Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

pro

As a visual novel virgin I had no idea what to expect. What I got was a highly addictive adventure with brain melting puzzles, fun characters and a whopping 23 endings. The way you go about reaching these endings is cleverly designed, making the road there a joy to follow.

pro

The star of the show is a set of puzzles that pretty much covers every type there is. They stay clear of your typical point'n click adventure type puzzles which are often based on wit, randomness and your ability to think out of the box (or not to think at all). The puzzles you solve in Virtues are rooted in logic and are always solvable simply by thinking, taking notes and thinking some more. Some more poignant parts of the game requires you to take physical notes to progress further down the line, while the in-game notebook will take care of the rest. You will probably pull your hair out more than once, but the feeling of accomplishment more than makes up for it.

pro

Characters are weird, fun and to a degree stereotypical, but that's something you often expect from Japanese games. I played the game with Japanese voice overs, so while I can't 100% claim that the voice over job was amazing, I felt pretty convinced by it all as emotions were conveyed, fights were fought and stories were told. The wide spread of personalities made each and every story unique and interesting.

pro

The main story is cleverly written, and will take you on a ride that is deeply fascinating, somewhat confusing at times, and requires your full attention. The twists and turns make this game very hard to put down. Philosophy and mind games play a huge role, and the way in which it unravels is very satisfying and smart.

pro

It is a perfect fit for the Vita simply because it's very divided in its core parts: The puzzles and the visual novel bit. This makes it convenient to simply complete a puzzle room or watch a story beat before you take a break. If you're able to put the game down at all, that is.

con

Almost naked women and a disturbingly creepy old guy. Yes, these are all Japanese characters, and they almost nailed them all. It would be interesting if they tried a bit harder to stay away from the stereotypes. The plot also dips its toes in directions I found less than ideal at times, and becomes somewhat convoluted.