Nine Hours, Nine Person, Nine Doors (999) is the first installment of the Zero Escape adventure game trilogy developed by Chunsoft. It was released in 2009, followed by Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (VLR) in 2012 and Zero Time Dilemma (ZTD) in 2016.
999 received an update in 2017 and was released along with the second game as part of a bundle titled, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games.
The game is divided into a (Visual) Novel section and an Escape section. The former is primarily textual while the latter includes escape-the-room puzzles. The exciting part of the game is that there are 6 endings and players need several playthroughs to reach the “true” ending.
The Nonary Game which the 9 characters in the video game are forced to play has a time limit of 9 hours before the sinking cruise they’re on causes them to drown.
Fittingly, the first playthrough of the main story of 999 takes 9 hours. The main story plus the extras will take you anywhere between 12-18 hours depending how much dialogue you skip. A 100% completion of 999, including all 6 endings, takes about 30 hours on an average.
1. How long is one playthrough of 999 for a single ending?
The first playthrough of 999 is 9 or 10 hours but every playthrough after that will take you significantly lesser. This is because a big part of the game is dialogue, and when you’ve already read most of it, you can fast-forward those sections after the first playthrough.
Most people take 15 hours to finish all 6 endings in 999.
It is recommended that you complete the game multiple times if you want to understand the story. The story’s conclusion can only be reached when you finish all the endings.
Every time you reach an ending, you are sent back to the beginning until you reach the True ending. You can streamline the process of completing your playthroughs and noting down the answers to the puzzles you have completed during your first run. You still have to replay certain Escape sequences, though.
2. Can you beat 999 with one playthrough? How to beat 999?
You cannot beat 999 with a single playthrough.
The game requires that you progress through branching storylines making different decisions that will result in different endings. The whole plot of the game is only uncovered when you reach the True ending, which is when you would have actually beaten the game.
In order to reach the True ending, you have to first reach the Safe ending (or Zero Lost ending, if you’re playing the remastered 999 in the Zero Escape: The Nonary Games).
The fastest you can beat 999 is in 2 playthroughs, in which case you would have to reach the Safe ending on the very first playthrough and then the True ending on the second playthrough.
This is only possible if you take the help of a guide, watch a walkthrough, or follow the endings flowchart made by a fan.
Additionally, all the doors are not visible in a single playthrough. The numbered doors lead to story and plot progression and are the means through which you, as the player, can make the choices that lead to the end.
3. Does 999 have multiple endings? All the endings in 999 listed
999 has multiple endings. There are 6 endings in total, with one of them being the actual or True ending.
As mentioned, the True ending can only be reached after the player reaches the Safe ending; both of them are special endings that need specific conditions to be fulfilled so you can reach them.
The reason I said you’ll need outside help if you want to reach these endings on your first 2 go’s, is because it is extremely improbable that you reach there on your own. The game is designed in a way that you reach the other default endings with the choices you make.
Here are all 6 endings in 999:
- Submarine ending
- Knife ending
- Axe ending
- Safe ending
- Coffin ending
- True ending
The Coffin ending is like the True ending but without the final scene that leads to the truth. Some players suggest skipping this ending, but getting the Coffin ending during your beginning playthroughs is a fun way to build up the intrigue.
The ending ends with a mysterious “To be continued.”
This ending is also a great misdirection for the unspoiled player. It is only after you are spoiled by the Safe ending that you know who is in the coffin.
4. How long to beat Zero Escape: The Nonary Games?
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games takes 33 hours to beat. It consists of 2 games, 999 and Virtue’s Last Reward. Exploring all the alternate endings and valuing the voice acting for the dialogues will take you around 40 hours to beat 100% of the game.
If you use walkthroughs for the puzzles and skip all dialogue, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games can be completed in 30 hours minimum.
Most players like using the aforementioned flowchart to get to the endings they want.
5. Which is better, the DS or Port version of 999?
The DS version of 999 is better if you love multiple endings but the port version supports improved graphics and also includes voice acting.
Many fans also like the port version better because of the ending’s flowchart addition and the 999 spoilers – you don’t have to replay the whole game multiple times to get to the end.
999 was originally a Nintendo DS-only game but with port, players can play on PC as well as PlayStation 4, Vita, and Xbox One.
However, with the port, players may end up skipping key dialogue which isn’t quite as redundant in terms of story. It also lessens player immersion, plot intensity, and the general atmosphere of the game.
6. Will there be a Zero Escape 4?
A fourth installment of Zero Escape seems unlikely. The Zero Escape trilogy did manage to find an audience for itself, but they weren’t big sellers. The third installment, Zero Time Dilemma, almost didn’t happen, because the first two games were commercial failures in Japan.
Zero Escape is highly experimental, with huge chunks following a Japanese visual novel style, which a lot of gamers and critics have praised. But fans will have to be content with replaying the trilogy and looking forward to Uchikoshi’s other projects.
7. About 999/Nine Hours, Nine Person, Nine Doors
Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors or 999 is the first installment of the Zero Escape trilogy created by Kotaro Uchikoshi and developed by Chunsoft. The other two games are Virtue’s Last Reward and Zero Time Dilemma.
999 is a horror adventure video game that mixes the Escape Room genre with Japanese visual novel story progression. Players control Junpei, one of the 9 people abducted and forced to play the Nonary Game on a sinking cruise ship.
Players must solve puzzles in order to survive and escape before they drown in 9 hours.
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