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''Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward'', known in Japan as , is a visual novel adventure video game directed by Kotaro Uchikoshi and developed by Chunsoft for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. It was first released in Japan on February 16, 2012 and in North America and Europe later that year. It is the second installment in the ''Zero Escape'' series and a direct sequel to the 2009 game ''Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors''. The story follows the player character Sigma, a college student who is abducted and forced along with eight other individuals to play the "Nonary Game," which puts its participants in a life-or-death situation. As the story progresses, Sigma discovers his ability to transport his consciousness through time and experience different timelines to the one he initially chose, which he uses to find an outcome in which everyone can survive. Like its predecessor, ''Virtue's Last Reward'' follows a branching storyline that concludes in one of 24 different endings based on decisions made by the player. The gameplay alternates between progressing through the game's narrative via extended cutscenes and navigating and completing puzzles in escape-the-room scenarios. Development began shortly after the release of ''999'' in response to the game's positive reception in North America. ''Virtue's Last Reward'' uses 3D models for the characters and environments as opposed to the 2D illustrations present in ''999'', as well as full voice acting available in both the Japanese and English languages. The script was written by Uchikoshi, who also served as the lead writer for ''999''. Upon release, ''Virtue's Last Reward'' received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed toward the characters, voice acting, and the story, with some criticism towards the game's puzzles. The game was however not commercially successful, which led to the development of its sequel to be put on indefinite hiatus. The third game in the series, ''Zero Escape 3'', was later announced to be in development at the 2015 Anime Expo with a tentative release date in 2016. ==Gameplay== ''Virtue's Last Reward'' is a visual novel adventure video game in which the player assumes the role of a man named Sigma. The gameplay is split into two different sections; Novel and Escape. In Novel sections, the player progresses through the storyline and converses with the non-playable characters.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Novel - Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward )〕 As with most visual novels, the gameplay of Novel sections require little interaction from the player as these sections are spent reading the text that appears on the screen which represents either dialogue between the various characters or the inner thoughts of Sigma.〔 During Novel sections, the player will sometimes be presented with decision options that affect the course of the game, such as which puzzles the player faces and the fates of other characters. The most recurring decision is the Ambidex Game, a prisoner's dilemma in which an individual or a pair of individuals must enter an elevator and choose whether to 'ally' or 'betray' the individual or the pair of individuals they are pitted against. The choices the participants make affect their bracelet points; if the two opponents both choose 'ally', every individual gains two points; if the two opponents both choose 'betray', no one gains points; and if one opponent chooses 'betray' while the other chooses 'ally', the opponent who chose 'betray' gains three points while the other opponent loses two points. Participants who gain nine points are able to escape, while those who reach zero points are put to death. In between Novel sections are Escape sections, which occur when the player, along with other characters, find themselves in a room from which they need to find the means of escape.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Escape - Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward )〕 To accomplish this, the player is tasked with finding various items and solve puzzles within the room, reminiscent of escape-the-room games.〔 The player is able to pick up items and combine them to form new items necessary to solving a puzzle.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Investigate - Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward )〕 In each Escape room, a safe can be found, which can be opened with two passwords. One of these passwords gives the player the key needed to escape from the room, while the other grants access to a hidden folder that provides the player with additional backstory or other supplementary information. If the player finds a puzzle too difficult, they may switch the puzzle's difficulty from hard to easy, where characters may offer more specific hints.〔 Along with Novel and Escape sections, the player is given access to a flowchart that allows them to immediately revisit or "jump" to any previously completed section without replaying the game from the beginning. This allows the player to transition to an earlier branching point in the story and choose a differing option that causes the story to progress in another direction.〔 For example, the player can jump to previously completed rounds of the Ambidex Game and ally with his opponent instead of betraying him or her, and vice versa. While there are 24 endings available,〔 many endings are initially inaccessible and must be unlocked by experiencing events or learning information in other plotlines. For example, if a particular plotline cannot progress because a required password is unknown, the player must jump to other plotlines and find it before returning to the original one. The player is thus required to often jump between the alternate plotlines in order to advance the game towards the ultimate ending.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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