One of last year’s stand-out games was Aksys Games’ 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, a dark, M-rated visual novel about murder and kidnap. But what exactly makes it so great, and what areas could be improved upon?

The game tells the story of Junpei, a college student who wakes to find himself locked in a cabin on a ship. His face looks strangely gaunt, and an electronic bracelet displaying the number 5 has appeared on his wrist. There are mysterious objects all over the room, and a metal door that’s also marked with a 5. Junpei doesn’t know how he got there, but he sure as hell doesn’t want to stay. Once Junpei escapes from the cabin, he runs into eight other people of varying ages and from all walks of life, who’ve all gone through the same thing as him. A speaker crackles to life, and the nine confused people are greeted by the voice of Zero, their captor and the captain of the ship. He tells them the only way to escape is to seek a door carrying a 9, and if they haven’t escaped with nine hours — they will be killed.

What follows is a dramatic, exciting, Saw-style race against time, with an intricate plot and plenty of clever twists.

Novel Sections

999′s Novel sections are more text-heavy than anything I’ve played before or since. Descriptive text appears on the touch screen, with dialogue and character sprites occupying the top screen. These sections are lengthy, and for much of the game you’ll simply be pressing A.

This is by no means a bad thing: the writing in 999 is nearly perfect with distinctive and multi-layered characters, plenty of humour, and a few passages that were genuinely chilling. If you’re the sort of person that likes to skip text in video games, 999 might not be for you… but if you can approach it with an open mind and a little bit of patience, I doubt you’ll find the novel sections too slow. I certainly didn’t.

Character sprites are bright and expressive, contrasting with the dark subject matter and often gloomy backgrounds. They don’t move much, but when they do they’re smoothly animated. Equally well-animated are the game’s infrequent cutscenes, which are delivered as full motion video. And the game’s ever-present soundtrack is absolutely fantastic, with pounding drums and a distorted, electronic feel. It all helps to sell the story.

Perhaps the best thing about 999 is that it’s completely non-linear. You’ll be faced with choices throughout the game, and some of those choices will come back to haunt you later. I don’t want to give too much away, but suffice it to say there are six distinct endings to discover. When your game comes to an end, you can start again with the “memories” from your previous adventures — choices you’ve picked before appear dim, so you can make sure you take a different path.

Escape Sections

When you’re not reading reams of text in 999, you’ll generally be trying to escape from a room or a series of rooms. The escape sections are more like an adventure game than a visual novel — using the stylus, you examine the room you’re in and gather items that Junpei thinks might be useful. Items can be examined in 3D, and combined to create new items.

The rooms are filled with puzzles, thanks to Zero’s genius. Generally, these aren’t too difficult to solve as long as you’re patient enough to put the clues together methodically. I don’t want to give the impression that the game is “too easy” — it isn’t — but most people should be able to complete it without getting frustrated or having to look for walkthroughs.

If you do get stuck, however, the characters you’re with are usually happy to help you out. If the game notices you’re floundering, people will start to say things a little more simply or give you friendly advice. It’s better than the majority of hint systems in that you don’t really notice it, so you won’t feel like you’re cheating or having your hand held.

The biggest problem I found with 999 is that, while text you’ve read before can be fast-forwarded, escape sections still need to be solved every time you play through the game. It would’ve been so easy for the Japanese developers to include a “skip” feature, but instead you’ll have to replay some puzzles over and over again while you look for new ones. It’s not a major problem, but I did find it frustrating.

Minigame Sections

999 also has several minigame sections which are triggered during the escape sections. I found some of them, like the one pictured, a little too simple. They’ll be “insert the right keycards”, or “push a button”, or “swap some tiles around”. Typical escape-the-room stuff, in other words.

That said, a select few are challenging puzzles in their own right, and I’ve spent several hours scribbling on sheets of paper trying to figure out their solutions. I get the impression the minigames are supposed to give players a change of pace, more than anything, and in that respect they definitely succeed.

The Verdict

 4 ½ – Great

Story wise, 999 is easily the best visual novel I’ve played. It’s well-presented, dramatic, and completely non-linear, with an excellent soundtrack. But some of the minigames are too simple, and playing the same escape sequences several times makes finding the “good ending” feel like a bit of a chore.

Want more 999 stuff? Check out our interview with the game’s Editor and Producer!