Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors — “I want to play a game…”

HAPPY 2013!

For Christmas I received two gifts: an Amazon gift card and a copy of Virtue’s Last Reward, a puzzle game for 3DS that had plenty of positive impressions behind it. At first I thought I could enjoy the game on its own merits, but the back of the game case reveals that the game is a sequel to a popular DS puzzle game — Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (informally, 999). Well, I thought, I suppose I should play the first game, and Amazon was kind enough to sell me a copy for close to $20.

The prologue shows a young man waking up in a cabin aboard what appears to be an old steamship. Along with introducing the circumstances of his presence there, the prologue also serves as a tutorial for solving the game’s puzzles. The first two things I noticed: 1) the art looked very similar to the character art for a 3DS game I had been playing called Code of Princess. I love the detail of this particular anime-inspired design, and a Google search revealed the same artist, Kinu Nishimura, worked on both games. Splendid! 2) the layout of 999 reminds me of an old NES/Macintosh game called Déjà Vu, a game I loved when I was younger. You have to look for clues among still images of an environment and use whatever is available to move on to new areas and progress the plot. Many of the puzzles in both games are based on logic. 999 also makes use of a number of numerological and mathematical puzzles that may get you to bust out that calculator.

The story seems like something out of the Saw films. Junpei, the player character, meets eight other people (including a childhood friend) brought to the ship against their will. They’re all trying to figure out why they’re on the ship, and learn the rules of the “nonary game” from the masked, mysterious Zero. One of the nine hostages attempts to go off on his own in search of an exit and dies horribly doing so, communicating to the “players” that this is a deadly game in which they have nine hours to win. The rules explain that certain people with certain numbered bracelets on their wrists are allowed to open certain numbered doors that match up with its digital root (adding numbers until getting to a single digit — e.g. 5 + 6 + 7 = 18, 1 + 8 = 9, the digital root), which helps to create plenty of conflict. This contributes to the game’s choose your own adventure path, of which there are six endings to see, including one true ending. Interestingly, the other endings aren’t simply foiler or red herrings. Each ending provides distinct information about the overall story that makes sense of the true ending. There is a reason these people were brought together. All of them are connected in the big picture. It’s just incredible finding out how.

“Jigsaw who?”

The plot is incredibly well-scripted and thoughtful, which is important since 999 is a visual novel. There is an abundance of hidden information and established connections in numerology I just hadn’t thought of until later. I loved the diverse cast and most of them are written in a way where they are sympathetic but flawed. Everyone presents differing arguments for the next move to take, and you’re always left wondering whose side you would be on and where to go to reach the exit and live. I couldn’t believe just how expansive its plot arcs are. The true ending gets ridiculous in a fun way, although I was honestly still scratching my head when all was revealed.

The puzzles aren’t too difficult for the most part. A few do require patience, and there are a few I honestly solved by luck. If you investigate something enough, the game will be happy to provide a hint or a thought that helps get your mental gears turning (I needed that for one puzzle involving dinner plates). I very much enjoyed my time with 999, though. Its assorted characters are relatable and the plot is well-written and well-paced. I love its artwork. The puzzles are well-done for the most part. A great package. Can’t give it a larger endorsement than that!

Pokemon: Soul Silver — Voltorb Flip

Having nearly reached the 20-hour mark in my Pokemon: Soul Silver progress, my trainer finds himself in Goldenrod City. My quest to become a master Pokemon trainer or whatever has come screeching to a halt as I find myself in the city’s Game Center and have been playing Voltorb Flip for the last two days.

From what I understand, the original Pokemon Silver game, and I think the Japanese release of Soul Silver, both featured slot machines for your trainer to earn coins and cash them in for prizes. Some of the prizes include actual Pokemon. In Europe and North America, Soul Silver has a replacement for the slot machines in the form of Voltorb Flip. Voltorb Flip is Nintendo’s take on Minesweeper, that sea mine icon thing in your Windows Start menu that’s been packaged with every copy of Microsoft’s baby since 1990.

Voltorb Flip is a card game consisting of a 5 x 5 grid with cards numbered 1, 2, and 3. The goal is to clear the grid of all the 2 and 3 cards. When you flip a card to a particular number initially, you earn that number of coins to start. Flip a 3, earn 3 coins. Flip 1, 1 coin, etc. The next card you flip will be a coin multiplier provided it’s a number. So if your first card flipped earned you one coin, and you flipped a 3, you now have 3 coins. If you flipped a 2, and flipped another 2, you now earn 4 coins. The catch is not to flip a Voltorb card, because doing so will end your game and not only do you leave without any coins, but in cases where you’ve reached a higher level you may be bumped down a level. The highest level I’ve reached was 4, and I guess because I failed my way upwards, when I flipped the Voltorb card I went all the way back down to level one. Sometimes I’ve gone from level three to two, etc.

There’s no actual gamble to be found here. You speak to the manager of the Game Center and he hands you a Coin Case. The only thing this game costs is patience. You can only win more coins, not lose, so any challenge is instantly eliminated and the game becomes nothing short of tedium. Despite the lack of any penalty, I strangely enjoy Voltorb Flip. The one thing I learned is that if you were way into Sudoku in 2005, you can kind of apply those logic and elimination skills to Voltorb Flip. The game gives you hints as to what the number of cards in a row and column total to, as well as how many Voltorb cards are in that row or column. After a while, it just becomes serious guesswork and chance. I’m looking to buy a Dratini from these suckers.

Pokemon: Soul Silver Version — Next Stop: Goldenrod City

Having just saved my current progress, I can tell you that I am 13 hours and 33 minutes into my journey to become the best damned Pokemon trainer around. I’ve caught 21 Pokemon and earned two badges. It’s really amazing how addicting Pokemon Soul Silver is, and I imagine every last game in the franchise does the same to everyone else. I spent most of the time raising the six Pokemon in my party to decent levels where they can finally learn moves that relate to their type. Excitement kicked in when I saw my Ponyta, which I captured during a stroll with my Pokewalker device in my pocket, finally learn Ember, which launches a fire-based attack. Ember works great against grass and bug Pokemon, so earning my badge from Bugsy, the Azalea Town gym leader, was an easy task. Once your Pokemon get to a certain level where they learn their specific special attacks, you end up with a high that makes you go around looking for fights. My Totodile evolved into a Croconaw, and having just reached Level 20, he’s taking a break while I try to level up some of the other Pokemon in my party. I feel like I have a good balance: a Pokemon that’s stronger against most types for every possible battle and situation. Interestingly, I just caught a Drowzee, a psychic Pokemon if I remember correctly. I think I’m going to work with it for a bit and see what becomes.

At one point, I was given an egg to carry around and it finally hatched into a Togepi. Some people might have been too young to remember, but back in 1999 or 2000, the animated series (at least the U.S. edit) had made a big deal about the show’s second season. The main characters Ash, Brock, and Misty had discovered a mysterious egg at some point and eventually hatched into a new Pokemon called Togepi. The Togepi apparently has a really powerful attack, or something like that. Somewhere between Azalea Town and Goldenrod City, I came across a Pokemon Day Care Center. I decided to give it a shot and handed over a Weedle and my Togepi for raising. I’m supposed to call them on my Pokegear to check up on their progress. I also have to dial up Kurt, who makes Pokeballs provided you give him a certain type of Apricorn. I have to try with a decent amount of effort not to get enveloped in all of this, but with its simple presentation but complex design you can’t help but want to be part of the world…of creatures battling each other for their trainers’ love and admiration… Hmm…

Although I have a ways to go before actually finishing the game, I’m already considering purchasing Pokemon Platinum for the DS. I’m actually kind of sorry I didn’t catch up with the series long ago, but at some point you reach that age where you’re “too old” for everything, and Pokemon entered into that vault along with animated movies and cartoons you watched on television. Regardless of this silly philosophy, the Pokemon games have always been great games to play on a handheld game system. I always wondered when exactly Nintendo or the studio Game Freak would go all out and develop the defining console Pokemon game. I’m surprised they hadn’t considered it. Imagine all the money they’d be raking in not only from sales alone, but the crap they could sell on the Wii Shop as downloads. New Pokemon, healing items, Pokeballs with different effects. It’ll be like the Madden games for kids!

Pokemon (Soul Silver Version)

Because it isn’t like I have other games to run through and finish, I decided why not add another one to the log? I recently purchased Pokemon: Soul Silver Edition for the Nintendo DS. The last game in the frighteningly huge franchise that I owned was the Diamond Version, which was lost, possibly stolen. I had completely lost touch with the series after running through the Blue and Yellow versions in my much younger days. I’m from the era when there were only 150 Pokemon to be caught, and now I’m not even sure of the number.

After creating my male trainer and named him (Gooster, of course), I chose the Totodile, the fiercest looking Pokemon in my three choices. Totodile follows you around on the world screen, taken from the Yellow version that was directly based on the animated series. It amazes me when I think about how many children play these games as they advanced in design, and many of them are no doubt experts and old hands at this when I feel incredibly overwhelmed. Usually in RPGs, you have your characters in a party and move on through the story. Here, I have to capture as many of these creatures as possible and, in typical RPG fashion, grind and grind to watch a Kakuna evolve into a Beedrill or a Squirtle into a Wartotle. There’s so much dedication into it, and you forget how complex this game can be.

I’m about 7 hours into Soul Silver, and I’ve captured about 11 or 12 Pokemon. Currently my goal is to teach one Flash, a Technical Machine move that will illuminate dark areas and also assumingly serves as an attack move in battle, which uses a “Rock-Paper-Scissors” type of battle system, which was always a charm for the series. I traded my Bellsprout to an in-game child for an Onix and I’m working on leveling him up for some rock-type Pokemon moves. One of the more interesting gimmicks to me is the use of the DS clock to set the game as night or day, depending on what time you’re playing it, which means different Pokemon to run into in the game’s tall grasses.

The new feature in this game, which I have absolutely loved from the beginning, is the Pokewalker. It’s a tiny device in the shape of a Pokeball that the player uses to “take a Pokemon for a stroll,” the fun part is that you do the strolling for real. The device connects with the game cartridge and a Pokemon that is stored in the Pokemon Center Storage System can transfer to the Pokewalker where actual strolling earns Watts, which can be used to unlock items, new “places” to stroll, and even capture Pokemon within the device. Your Pokemon can gain a level and will incidentally like you more. I took a few on a stroll, and my Totodile never wants to leave my side, and I’ve managed to capture two Pokemon in it so far. You can’t say Nintendo isn’t trying to get people more active.

I’m actually excited to continue the game. I’m not as overwhelmed as I was since this and Diamond are my first Pokemon games in over 10 years.