Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - the game is out!

[Dotty]

Fully completed the game in the wee hours of the morning.

[spoiler=super spoilers]I agree about Kyle. I was pretty sure they mentioned he'd be in somehow? And also the person in Kyle's body at the end of VLR.

One thing that really tripped me up was the whole Q Team situation. I still feel like I missed something, honestly. I put in Delta for the "Who is Zero" question because at that point it's obvious, but I feel like it wasn't something I was supposed to do yet? Was Delta on Q Team the whole time? So they had four members? How did that work for X Passes and the board? It just seemed really random. Still, I got the message for all paths completed, so I guess it was what was supposed to happen? idk it left me uncomfortable for the rest of the game because it felt like I skipped a step in the process.

Another thing is Mira. I feel like her character didn't get resolved at all. In the supplementary epilogue notes, they say that she turned herself in, and apparently now has genuine feelings for Eric, smiles for real etc. I don't really understand what made her change like that. It feels a little shallow considering how she's struggled her whole life to understand emotions and stuff.

There were some more things that were bugging me, but I still need to gather my thoughts.

Anyway, it was all around still a really fantastic experience.

The truth about Phi DESTROYED me (I only figured it out just before she got her name)

GOOD STUFF

[Thane]

So I'm actually stuck - not on a puzzle, mind you, but because I don't know where to continue the story. There are no exclamation marks in the timeline, and I'm currently stuck at:

[spoiler=Several endings and spoilers]The fourth option at the Mexican standoff - I tried writing Q, but I need his name.

I just jumped around with C-team, and Carlos said "search the family portrait" to Q-team, but I don't know what that means. Also, holy shit I got so scared when possessed Q appeared - then proceeded to laugh at the poor animations and his powerful punches.

The Door of Truth

The rest are either locked or behind question marks, which makes me think I don't have enough information to continue them. Any help would be appreciated. I do wonder if I screwed up something when I...

[spoiler=fairly late D-team spoilers]...used the force quit box for D-team in spite of not having the information. I knew broach was one of the words needed, but not the second, so I looked it up, curious as to what would happen if I did.

I don't know how to use the other force quit boxes either.

So yeah, I'm stuck as stuck can be, unless I'm missing some bullshit like with the dice and you have to replay a certain thing several times.

Edit: and now I tried waiting a timer out instead of jumping the gun like a maniac. God this game makes me feel stupid.

Edit 2: stuck again but with no leads. The only choice that isn't locked and that I have any control over is my aforementioned Q problem.

[spoiler=Heavy D-team spoilers] I've seen the "stranded pair" cutscenes, and Diana gave birth to Delta and Phi, and I know I need the "twins birthday" for the Door of Truth, but that wasn't revealed.

Any hint that points me in the right direction would be helpful - never thought the interface of a game would defeat me.

Edited July 1, 2016 by Thane

[Luce]

Yep, I tried this out and it worked. I just finished the game and it left a hole that might never be filled again since who knows if this game will be successful enough to warrant a sequel. Life really is simply unfair.

We're probably talking about the same ending, so:

The game hints that Diana and Phi share mementos and it is obvious to link the blue bird to Diana, but only later did I go through the stranded pair line (since it was locked). It did blow my mind, reminding me of what was done on 999 (regarding Akane, being saved in the future so that she now exists) and VLR (regarding Sigma and Phi, being sent back in time and changing the timeline). I also rather like their pairing, although it wasn't touched upon much later on.

That opens up a plot hole, though. If that was Brother's plan all along, why send Left to stop the AB Project in the future? I guess this one can pass since the creator probably did not think about the sequel's details on that lenght. But it still doesn't make sense that Delta, who wasn't even born, developed the decision games so that he'd be born. It'd be a genius twist, if it did make sense.

Does this game have an unlockable secret ending like VLR? I've looked at all fragments and did everything, so I suppose not. The new archives adding short narrative epilogues were all I got.

I also did miss some things in the game (mild spoilers):

Kyle, for one, since he was guaranteed to be in the game in VLR's secret ending, and Akane's brother. Also, Delta hardly appears and the narrative hardly expands on his story.

I also wanted to see what Akane saw after the Apocalypse ending. Also, since Carlos just disappears after that, I suppose he is dead by VLR's time.

I'm not sure what was the point of adding Mira and Eric. She killed his mother, which occasioned into Akane's father's death sentence and her mother's death, which made Eric's life as crappy as it was, but it has zero plot relevance to the overall plot. I mean, why not add Aoi and Clover, or Aoi and Seven, or even Aoi and Ace?

Fully completed the game in the wee hours of the morning.

[spoiler=super spoilers]I agree about Kyle. I was pretty sure they mentioned he'd be in somehow? And also the person in Kyle's body at the end of VLR.

One thing that really tripped me up was the whole Q Team situation. I still feel like I missed something, honestly. I put in Delta for the "Who is Zero" question because at that point it's obvious, but I feel like it wasn't something I was supposed to do yet? Was Delta on Q Team the whole time? So they had four members? How did that work for X Passes and the board? It just seemed really random. Still, I got the message for all paths completed, so I guess it was what was supposed to happen? idk it left me uncomfortable for the rest of the game because it felt like I skipped a step in the process.

Another thing is Mira. I feel like her character didn't get resolved at all. In the supplementary epilogue notes, they say that she turned herself in, and apparently now has genuine feelings for Eric, smiles for real etc. I don't really understand what made her change like that. It feels a little shallow considering how she's struggled her whole life to understand emotions and stuff.

There were some more things that were bugging me, but I still need to gather my thoughts.

Anyway, it was all around still a really fantastic experience.

The truth about Phi DESTROYED me (I only figured it out just before she got her name)

GOOD STUFF

HEAVY spoilers below!! Don't open this unless you finished the game!

Actually, Phi being Diana and Sigma's daughter was the one thing I theorized correctly, so that one really didn't surprise me. I always thought Phi and Sigma were somehow connected (similar abilities and greek letters as name), then Diana appeared and was always implied to be Sigma's love interest (Kyle's memories and Luna's entire existence are proof of that). Then I realized Phi had red eyebrows and that was it lmao. I just don't like the fact that their existence is possible just thanks to a stupid causal loop, because it feels somewhat cheap. I mean, "I need to make this game because I was born thanks to this game but this game was made by me and I was made thanks to this game etc etc etc" it just doesn't make sense? Uchi already did this in 999 and I hoped it wouldn't happen again, but here we are.

Anyway, back to D-END:2. hat surprised me was the fact that BROTHER, of all people, was Sigma and Diana's kid. I didn't even think about linking Delta with Zero and Brother (even though Zero does use latin sentences like Phi does, maybe I should have realized it sooner). The ending that blew my mind was Perceptive End, because I always thought that I could make Q kill himself by inputting his real name; I tried with Delta because I thought it might as well have been his real identity, so seeing him point the crossbow at the screen confused me to no end. Then someone talked and I was like what the heck, what happened, who is this person, why is he here, WHY IS ZERO WITH Q-TEAM AND WHY DID THEY NEVER REALIZE. I was just so confused, I didn't even know who Zero was at the time (I then imagined it would have been Delta because that guy who died spoke just like Zero), and then Eric calls Q "Sean" and I didn't know that yet either.

About Mira: she's pretty much the cause of literally everything that happens in Zero Escape. She's the one who killed Eric's mom, then Akane's dad was sentenced to death for it and her mother committed suicide, making her end up in Ace's nonary game that led to the three games; then Sean also died because his surgeln didn't show up because of this and etc. But that's all her role in the game- also she killed Junpei in that one route, then D-team in another one, but what was the point of that? Why did she kill them? Is it because of the whole heart thing or she just felt like killing them? And then in the epilogue she, Sean and Eric go back in time to prevent young Mira's killings, but wouldn't this completely delete everything in the ZE series that we know (and thus allowing that one terrorist to kill eight billion people)? I don't really get it. Q-team is a bunch of weirdos.

About Q/Delta: the Perceptive End implies that Delta was with Q-team all along, and apparently they didn't really mind him because he was blind/deaf/mute and on a wheelchair, and the name they called him by was Q. The other teams always thought that the Q on the board was referring to Delta, and not the kid (which is true): they didn't even know there was a kid there to begin with, and they always are surprised when they first see him. Also, Sean can't die since he's a robot and his blood was never shown; also he was alive in timelines in which Q died. Q's X-passes arealso quite interesting, because I didn't understand why they were connected to Sean and now I know that I couldn't because they weren't (they were SELF, AGE, EYE)

It kinda makes sense for a fourth person to exist within Q-team because after the reveal that Sean is a robot there are things that don't add up. Sean can't die and he can't possibly have human anatomical characteristics (such as blood and flesh), so why was there a third death when Q-team was executed? Because Q/Delta is the one who died. Why was there a puddle of... stuff when Q-team died by the acid shower? Because Q/Delta is human and those are his remains. I also heard people saying that sometimes you can see his shadow in Q-team's fragments, but I never paid attention to that so idk. Also, sometimes the other teams say stuff like "even Q [died]?" (even though they shouldn't know about Sean, so everyone thought Q/Delta was Q-team's leader), Eric talks about a "he" and refers to a "chair bound man" once, Junpei straight out says that there is a deaf and blind man within the group.

Honestly I can't really buy that Q-team never really cares about him, but they're a bunch of weirdos, so what can you do.

I wish we got some closure for characters like Aoi, Light and Clover, but oh well. Also where was all the stuff about Free the Soul and Left? Left was barely implied in a single sentence and he was said to be the one focus of Brother...

(i'm sorry for this thing omg i talk too much about these games)

@Thane

The fourth option in the three way standoff isn't required to advance the story, and you'll know which name you should try to input muuuuch later.

The family portrait is the one in the Pod Room. If you've seen Q-team's execution you'll notice an interesting particular about that portrait that should make you understand something iirc

The password for the door of truth is a date you see in D-END:2. It's ok for you not to know it yet, it was one of the latest parts I did in the game (that and the force quit box ones, so don't worry about them as well)

Just make sure you got very outcome and every execution, those are pretty important for advancing the story!

Edited July 1, 2016 by Luce

[Thane]

Thanks for the advice, Luce! I'll respond to you indirectly so I can't see your end game spoilers.

I've got the second D ending but I never saw a date. I've got all the executions and I've even gotten all the bad ends I can just to make sure, but I'm still stuck. If I go back to the D2-ending, where's the clue that it's the password for the Door of Truth?

Also, do I need to redo the Pod Room and inspect the family portrait? I've already completed that room.

[Luce]

Don't worry!

Thanks for the advice, Luce! I'll respond to you indirectly so I can't see your end game spoilers.

I've got the second D ending but I never saw a date. I've got all the executions and I've even gotten all the bad ends I can just to make sure, but I'm still stuck. If I go back to the D2-ending, where's the clue that it's the password for the Door of Truth?

Also, do I need to redo the Pod Room and inspect the family portrait? I've already completed that room.

Oh, since you did the D-END:2 I'll just tell you since it's not a spoiler anymore: when the twins are born, the game shows you a date (16/11/2029). That's the password for the door of truth. The clue isn't in that ending, but rather in the segment after Q tells Eric he doesn't know who killed Mira: Gab arrives and has a note that says "search the family portrait", so then they go back to the pod room automatically and stuff happens. You sure there's not a ! mark on that part of the flowchart?

Edited July 1, 2016 by Luce

[Thane]

Don't worry!

Oh, since you did the D-END:2 I'll just tell you since it's not a spoiler anymore: when the twins are born, the game shows you a date (16/11/2029). That's the password for the door of truth. The clue isn't in that ending, but rather in the segment after Q tells Eric he doesn't know who killed Mira: Gab arrives and has a note that says "search the family portrait", so then they go back to the pod room automatically and stuff happens. You sure there's not a ! mark on that part of the flowchart?

No, no exclamation mark in sight. Wait, the D-end: 2 actually showed a date? Did I simply miss it?

Anyway, thanks for your help. I'll come back if I run into more dead ends! I really thought the puzzles would be the challenge in this game, not my lack of attention to detail.

Edit: I GOT STUCK BECAUSE I SKIPPED A BLACK SCREEN?!

Edited July 1, 2016 by Thane

[Luce]

No, no exclamation mark in sight. Wait, the D-end: 2 actually showed a date? Did I simply miss it?

Anyway, thanks for your help. I'll come back if I run into more dead ends! I really thought the puzzles would be the challenge in this game, not my lack of attention to detail.

I reread your post before and you mentioned you already saw the "twins' birthday" detail on the door with Q-team, that was the ! part I was referring to. I thought you didn't get it yet and I didn't want to spoil you about the door or something haha

Yes, it does show the date! It's literally the beginning of the cutscene in which Diana gives birth to the two, it's not mentioned by the characters though. It's like back to the very first cutscene, when the game shows you a picture of Dcom and says "Dcom"; it does the same in that part, it says "16/11/2029" and then jumps to the actual cutscene. Every other password and stuff is mentioned in the cutscenes, so that one was easy to miss!

You're welcome!

[VincentASM]

Woohoo, beat the game!

My impressions (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Some non-story spoilers:

I got stuck for ages before realising you can choose not to answer "who killed Mira".

Also, I totally missed the instruction manual in the Biolab. That drove me nuts and was the only time I checked a guide. I should've known since you can clearly zoom into the pile of boxes.

Edited July 1, 2016 by VincentASM

[Thane]

Welp, I'm completely lost yet again. I've only got a few parts of the timelines left, but there are no exclamation marks nor any bad ends or anything left for me to find. I recently did...

[spoiler=Ending spoilers] ...the Force Quit Box with C-team and Carlos acting weird.

Eric shooting Carlos and then getting the Virtue's Last Reward ending with C-team.

The Perceptive End of the Mexican standoff, but it didn't advance the plot - although it did feel good.

The only thing thar remain are four question marks in sets of two on the leftmost line, a few branching question marks to the right and something that continues after Eric shoots Carlos with a shotgun. The only thing that comes to mind that I can do is Q's Force Quit Box, but I don't have the code, since it's not the same as the Door of Truth

So yeah, completely lost again, although this time I don't think it's just because I skipped a black screen in a 15-minute cutscene. I've checked every single fragment and the only thing that's left for me is Q-team's Force Quit Box, everything else is locked, and I don't have the password.

Edited July 1, 2016 by Thane

[Jave]

Picking up my copy today after work.

It's gonna be a long night.

[Luce]

Welp, I'm completely lost yet again. I've only got a few parts of the timelines left, but there are no exclamation marks nor any bad ends or anything left for me to find. I recently did...

[spoiler=Ending spoilers] ...the Force Quit Box with C-team and Carlos acting weird.

Eric shooting Carlos and then getting the Virtue's Last Reward ending with C-team.

The Perceptive End of the Mexican standoff, but it didn't advance the plot - although it did feel good.

The only thing thar remain are four question marks in sets of two on the leftmost line, a few branching question marks to the right and something that continues after Eric shoots Carlos with a shotgun. The only thing that comes to mind that I can do is Q's Force Quit Box, but I don't have the code, since it's not the same as the Door of Truth

So yeah, completely lost again, although this time I don't think it's just because I skipped a black screen in a 15-minute cutscene. I've checked every single fragment and the only thing that's left for me is Q-team's Force Quit Box, everything else is locked, and I don't have the password.

The password you need for Q-team's Force Quite Box is in a fragment called "Reality". Did you play through it or is it not unlocked yet? I really don't remember what the conditions to unlock it are (I wrote down literally everything else but that part damn me), but it should be the fourth fragment.

Did you also try to press the button in the First Come, First Saved parts? Because one of them does unlock a thing

[Thane]

The password you need for Q-team's Force Quite Box is in a fragment called "Reality". Did you play through it or is it not unlocked yet? I really don't remember what the conditions to unlock it are (I wrote down literally everything else but that part damn me), but it should be the fourth fragment.

Did you also try to press the button in the First Come, First Saved parts? Because one of them does unlock a thing

Yeah I've noticed that in the limited research I've done (since I don't want to accidentally spoil things), but no matter what I do I can't find an explanation for how it's unlocked - I saw the flow chart of another player and I had done so much more than them, but the Reality fragment was still available to them and not me. I lack one fragment for D-team and C-team and three for Q-team, one of which is Reality. Everything else I've already done, aside from the Force Quit Box (and this fragment is to find the code for that one).

Honestly at this point I half expect the game to have bugged out - the game says I've done everything, and I've even gone back to a few bad ends just to see if things will change. At this rate I'll just look up Q's code.

[Luce]

Yeah I've noticed that in the limited research I've done (since I don't want to accidentally spoil things), but no matter what I do I can't find an explanation for how it's unlocked - I saw the flow chart of another player and I had done so much more than them, but the Reality fragment was still available to them and not me. I lack one fragment for D-team and C-team and three for Q-team, one of which is Reality. Everything else I've already done, aside from the Force Quit Box (and this fragment is to find the code for that one).

Honestly at this point I half expect the game to have bugged out - the game says I've done everything, and I've even gone back to a few bad ends just to see if things will change. At this rate I'll just look up Q's code.

It would be weird if the game bugged out though, it really shouldn't. All the teams have a fragment in common that you don't have yet (because it's the last thing unlocked), so not having D/C-teams last ones is normal, and the other Q-team fragment is the one that takes place after Carlos is shot by Eric. But that one should be unlocked too...

I hope someone else manages to understand what's going on, because that Reality fragment is pretty important for the plot.

[Thane]

It would be weird if the game bugged out though, it really shouldn't. All the teams have a fragment in common that you don't have yet (because it's the last thing unlocked), so not having D/C-teams last ones is normal, and the other Q-team fragment is the one that takes place after Carlos is shot by Eric. But that one should be unlocked too...

I hope someone else manages to understand what's going on, because that Reality fragment is pretty important for the plot.

I realize it is, which is exactly why it's so confusing to me why it's not unlocked. There's not a single thing left for me to do, yet there's nothing after the scene with Carlos, nor can I unlock the three remaining Q fragments even though the flow chart says there's nothing left for me to do - am I supposed to go back to a certain point like with the dice? The difference would be that there's no alternate path to be continued.

[VincentASM]

Yeah I've noticed that in the limited research I've done (since I don't want to accidentally spoil things), but no matter what I do I can't find an explanation for how it's unlocked - I saw the flow chart of another player and I had done so much more than them, but the Reality fragment was still available to them and not me. I lack one fragment for D-team and C-team and three for Q-team, one of which is Reality. Everything else I've already done, aside from the Force Quit Box (and this fragment is to find the code for that one).

Honestly at this point I half expect the game to have bugged out - the game says I've done everything, and I've even gone back to a few bad ends just to see if things will change. At this rate I'll just look up Q's code.

I'm hazarding a guess, but maybe?

When Eric asks who shot Mira, don't answer.

Did you try all the bad ends? Did you try all the execution voting combos (to get the 3 teams killed and all survive).

Have you tried those?

[Thane]

I'm hazarding a guess, but maybe?

When Eric asks who shot Mira, don't answer.

Did you try all the bad ends? Did you try all the execution voting combos (to get the 3 teams killed and all survive).

Have you tried those?

Yupp, I've done all of that.

I should clarify that there are no more choices for me to make. Every single thing is done, and according to a picture of another player's flow chart, I should have the Reality fragment, but it's not there, even though I've done the same thing (and more) than that person.

Edited July 1, 2016 by Thane

[VincentASM]

Yupp, I've done all of that.

Are you 100% sure about the first one?

To clarify, you need to let the countdown time out.

I'm trying to think, but I got stuck at that part and your situation sounds very similar.

Otherwise, hmm... Let me fire up my game to think.

[Thane]

Are you 100% sure about the first one?

To clarify, you need to let the countdown time out.

I'm trying to think, but I got stuck at that part and your situation sounds very similar.

Otherwise, hmm... Let me fire up my game to think.

I know, I even wrote about it earlier on this thread. I'm 100% sure since it made me feel like an idiot for not remembering it was an option.

[VincentASM]

I know, I even wrote about it earlier on this thread. I'm 100% sure since it made me feel like an idiot for not remembering it was an option.

Haha, gotcha. Can you take pics of the missing branches you mentioned in your post? I'm having a hard time imagining where there are.

I feel like there was another time where I got stuck as well.

[Thane]

Haha, gotcha. Can you take pics of the missing branches you mentioned in your post? I'm having a hard time imagining where there are.

I feel like there was another time where I got stuck as well.

Haha, sorry but since I'm technologically inept, I don't even know how I'd do that outside of uploading them to Miiverse or whatever it's called.

I've got a few question marks left on the second branch from the left, and then a few following the scene with Carlos on the rightmost. The rest is full, and according to the flow chart I've made all of the decisions that I can, including all the bad ones.

[Rapier]

Welp, I'm completely lost yet again. I've only got a few parts of the timelines left, but there are no exclamation marks nor any bad ends or anything left for me to find. I recently did...

[spoiler=Ending spoilers] ...the Force Quit Box with C-team and Carlos acting weird.

Eric shooting Carlos and then getting the Virtue's Last Reward ending with C-team.

The Perceptive End of the Mexican standoff, but it didn't advance the plot - although it did feel good.

The only thing thar remain are four question marks in sets of two on the leftmost line, a few branching question marks to the right and something that continues after Eric shoots Carlos with a shotgun. The only thing that comes to mind that I can do is Q's Force Quit Box, but I don't have the code, since it's not the same as the Door of Truth

So yeah, completely lost again, although this time I don't think it's just because I skipped a black screen in a 15-minute cutscene. I've checked every single fragment and the only thing that's left for me is Q-team's Force Quit Box, everything else is locked, and I don't have the password.

Which are those four question marks?

Are you sure there is no part with an ! ? I recommend looking it in the flowchart (looks like VLR's flowchart) instead of looking at each individual fragment.

If I recall correctly, what happens after Carlos is shot is

that he returns to C-Team's fragments where they're being attacked by Sean. Did you do that already?

If you don't want to read the mild spoilers above, try going back to the fragment where Carlos SHIFTed to find a way to deal with Sean. Or do the fragment where Carlos is shot again and then go to the C-Team's fragment selection screen. Chances are it'll probably only show one fragment, like it happened when D-Team teleported to the Door of Truth's room after the transport room.

Also, Zero...

[spoiler=Zero's identity]

Looks like a character out of Deus Ex Machina. What the hell. As if the Solid Snake Sigma wasn't enough already. Can we expect a new Nonary Game with Andrew Ryan from BioShock as Zero?

Edited July 1, 2016 by Rapier

[Thane]

Which are those four question marks?

Are you sure there is no part with an ! ? I recommend looking it in the flowchart (looks like VLR's flowchart) instead of looking at each individual fragment.

If I recall correctly, what happens after Carlos is shot is

that he returns to C-Team's fragments where they're being attacked by Sean. Did you do that already?

If you don't want to read the mild spoilers above, try going back to the fragment where Carlos SHIFTed to find a way to deal with Sean. Or do the fragment where Carlos is shot again and then go to the C-Team's fragment selection screen. Chances are it'll probably only show one fragment, like it happened when D-Team teleported to the Door of Truth's room after the transport room.

Also, Zero...

[spoiler=Zero's identity]

Looks like a character out of Deus Ex Machina. What the hell. As if the Solid Snake Sigma wasn't enough already. Can we expect a new Nonary Game with Andrew Ryan from BioShock as Zero?

Already done that, and it doesn't work. I can find no way of opening the locked fragments; I've tried both completing endings connected directly to them or other ones that could be related, but nothing changes.

I just spoiled myself and looked up the codes.

[spoiler=My thoughts on the ending] I'm shocked by the godawful ending - I think they wanted to go for the mindfuck to end all mindfucks, but I just ended up annoyed by how incomplete it felt.

Also, so much for finding out what happened to the cast of 999 and solving all the mysteries of the series; the game doesn't mention Dio once.

And finally, Delta is effectively a 120+ old cheerleader, since one of his reasons was for them to just get motivated. That's it. I can't say I enjoyed the ending one bit

[Rapier]

[spoiler=Kyle theory]

Gab was awesome, but I feel like he/she/it was a red herring or worse an unsolved mystery. I'll just pretend Gab is Kyle unless a better theory comes up.

Oh man, that made me laugh.

[spoiler=My thoughts on the ending] I'm shocked by the godawful ending - I think they wanted to go for the mindfuck to end all mindfucks, but I just ended up annoyed by how incomplete it felt.

Also, so much for finding out what happened to the cast of 999 and solving all the mysteries of the series; the game doesn't mention Dio once.

And finally, Delta is effectively a 120+ old cheerleader, since one of his reasons was for them to just get motivated. That's it. I can't say I enjoyed the ending one bit

Well, Dio probably doesn't exist since he's relatively young on VLR and Kyle shows that clones have the same aging process as original humans. At that point there are probably many clones of Left that look like him, but we don't know if there is a Left clone with his personality. And even if he exists somehow, there's no reason to bring him up, although a Left clone would be more safe than Brother relying on Mira to do the dirty work.

I didn't find the ending bad, but I think it could've been better. We know very little about Delta and why he looks like an alien/crossover from Deus Ex Machina and XCOM, we also don't see his interaction with Diana on the ending where he mind controls Eric to kill everyone. He just sort of pops from nowhere.

As for just being a cheerleader, that's what it seems, but on hindsight, he did pretty much the same thing that old Sigma and old Akane did to young Sigma and Phi. He opened the possibility for a future where he doesn't need to spread Radical-6 and humanity is saved.

[Thane]

Well, Dio probably doesn't exist since he's relatively young on VLR and Kyle shows that clones have the same aging process as original humans. At that point there are probably many clones of Left that look like him, but we don't know if there is a Left clone with his personality. And even if he exists somehow, there's no reason to bring him up, although a Left clone would be more safe than Brother relying on Mira to do the dirty work.

I didn't find the ending bad, but I think it could've been better. We know very little about Delta and why he looks like an alien/crossover from Deus Ex Machina and XCOM, we also don't see his interaction with Diana on the ending where he mind controls Eric to kill everyone. He just sort of pops from nowhere.

As for just being a cheerleader, that's what it seems, but on hindsight, he did pretty much the same thing that old Sigma and old Akane did to young Sigma and Phi. He opened the possibility for a future where he doesn't need to spread Radical-6 and humanity is saved.

[spoiler=Still the true ending]Oh sure he doesn't exist yet, but why would Delta create him? Why would he make him look like Left if Left didn't factor into the story at all?

While on that subject, why is Delta immortal? Why is it important for him to be Sigma and Diana's son if he's got no emotional connection to them? - I know, I know, he did all that so he could be born but Jesus Christ the lack of emotion just pisses me off.

He's most certainly not like old Sigma and Akane, since they trained young Sigma and Phi and forced them to learn how to use their abilities - Delta simply says that giving them the MOTIVATION was what he was after; he had no need for Carlos and Diana to learn how to SHIFT.

There are also many things which are just casually hand waved, like where did the alien technology came from and how Delta got it. Really, no matter how well they hinted at Delta's existence like with the ending where you could kill him, it still feels like he just popped out of nowhere just to mess with people.

I liked the game overall, but I never imagined the ending would suck this much and be this unfulfilling.

[Rapier]

[spoiler=Still the true ending]Oh sure he doesn't exist yet, but why would Delta create him? Why would he make him look like Left if Left didn't factor into the story at all?

While on that subject, why is Delta immortal? Why is it important for him to be Sigma and Diana's son if he's got no emotional connection to them? - I know, I know, he did all that so he could be born but Jesus Christ the lack of emotion just pisses me off.

He's most certainly not like old Sigma and Akane, since they trained young Sigma and Phi and forced them to learn how to use their abilities - Delta simply says that giving them the MOTIVATION was what he was after; he had no need for Carlos and Diana to learn how to SHIFT.

There are also many things which are just casually hand waved, like where did the alien technology came from and how Delta got it. Really, no matter how well they hinted at Delta's existence like with the ending where you could kill him, it still feels like he just popped out of nowhere just to mess with people.

I liked the game overall, but I never imagined the ending would suck this much and be this unfulfilling.

I don't know if the transport machine does... things to the clones, like longevity. Old Phi also managed to live for a long time, beyond her 100s, according to the archives, which is quite a feat for someone of her time. We can't say if it will also be the case for Carlos though. Also, remember that Brother is very rich, and medicine seems to advance really quick in Zero Escape, so I wouldn't put past him living for a long time / cloning himself so that there will always be a Brother that is a faithful replica of the former.

I don't think that Brother is immortal, although I recall in the Q&A that Uchikoshi hints that he might live in an alternate time, or something like that.

[spoiler=What he says about brother]

Q65:

Is “Brother” still alive in 207X, or has he died?

I recall Alice said he was a pretty old man, which means he was already old in 202X. And if he has died, has a “Brother” clone taken over Free the Soul, or did someone else become the new leader

Answer:

This is just between you and me, but he’s still alive.

Whether he’s alive using secret powers related to his ESPer abilities or he just had the best doctors because of his financial stability to keep him alive doesn’t matter, but he is for sure still alive.

According to one theory, there are rumors that his body as a whole had time slipped to another time.

As for the lack of emotion on being Sigma and Diana's son, well, that's to be expected from someone who was raised by foster parents on 1908. How can anyone have feelings for people they don't even know? He never knew them and chances are the only way he got to meet/learn about them was indirectly through his causing of the VLR timeline or CTRLer abilities mindhacking SHIFTers. With that said, he does show an emotional attachment to Diana, which might be spoilers for you but you're probably thinking "screw that":

In a fragment that you probably couldn't unlock, Delta manipulates Eric into shooting everyone in the Quantum Computer Room, but spares Diana. He then lowers his gun (iirc) and calls her mother, and the scene is cut. I think this proves that he has an emotional attachment with his mother.

I just miss interactions with Delta at all. Maybe he's supposed to remain a mystery, kind of like Akane in 999, but I wanted to know more about his origins, more about what he thinks/feels about his parents, why setting the Decision Game was the only recourse for saving humanity (tbh I'd prefer if it remained a trolley problem and he were to be a Well Intentioned Extremist instead of turning cloaks and agreeing with the protagonists) and why he needed to put the protags into sadistic games to motivate them instead of pulling an Akane and warning the protags (or just the Crash Keys) about an impeding danger from the future, like she did with Sigma.

When I said he was in the same situation as Old Sigma/Akane, it was because he provided the path to a Golden Ending. His ends and its results are the same (feels like Uchikoshi recycled ideas from both 999 and VLR a lot during the creation of this game). But after consideration, I don't see how that was the only way for the bad futures to be averted, and it feels like a bad excuse. He's the weakest Zero character-wise, we can't really care about him enough.

Edited July 1, 2016 by Rapier