[HO] Zero Escape Vol. III: Zero Time Dilemma. "Good Games don´t Die"

Here is my interview with Kotaro Uchikoshi, translated by David Kracker of Spike Chunsoft!

About ZTD

Q1 - "How is this game going to be different from the others?"

"So, to start off with, the game has a more cinematic feel. We have three main characters instead of one. In terms of gameplay and graphics, the quality has greatly improved compared to previous titles, but with that said, the themes and story elements that you enjoyed from previous titles are still there, and if anything else, they are even stronger than they were in the past."

Q2 - "So, I heard originally that you were planning to have ZTD follow Sigma as the main character, but with what we've seen recently, you decided to switch to three main characters. Why did you switch to three main characters, and how will this switch impact the game that you wrote?"

"So, during initial planning stages for Zero Time Dilemma before it was "Zero Time Dilemma", we had always planned to have three characters, but one of them we wanted to be Sigma initially. But, when we thought about it, it's kinda unfair to new players that aren't familiar with the series, because Sigma, y'know, spoilers, is from the future - well, his brain or consciousness is -"

"Yeah, uh, it's a big loop in VLR."

"Yeah, so he already knows what happens, and if you're the player following this character around who already knows, like, the plot, kind of, it's not very engaging for the player and kind of unfair."

"Kind of a detachment from the character."

"Yeah, so with the new cast, Diana knows as little as the player does, so you're on the same page."

Q3 - "So, with the switch from Sigma to Diana as a fresh perspective, do you think this game do a good job of getting people up to speed with all of the stuff going on, or do you suggest that old fans possibly replay old games to refresh their memory?"

"Sure, I would of course recommend that people go and revisit earlier titles because you will get more out of playing the sequel, like you'll notice more details and things like that, or remember story elements that you've forgotten since it's been so long between installments, but with that said, we took a lot of consideration with making it approachable for new players, so yeah, you shouldn't have any problems keeping up with the story if you don't remember every little thing."

Q4 - "I've heard that there's no narrative voice in Zero Time Dilemma, and if this is true, how is it going to be conveyed? Like, just with text boxes, or- just, how is it going to be conveyed?"

"Oh, you mean like no first person narrative?"

"Yeah, like in 999, there'd be little blurbs on the bottom and stuff like that, and Sigma in VLR didn't have a voice and, so, you mostly had other people narrate things-"

"Right right, so, you bring up a good point. So, in other titles were quite literally first person, seeing things from the narrator's perspective, but now, because we have this cinematic directorial style, like multi-angle cameras and you can see all the characters at all times, so it's more like a TV show than it is your typical first person adventure game, and because of that, we changed up how you had to let the scenes play out, so in that sense, it's quite different from the previous games.

About Gameplay

Q5 - "Will escape rooms have optional objectives kinda like VLR's extra files?"

"So, there will be hidden elements, like the silver and gold files from Virtue's Last Reward, but we have other ways that players will be engaged, like the Quest parts, or escape room parts of the game, are the best they've ever been. This time we got two professional puzzle creators working on this title."

"That's pretty cool."

"The first one is a gentleman named Koichi Yotsumi, he makes very unique, out of the box type of puzzles, and the other is a lady named Yudi Sazaki, and she's more of an orthodox puzzle creator, so you have these two different tastes."

"Sooo, they would still be in the game, but just with a different reward than files possibly?..."

"Oh, well the puzzles are still there for sure, but not like... I know what you're asking, like if you'll have multiple ways of solving a puzzle or...-"

"Well, there was like an optional puzzle in each room, that had a little-uh, you'd get a lil' secret file, so, uh, would that be in? Or different?... Ha, sorry."

"Well, there's no hidden items in the puzzle portions, and based on that, they also got rid of the difficulty selection, so there's no easy or hard mode, just like 999, but with that said, as you go through the different Cinema parts, you'll collect story files that give you more backstory."

Q6 - "Will the three different main characters all play the same, or will some of them have playstyle differences from other characters?"

(Uchikoshi really thinks this one over as he and the translator talk a bit to one another.)

"Ha, if that's kinda 'difficult', it's fine."

"There's no specific gameplay elements that are unique to a particular team, but the team make-ups are all quite different, so the way the characters interact with each other is wildly different between the three teams. So it's interesting to contrast how the three different groups get along with each other."

Q7 - "Will Zero Time Dilemma take advantage of any system features like Streetpass or Near, or the camera or gyroscope on the 3DS or Vita?"

"So, quick answer is 'No'. There's no various special system-specific gimmicks, like there's no 3D mode on the 3DS or gyro on the Vita, which makes it sound like it's a step back from previous titles, but it was sorta like-we took out those features so we could keep focusing on the Quest parts and Cinema parts to be more interesting."

Q8 - "In comparison to VLR, how many endings can players expect? No need for like a hard number, just a comparison, ha, sorry."

"So, I guess you would call them 'Named Endings', like, uh-"

"Alice and Quark endings-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, like, this title has seven named endings where it shows you the end credits, and any number of endings where, it's kinda like the game hits a dead end and the story ends, but not with a true ending, but, hmm... it'll make more sense as you keep playing, but we kinda tried to overcome the commonly-held conceptions of what an "ending" is, or what it should be? So we're really trying to kinda break out of the mold of what an ending should be, very unorthodox style."

"Yeeeah, sounds like there'll be some twists that get me really confused, heh."

Q9 - "So, uh, okay, this one is a bit less serious, but would there be any interactions with Gab aside from messages, like petting or feeding or anything like that?"

"Hahaha, I wish we had thought of that beforehand, we could have had like a sub mode of like a pet racing simulator, but yeah... Maybe somewhere down the road."

About Fans

Q10 - "Will we find out what happened to Snake, Santa, Seven, Lotus, and maybe even Ace after 999?"

"So, uh, other characters from 999 might not necessarily be in the game, but Akane and Junpei are, so they'll talk about what happened after and mention them.

Q11 - "After ZTD's release, do you plan to conduct another "Uchikoshi Questions & Answers" event like you did with 999 and VLR?"

"Oh, like the website that goes SHOOOO-" (Kracker then sweeps his hand across the air, making a joke about the length of the original Q&As)?"

"Yeah, there'd be around 50 or so questions and answers."

"So, we don't have any specific plans. I mean, of course if fans come at me with questions, I would love to answer them, but one of the goals for this title is to resolve all the mysteries of the previous title, so I don't foresee there being a lot of questions from fans, but you never know."

Q12 - "Do you keep up with fan speculation at all, and is it fun to watch?"

"I can't keep up with all the fan speculation, but I definitely read everything that gets posted on my Facebook. My advice to other fans would actually be to avoid all these speculative pages, because some of the theories are correct."

"Ooooooh!"

"So it's best to go in with a blank slate, and not knowing what to expect, I think."

Q13 - "Who is your favorite character in each game, from 999, VLR, and ZTD, and, uh, possibly any others from your previous games?"

"Do you mean games he's produced himself, or games in general?"

"Oh, sorry, just games he's produced himself. Uh, the other question sounds interesting too though if he wants to answer that."

"So, I have to say that Akane is probably my favorite character, and that goes throughout all three games."

"Oh, mhmm."

"It's like her... her personality and the way she presents herself, and the way she actually is, and her character has extremes, so, even I'm not quite sure what she's going to do next, so she's a fun character to watch for me."

Q14 - "So, this one's not too serious. Since Eric has been introduced as working at an ice cream place, would you be able to tell us what his favorite ice cream is?"

"Uuuuuh, Strawberry... Hahaha, I'll go with strawberry!"

"So, what about Mila's favorite ice cream flavor?"

(At this point, some of the Aksys guys come out, one of them opening with "Chocolate!", but then claims that it's too ordinary. Another suggests "Chocolate Chip Mint.")

"Ha, are you retconning Eric's favorite ice cream flavor?"

(Everyone kind of just laughs at how odd the question is.)

"Oh, Mira..."

"Trying to see if they get along somehow, if they've got a common thread here or something, ha."

(Uchikoshi is lost in thought.)

"We could save this for the Uchikoshi Q&A after ZTD, heh."

"Probably some kind of Raspberry Sherbert flavor or something like that."

(Everyone laughs again.)

Q15 - "After recovering from his injuries, is there any hope that we might have another appearance from the 9th Man?"

(An Aksys employee then jokes about a "Zombie 9th Man")

"Sorry, no plans at the moment."

Q16 - "Do you have any last words for your fans, and perhaps some cryptic words to tease them until ZTD's release?"

"So, this is something I've been getting asked a lot today, so my common thing was that if it wasn't for the fans, there'd be no way that we would've been able to make the third installment in the series, especially Project Bluebird was instrumental in getting to where we are today, so I'd like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart."

"...sooooo, any cryptic words to tease?"

"He left lots of breadcrumbs in the trailer, so you should check it out and I'm sure you'll be able to get an insight into the different mysteries of the game. That is, if you can figure them out!"

"Thank you very much!"

"Thank you very much!"

"So, yeah... thank you! Oh, I'm REALLY looking forward to ZTD!"

"Oh, ha, thank you!"

"Oh, and everyone else from Bluebird is really thankful for the opportunity, and they're all really excited for the game too!"

So there you go! Uchi, despite all the jetlag wearing him down earlier, was energetic as possible during his interview. If you haven't had the opportunity to meet him in person, he's a really nice guy, and you should check out his Facebook if you haven't already. This was a great opportunity, and let me just say that ZTD looks great! The uncomfortable choices we witnessed promise a very intense experience! Whereas VLR's choices were similar to passive aggressively votekicking someone out of a lobby, ZTD will be a lot more upfront and brutal in its presentation, great stuff! - Admin Saturn

¿Alguien se ha planteado qué pasa con Kyle? Porque sabemos que uno de los motivos por los que fue creado era para acompañar a su «padre» en este viaje de la conciencia atrás en el tiempo, a los acontecimientos de ZTD, así que de alguna forma tiene que estar... ¿Se supone que la conciencia del doctor y la suya van a ir alternando en el cuerpo de Sigma? Con dos conciencias para un sólo cuerpo recordarían cosas distintas, actuarían de forma distinta y quizás incluso podrían evitar lo de la amnesia por las inyecciones... Al ser un clon de dicho cuerpo podría tener sentido. ¿O su conciencia se instalará en un cuerpo distinto? ¿Es esto posible?

Es una buena teoría lo de las dobles consciencias.

O a lo mejor realmente "Sigma" son dos personas diferentes, igual que "K" lo eran.

Yo creo que el niño Q es Quark, que Eric es Quark del futuro (a lo Trunks, con lo que Junpei y Quark tienen más o menos la misma edad), y ambos son clones de Dio ...

O bien es el hijo de Eric y Mira, que ellos no sabían que tenían (falsa muerte al nacer, abandono, ...) y no puede decirles nada a sus padres porque Zero le mataría ...

No importa lo retorcidas que sean las ideas que se nos ocurran, la verdad lo será más ...

Edit: @Senyu Quark y Eric tienen los ojos de color distinto a Dio, si todos fuesen clones tendrían que ser físicamente iguales, y aunque obviásemos lo de los ojos y Quark de adulto pudiese llegar a ser como Dio, Eric ya es adulto y se parece a Dio lo que un huevo a una castaña xD. Ahora, que Q = Quark o Quark del futuro clon de Q (clones, clones everywhere ) pues podría ser, habrá algún buen motivo por el que no nos muestran su cara. Aunque puede que Q sea una niña en lugar de un niño, ¿no?

Es bastante obvio que Diana es la persona en la que se inspiró Sygma para crear a Luna, pero ¿Como es posible eso? Pues Sygma joven conoce a Luna pero no a Diana, y Sygma joven no esta en el nuevo juego sino su Yo futuro, de que forma Sygma mayor pasa sus conocimientos de Luna a Sygma joven? No se si me explico pues la trama es un poco enrevesada, el tema es que Sygma moldea a Luna y Lagomorph debido a que estuvo con ellos en VLR, pero debido a que Luna está inspirada en Diana no es posible (o al menos por ahora que en estos juegos te hacen un giros argumentales brutales) que Luna exista en primer lugar, a menos que alguien de los que están en ZTD si pasara los 45 años con Sygma, o al menos su Yo del ZTD....que quebradero de cabeza

Que Diana saliese viva del experimento (ahí tenemos la grabación diciendo que las muertes de los demás habían sido su culpa, o que no pudo salvarlos, o algo así) y Sigma joven llegue a conocerla cuando retoma control del cuerpo de Sigma joven.

En realidad es al revés. VLR sucede después de ZTD, Sigma crea a Luna con la apariencia de Diana después de que la catástrofe haya ocurrido. Para evitarla una vez ha ocurrido

Si te fijas en el "Another Time End", Sigma _joven_ se dispone a prepararse para montar todo el tinglado que tendrá/tuvo lugar en VLR (una vez ya se ha expandido el virus) para que el AB Project pueda tener éxito.

VLR es "posterior" pero lo que dice el compañero es cierto. A Diana la conoce Old Sigma, pero la construye Young Sigma.
Salvo retcon o plot twist en ZTD, Diana viajaba a la Luna y ayuda a Sigma a a construir a Luna.