Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

 3DS
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 292 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 251 out of 292
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 292
  3. Negative: 25 out of 292
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  1. ihatecheez
    Mar 7, 2017
    4
    fun until you realize the characters are flat, boring, and predictable and also the game relies on RNG puzzles. not fun at all. the same problems from the first game are present here again
  2. TemplarGR
    Sep 9, 2016
    0
    Overrated adventure game. Maybe kids might find it interesting, but having played many classic adventure games, i find this a very bad game and a waste of time:

    1) The story is bad. Sure, you can have multiple endings, but this doesn't matter when the story is childish. Anime fans might like it more 2) Gameplay is easy, the puzzles are really easy with a few exceptions. There is    Overrated adventure game. Maybe kids might find it interesting, but having played many classic adventure games, i find this a very bad game and a waste of time:

    1) The story is bad. Sure, you can have multiple endings, but this doesn't matter when the story is childish. Anime fans might like it more

    2) Gameplay is easy, the puzzles are really easy with a few exceptions. There is nothing to really challenge you in this game

    3) The game is tedious. It takes very long to read all the text and proceed the game, and the easy puzzles just serve to pad the game time and nothing more. Add to that a story that is totally uninteresting, and you have a disaster in your hands that you have no reason to bother with.

    Totally overrated by the typical weeaboo cult who swallows anything japanese without question. Save your money and time.    … Expand
  3. themadhatter26
    Apr 12, 2013
    0
    Fun up until the point it freezes, corrupts your save data, and makes you start all the way over from the beginning. DO NOT play this game on the 3DS if you value your time and money.
  4. GERCharon
    Feb 2, 2014
    2
    I loved this game and could not lay my 3DS aside. I just wanted to know more, solve more puzzles, and feel the thrill of this absolutely awesome story. Every NPC feels lie a real intelligent human being with his/her own emotions and opinions. I would say it is the best 3DS game I have played so far,

    IF this game had no bugs. I was playing the game for approximately 15 hours when I had    I loved this game and could not lay my 3DS aside. I just wanted to know more, solve more puzzles, and feel the thrill of this absolutely awesome story. Every NPC feels lie a real intelligent human being with his/her own emotions and opinions. I would say it is the best 3DS game I have played so far,

    IF this game had no bugs. I was playing the game for approximately 15 hours when I had the known savegame crushing bug, which I was not aware of. Since the game is quite old, I expected it to be free of bugs, especially of game-breaking ones like this one.
    I read some news considering this bug, after It occured and there are even messages telling, that this bug has been fixes in the eShop version of the game. This is NOT the case. They say that they couldn't trace the bug down, but they could at least insert some pop-up warning like "Don't save in escape mode!" or something similar. Also there was no warning in the Nintendo eShop description. I cannot tell how disappointed I am.

    Before the bug occurred I would judge a 10/10 without hesitation. Now I am just sad and lost the whole fun I had with this game. It is a shame that after market services for Nintendo products are almost nonexistend. .    … Expand
  5. gregkarate
    Jul 19, 2015
    2
    I understand the reasons people like this game. I could not disagree more.

    This game is not really a "game" per se as it is an interactive novel. A horribly slow moving, boring novel. The dialogue is unskippable so you can't get moving if you're a quick reader and just want to get on with it already. The story is not good. Sure, there's a few insane plot twists at the end that you    I understand the reasons people like this game. I could not disagree more.

    This game is not really a "game" per se as it is an interactive novel. A horribly slow moving, boring novel. The dialogue is unskippable so you can't get moving if you're a quick reader and just want to get on with it already. The story is not good. Sure, there's a few insane plot twists at the end that you won't see coming, but you'll have to wait 30 hours or so to get there. If you're into good stories, go read a manga. Here's two recommendations to get you started: Tokyo Ghoul and Attack on Titan (heard of it?). Sitting through this story is worse than getting waterboarded.

    Let's talk about the puzzles section. Good lord, this was not fun. This is the only real "game" part of this game. I even looked up the solutions so I wouldn't have to deal with it any longer as the whole process is endlessly cumbersome. Don't save your game and exit while you're in these puzzle sections or you could destroy your save file and have to start from scratch. Where's the promised patch to fix this? It's not coming. That's a load of BS right there.

    I'm glad so many people find joy in this game... I just wish there was someone to say the things I'm saying so I wouldn't have had to waste my time.

    If you're looking for a good, engaging story. This is NOT it.    … Expand
  6. Ughduty
    Aug 22, 2020
    0
    It is now the year 2020 and they still didn‘t fix the save game bug which will destroy the only save game you have!

    Besides that the game is just bad. I do not understand where all the good reviews are coming from. The story is bloated, the characters are flat and the pacing is extremely slow. The worst was that after 12 hour of playing I had reached one of the endings in the game where    It is now the year 2020 and they still didn‘t fix the save game bug which will destroy the only save game you have!

    Besides that the game is just bad. I do not understand where all the good reviews are coming from. The story is bloated, the characters are flat and the pacing is extremely slow. The worst was that after 12 hour of playing I had reached one of the endings in the game where I was presented with a notebook screen on which I should enter an ID and a password. However there was absolutely no clue to what these might be. When I exited the screen I was presented with the message „..... to be continued“ and the game was over. After that I searched the internet to find out that you have to play other possible endings in the game to find the ID and the password! This is game design at it‘s worst!    … Expand
  7. restrictedArea
    Apr 3, 2021
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Biggest time wasting bs I have encountered in a while. Nobody gives me the time back I wasted with horrendous characters, a super boring plotline and stressful, unfunny riddles. As for the money I wasted as well: throw it on the street and shoot on it and you might enjoy it more than this game the world doesn't need.… Expand
  8. Ferbez
    Aug 9, 2023
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Terrible "sequel" for an amazing game. 999 feels like a genuine good story from Kotaro Uchikoshi, while Virtue's Last Reward feels like a forced sequel - and since 999 had closed ending this game tries to do the same thing with different characters.

    However, there's a biggest issue - while 999's story focused on characters (and because of that felt extremely personal) this game focuses on world-saving, which IMO is an extremely bad decision. Using characters from 999 feels more like a fanservice stuff rather than this events really being connected to the 999's story. Open ending also doesn't work the best - this game barely got it's own sequel due to poor sales.

    Long story short - this game is nothing more than a lazy sequel to one of the best stories of all time. If you look at this game as a separate story - it's kinda fine. However, as a sequel - it's just more of the same, which barely works for story-based games.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best 3DS Game of 2012
6
#6 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2012
1
#1 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. Eurogamer Italy
    Apr 12, 2013
    90
    If written words don't scare you, Virtue's Last Reward is one of the best interactive books to date. Chunsoft's game mixes a great narrative with the hardest moral choices you can find in a game. Will you be a traitor or a betrayed?
    Read full review
  2. 4P.de
    Mar 14, 2013
    88
    If you want a suspenseful crime story with sci-fi flair, dramatic conflicts and puzzles that are as varied as they are challenging, look no further. This is a grand adventure.
    Read full review
  3. DarkStation
    Mar 6, 2013
    90
    It’s a near flawless narrative experience wrapped in a bog-standard but necessary adventure game.
    Read full review
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