Virtue's Last Reward and 999

[DaBackpack]

So I just finished VLR and I need to talk about it. Spoilers ahead in thread.

I've played Ever17 and 999 so I know... well everything.

I actually don't even know if I got the true ending. It ends rather abruptly... is there something else I need to do after ? shows up?

[DaBackpack]

And I'm pretty sure ? is Blick Winkel.

[T-Force]

Beaten it twice and researched it to death, what's confusing you?
(yes, also played 999)

[DaBackpack]

Did you play Ever17? Because that comes into the VLR ending (extra ending)

I'll just put E17 revelations in spoilers

[T-Force]

I haven't. Does this ruin it for me?

Again, though, I've read a few wikis and whatnot. Like I said, researched it to death.


EDIT: Researched a bit more. Ever17 is not in the same universe as 999 and VLR. Same writer, thus similar ideas, but the universes are not the same.

[DaBackpack]

I just ask because the ? character is centrally tied to E17 so I don't want to accidentally spoil something about another game, even though it'll come into play in later games. (The author likes to reuse his narrative tricks lol)

It's about "Blick Winkel" so if you've heard of that then you're fine

As far as I know, the game ends when you are told that "?" needs to go back to the facility and prevent Radical-6 from spreading. Which is a super abrupt ending, but I can't find anything else on the flowchart that I need to complete. Or is that just a cliffhanger for a sequel?

[T-Force]

Cliffhanger.
? is not connected to E17, but rather is widely regarded to be the consciousness of the player inserted into the body of Kyle Klim. Because it's the player, and has thus seen everything, this is why Kyle has seen everything and is able to ask questions about things that he should have no knowledge of (as mentioned by Luna and Phi).

In my opinion, I do believe it's another consciousness of Sigma's that has entered Kyle's body. While Kyle may be another person in a sense, he is still the clone of Sigma and thus may be prone to being able to have consciousnesses swapped with the actual Sigma.

That said, it's also not "?" who needs to go. Again, that's the body of Kyle stuck on Rhizome-6. Sigma, however, is the one who needed to go to the facility. Armed with the knowledge of what to expect, he triggered these events so he could be prepared for when he faced the trials again.

The other cutscene seen when the bombs go off, and you're with Akane with Phi frozen is Sigma being sent back to when he failed (thus the fake eye and cybernetic arms). I assume this is to drive home what's at stake.



Either way. Zero Escape 3 is said to take place in the facility. Sigma, Dio, and Junpei are all mentioned to be in the game, and according to the creator, the Nonary Game will feature 9 people spread out over 3 areas.

[DaBackpack]

OK, that's what I thought. I'll minimize E17 spoilers but they're kind of needed in order to make sense of the Zero Escape series as a whole, I think.

(I'm not saying that E17 is necessary to understanding Zero Escape, because it's not, but a mechanic used in that game almost certainly is going to be used in the next game of Zero Escape and explains the ending of VLR.)

Non-spoiler version-- Blick Winkel is a name that represents "player consciousness or perspective"

In E17, the characters in the story "trick" the reader into entering the story. Essentially the entire point of E17 is for the characters to produce a plot twist so immense that it forces the player's consciousness, named "BlickWinkel" (German for "perspective"), to take an active role in resolving the story.

Akane is talking at the player at the end of the Extra ending, so the construct of player consciousness entering the story (Blick Winkel) is introduced and I think it will most likely play a large role in the next game in the series.

Sigma Klim's hologram hinted at this with the termite analogy, where a "being of higher intelligence" being needed to interpret the actions of the termites. To interpret the actions of the human race (in a story), we need a being of a higher dimension. ("The player"). Hinting that the "higher dimensional perspective" is needed for the game's plot.

And then there's the mention of the 4th dimension, spacetime, being needed to resolve the situation (in E17, Blick Winkel is a explicitly mentioned as a 4th-dimensional being because we exist "outside of the story"). We exist beyond the linear flow of time of the story's world, allowing us to jump between timelines at will.

Also: http://vlr0.wikia.com/wiki/Open_questions_and_paradoxes (Very bottom)

[DaBackpack]

Also, I forgot to say this, but I loved the games. Can't wait for the next one if it's happening!

EDIT: I'm kind of surprised that the author gave away his hand so early about the next game... the player consciousness thing is pretty big, but I guess there will be bigger plot twists!