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