Zero Escape 3 might not happen

[Pedeadstrian]

I haven't played VLR (dying to, though) but if this is true then it's incredibly sad, the infinity series are my favorite gaems ever
That aside it's pretty weird seeing a (semi) visual novel doing better outside of japan than in japan itself.

999 and VLR are not part of the Infinity series. It's not even made by the same developer, KID. The Infinity series consists of Never7, Ever17, Remember11, 12Riven, and Code_18. I played the first three, and am waiting for the last two to be translated. While the series itself is amazing, they're not connected.

For a visual novel, VLR series carries more dark tone than most Japanese visual novel. So I'm not surprised that it didn't appeal to most Japanese gamers.

The Infinity series is pretty dark, specifically Remember11, but admittedly not as dark as VLR.

On topic: I absolutely loved Virtue's Last Reward. I admit to pirating it (it was actually the first game I played on Gateway), but if it meant bringing a sequel, I'd gladly buy three copies immediately. The story was amazing, there were twists and turns everywhere, and the connections between the different routes made every "restart" much more enjoyable. I just wish I knew of the ideal (if there is one) route order first.

 

[loco365]

I need to get myself VLR after playing 999, but now that the third game may be cancelled, well, damn it. I really liked 999, I hope they don't can the series.

 

[lufere7]

999 and VLR are not part of the Infinity series. It's not even made by the same developer, KID. The Infinity series consists of Never7, Ever17, Remember11, 12Riven, and Code_18. I played the first three, and am waiting for the last two to be translated. While the series itself is amazing, they're not connected.

IMO the Zero Escape series can be considered at least as a "spiritual successor" of the Infinity series, sure they were not made by KID but they were written by Uchikoshi (One of the 2 main writers of Never7, Ever17 and Remember11) and it shows, the themes and the writing are incredibly similar to the Infinity series.
Also, the Zero Escape series is probably more related to the infinity series than Code_18 and 12Riven, which yes, were developed by KID, but the 2 main writers had already left by then so they are only Infinity games by name, Code_18 in special was supposed to be incredibly bad, so bad the translators decided to skip it altogether.
From what I've read if you're looking for more Infinity-like goodness, I/O and Root Double are the way to go, both are written by Nakazawa (The other main writer of the series) and IIRC one of the 2 games was supposed to be even better than Ever17, so there's that.

 

[trumpet-205]

On topic: I absolutely loved Virtue's Last Reward. I admit to pirating it (it was actually the first game I played on Gateway), but if it meant bringing a sequel, I'd gladly buy three copies immediately. The story was amazing, there were twists and turns everywhere, and the connections between the different routes made every "restart" much more enjoyable. I just wish I knew of the ideal (if there is one) route order first.

If you do decide to buy it, try to get the Vita version. I really regret buying the 3DS version.

 

[FireEmblemGuy]

The solution seems obvious enough to me:
- Chunsoft needs outsiders to fund the game; they're not going to do it themselves if it's not going to sell well in Japan. Their best bet would be to bring investments in from America, where the largest amounts of sales are.

-SCEA needs to sell Vita units in America, where the Vita is really struggling, and their only real solution so far has been a Borderlands 2 port they're not too keen on telling us about.

Just convince Sony to help back the project in exchange for an exclusive Vita release. Hell, if it's fully exclusive rather than just a timed exclusive it'd be even cheaper to develop, and digital-only over a physical release would cut down costs even more. I'd rather have it as a digital Vita exclusive than not have it at all; make it happen, Sony.

 

[Terenigma]

This sucks but its not AS bad as it seems. The first 2 games linked quite well and when i finished VLR i really didnt like the way they seemed to hint at the 3rd game. I would be happy if in terms of that story. It ended there, the 3rd game wont have the right feel because we already know about 2 certain characters and what they are going to do. I liked the "not knowing whats going on" element of the first 2 games and if the 3rd happens, then it will feel like we've already got a plot going in instead of discovering the plot as we go. I dont like that idea personally so if the 3rd doesnt happen, id be ok with it. We still have plenty of other story-driven games to fill the void.

 

[GHANMI]

Sony relying on a visual novel to boost its Vita sales? Hahahahaha. No. Not happening.
Before Hakuoki, they were discouraging third-party publishers from localizing material deemed "too Japanese/too budget title", including VNs.
Same goes for Nintendo, as while NoE and NoJ were pushing visual novels (localizing CiNG games, doing themselves loads of VNs for the Japanese market, and recently publishing an Ace Attorney game), NoA met VNs with apathy at best.

I know it sucks but there's no helping it, really.

 

[Pedeadstrian]

This sucks but its not AS bad as it seems. The first 2 games linked quite well and when i finished VLR i really didnt like the way they seemed to hint at the 3rd game. I would be happy if in terms of that story. It ended there, the 3rd game wont have the right feel because we already know about 2 certain characters and what they are going to do. I liked the "not knowing whats going on" element of the first 2 games and if the 3rd happens, then it will feel like we've already got a plot going in instead of discovering the plot as we go. I dont like that idea personally so if the 3rd doesnt happen, id be ok with it. We still have plenty of other story-driven games to fill the void.

Don't click the spoiler tag unless you have played 999 and Virtue's Last Reward, unless you don't care about spoilers.

Spoiler

They've already used the same characters too many times, in my opinion. I think it would be better off if it had an entirely new cast. Clover being the only character that was in the main cast was fine by me, but then you ended up having the two main characters of the first game be behind the scenes. I don't think that'd play off so well if there were a third game.

IMO the Zero Escape series can be considered at least as a "spiritual successor" of the Infinity series, sure they were not made by KID but they were written by Uchikoshi (One of the 2 main writers of Never7, Ever17 and Remember11) and it shows, the themes and the writing are incredibly similar to the Infinity series.
Also, the Zero Escape series is probably more related to the infinity series than Code_18 and 12Riven, which yes, were developed by KID, but the 2 main writers had already left by then so they are only Infinity games by name, Code_18 in special was supposed to be incredibly bad, so bad the translators decided to skip it altogether.
From what I've read if you're looking for more Infinity-like goodness, I/O and Root Double are the way to go, both are written by Nakazawa (The other main writer of the series) and IIRC one of the 2 games was supposed to be even better than Ever17, so there's that.

Don't click the spoiler tag unless you have played Virtue's Last Reward and Never7, unless you don't care about spoilers.

Spoiler

The only similarities I can think of between Zero Escape and the Infinity games (the true ones, ie Never, Ever, and Remember) is that in Never7, the main character has the ability to remember things that have happened on alternate timelines. That's hardly enough to call Zero Escape a spiritual successor, unless I'm just misunderstanding you, then that's fine.

 

[SpaceJump]

Too bad. Really loved 999 and VLR and was looking forward to a third game in the series

 

[Nathan Drake]

If this is really going to prevent a third game from coming out to potentially wrap up the series, then a Kickstarter should strongly be considered, or they should consider seeing if some larger company would like to put their name on the project to make some profit in the west. If the games have sold reasonably well in the past, and they aren't big budget games, it shouldn't be incredibly difficult to get some other suits to fund the project.

 

[Pedeadstrian]

Even as a VLR*, they could make the third game like the mobile version of 999, where the gameplay is gone and just the story remains. I haven't heard anything about the mobile version, but since the story of VLR was so amazing, I'd gladly have the gameplay portion gone.

*Very last resort

 

[Duo8]

Aaaand now there's this

Spoiler

 

[Bonny]

999 was great, but VLR is not even half as good as it.

The Characters are even more ridigiolous, the plot is much weaker, the riddles sometimes illogical and the horrible save bug ruins it completely.

No 3rd part of this game? Maybe it's better that way.

 

[Terenigma]

Am i alone thinking that VLR was better than 999?

I dont get why people think 999 was better, it had a superb opening plot without doubt but the pacing of the game was way off. The ending especially, it felt too rushed and was kinda stupid if you actually look back at it. VLR on the other hand had excellent pacing from start to finish, it was much longer. Much more interesting and had better puzzles/characters and the vote for each round was hands down better than anything 999 did. Also the twists in VLR, especially the discovery that doesnt shock anyone but you. That was insanely cool, that was the "oh snap" momment to end all "oh snap" momments in games. Best twist iv ever seen in a game.

 

[WiiUBricker]

Am i alone thinking that VLR was better than 999?

No. VLR is technically the better game. People say otherwise because they prefer the more dark tone of 999.

 

[Pedeadstrian]

Am i alone thinking that VLR was better than 999?

I dont get why people think 999 was better, it had a superb opening plot without doubt but the pacing of the game was way off. The ending especially, it felt too rushed and was kinda stupid if you actually look back at it. VLR on the other hand had excellent pacing from start to finish, it was much longer. Much more interesting and had better puzzles/characters and the vote for each round was hands down better than anything 999 did. Also the twists in VLR, especially the discovery that doesnt shock anyone but you. That was insanely cool, that was the "oh snap" momment to end all "oh snap" momments in games. Best twist iv ever seen in a game.

I'm pretty sure the guy above you is the only one who thinks otherwise. 999 was a good game, but VLR was amazing.

 

[GameWinner]

Well at least we have Dangan Ronpa!

Danganronpa still has a lot of life in it so I don't think Spike would drop it just yet. Poor Zero Escape though..

 

[T-hug]

I'm playing danganronpa right now but am not far enough to compare it with 999/VLR.
They should remaster Never7 and Ever17 and release them as a compilation. I'm sure the 360 was meant to get a port of them a couple of years ago but only in Japan.

 

[Hells Malice]

I will be extremely disappointed if they don't look for other means of funding. Kickstarter is a proven and glorious option and i'm sure i'm not the only one willing to throw down a fair sum of cash to see the third game made. (hell I even bought a vita copy and then a digital copy of VLR to show my support)

I'm playing danganronpa right now but am not far enough to compare it with 999/VLR.
They should remaster Never7 and Ever17 and release them as a compilation. I'm sure the 360 was meant to get a port of them a couple of years ago but only in Japan.

They already DID release a japanese only remastering of Ever 17 for 360. Though from the looks of it they fucked up a few things horribly...at least from what I saw.
Also I seem to recall only Ever17 actually getting a proper english release (I say proper...but dat proofreading) , as opposed to a fanslation.

 

[mkdms14]

I wonder how much the japanese developers made off of let these two games to get localized because even if they didn't do well in Japan you would think since it did extremely well overseas that alone should be good enough reason to make more because contrary to what many people in Japan may think about likes, taste and what not the world does not revolve around them. Another good example of a game that sold poorly in Japan but extremely well outside of Japan was Ni No Kuni.