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  • Locked thread
Fedule
Mar 27, 2010


No one left uncured.
I got you.


:siren:Warning!:siren:

Do not read this thread if you have neither:

Open discussion of 999 spoilers is permitted in this thread.

This is your first and only warning.


Still here? Excellent.


Intercepted communication c. Jan 2011 posted:

'Aksys Games, Ben Bateman spe-'
'Hey Mr Bateman, Kōtarō Uchikoshi here.'
'Oh - hey! What's up?'
'I'm working on a sequel to 999. I'll let you handle the localization if you promise to stop abbreviating every god-damned number in dialogue.'
'...'
'...'
'...Deal. Alright, guess I'll get a head start. What's this thing called?'
'"Zennin Shibō Desu". "Zennin" means "good person", "shibō" means "wish", and "desu"... well, it's "desu".'
'So, "I want to be a good person"?'
'Right, except, here's the thing. "Shibō" can also be read as "death", and "desu" is how you pronounce "death" in Japanese.'
'So...'
'So it also means "Good People Die".'
'So it's a pun based on homophones that only exist in Japanese?'
'Yep.'
'I hate you.'
'Well, I'm sure you'll come up with something! Good luck!'
*click*
'...'
'...'
'...'
'...Um...'



(it's actually a pretty clever title!)

Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, a.k.a. 極限脱出ADV 善人シボウデス (Kyokugen Dasshutsu Adobenchā: Zennin Shibō Desu) is the 3DS/Vita sequel to the spectacular DS visual novel 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors and is thus the second installment in the Zero Escape series, which is totally what this series has always been called (also this has totally always been a series). It is decidedly and pointedly "next-gen", improving on its predecessor with fully 3D rendered environments and models, as well as (almost) full voice-acting. The latter of those is particularly impressive because 999 was extremely wordy, and VLR is moreso.

Actually, now I think about it, "Moreso" is pretty much VLR in a word. There's more of everything. More puzzles. More choices. Waaaaay more endings. Tons more pseudoscience. More mindfucks. More. More. Mooooore!

As with 999, VLR's story was written by Kōtarō Uchikoshi, development was handled by Chunsoft (of Spike Chunsoft) and the North American localization was done by Aksys Games. Unlike 999, VLR was also published in Europe and Australia by Rising Star Games, who, in a flash of inspiration, decided to license it directly from Spike Chunsoft and not from Aksys, causing the European release of the game to lack the English voice dub. Good job on that.

Kōtarō Uchikoshi, before coming up with 999, worked on the Infinity series, which is generally considered to be pretty great by people who come across it, although not many people seem to ever come across it. You should probably check it out at some point! 999 did somewhat better for itself, what with actually securing an official English localization and a sequel.

Chunsoft are an odd little developer. They developed the first five Dragon Quest titles, and then made Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. Basically, what I'm saying is, they're pretty much the last developer you'd expect to be behind 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, a dark and intriguing visual novel in which lots of people die gruesome deaths. But there you go! In April 2012, Chunsoft merged with Spike to form Spike Chunsoft. You probably know Spike as the developer of a certain other dark and intriguing visual novel in which lots of people die gruesome deaths. Actually, that's probably why they got on so well.




Remember the bit about full voice acting? It presents a bit of a problem. How best to show off the game, animations and voices included, without turning this into a VLP?

The solution: invent the Dual-Audio SSLP™.

I have endeavoured to record both voice tracks and will present them alongside a traditional SSLP for those who wish to listen to them. Note that the main character is unvoiced and the game does employ text-scrolls every now and then, so the voice tracks will not be a substitute for reading the LP, but will merely enhance the experience. Voice tracks are broken up with the intention of eliminating as much of the unvoiced parts as possible, and while I'm trying to include all the actual voiced lines, sometimes I decide that capturing, cutting and uploading certain individual lines out of a sea of beeps and silence just isn't worth it.

You can choose either track, or neither. You probably shouldn't choose both, though. That will get ugly.

(I will also include music links at the appropriate points, should you wish to experience ambiance but not the voice acting.)

In more traditional "About the LP" news, there will be voting wherever decisions are called for. In exactly one instance, I will force a decision, and in other instances I may limit options slightly for the sake of my sanity, but otherwise, this will very much be a Vote Driven LP.




Do you even have to ask? :siren:ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS:siren:. Ever. Not one. Not in tags. Not in "wink nudge you guys are going to love this next bit". Not in leading questions. No big spoilers. No little spoilers. If it has not been shown in the LP, do not talk about it or acknowledge it in any way. This extends to pre-release marketing material.

All of which said, speculation is fine and wonderful and encouraged and welcome and please go absolutely nuts.

(just don't do that thing where you post your speculation in spoiler tags because you're ~absolutely sure it's right~ because that's really annoying)

There is no need to tag or otherwise tiptoe around 999 spoilers, because anyone who skipped over the warning above has only themselves to blame.

Here is some advice for those who haven't played the game:
  • Don't Google (or Wiki, or (*shudder*) TVTropes) anything relating to the game, or characters, or... anything.
  • In fact, don't Google (or etc) anything relating to 999 either. I've seen seemingly unrelated VLR endgame spoilers come up in 999 searches.
  • Don't search for fanart.
  • Generally don't seek info or clarification outside this thread (and the 999 thread).

Spoiler Policy Addendum: Absolutely no discussion of Zero Time Dilemma.




Jumpstart
Escape: Elevator
Warehouse A
[continued]
The Nonary Game
NGAE: ~/ sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/ sigma$ cd magenta
Escape: Lounge
Floor B
Infirmary
AB Game Round 1 vs Luna
NGAE: ~/magenta sigma$ cd ally
[continued]
[continued]
Round 1: Aftermath
[continued]
NGAE: ~/magenta/ally sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/magenta/ally sigma$ cd green
Escape: GAULEM Bay
GTM-CM-G-OLM
Warehouse A
[continued]
AB Game Round 2 vs Luna
NGAE: ~/magenta/ally/green sigma$ cd ally
[continued]
Round 2: Aftermath
Warehouse B
The Handkerchief
Luna
[continued]
[continued]
Escape: Security
Security Room
[continued]
[continued]
Infirmary
[continued]
Rec Room
[continued]
[continued]
permission denied > NGAE: ~/magenta/ally/green/ally sigma$ _

NGAE: ~/magenta/ally/green/ally sigma$ cd ~/yellow
Escape: Infirmary
NGAE: ~/yellow sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/yellow sigma$ cd ally
[continued]
Round 1: Aftermath
[continued]
[continued]
Radical-6
NGAE: ~/yellow/ally sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/yellow/ally sigma$ cd red
Escape: Laboratory
Laboratory
The Journal
NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/red sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/red sigma$ cd ally
[continued]

NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/red/ally sigma$ cd ../betray
[continued]

NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/red/betray sigma$ cd ~/cyan
Escape: Crew Quarters
The Prisoner's Dilemma
NGAE: ~/cyan sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/cyan sigma$ cd ally
[continued]
Round 1: Aftermath
[continued]
The Bomb
NGAE: ~/cyan/ally sigma$ cd blue
Escape: Garden
Treatment Center
All-Ice
Infirmary
[continued]
Immunoglobulin
Laboratory
[continued]
NGAE: ~/cyan/ally/blue sigma$ cd_
NGAE: ~/cyan/ally/blue sigma$ cd ally
[continued]

NGAE: ~/cyan/ally/blue/ally sigma$ cd ../betray
[continued]
Alice

NGAE: ~/cyan/ally/blue/ally sigma$ cd ~/cyan/betray
[continued]
Bonus Update
NGAE: ~/cyan/betray sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/cyan/betray sigma$ cd red
Escape: Control Room
Infirmary
NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/red sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/red sigma$ cd ally
[continued]

NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/red/ally sigma$ cd ../betray
[continued]

NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/red/betray sigma$ cd ../ally && chmod u+rwx *
[continued]
Lost Opportunities
Archives
[continued]
[continued]
Antimatter
Infirmary

NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/red/ally sigma$ cd ~/magenta/ally/green/betray
[continued]

NGAE: ~/magenta/ally/green/betray sigma$ cd ~/magenta/betray
[continued]
Escape: Pantry
Floor B
[continued]
NGAE: ~/magenta/betray/red sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/magenta/betray/red sigma$ cd betray
[continued]
Number Nine Door
NGAE: ~/magenta/betray/red/betray sigma$ dio.exe

NGAE: ~/ sigma$ cd magenta/betray/red/ally

NGAE: ~/magenta/betray/red/ally sigma$ cd ~/cyan/ally/blue/betray && chmod u+rwx *
[continued]
[continued]
NGAE: ~/cyan/ally/blue/betray sigma$ alice.exe

NGAE: ~/ sigma$ cd yellow/betray
[continued]
[continued]
Escape: Treatment Center
Floor B
[continued]
NGAE: ~/yellow/betray/green sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/yellow/betray/green sigma$ cd ally
[continued]
Pressure Exchange Chamber
Clover
NGAE: ~/yellow/betray/green/ally sigma$ clover.exe

NGAE: ~/ sigma$ cd yellow/betray/green/betray
[continued]

NGAE: ~/yellow/betray/green/ally sigma$ cd ~/cyan/betray/red/ally && chmod u+rwx *
[continued]
NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/red/ally sigma$ !!

NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/red/ally sigma$ cd ~/yellow/ally/blue
Escape: PEC
Infirmary
[continued]
NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/blue sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/blue sigma$ cd ally
[continued]
[continued]
[continued]
[continued]
Escape: Director's Office
Director's Office
NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/blue/ally sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/blue/ally sigma$ cd ally
[continued]
NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/blue/ally/ally sigma$ tenmyouji.exe

NGAE: ~ sigma$ cd yellow/ally/blue/ally/betray
[continued]

NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/blue/ally/betray sigma$ cd ../../betray
[continued]

NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/blue/betray sigma$ cd ~/magenta/ally/blue
Escape: Rec Room
Floor B
NGAE: ~/magenta/ally/blue sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/magenta/ally/blue sigma$ cd ally
[continued]

NGAE: ~/magenta/ally/blue/ally sigma$ cd ../betray
[continued]
Round 2: Aftermath
Luminol
K
[continued]
[continued]
NGAE: ~/magenta/ally/blue/ally sigma$ k.exe

NGAE: ~ sigma$ cd cyan/betray/green
Escape: Archives
Floor B
NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/green sigma$ !! && chmod u+rwx *
[continued]
NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/green sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/green sigma$ cd ally
[continued]
The Blue Bird
[continued]
NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/green/ally sigma$ sigma.exe

NGAE: ~/ sigma$ cd cyan/betray/green/betray
[continued]

NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/green/betray sigma% cd ~/yellow/ally/red/ally && chmod u+rwx *
NGAE: ~/yellow/ally/red/ally sigma$ quark.exe

NGAE: ~/ sigma$ cd magenta/ally/green/ally && chmod u+rwx *
GTF-DM-L-016
NGAE: ~/magenta/ally/green/ally sigma$ cd _
NGAE: ~/magenta/ally/green/ally sigma$ cd ally
[continued]
Garden
[continued]
Clarification
[continued]
NGAE: ~/magenta/ally/green/ally/ally sigma$ luna.exe

NGAE: ~/ sigma$ cd magenta/ally/green/ally/betray
[continued]
[continued]

NGAE: ~/ sigma$ cd cyan/betray/red/ally && chmod u+rwx *
[continued]
[continued]
Escape: Q
Q
NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/red/ally sigma$ cd _

NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/red/ally sigma$ cd ~/..
Escape: AB Room
The AB Project

NGAE: ~/ sigma$ cd cyan/betray/red/ally/ally
[continued]
[a brief aside]
[continued]
[continued]
Tu Fui, Ego Eris
NGAE: ~/cyan/betray/red/ally/ally sigma$ phi.exe

NGAE: ~/ sigma$ cd /

# ssh k@ngae.rhizome9.net

Fedule fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Mar 9, 2018

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Fedule
Mar 27, 2010


No one left uncured.
I got you.
Fan Stuff!

Anything you see here is spoiler free. There's a separate section for spoiler-art.


Nonary Gaaaaaame! by HelloWinter




Virtue's Last Wind Waker by tiistai



Tragically, this is apparently not going to be a full set. Or is it?

Sigma Failing at Computers by Battle Pigeon




legendsuper posted:

I made some kind of fanart for this wonderful LP. It's absofuckinglutely lovely, but here you go: Gangnam Root
Some draw things, I mash things, for the better or the worse.


Bruceski posted:

I unlocked a top hat in Smash Bros so I got a bit creative.




Tenmyouji's Bizarre Adventure by Hyper Crab Tank





Spoiler-y Fanart:

Obviously I'm not going to have spoiler-y fanart sitting out here in the open, so instead of that I'm going to host it on the increasingly multipurpose SSLP Test Poster.

VLR is not tidily organized into chapters, so all I can really say at this point is do not look at the Spoiler-y Fanart Archive unless you've played the game or are caught up with the LP.

Here's the link.

Fedule fucked around with this message at 03:17 on Mar 9, 2018

Fedule
Mar 27, 2010


No one left uncured.
I got you.















...Ow... Ow ow ow ow ow...!
Damnit... feels like my head's gonna explode.

Our main character, Sigma, doesn't have a voice actor and speaks only in beeps. He was, however, voiced in the preview OVA by Troy Baker in English and Kosuke Toriumi in Japanese - their third shared role, after Yuri Lowell in Tales of Vesperia and Eikichi Mishina in Persona 2. Troy Baker has also been, among many many other things, Booker DeWitt in Bioshock Infinite, Snow in Final Fantasy XIII and Joel in The Last of Us, plus is one of very few actors to have portrayed both Batman (in LEGO Batman) and the Joker (in Batman: Arkham Origins). Kosuke Toriumi has also been Hajime Saitō in Hakuoki and Kiyotaka Ishimaru in Dangan Ronpa.

By the way, don't watch the preview OVA if you're reading this LP blind.






VLR OST: [Sinisterness]


Wait..
Where the hell am I?






Who the hell are you?


...


Um.. Hello?


...




Where the hell are we?
Also, while we're at it, why?


...


No response?
You always this friendly, or did I kick you while I was sleeping?




No luck there either, huh.

Listen in: [English/Japanese]


I'm plenty friendly.




I said I'm plenty friendly.

This mysterious (but friendly) girl is voiced by Karen Strassman in English and Chiaki Omigawa in Japanese. Karen Strassman's been in tons of stuff but hit the big time after voicing Kallen Koizuki in the English dub of Code Geass (I also liked her as the voice of Anna in Fire Emblem: Awakening). Chiaki Omigawa is new-ish to voice acting despite being a stage actor since age 4; her debut was as Maka in Soul Eater, but she's probably better known as Minko Tsurugi in Hanasaku Iroha.


Hey, looks like you can talk after all.
So! Let's try this again. Where... are... we...?




Hm. Well, could be worse, I guess.
You could have said, "actually, we're stuck in a booby-trapped elevator in the bowels of a top-secret government facility where they conduct grotesque human experiments."




...Right. Back to the first question, then.
Who are you?
By which I mean, what's your name?






Cute.
That's my name. I'm asking you what--
...
...
Wait a second... how do you know my name?
I haven't met you before, have I?

Listen in: [English/Japanese]


No, you haven't.




But...


But what? How could you know my name if you don't have any idea who I am?




I just... know it, okay?!


H-Hey... no need to bite my head off.
It's just, you're not really making sense here.
And you still haven't told me who you are.




Just back off, grandpa!


G-Grandpa?...


Look, I just don't know, all right?
It's just kind of... there.




...And some part of my brain just said, "That's Sigma."


Hold on a second--!

Listen in: [English/Japanese]




Huh?




See? You've got one too. They're pretty much identical.


Y-Yeah... Yeah, you're right.




It was on already when I woke up.
Haven't figured out what it's for yet, though.


Well... doesn't seem like it's a watch, does it?




It's just got a 3 and the word "pair".




Gah...


What are you doing?


Trying to get it off.


Good luck.
I spent a while trying to get mine off while you were napping.




Doesn't even have a clasp or anything.




I pressed 'um, but nothing happened. Not even a beep.

*click* *click* *click*


Hmm... yeah, you're right. Nothing.




Somebody better start explaining, or--

Listen in (highly recommended!): [English/Japanese]


Hey, look.


What?


There's something on that screen over there.


Wait... what?






How're you feeling?




Wha... What the hell is that?


A rat?


Uh, no. Pretty sure it's a rabbit.


I'm sure you've got looooots of questions!
It just seems silly to have a big old chit-chat right now, sooooo...
I'm gonna give you a game to play!


A game?


Yes yes yes! And I'm calling it...







So hurry up and get out! I'll be waaaiting!


H-Hey, hold on! Who the hell--


Oh, right! I forgot to tell you the most. Important. Thing.
This elevator you're in...




F-Fall?!


Yes indeedy! So you'd better get moving!



Zero III is voiced, spectacularly, by Cindy Robinson in English and Tarako "TARAKO" Isono in Japanese. Cindy Robinson has a small but impressive smattering of game roles, including Zola in Blue Dragon, Solfege in Eternal Sonata, Labrys in Persona 4 Arena and Amy in the current Sonic cast. TARAKO was in the middle of a singer/songwriter career when she got super-duper famous as Sakura Momoko in Chibi Maruko-chan, but seems to have eschewed major roles between then and her sudden return as an anthroporphized mascot antagonist. Is it me or have I heard this story before somewhere?




Yeah, yeah, see you next fall. That joke wasn't any funnier in elementary school...




Don't tell me you're impressed? Oh for the love of...




Damnit... damnit! Goddamnit! This is bullshit!
That stupid rabbit didn't tell us anything! How are we even supposed to get out of here?
...Ah well. I guess whining about it isn't going to help anybody. We won't be able to get any answers if we can't get out of here.
You with me? C'mon, just nod or something.

Listen in: [English/Japanese]




Let's go!

Fedule fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Feb 19, 2014

klapman
Aug 27, 2012

this char is good
gently caress yes. This game is absolutely excellent, and i'm looking forward to reading the reactions. I actually ended up reading this before I read 999, and honestly it's not a huge deal. 999 was still really entertaining even though I knew the twist, although some of the backstory stuff from 999 does make reading this a lot more fun. Looking forward to getting to re-experience this, you guys are in for a treat.

Artix
Apr 26, 2010

He's finally back,
to kick some tail!
And this time,
he's goin' to jail!
Well this ought to be an interesting ride. VLR is loving fantastic, and if you're reading along, you owe it to yourself to listen to the English voices anytime Zero III appears. Cindy Robinson is having the goddamn time of her life playing a psychotic little rabbit, and it is amazing. :allears:

Dragongem
Nov 9, 2009

Heroes of the Storm
Goon Tournament Champion
I'm so glad you're doing voice tracks because Zero III's voice is the besssssst.

The nooooooooooonary gaaaaaaammmeeee

theshim
May 1, 2012

You think you can defeat ME, Ephraimcopter?!?

You couldn't even beat Assassincopter!!!
I have missed Fedule puns. I'll be keeping a close eye on this one.

Also seconding the love for Zero III's voice, it's spectacular.

Wild Knight
Mar 27, 2010

Foul villain! I do not flee. I will never turn my back on you and run away!

[he says, running away]
I get that they're going for some kind of not-quite-silent-protagonist/you are the protagonist sort of thing with Sigma, but dammit, I will not forgive the fact that deciding to make him voiceless in-game meant we ended up with one less Troy Baker role in the world. :colbert:

In all seriousness, I am so ready for this after 999 had me :f5:ing all the way through the climax, and I'll...third? fourth? fifth, the love for Zero III's voice so far. I'm not going to say they've taken cues from Monobear, but after the last game it is extremely jarring but amazing to see the mastermind being so...cheery.

RefinedUndefined
Jan 1, 2013

Just burn everything, that'll solve your problems.
Am I the only one who prefers the Japanese voice for Zero III for his "NONAAAAAARY GAME" line? The English voice for him is still fantastic, don't get me wrong, it's just that one line sounds better in Japanese to me.

klapman posted:

gently caress yes. This game is absolutely excellent, and i'm looking forward to reading the reactions. I actually ended up reading this before I read 999, and honestly it's not a huge deal. 999 was still really entertaining even though I knew the twist, although some of the backstory stuff from 999 does make reading this a lot more fun. Looking forward to getting to re-experience this, you guys are in for a treat.

Same here, the reactions are going to be a blast, although it will be the first time I hear it in English.

njsykora
Jan 23, 2012

Robots confuse squirrels.


YES! It begins! Also I'm looking forward to some reactions, also likely some dialogue lines I haven't seen before like with the 999 LP.

Lotus Aura
Aug 16, 2009

KNEEL BEFORE THE WICKED KING!

Artix posted:

Cindy Robinson is having the goddamn time of her life playing a psychotic little rabbit, and it is amazing. :allears:

Yeah, seriously. Zero III in English is amazing already. :swoon:

Can't wait to hear the rest of the cast, but hopefully they're not all the obvious usual anime VA standbys. I mean, I don't watch all that much, but I could tell that the white haired lady was voiced by Karen Strassman from her very first line.

AshtonDragon
Sep 5, 2011

Describing VLR as being "more" in every way than 999 (besides characters) is a very good way to put it. Much like with that game, I can't wait for reactions and speculation from people who haven't played this game already.

Also seconding what everyone is saying about the voice work in this game. Pretty much every character is just great, and Zero III really stands out.

slowbeef
Mar 15, 2005

Will Harvey hates you, and everything you stand for.
Pillbug
You've probably heard me talk up this game to death on our podcast, and I can't wait to see a good Let's Play of it. And judging by this:

Fedule posted:

'Aksys Games, Ben Bateman spe-'
'Hey Mr Bateman, Kōtarō Uchikoshi here.'
'Oh - hey! What's up?'
'I'm working on a sequel to 999. I'll let you handle the localization if you promise to stop abbreviating every god-damned number in dialogue.'
'...'
'...'
'...Deal. Alright, guess I'll get a head start. What's this thing called?'
'"Zennin Shibō Desu". "Zennin" means "good person", "shibō" means "wish", and ""desu"... well, it's "desu".'
'So, "I want to be a good person"?'
'Right, except, here's the thing. "Shibō" can also be read as "death", and "desu" is how you pronounce "death" in Japanese.'
'So...'
'So it also means "Good People Die".'
'So it's a pun based on homophones that only exist in Japanese?'
'Yep.'
'I hate you.'
'Well, I'm sure you'll come up with something! Good luck!'
*click*
'...'
'...'
'...'
'...Um...'

I think we're in good hands. Make us proud, Fedule!

mateo360
Mar 20, 2012

TOO MANY PEOPLE MERLOCK!
ONLY ONE DIJON!
Straight from one game into another.

I am also a fan of Zero III's voice acting. There is just so much energy behind it.

ChaosArgate
Oct 10, 2012

Why does everyone think I'm going to get in trouble?

This is going to be fantastic. :allears: I urge everyone who hasn't played VLR to go listen in English because not only is Cindy Robinson fantastic as Zero III, but everyone else is great too. There's also some slight nuances (mostly with Zero III) that you might not pick up if you were listening in Japanese.

orenronen
Nov 7, 2008

This is the first time I'm seeing the English version of this game, and since I obviously have an interest in how text and plot heavy games are translated, I'm playing along and comparing the lines one by one.

The first thing I'll say is that at first glance, the game takes the current strategy Fedule and I are employing in DR2 (only, being professionals, they do it much better) - pretty much every line but the most trivial are not literal translations. There's reordering, changes to text, additions and removals (sometimes of entire lines) to make the game flow better in English, but at the same time it tries to be in line which what the original text conveys. Some things here would drive literal-translation lovers nuts - when the mysterious girl says she's "plenty friendly" in English, she's objecting to being called a "brat" in Japanese. The characters throw a gag into lines that are delivered straight in Japanese, and deliver straight lines where there was a gag in the original. That kind of stuff.

The most drastic change I can see from this short sequence is the character of Zero III, which gives me very different vibes in Japanese and English. I'll have to see how this develops later in the game, but I'll even go to say they changed its personality quite a bit. Japanese Zero III speaks fast but straight in a kinda psychotic manner, and gives me an off-putting, menacing vibe. English Zero III speaks slowly and deliberately, and amps the theatrics and wackiness way up. "If I told you now, that'd be cheating", "Most. Important. Thing", "Waaaay down". "Yes indeedy" -- these are all translation embellishments. I'm not sure I like it, but again - this is a short sequence and I want to see more before I form a better opinion.

Manoueverable
Oct 23, 2010

Dubs Loves Wubs
Oh my God, it's really happening. This is gonna be amazing :swoon:

I actually found Zero III kinda annoying at first, mostly because I didn't really get the need to shout the "Nonary Game" line at the top of its lungs, but it slowly grew on me. Also, that music track really helps to set the mood of the game, it's absolutely incredible.

Drastic Actions
Apr 7, 2009

FUCK YOU!
GET PUMPED!
Nap Ghost

orenronen posted:

The most drastic change I can see from this short sequence is the character of Zero III, which gives me very different vibes in Japanese and English. I'll have to see how this develops later in the game, but I'll even go to say they changed its personality quite a bit. Japanese Zero III speaks fast but straight in a kinda psychotic manner, and gives me an off-putting, menacing vibe. English Zero III speaks slowly and deliberately, and amps the theatrics and wackiness way up. "If I told you now, that'd be cheating", "Most. Important. Thing", "Waaaay down". "Yes indeedy" -- these are all translation embellishments. I'm not sure I like it, but again - this is a short sequence and I want to see more before I form a better opinion.

I've played through both (English version on 3DS, Japanese Version on the Vita. Thank you PS Plus!) and (from what I recall) that's pretty much how it stands throughout it. Considering how they translated him out, I think it works. He still sounds plenty psychotic to me in either version.

I love seeing translations like this because, if I was translating it, I would be too afraid to deviate from the original script. It still maintains the original message of whats being said while sounding very natural. Basically it's something I could never do by myself, because everything I translate sounds stilted and bad.

Drastic Actions fucked around with this message at 22:27 on May 23, 2013

Obscil
Feb 28, 2012

PLEASE LIKE ME!

orenronen posted:

The most drastic change I can see from this short sequence is the character of Zero III, which gives me very different vibes in Japanese and English. I'll have to see how this develops later in the game, but I'll even go to say they changed its personality quite a bit. Japanese Zero III speaks fast but straight in a kinda psychotic manner, and gives me an off-putting, menacing vibe. English Zero III speaks slowly and deliberately, and amps the theatrics and wackiness way up. "If I told you now, that'd be cheating", "Most. Important. Thing", "Waaaay down". "Yes indeedy" -- these are all translation embellishments. I'm not sure I like it, but again - this is a short sequence and I want to see more before I form a better opinion.

Huh. That's really interesting to know. Personally, I absolutely love Zero III in the english version. I actually think it has some of my favorite voice acting out of all the video games I've played.

Anyways, I'm glad that this LP is up now. I was a bit worried that someone might do a bad job, but I think after this update I guess my fears are alleviated for now. As someone who's played this game before, I'll mostly be keeping to the sidelines.

Quinn2win
Nov 9, 2011

Foolish child of man...
After reading all this,
do you still not understand?
Well this LP looks like it's going to be absurdly high-effort. Having just played through 999 earlier this year, consider me hooked already.

tiistai
Nov 1, 2012

Solo Melodica

orenronen posted:

The first thing I'll say is that at first glance, the game takes the current strategy Fedule and I are employing in DR2 (only, being professionals, they do it much better) - pretty much every line but the most trivial are not literal translations. There's reordering, changes to text, additions and removals (sometimes of entire lines) to make the game flow better in English, but at the same time it tries to be in line which what the original text conveys.

The biggest only, really, issue I had with this while I was playing was the reordering specifically. Sometimes the English text and the Japanese audio clash in a pretty annoying manner. The worst being that ocassionally you'd get a very short English line (like 2-3 words) and 10 seconds worth of Japanese dialogue, and after you advance the text the situation is reversed. This is made all the more annoying due to the text scrolling being timed to match the audio, so the short line scrolls by very slowly and the long one very fast. Especially in the European version there's absolutely no need for this, I don't understand why they didn't fix it. Sometimes the text/audio ratio is fine, but the reordering of the lines still messes with me because even with my limited understanding of Japanese I can hear they're talking about something completely different than what the text is saying.

PaleBlueDot
Feb 13, 2012

All the way from
Transylvania
I can't quite decide what I'm most excited about. The new mysteries, such as "who/why is Zero III," or "What's that chick's deal" or the rules for the new Nonary Game. Can't wait for the twists and turns and crazy reveals that are sure to follow :allears:

kiffkin
Feb 13, 2007

Fool! Women called Nyla are always spies!
Happy Christmas! :ohdearsass:

In case anyone else was wondering too, here's the frame of the desert(?):

and here's the other recent desert picture from Dragonatrix's thread (linked for 999 spoilers, just in case). So they're probably not the same place, although given the first game, I'm not taking anything for granted.


And not directly related to the game, but if I could I make a small request to the thread:

klapman posted:

i'm looking forward to reading the reactions

RefinedUndefined posted:

the reactions are going to be a blast

njsykora posted:

Also I'm looking forward to some reactions

AshtonDragon posted:

I can't wait for reactions and speculation from people who haven't played this game already.
I realise you folks who've played the game before are enthusiastic about wanting to share with those of us who haven't - which is great - but the :allears: reactions :allears: got very old very quickly in Dragonatrix's 999 thread and there's already four posts saying the same thing on the first page. It's very easy to get a bit too close to the 'nudge, nudge' type spoilers, and it did cross that line in the 999 thread :( . Can we take it as read now, please? Also I am not the most patient person in the world and I'm getting a bit over-excited too.





:ohdearsass:

Alopex
May 31, 2012

This is the sleeve I have chosen.
This looks like it's gonna be super fantastic. The male and female lead already seem tons easier to deal with than Junpei and June. They're very sassy. Shame Sigma isn't voiced; he's got some great lines. Knowing Kotaro, I'm already suspicious about that. Is it just genre convention, or a cunning plot twist disguised as one? Either way, I look forward to having my socks knocked off.

xedo
Nov 7, 2011

Played this game when it came out, will be following and loving it.

Zero III's voice actors completely knock it out of the park in both japanese and english versions. I'm actually not certain which language setting felt more fitting, but both sets of actors were great.

Fedule
Mar 27, 2010


No one left uncured.
I got you.

kiffkin posted:

In case anyone else was wondering too, here's the frame of the desert(?):

and here's the other recent desert picture from Dragonatrix's thread (linked for 999 spoilers, just in case). So they're probably not the same place, although given the first game, I'm not taking anything for granted.

This was supposed to be implicit in the OP, but just to clarify, there's no need to tiptoe around 999 spoilers.

Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

The tools of a hero mean nothing without a solid core.

Huh, that's an odd feeling. I got this game in audiobook format, my brother played it with me listening in over Ventrillo (started out mentioning the good parts, then we realized it's all good parts). So this is my first time seeing what Sigma and ---- look like. NOTHING like how I imagined them, I wonder if I'll be close on any of the characters.

EDIT: how could I not notice they haven't said her name yet? I'm not off to a good start here.

Bruceski fucked around with this message at 18:06 on May 23, 2013

theshim
May 1, 2012

You think you can defeat ME, Ephraimcopter?!?

You couldn't even beat Assassincopter!!!
e: you know what, never mind.

theshim fucked around with this message at 17:59 on May 23, 2013

Gyre
Feb 25, 2007

^^^^^^
Oh god, how did I never realize they're both named after Greek letters. It's not like I don't know what Phi and Sigma are.


Not gonna be following this since I did play VLR, but you're a trooper for LPing it. It's seriously one of my favorite games of all time and I want everyone to experience it.

Super Jay Mann
Nov 6, 2008

Well after following along and observing all the crazy speculation for 999, a game I had already played, I'm going to enjoy this role reversal. Gonna be real hard avoiding spoilers if things get as crazy as they did in the first game.

NextTime000
Feb 3, 2011

bweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
<----------------------------

Gyre posted:

Not gonna be following this since I did play VLR, but you're a trooper for LPing it. It's seriously one of my favorite games of all time and I want everyone to experience it.
I already played it, but I will still follow this LP since Fedule will undoubtedly point out things I missed or went over my head entirely. meanwhile orenronen and Fedule will also be more than likely droppin' translation facts that will also prove to be insightful. I mean, I already knew this will be worth reading just from his choice of thread title alone :allears:

also ~reactions~ :allears:

Some Strange Flea
Apr 9, 2010

AAA
Pillbug

Bruceski posted:

So this is my first time seeing what Sigma and _____ look like.
Who had Page 1 for first breaking of the spoiler rules? Anyone?

Off to a good start. Here's the link to only Fedule's posts in the thread, for people who don't know that that's what the little ? does.

Some Strange Flea fucked around with this message at 18:03 on May 23, 2013

Justin_Brett
Oct 23, 2012

GAMERDOME put down LOSER
Is there going to be voting this time too? That'd be even more interesting with this game.

VagueRant
May 24, 2012
Ooh, I've been waiting for this since our 999 fix came to an end! :allears:
I really hope we get some explanations about that mummy!

I was a bit confused by a couple things in the OP though:

quote:

'I'm working on a sequel to 999. I'll let you handle the localization if you promise to stop abbreviating every god-damned number in dialogue.'
Abbreviating numbers? :confused:

And it's just me being picky: but I had no idea what was going to be dual about the audio. Even reread the paragraph a few times. Only when I read the actual update I got that it meant including the Japanese VA.

Cake Attack
Mar 26, 2010

Justin_Brett posted:

Is there going to be voting this time too? That'd be even more interesting with this game.

OP posted:

In more traditional "About the LP" news, there will be voting wherever decisions are called for. In exactly one instance, I will force a decision, and in other instances I may limit options slightly for the sake of my sanity, but otherwise, this will very much be a Vote Driven LP.

It would be very stupid of Fedule not to make this vote driven.

VagueRant posted:

Abbreviating numbers? :confused:

And it's just me being picky: but I had no idea what was going to be dual about the audio. Even reread the paragraph a few times. Only when I read the actual update I got that it meant including the Japanese VA.


9 versus nine.

Stabbey_the_Clown
Sep 21, 2002

Are... are you quite sure you really want to say that?
Taco Defender
Who names their kid Sigma?

Two bracelets with the same number and the word Pair. Would that mean there's 9 pairs of players in this game? That doesn't seem likely, it's hard to get distinct characters and arcs for that many different people.

This was produced by the same guy who made "Ever 17", right? I wonder what this game's mysticbabble twist will be. :geno: I'm a bit less enthused for this game because of that one and the previous game.

ApplesandOranges
Jun 22, 2012

Thankee kindly.

kiffkin posted:

I realise you folks who've played the game before are enthusiastic about wanting to share with those of us who haven't - which is great - but the :allears: reactions :allears: got very old very quickly in Dragonatrix's 999 thread and there's already four posts saying the same thing on the first page. It's very easy to get a bit too close to the 'nudge, nudge' type spoilers, and it did cross that line in the 999 thread :( . Can we take it as read now, please? Also I am not the most patient person in the world and I'm getting a bit over-excited too.

:ohdearsass:

Going to second this, it can get very easily close to the 'geez this is going to be so awesome, I can't wait to see you guys squirm over it :allears:' territory. That's evil mastermind petting a cat in the lap business.

Anyway, from what we've seen of the boxart we know there are going to be at least one repeat player, so... should be interesting.

Some Strange Flea
Apr 9, 2010

AAA
Pillbug
I love that right off the bat there's implications of some weird stuff going on. The name Zero III sets up that not only is Akane out of action somehow but that someone else replaced her (maybe Aoi but who knows) and has also been removed. It's been a while since the events of 999, it seems?

And it only just clicked while writing the above that Zero III is a rabbit and that was a thing from the last game. Everything owns. Let's do this.

Disgruntled Cactus
Oct 9, 2012
Oh man, thanks for going through the effort to record dual audio for this, Fedule! I was stuck with the Japanese audio track only since I'm European while my American friend kept telling me how much he was enjoying the dub, Zero III already sounds amazing and I can't wait to enjoy this game again in another language.

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CottonWolf
Jul 20, 2012

Good ideas generator

Stabbey_the_Clown posted:

Who names their kid Sigma?

Anime parents. Obviously.

This is going to be fun!

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