If there’s one genre that’s seen a huge uptick in fortunes over the last couple of years, it’s the Visual Novel. Coming in all shapes and sizes, with a multitude of ideas running around in them, the Visual Novel scene has really taken off. One of the franchises that has helped that explosion is found in Zero Escape: The Nonary Games – a title that has now reached Xbox and PC shores through Game Pass.
Available to purchase, download and add into your digital Xbox and PC library is Zero Escape: The Nonary Games. It’s available for a cash sum of £24.99 via the Xbox Store, or fully present on the Game Pass service – both Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.
So what is Zero Escape: The Nonary Games? Well, it comes from the Spike Chunsoft team and brings together the adventure and escape game series that has played out through various versions. A series in which characters find themselves captured, thrown into a death game and owned by a mastermind – Zero. It’s up to you to help them work their way through the situations at hand, dealing with elements of science fiction, thought experiments, the occult, philosophical issues, and psychological warfare. It probably goes without saying that this is a series that is well known for its elaborate twists and surprises.
Included in The Nonary Games are remastered versions of Nine Hours, Nine Persons and Nine Doors (999) originally released in 2009 for the Nintendo DS, and its sequel, Virtue’s Last Reward (VLR) released in 2012 for Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita (ah, Vita!), with hi-res graphics and both Japanese and English voice acting. Versions of these games have dropped onto PS4, Vita and Steam previously, but now hit Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Windows 10.
Game Details…
- About Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (999) – Junpei along with eight other men and women, including his childhood friend Akane, find themselves trapped on a cruise ship by the enigmatic Zero. Each fitted with a numbered bracelet, they have nine hours to escape before the ship sinks. As the situation unfolds the true purpose of the Nonary game will be revealed.
- About Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (VLR) – Trapped in an unfamiliar facility, Sigma finds himself with eight strangers, men and women. Among them is a mysterious girl Phi who somehow knows Sigma. Before them, an AI entity known as Zero III appears and instructs them. They must play the “Ambidex Game”, and keep playing to escape. But what awaits them beyond this ordeal?
We’ll be looking to run a review of Zero Escape: The Nonary Games and how it plays on Xbox real soon. In the meantime just head to the Xbox Store and download the game right now.
Game Description:
Kidnapped and taken to an unfamiliar location, nine people find themselves forced to participate in a diabolical Nonary Game by an enigmatic mastermind called Zero. Why were they there? Why were they chosen to put their lives on the line as part of a dangerous life and death game? Who can be trusted? Tensions rise as the situation becomes more and more dire, and the nine strangers must figure out how to escape before they wind up dead.
