so i've finally read through virtue's last reward, and overall i think my feelings are about what i expected them to be, plot got a bit too ~grand scale~ and bogged down by itself and the character connections ended up being much weaker (and god aini really just. stole half the plot from this game and then did it worse, didn't it). i think they came so close to executing sigma's arc really well but a few bits just didn't land for me. imo i feel like the zero escape games might have benefited from just being in the same universe/thematically connected a la fire emblem, not trying to be direct sequels. frankly having clover and alice felt totally unnecessary and just bogged things down overall, although i DID like the stuff with junpei and akane, a lot more than I thought I would. so that was an upside. overall didn't dislike it, would say i liked it okay? i think it would have landed better pre-aini lol (uchikoshi shut up about your suicide plagues). 999 is much more my style, though.
but damn as Time Travel Meta Game Gal i really loved another time. and yeah i know it's gonna get completely thrown out the window in ztd but goddamn the conversation with junpei is so good. i don't think i understood the end of it at all and google didn't help but it's fine for the junpei convo alone lol
letsplayarchive has a playthrough of ZTD up, and I really do wanna witness that whole mess, so probably going to read it on there- feels like a good compromise since i don't want to watch all those fucking cutscenes and don't expect to really like the game lol. i know how it ends and i think that's just a layer cake of bullshit, not to mention the tryhard edgy vibes. but i do want to see the next part of akane and junpei's divorce proceedings, and frankly i think i will be entertained at least (My Motives Are Complex!!! makin' babies in the fallout shelter! etc). have already accepted that there will be no real satisfying resolution but i wanna see the trainwreck now. in too deep
