RF Generation Message Board

999: Nine Persons, Nine Hours, Nine Doors is a puzzle/visual novel for the Nintendo DS. You must use critical thinking to overcome the challenges and gain freedom in this cult classic.

Considering the nature of this game and the high importance of replayability this playthrough will be structured differently than previous months. The game can be finished in 5 to 10 hours for your first run of the game. Subsequent runs can be finished quicker. 999 has multiple endings, but only one "true ending" and as such each week's goal will be to achieve a new ending with the final week being devoted to earning the true ending. Getting a head start on this might be helpful and feel free to use YouTube or walkthroughs if you ever get stuck.

Platform
Nintendo DS

PRO TIP!
Keep track of your progress by taking notes. This will help you later on. Jot down puzzle solutions, clues, important dialogue, and endings.

Checkpoints
Week 1 - Play the game and earn your first ending
week 2 - Earn your second ending. Start putting the pieces together/formulating theories

Participants
douglie007
EngineerMike
Fleach
Raidou
singlebanana

Coming Soon? Has it changed from 999?

It hasn't. I just made this thread to remind me to fill in the details for tomorrow.

I'm in of course.

Just read the OP. Curious how to bank my time for this one. Howlongtobeat.com gives 9 hrs to beat it. I might start next week to dip my toe in.

I figure if you put in an hour or so each day you should finish in time. You could probably marathon through it but that might not be the best way to experience the game. It might be possible to double up this month and play both games but that'll require serious time management as LttP clocks in around 15 hours (or 1.5 if you speedrun it ;) ).

Regrading the challenge of 999, just think outside the box and keep a pen and paper by your side. This game is going to break the fourth wall so hard it'll spill out onto your desk. The puzzles and "amnesia trope" are very reminiscent of Cube.

My copy of LttP is lent out, and 800 klicks or so, away.

I've already played through the entire game recently. First playthrough took about 5 hours. This is the type of game that takes multiple playthroughs to find the "best" ending and only getting the best ending will show the entire story. The second playthrough will take you about 3-4 hours, and the remainder will be quicker, since you already know the majority of the puzzles and you can speed through dialogue you have already seen. Also, some endings come pretty quick (before you see all of the game), so some of your playthroughs will be shorter. My advice is to play through the game every week and if you don't get the best ending by the final week, consult a walkthrough on your last play for advice on generating it.

Don't let a guy who works a full-time job, has an hour+ commute, and two young kids outplay you. ;)

The only thing that makes the game long is that it has lengthy dialogue scenes. It's possible to beat the game in a week.

Yes, short puzzles and lots of talky-talk. As I mentioned, once you complete an area and finish the game, you are allowed to skip dialogue quickly on subsequent playthroughs, if you have already seen it.

I just got the game, so lets do this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vavIO0F-vEY

Great to see you, douglie! Have fun with this one. If you like a good thriller you'll love 999.

I got my first ending tonight. Not going to say anything until February first for fear of spoilers. All in all, great first playthrough and I'm so hyped for the next runs towards the "best" ending.

What was your total time Floyd? Just think that it may help others plan out their time for the week.

Where do I go to see my play time? I expect it to be around 6 to 8 hours because there were times I left the game running to think about a decision, cook/eat, etc. I was so hooked that I couldn't put this game down today.

I'm not sure in terms of where to see the game time, just curious if you had some idea and could approximate it.

In that case I'd say it took me a solid 6 hours. I've been playing with a notebook by my side to jot down notes and thoughts, so my total time might be closer to 7 hours.

Interested.  Bought and played this in December, and have yet to get true ending.  I'm game.

Happy to have you Raidou! We're not going to aim for the true ending until the fourth week. If anyone finds it before than, they can just use the spoiler tags.

This is a very captivating game and I'd say that anyone who likes a good thriller should check this out.

Welcome Raidou!

whats the chance of getting the "best" ending the first time? with out a WT of course

0%.  It's impossible to get the True ending on your first playthrough.

Yep, even if you do everything in the correct order, you will get at least one "unfulfilled" ending.

Think of 999 as a video game version of Groundhog Day. You have to keep replaying it until you do everything right.

When you finish a playthrough you can choose "Begin with Memories" from the main menu so you can skip any dialogue that you've already read. That will make all subsequent runs of the game much faster.

So the internet has been down at work, leaving me with an entertainment void, that games fill nicely. I got my first "Bad" ending last night. I am surprised with how adult this game is. First DS game I have played that drops "F" bombs. 3/4 of the way through my second playthrough.

How are you finding the story, Mike? Is this your first visual novel?

I like the story. It kind of reminds me of the film, Cube. Sci-Fi, psychological, horror. I also like that on my second playthrough, I am getting new parts to the story, that weren't known to me the first playthrough. I suppose that, technically, this is my first gaming experience with a visual novel.

Got the second *bad ending*. Getting tired of these downer endings. Lol

I really suck at this game, i cant even get out of the first room,

Spoiler (hover to show)

get that the card and colors will be the code to the suit cases, and i have the decoder from the back of the picture but i cant seem to get them open

Never mind, found the other card, im out :)

Congrats! You don't have to pixel hunt, but tap everything in all the rooms when it's your first time in a certain room.

Just right down the codes for the brief cases, Douglie. Since you'll be replaying this at least once more you probably don't want to go through the whole process of the escaping the first room.

This is definitely a very unconventional game for a Community Playthrough so I'm really happy you guys are giving it your best. I'm working towards the "true" ending today because I'm snowed in, so if anyone gets stuck just PM me.

so when play it again, I dont have to find the codes to trigger the event to open things?

No, you have to do the puzzles over again, but I think the suggestion is that you can skip certain parts in some rooms to move about the game quicker. On your second playthrough and beyond you can scroll through text you have already seen quicker as well.

Yeah, I worded that post very poorly. What I meant to say is that you'll want to write down the passcodes to the briefcases so you just need to find their keys, open them, then escape the room.

You'll always have to replay the rooms but, as Banana said, you can skip any dialogue you've already seen.

Just finished getting all the endings. I must have a half dozen pages of notes and puzzle solutions. The true ending is so great and completely worth getting.

Looking forward to it. 3/6 so far...

Im not going very fast, but should have my first ending by the 7th

BAD END

Spoiler (hover to show)

#5: Stabbed in the back with a knife examining Lotus' corpse.

This has been my 5th playthrough, and so far I have gotten endings 6 and 5 twice each, and 3 once.  I think I know what to do to get a different ending but I've said that 4 times before.

We will be posting how to get the good ending during the last week in February if you are still having trouble.

It helps to write down the series of doors you've gone through, as well the decisions you made. That will help you find different endings. Don't worry though, towards the end of the end month I'll post a link to a guide for the "true ending."

BTW, has anyone else noticed something odd about door #8?

Spoiler (hover to show)

This room (the laboratory) makes absolutely no sense in terms of design for the Nonary Game.

All of the other puzzle rooms are designed to be solvable by anyone, however, this one room REQUIRES Lotus' l33t tech sk1llz to access a puzzle.  This means that the room would have been unsolvable had Lotus not chosen door #8 or had gotten herself trapped instead of Clover.

Yes, I noticed. The reason will perhaps be revealed to you later. ;)

I somewhat agree with that. Lotus takes charge and breaks into the computer so we have to assume that she's needed for this room. On the other hand, everything is laid out exactly the way it is on purpose. As Rich said, this will be revealed later.

Besides, let's give Junpei the benefit of the doubt. He's a smart cookie; he could have figured out how to get into the computer. ;)

sooo much talking, I wish I could get to the first ending... how close am I, I just got through rooms 7/8 ?

Yeah, it's a bit talky.

You're pretty close to an ending.

This game is very dialogue heavy. Please know that I appreciate everyone sticking through this one. The game may seem boring or not game-y, too text heavy, but experience is worth it. The ending (the "true" one) will stay with you for a long time.

I got to it finally, they really dont give you alot to choose from on the first run

So anyone  else do any fact checks on there stories?

I did some quick Google searches on some of the things mentioned in the game. Most are conspiracy theories and pseudo-science. That's fine with me since none of that took away from the game and only added to theme of the big reveal you'll see later.

Here you go Floyd. Apparently, this came with pre-orders:

[img width=300 height=329]http://admintell.napco.com/ee/images/uploads/gamertell/9_hours_9_persons_9_doors_watch_gamestop_preorder.jpg[/img]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-999-9-Hours-9-Persons-9-Doors-Nintendo-DS-Aksys-Metal-WATCH-RARE-/121517425241?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c4b00c259

That's my favourite ending. Aside from the "true" ending, of course.


It's only $380.

Really, I thought I had a good ending and no here comes Clover with an AXE! so far 3 endings none good...

Also http://www.ebay.com/itm/999-9-Hours-9-Persons-9-Doors-Nintendo-DS-Aksys-Metal-WATCH-RARE-/151593431224?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item234bac30b8 that ones is only 100$

[img width=700 height=343]http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/26/63426f6a1a2e67aed898e76ed0f7f499.jpg[/img]  done, i guessed the person that was zeros identity 2 endings ago :)

Nice work douglie!! What are your thoughts on the game overall?

I liked it, i was confused at first about the different endings and why people acted different then they did in the other endings.  I did order the second one, it was new at play asia for 20 so i should have it soon.  I would have liked to see what june had to say when they got out.

This game made me want to play Virtue's Last Reward (sequel to 999). Happy to see that you finished the game and enjoyed it.

Finally got the ultimate ending.

Spoiler (hover to show)

June was the first person I suspected, but I definitely did NOT see that ending coming.