutamente, non è possibile esprimere a parole l'epicità di questo titolo.
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