Who can you really trust?
Scratching off another game on my backlog list, I cleared all of the endings of Virtue’s Last Reward and got the Platinum trophy on my Vita this week. Admittedly, I played this during finals week, so I didn’t get much studying done. Was it worth it? Well, I’ll have to wait for my grades to get back to say yes or no, but damn, this is a phenomenal game. The first Zero Escape game became one of my favorites even though I only unlocked half of the endings, but VLR blew that game out of the water by improving on 999’s shortcomings.
This may sound weird, but Virtue’s Last Reward was the smartest game I’ve ever played. VLR earns that “Rated M for Mature” tag on the game in more ways than one. Yes it has blood, death and strong language, but it also takes a mature mind to appreciate the game’s story. The game deals with advanced physics, alternate timelines, tricky puzzles, Latin, and theories that would break the mind of an eight year old. Virtue’s Last Reward already found itself in a niche market by being a visual novel game, but it puts itself into an even slimmer category by having a complex story. Even halfway through the game you don’t know what’s really happening, you don’t know the purpose of it all and you just want to figure it all out. You have to play the game multiple times to piece the entire thing together, and twenty hours in, I was fearful that the end pay-off wouldn’t be worth it, but DAMN, it was worth it! When I finally got to the final ending, what I received was almost too much to take in at once. Everything came together so smoothly and the final twist almost killed me. Virtue’s Last Reward had one of the best endings I’ve ever experienced in any form of media.
A simple choice, but remember: Elapsam semel occasionem non ipse potest iuppiter reprehendere (Not even Jupiter can find a lost opportunity).
Not only is the story brilliant, the mechanics of the game is absolutely stunning. Instead of starting the game from the beginning every time you got a new ending, you can jump into a previous point before your fate is decided. For example, lets say I had to choose to go through one of three doors: red blue or green. I chose to go through a red door in my first playthrough and got a bad ending. After the ending, I went back before I made the choice and went through the blue door instead and got a totally different ending. This is a great alternative to starting the entire journey over to save some time. That mechanic (along with every other mechanic in the game) is there for a reason that ties in with the story. I won’t dive into spoiler territory, but VLR does every single thing to give players one of the most satisfying endings to a video game to date.
What do Schrodinger’s cat, memento mori, the Chinese room and the prisoner’s dilemma all have in common? Virtue’s Last Reward. VLR asks the questions like what would you do? How do you see the world? I can’t recommend this game enough to any person who enjoys a good story that asks the player moral and ethical questions. It makes you think while telling one of the greatest stories ever told. Play 999, play VLR and join the club in waiting for the third entry in a wonderful series.
Everything isn’t always as it seems
Classic But New 
I agree that it is a marvelous game. I think I liked 999 slightly more. Mostly the story was just so compelling to me in 999 and wrapped in a beautiful way… I did not quite feel as awed by the VLR ending (except perhaps from the mindf*** perspective). From a mechanics perspective, VLR does pretty much everything better. Though, I wish they did not have paths unlock as you see certain segments. They do the storytelling well enough that it is reasonable to figure out, and it just belittles the mental game a bit to have them directing you. But anyways, I loved both… I played through them in like a span of a week. Could not stop. Definitely some of the smartest games out there.
~Dyl
I did the same for both 999 and VLR; played them in a span of a single week. I liked VLR better because of the improved mechanics, like you said. Starting the entire journey over was a tad discouraging, but I still love it. I’m dying to see what they do for the third entry.
Yeah, having to start over from the beginning was a little rough, but the fast forward combined with the plethora of options made it pretty tolerable for me. I actually just dreaded that first room the most with every start over. I also got pretty lucky with my endings, so that made things go pretty smoothly.
I just hope a prequel/sequel (whatever you call it given how VLR ended) happens! I think it has been on rocky grounds for actually being made. Keeping my fingers crossed.
That first room. Ugh, I couldn’t figure out how to escape on my first try haha. My first 999 ending was the coffin one (The worst one in my opinion) so I was super unlucky. And keep your fingers crossed for it to be made AND localized.
Heh, yeah it wouldn’t be of much value if it didn’t make it States side. It would be kind of hilarious trying to fumble through the game in another language though. Whole new levels of confusion added on to diagrams of timeline mind-bending.
Yeahhhh, that would be painful. I’d learn how to read fluent Japanese for that game though!