Speaking of which, in my time in pre-Wallaby so far I have played and completed a Nintendo DS game called 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors:
Honestly, before I picked up this game I had no idea exactly what I was in for; all I did was skim through IGN and find that this was a pretty highly recommended mystery visual novel/puzzle-solving point-and-click adventure, which to me meant that I could basically pick up this game in between doing work for a casual gaming experience. Ironically, I ended up devoting hours and even days on this game in a bid to figure it out because it was simply THAT amazing and engaging.
In short summary, you wake up in a place you've never seen before and realise that you've been kidnapped by a mysterious person named Zero and have been forced to play a twisted game of "escape the sinking ship" with 8 other people whom you don't know and find hard to trust. Besides a multitude of challenging puzzles that you have to solve to escape each room, you also have to think about which room you want to go into next and how to answer conversations with the other victims, all of which may or may not completely change the ending you are headed towards. In fact, multiple endings and playthroughs are a defining part of what 999 is all about: you will almost certainly die in your first playthrough, but the knowledge you gain about the whole conspiracy will aid you and tempt you to keep playing to discover more endings. And when you finally piece together all the pieces and unlock all 6 (SIX!!!) possible endings, the entire weight of the game will come crashing down on you and you will spend days thinking about a finale that is equal parts shocking, eerie, heart-warming and pretty much perfectly fitted to the story that has been constructed up till that point. From a storyline, atmosphere and engagement point of view, 999 is simply perfection; there's nothing else I can add to that.
Except, maybe...
That A SEQUEL IS COMING OUT!!!
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (the video's title is a literal translation of the Japanese title so it's a bit weird) is a self-contained story, but is made by the same guys who made 999 and features two characters from the previous game, so it's a sequel in a way. While 999's main puzzle mechanic was digital roots, Zero Escape seems to be based around the idea of the Prisoner's Dilemma. The Japanese version is out already, and the North American version will be out on 23 October, which is perfect for when I touch down from Wallaby and start to buy my post-ORD devices. I still don't know if I'm getting a 3DS or a PS Vita, but I do know that either way, this will be one of the first games I'm getting. So PSYCHED for the sequel of a game that I've only played literally just a few days ago. But what can I say; I'm completely smitten.
