The game of 9

When Junpei wakes up on what he turns out to be a huge ship, he can't even remotely imagine what awaits him. Trapped with him are eight other prisoners, each with a sort of digital watch on their wrist, but only useful for marking their identification number; from one to nine. The mysterious Zero, tormentor and at the same time the only one still to cling to to escape from that situation, introduces the group to the perverse rules of the game in which he has decided to let them take part, what he calls the Nonary Game: they will have to join forces to reach the door bearing the number 9, within 9 hours so as not to be torn apart by the explosive charge made to ingest them between the moment of kidnapping and that of awakening.

The only 9 that will lose consistency, the competitors must soon realize, is the one that indicates all the people who took part in the test. The path to safety is in fact interrupted by a series of numbered doors that will be opened by groups of three, four or five, adding the values ​​shown on their bracelets and then again, until you have a single digit - for example 4 + 7 + 8 = 19 -> 1 + 9 = 10 -> 1 + 0 = [1]. An approach that will require sacrifices, leaving Junpei's fate in the balance until the end.

The ship of mysteries

The plot in 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors is the main attraction, to the point that its narration, strictly via text on screen, takes precedence over the playful aspect of the experience, making it become, if not a tinsel, at least a diversion from reading. The good news is that Chunsoft, the Japanese developer, and Aksys Software, the publisher who took care of the localization for the American market, have done an excellent job in this regard. As can be guessed from what is written in the introduction, the story bases much of its charm on the resolution of an increasingly full series of mysteries: many and not only linked to the identity of Zero.

What initially might seem an oriental version of Saw, in fact, proves to be a more complex design, outlined with sci-fi nuances but also a solid writing of the characters. Of course the style is the Japanese one, you have to like it and certain choices in characterization of the characters can appear excessive to us, but it is reasonable to assume that anyone who gets to play 999 already has enough elements to understand if it is an approach to his liking. Progressing from dialogue to dialogue, from description to description, Junpei will begin to develop different relationships with his companions in misfortune, starting with Akane, a companion in elementary school and for this reason of contrast for the player: apparently a figure of to trust in the midst of so many strangers but also a question mark about what kind of relationship really binds them. Of these question marks 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors it suggests several and this is functional both to the sporadic but interesting choices to which it is subjected - which door to cross? What reaction to the words of another "competitor"? - and above all the excellent replayability. There are six different endings that, thanks to the choices on the way to be taken from time to time, can be reached through a good amount of different paths. Which in turn add new details to a mystery that speaks of experiments, disappeared ships, ancient mythologies and other tasty finds, the result of good research on the sources and an exceptional imagination. The greatest satisfaction given by the game is obtained after the first completions, perhaps using one of the guides available on the Net in order not to risk reaching the same conclusion twice, when you understand how the adventure itself is designed to be traveled by making strong notions learned during matches already completed.

to know more

As mentioned in the body of the review, it may not be a bad idea to accompany the games after the first completion by a good guide among those available online. If after seeing the six endings - or if you get tired before - you want to deepen the subject again, the official website is a good source of information, with a very rich section of questions and answers. Just beware of spoilers. Among other things, the atypical structure of the game made it possible to create an ad hoc demo, to be tested via the browser.

And the game?

Of the past eight or nine hours glued to the DS to complete the first time 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, maybe a couple of those expenses will be playing. Three at the most, everything else is occupied by reading. This is because the playful aspect of the experience is limited to a few rooms or small groups of rooms from which to exit by discovering clues, completing puzzles and, as a rule, recovering the key to open a door or activate a mechanism. These moments, played with a first-person camera forced to a handful of precalculated movements, bring to mind certain graphic adventures for modes in which to collect and combine the objects scattered within the backdrops. There are some reasoning puzzles but they are divertissements that do not affect a rather simple challenge, however well done. In short, the title of Chunsoft does not stand up to the competition with the classic point and click for the simple reason that it does not even compete with it. And even the productions of the late Cing seem like monsters of interactivity by comparison. However, the text is not everything and the visual component has received some attention: the drawings of the characters and of the 2D backgrounds are cured, perfectly in style, while the use of the third dimension for other environments leaves rather perplexing from a point of view. strictly technical, while proving to be functional. The game lacks dubbing but the choice is inevitable given the amount of work and cartridge space it would have required. It goes without saying that the American version, the only one available in the West, is entirely in English.

Comment

Resources4Gaming.com

9.0

Readers (37)

8.9

Your vote

The grade reported in the box accompanying this comment, we must be honest, is also quite comfortable. 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors it is an atypical product, closer to reading a book or a comic than to completing a videogame, and for this reason it enjoys a charm that gives it points that others have to sweat to emerge from the competition. The award comes for the use made of a console that for some years has enjoyed unique releases, making the suffering Japanese developers express at best, and which here allows you to tell a long, engaging and replayable story. The advice, unless the description has completely inhibited any interest, is to retrieve it through the import channels: you will hardly try something else like this.

PRO

• Well researched, engaging story
• Six endings and new details discovered with each new crossing
• Those looking for a game to read will be blown away ...

AGAINST

• ... those who just want to play could get bored after ten minutes
• While waiting for it to be localized and distributed in Spain *, a good knowledge of the English language is required * [Solution: Never]