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Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward – Q&A


Q1: When Sigma explores the Gaulem Bay, G-OLM is shown to be lying on the table and then later falls forward next to it. However, in the timelines where another group searches the Gaulem Bay, G-OLM is nowhere to be seen. Where did he go?
He is stored inside the operation table. I assume Zero Jr. put him away.

Q2: What happened to Snake/Light during the events of VLR?

Did he search for Clover for 45 years, like how Junpei still searched for Akane?

This will be revealed in the 3rd game. I hope you guys look forward to it.

Q3: Are there plans to end the series after Zero Escape 3 – or continue it?

How far ahead is the series being planned?
I plan on ending things with the 3rd volume. So basically it’ll be a trilogy.

Q4: I loved the mystery of All-ice in 999 and when I saw that Alice was going to be in the sequel I became very excited.

After completing the game it seems very unlikely that Alice is the Ice-9 All-ice we learned of in the first game.

Are Alice and the ancient priestess All-ice not the same like we thought at the end of 999?
What’s interesting is the (so-called) All-ice that was in the coffin was not seen by anyone in the game. So then, what was the visual of All-ice that was introduced in 999? I think that will be a fun thing to think about.

Q5: Was Luna’s love for Sigma more of a father-type love, or was it as a romantic interest?
There are countless forms of love. And besides, don’t you think it’s hard for we as humans to classify what form of love a gaulem really feels?

Q6: Who or what was the inspiration for Zero III? He’s hilarious!
When Akane was in elementary school she witnessed a very horrible thing in her school’s rabbit cage. That trauma was the inspiration for the design of Zero III. The actual person who created Zero III would be Doctor Klim, but Akane helped out in terms of design.

Q7: Will Clover be appearing again in the third game?
She’s in the middle of a cold sleep right now…but if there are enough requests for her she might show up.

Q8: What was Dio’s “sin” involving women?
Sorry…I’ll leave that to your imagination.

Q9: Do you have any plans to include Seven, Lotus, or Ace in the future games?
If there are enough requests there is a huge chance.

Q10: Where is Aoi during VLR?
This will be revealed on the 3rd game. Hope you guys look forward to it.

Q11: What was the nature of Aoi and Akane’s relationship as children like? What was their relationship with each other like during the period of 999? Were they close?
They only had each other as family so they were very close. Their relationship will never change

Q12: What is Dio really like? A lot of his behavior and what he says seems to contradict each other, so it’s hard to tell what his real personality is.

For example, in the Dio end, before escaping, he rants about throwing away the weak being “how nature works”, but when confronted on the lunar surface, he preaches about cleansing mankind’s greed and creating a world with no conflict. He claims that he finds individuality “weird”, but seems strikingly individualistic himself, being the “best of his generation” and dressing according to his “singular sense of style”.

He also refers to the Radical-6 outbreak as a “disaster”, which seems strange if it was part of Free the Soul’s agenda. He acts pretty oddly about the bombs as well. He threatens to press the bomb detonator, saying that he doesn’t fear death, but even when Tenmyouji goads him, he never actually presses it. He then attempts to kill himself with a poison pill with no hesitation, but reveals the password to one of the bombs, which seems to defeat the purpose of taking the pill in the first place.

Why would he do that? His strange behavior seems to suggest that he’s not out to kill. Is there conflict between Dio’s own values and what Free the Soul wants him to do?
Free the Soul eliminated the weak and only the fittest (the chosen ones) survived. They tried to create a world without conflict where only the chosen ones resided, and succeeded.

The reason why he takes pride in being the top of his generation may seem a bit contradictory, but in that scene, the contradictions surfaced unexpectedly. In other words, contrary to his thoughts and beliefs, his true colors surfaced. Haven’t you ever met a clergy or a religious person whose action does not reflect what they preach? In regards to his fashion, all his brothers are all dressed the same, so it wouldn’t be unique, right? (Well, it was partially a joke, but…)

While the events of Radical-6 is indeed the plan of an organization, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a “disaster”. I believe there are references like “a disaster will come your way” in the bible too, right? It’s the same concept.

As for the detonator, I assume Dio was just about to press the button. The reason why Dio revealed the password after taking the poison is because him telling them just one password won’t do them any good. Knowing his personality, he just wanted to tease the others.

Q13: Was there a timeline before the large jumps in time between old and young Sigma, where it was uninterupted until the start of the AB project
That’s a tough question. I say it doesn’t exist. What do you think?

Q14: Who is your favorite character from both games and why?
Akane Kurashiki.

Q15: How were the bombs that Dio planted synced to Radical-6 time? Why didn’t they go off before the players’ watches reached 0:00 due to the discrepancy in perceived time passed and actual time passed?
In the beginning, where Dio was unconscious, Akane messed with the timer of the bombs and made it so that it will count down slowly.

Q16: Was Doctor Klim the one who gave Luna her necklace?

Q17: If the Phi who was unaware of Zero’s AB project was in Phi’s body at the beginning, how did she know they were on the moon and that she could jump high?
Phi’s consciousness had looped and jumped many times already at the start of the game. That’s why she sort of has an idea of who Sigma is and has memories of other pasts.

Q18: Does June have good intentions at heart, or has time and circumstance hardened her into a heartless creature?
She has experienced various histories (both past and future) many, many times. For example, imagine a person who’s lived for a million years. I’m sure the definition of “good” and “evil” will be a lot different than ours

Q19: Why did Sigma not hear that he had the voice of an old man?
Maybe it’s because…his processing speed was slowed down. I assume he recognized an old man’s low frequency voice with that of a young person’s high pitched frequency.

On a side note, the reason why he didn’t recognize Doctor Klim’s hologram voice is the same concept of you not recognizing your own voice when you record your voice, since it sounds different.

Q20: Was Akane telling Kyle the truth when she said she would have preferred to spend her life with Junpei?
Of course it’s the truth.

Q21: What’s going on with Ace? Does he die or escape from prison when Radical-6 hits?

Q22: The cloak Akane wore in the End or Beginning, with the Free the Soul symbol on it, looked like it was the same as the one Snake wore in the true end of 999, which had the Free the Soul symbol as well.

Why is that? I thought Snake’s robes were from when Lord Gordain ran the Nonary Games, so why is the Free the Soul symbol on Snakes’s robes?

Q23: What was your favorite moment in VLR?
When Sigma sniffs Clover’s protective gear. Well, this was during an escape part though…

Q24: Is there a possibility of Sigma and Phi being a couple? I know his body is old, but Phi DID say she showed herself in a swimsuit in one of the timelines…
No, they won’t be a couple… I can’t tell you any more without it being spoilers, so please look forward to the 3rd game.

Q25: In 999, Akane disappears when you don’t reach the True Ending. This implies that changing the past affects the present.

In VLR, Tenmyouji explains to “?” at the end that even if Sigma could change the past, the timeline that they live in will remain the same.

If Sigma can stop Radical-6 in the past, this will only create a new timeline. This implies that changing the past does NOT affect the present. Don’t these games have contradicting ideas?
Even if you had changed the past and prevented Radical-6 from spreading, the setting is made so that there will be no changes made to the VLR history.

And let’s say VLR’s history does get destroyed. Then Sigma’s old consciousness won’t be able to return to 2028 and as a result he won’t be able to stop the Radical-6 outbreak.

Same goes for 999. The true end is where Junpei accesses the Morphogenetic Field 9 years ago and saves Akane, but if he isn’t successful, then a new timeline is created. And the extension of that history is the Junpei who couldn’t find Akane at the chapel. (*We call this end that isn’t the True End the B End.)

However, there may be some of you that will say “Hey, Akane did exist in the B End route though”. Well you’re exactly right. In that history Akane should not have existed.

So in other words, the contradiction isn’t the setting between 999 and VLR, but rather it is in the B Ending. However, if you consider that Akane had jumped to the B End route with her whole body and not just her psyche then it would all make sense…

If that is the case, then Akane did not disappear in the chapel but she just made her escape, or you can say that her whole body jumped to another time line.

Q26: Did you have any specific directions for the localization team when they brought the game to the West?

Were you worried that any changes to the game, if not handled meticulously, could potentially misrepresent the game in a way that could interfere with consistencies between VLR and its sequel?
That wasn’t something I was worried about because we literally had hundreds of email correspondences.

The questions Aksys asked were very, very detailed and I was confident that they knew and understood the game perfectly.

I think the reason why it did so well in the US is because Aksys was so careful and sincere with their localization. I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

Q27: On the K route, K retrieves Dio’s bracelet from the Treatment Center and shows Sigma and Phi that it is broken.

K says that Dio’s killer likely broke it in order to kill Phi and K with the penalty, but Dio was killed by K himself. What exactly happened?

That’s a good question.

The person who broke the bracelet was K, also known as Kyle.

Kyle wanted to test his father, Doctor Klim’s, love and created a situation where there are two choices.

Of course he did it with the possibility in mind that Sigma would find the antidote and return…

And he put Sigma to the test and wanted to see whether his father would save him or Phi.

Technically the consciousness would be young Sigma, so there would be no way that he would know the relationship between Doctor Klim and Kyle. But even then, he couldn’t help but to test his father’s love…

Q28: Luna is the only person Dio willingly allies with. I’ve always wondered how he would have voted against her had she not died in the second round, when she only had 1 BP?
Sorry… I rechecked my documents and Dio decided to ally with (Quark pair) on the first round and (Tenmyouji pair) in Sigma’s route on the 2nd round.

(There is also another round where Phi didn’t let him in the AB room.)

The only time he has Luna as an opponent is during the bomb route’s Round 1. Is that what you’re talking about?

Regardless, I think his decisions would change depending on the current situation.

Q29: What happened during that ending where Sigma wakes up alone with his hand missing?
Everyone else stole Sigma’s bracelet and opened the white door. They played the AB game a few times and were all able to increase their BP to 9 or more and escaped.

Q30: What prompts Dio to pull a knife on Clover?

And why leave her and Tenmyouji alive after handcuffing them?

Why not kill them with his knife, instead of risking them being found?
Well, originally Dio was planning to do something even more messed up to Clover, but our president said NO to that idea for ethical reasons, so that scene was cut out.

That’s why Dio pointed his knife towards Clover. The reason why he handcuffed Clover and Tenmyouji is because he enjoys the gambling feeling of it all.

Experiencing luck and winning in that type of game is the only way he can sense the feeling of “love”. Just think of it as the mentality of a messed up person.

Q31: Can you tell us more about Dio?

He’s portrayed as a bad guy, but there’s something sad about him too.

What kind of person is he when he doesn’t have a sacred mission to complete? Did he really save a stray kitten?
It’s hard to say since his reason of being is his sacred mission, but had he been raised in a warm family environment when he was born, he might have turned out as an honest and kind young lad.

Since him saving the cat isn’t mentioned in the main game, I’ll leave that to your imagination. However whether he saved a cat or not, I don’t think it has any relation to his morals.

For example, a murderer can have a pet rat, which wouldn’t be unnatural, right?

On the contrary, there are people who will experiment on a rat and kill hundreds of them to develop new and improved medication in order to save human lives. I think it’s a hard call.

Q32: You’ve confirmed before that Luna from VLR is based on the woman from the test site.

Did Sigma/Doctor Klim have a prior connection to this woman before jumping to the past to infiltrate the test site? Or was she just someone that “original” Sigma (the very first one, before him and Akane started the AB-project and jumping plans) met and connected with at the test site?
She was just someone that Sigma had met and connected with at the test site.

Q33: If you were trapped in a room and needed to escape, which character would you want with you to help you?
Anyone besides Dio.

Q34: With a new generation of consoles around the corner, is there any chance that we may see a future Zero Escape game on the Wii U or other game system besides on handhelds?
I think there’s a possibility of porting it to the iPhone, iPad and other smartphones and tablets.

Q35: Why is Junpei called Tenmyouji?
It’s because his full name is Junpei Tenmyouji.

Q36: Were there any other thought experiments like Schrödinger’s Cat and the Chinese Room that you’ve considered putting in the game but ultimately left out?
It wasn’t a thought experiment, but on my notebook where I write down ideas I also had the following:

Dissipative system, Monty Hall problem, Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, Toxoplasmosis, Folie à deux, Capgras delusion, Fregoli delusion, Sally–Anne test, and Project MKUltra.

Q37: Is it possible that Brother is somebody we already know from 999 or VLR? Or is he a new character entirely?
It’s a secret. =^ーﾟ)b

Q38: In 999, when Junpei asks Lotus about her daughters, she tells him something along the lines of “she’s done things she’s not proud of”. What exactly did she mean by that?
I’m sorry… I don’t remember. I don’t think she did something that she’s not proud of per se…

Q39: In ‘Another Time’, who is Kyle Klim? How can he swap his consciousness to his past self in 2028, when he didn’t exist in that time?
He is a person who knows things that he should have not known.

There is no specific rule that you have to be yourself to possess a psyche.

In 999, young Akane and 21 year old Junpei communicated. The developed version is to be able to move yourself entirely, so if your frequency matches, then it is even possible to jump into another person’s body.

Q40: Who really is Quark (other than Tenmyouji’s adopted grandchild)? I mean, does he have any other kind of connection to present or past characters?
At the current moment there are no other details besides him being a child with no family.

However, I do think it’ll be interesting if he’s the grandson of a person from 999.

Q41: Doctor Klim knows the “original Luna” from the test site. This means that in subsequent loops Young Sigma would never see the original Luna, right?

So would Sigma be basing Luna on the Luna he met during the Nonary Game?
The original Luna is a survivor of the disaster, so Young Sigma would meet her on the Moon.

Luna is created with her as a base.

VLR made a big jump to 3D graphics, with 2D art only sometimes appearing.

Has any decision been made about Volume 3’s art style? Will it move closer to full 3D or full 2D animation? Or will it remain a hybrid of the two?

Also, will we be seeing longer animated cutscenes for important events? (Either in 2D or 3D?)
Due to budget reasoning I think it will be in 3D.

We’re currently considering animating the event scenes at the moment.

I played VLR in English with Japanese dialogue, and I was really curious why “Claydolls” was localized to “Myrmidons”.

Is this also why one of the bomb codes was different in the U.S. version (so that the +1 code would give you Myrmidons instead of Claydolls?)

I feel like Claydolls would still have been great in English because of the similar pronunciation to Cradle (Pharmaceutical).
(Answer from Ben Bateman, Localization Editor)

The short version is that in a narrative for an English-speaking audience, “Clay dolls” sounds kind of weird. It’s not a word you’d ever hear unless it was referring to exactly that thing, and in this case, it’s being used in a more metaphorical sense.

This makes more sense in Japanese, because “doll” (or, more accurately, “ningyou”/人形) is frequently used as a metaphorical way to refer to someone who is being manipulated or controlled by someone else.

Unfortunately the term “doll” isn’t used that way metaphorically in North America, which makes the term somewhat awkward. Although we knew we would (unfortunately) lose the allusions to Cradle Pharmaceutical, we ultimately decided that a term that “sounded better” and more accurately communicated the nature of the organization “Clay Dolls” referred to would be better.

We ultimately settled on the term “Myrmidons” for a couple reasons. For one, it sounds cool. For two, it refers to a group of people in Greek history who were famous for being excellent warriors and loyal in the extreme—both things that describe the organization Dio belongs to. It was also used for a period of time to mean “a loyal follower, especially one who executes orders without question, protest, or pity – unquestioning follower” so the hits just kind of keep on coming.

It also has an interesting tie, in a way, to the story Zero Sr. tells about termites, since the word “myrmidon” in Greek means, roughly, “ant people” and they were in fact supposedly created from ants. Ants aren’t technically termites, but we figured it was close enough.

So while something was admittedly lost (the clever phonetic connection to Cradle), some other connections were gained, and we got a term that sounded better and more natural in English.

Q44: Can all ESPers have the ability to jump, if under the right circumstances? If not, what makes Sigma, Phi, and ?/Kyle so special?
Actually, in terms of setting, only a few number of ESPers can jump. And I can only say that they were born with these special powers.

It’s the same as, why can Usain Bolt run 100 meters in 9.58 seconds?

Of course it is a result of him undergoing intense training, but it doesn’t mean if everyone trains they can all run 100 m in 9.58 seconds either.

Q45: How closely does the “multiple timelines” idea relate to 999’s plot?

In 999, it seemed like the alternate paths were simply observed by young Akane, and didn’t actually exist. Only the “True” path was the final, since it was the only one where Akane completed her mission and was able to continue her existence.

But VLR suggests that the alternate timelines like the Safe ending actually exist. Does that mean there’s another timeline where Akane no longer exists?
Please refer to Question #25.

Q46: Who was inside the Zero outfit that kidnapped Sigma?
That would be Akane Kurashiki and the members of her organization. On a side note, her organization is called “CRASH KEYS”.

Q47: Could you give us hints about Phi?

Q48: Did Gentarou Hongou truly believe in Free the Soul’s cause, or was he just trying to get funds for the Nonary Game from them?
It would be the latter. He’s not the type to blindly accept religion or ideology.

I believe he was just pretending to worship the doctrine of Free the Soul in order to use the organization to get what he wants.

Q49: Which character was responsible for the hidden message in the bomb codes? (or was it just a message from the developers that isn’t ascribed to any of the characters from the game)
The actual bomb was made by the arms division of Hephaestus Systems. And those bombs were being passed around in the black market and ended up in the hands of the MYRMIDONS.

The person that set the timer and cancelling functionality on the bomb’s detonator was an engineer heavily tied to the MYRMIDONS. (This engineer would do maintenance on illegal machinery and customize them as a profession. He’s an underground mechanic).

Now by adding the cancellation functionality on the bomb the engineer asked “What do you want the password to be?”. It was Dio who responded.

Dio used the alphabet related to the organization and moved it over by one letter and told the engineer. And that’s how the passwords were set for the 4 bombs and handed over to Dio.

Thus Dio headed for Rhizome 9… When he went into the facility and tried to kill Akane in warehouse A, he was attacked by Phi and lost consciousness.

After that (when Sigma and Phi’s consciousnesses went back to the future) Akane took bomb 01 of the bombs that Dio snuck in and changed the password.

That password would be “ＢＱＺ・ＲＧＪ・ＤＸＲ”. If you move them over by one it will be the name of Akane’s organization.

Q50: What happened to Snake and the rest of the 999 cast during the Pandemic and succeeding apocalypse?

Q51: Did young Akane know she’d wind up in the incinerator from her morphogenetic connection with Junpei before she was captured by Hongou?
I don’t think she knew.

Q52: I noticed that old Akane was wearing a ring on her ring finger. Is this a wedding ring?

Did she end up marrying Doctor Klim or someone else?

Or is there some other meaning behind the ring?
She’s wearing the ring on her “right hand”, so it’s not a wedding ring.

Q53: What’s Dio’s fate after the end of the game? The last we see of him is when he’s chained to the sink
Since the AB project is already a success, he is no longer a threat to Akane. Therefore I believe he was released.

Q54: Was the girl on the tape recording the woman Luna was based on?
Yes. She is the woman that Luna was based on.

Q55: What was Kyle’s favorite pastime when he was a kid?
Angry Birds.

Q56: In the Zero Escape universe, how long has Free the Soul been around?

In question 44 from your previous Q&A centered around 999, you said that the robes worn by Snake were from Lord Gordain, who “conducted strange ceremonies in the incinerator” (along with friends) on the Gigantic/Britannic, which leads me to believe that Lord Gordain was also part of Free the Soul.

But according to Seven, while talking behind Door [7] in 999, Lord Gordain died in the 1930s (1931/1932, I believe). If these two statements are correct, then Free the Soul existed at least by the 1930s, if not earlier.

So when was Free the Soul established? And how did Brother manage to keep his brother’s DNA intact/uncorrupted until the technology to clone (Dio/Left, 4th generation Myrmidon leader) him became available?

Also, when was human cloning invented in the VLR timeline, and when was the first generation of Left clones gestated?

Q57: My friends and I have often gotten into debates about Akane’s true character. They say she has a cold heart, while I say she’s kindhearted, putting on a strong front in the face of overwhelming obstacles.

I get an idealistic vibe from her, since she tries to save herself and the entire world while giving Alice, Clover, Junpei, and herself a chance at a normal life with Schrodinger’s Cat.

Did you envision Akane’s personality either way or did you envision it differently?
Please refer to Question #18.

Q58: Have you thought of a full name (first and last) for Seven from 999?
His real name is “Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta”. Just kidding of course.

I noticed various people gave him a wonderful name on Facebook but that’s not the official name.

His name is “Seven”. Don’t you think that’s good as is?

Q59: Do you think Clover and Aoi could be potential love interests?
I don’t know? Does Aoi even like girls?

I have to start considering from that.

Q60: Do Clover and Light have an official last name?
I didn’t really have one for them.

How about their last name being “Field”?

Q61: Do you have names for the remaining children from Hongou’s Nonary Game in 2018?

And do you have an idea of what their personalities would be like?
I haven’t really given them a name.

I believe they are all very nice people. I mean if they can figure out what other people are thinking, then obviously their ability to relate to them will increase.

Q62: You said in the 999 fan Q&A that Seven received his scars fighting an international organization.

With Ace’s connections to Free the Soul (highlighted in some of the secret files), is it safe to say Seven was fighting Free the Soul after he rescued the children from the Gigantic, since Ace’s affiliation would ultimately lead him to Free the Soul?
Yes. That would be correct.

Q63: With the last game, 999, you revealed how old the characters were outside of the game. How old are the VLR characters?
The ages that are disclosed in the game will be as is.

For those that haven’t been revealed and show up in 999, sorry, but it will be great if you can calculate them.

For the others, I’ll leave it to your imagination.

Q64: It is mentioned in the game that Free the Soul was known as Free the Soul of Y before they dropped the “of Y” part.

What is the significance of “of Y”, and why was it cut?
It means “left eye of Horus”.





Q66: The characters in 999 were all based on the nine enneagram types. Did the VLR characters have a similar motif?
VLR is also enneagram based. So all the VLR characters are in correspondence with the 999 characters.

It would be fun to see which character is which character.

Q67: In the Director’s Office, there’s a facial recognition device that’s important to solving the puzzle in the room.

On the Tenmyouji route, Tenmyouji uses a picture of young Akane to activate it. On the Phi route, Clover, Luna and the unconscious Alice go into the Director’s Office, and on the Luna route, K and Dio go in along with Alice’s bracelet.

Were they able to use the facial recognition device?
If my memory is correct that device is set to recognize a woman’s face.

Therefore it shouldn’t be an issue in the Phi route. In the Luna route, maybe Dio’s face was misinterpreted as a female or Zero Jr. changed the settings.

Q68: In Dio’s Japanese profile, it is said that he once saved a cat on a rainy day.

Where did this come from? I don’t recall seeing it mentioned in the game.
Since it’s not mentioned in the main game I’m not going to declare anything, but I think it’s true that he saved a cat.

Q69: In the K route, Dio takes the Neostigmine gun from the Treatment Center’s safe. He is very insistent on keeping it, which seems to imply that he knows of its value.

Does he know that it can be used to counteract a penalty? In the K Game Over, K opens the nine door, but Dio doesn’t attempt to escape himself.

If he knows what it does, then why doesn’t he use it to go through the door? If he doesn’t, then why does he want it so badly?

Does he also take the Neostigmine gun during the other timelines where he goes through the green door?
No, I assume he didn’t know what kind of effects Neostigmine had. I believe he just had a hunch that the medication would be somewhat important.

In terms of why he wanted the neostigmine gun, it wasn’t a matter of what medication was in that gun, but I think it’s only natural that you want possession of any kind of gun.

On a side note, on the Alice route Dio entered the Treatment Room with Phi and Tenmyouji. Since Phi and Tenmyouji got to the safe first, Dio never got the neostigmine gun.

Q70: So just what is the SOIS? Is it similar to the NSA or FBI? Or is it some kind of paramilitary type group?

What exactly are Alice’s and Clover’s roles in this organization? What kind of work do they do that required their choices in clothing?
It’s a governmental top secret organization with everything shrouded in mysteries and secrets.

Alice and Clover’s role would be comprehensive investigation on criminal and terrorist organizations.

As for their outfits, can you even imagine or believe that they would be top secret agents based on what they wear?

Even if they say, “Hey, I work for a secret organization” people will just laugh them off. That is what the organization was hoping for.

There are rumors that some of the members of the organization would dress up like Elvis or Lady Gaga, and even some agents dressed up like Captain America.

The very few people that know of the organization are said to be teasing them by calling them “State Of InsanitieS”, or that’s what I hear.

Q71: While playing 999, I was constantly afraid the next room would lead to my death, or someone else’s death. In that regard, it felt very much like a horror game. In VLR, each room felt a little safer and more elaborate than in 999.

Along with how the characters reacted to their circumstances, this made me feel a little more comfortable and less paranoid. Overall I felt VLR had more of a “puzzle” feel to it.

What inspired the shift in tone between the two games, and which of those two moods do you enjoy writing more?
After the release of 999 we did marketing research in Japan for those who didn’t buy the game. Of the surveys that were taken there were people who stated that they refrained from purchasing because they felt like it would be too scary or gory.

As a result, the higher ups had given me orders to make the next installment more light. So with that I made the penalty of the Nonary Game “death with poison injection” as opposed to being blown up. And overall I tried to make the vibe less gloomy.

The Japanese version’s title is also made to be a bit of a pun. I also tried to make the conversation during the escape parts more light and witty.

And just between you and me…for the Japanese title, I’m honestly not happy with the higher up’s instruction on making it “light”. But if I don’t comply, they won’t allow me to make the game, so what can I do, right? This is the downside for a creator.

I heard in the movie industry there are cases where the production company will give orders and would even change an ending of a movie. (For example, “I Am Legend”). Please go ahead and think something of that sort happened with VLR.

So with that said, I’m sure you guys can conclude which mood I’d enjoy writing for more.

Q72: Tenmyouji had seen what the effects of Radical-6 were before going to Rhizome-9. Why, when Quark showed signs of it, didn’t he realize that’s what it was until Luna had scanned him?
Due to the tragedy on 4/13/2029, the population on the earth decreased tremendously.

As a result ironically, the spread of Radical-6 stopped and the pandemic came to an end. Tenmyouji spends 45 long years after that living through the aftermath. So I assume he would never have imagined that Quark would be infected with Radical-6, which has been gone for so long.

Q73: Is there a reason that Phi resembles Aoi?
I assume it’s Kinu Nishimura, the character designer’s preference…

Q74: Tenmyouji mentions knowing who Zero Sr. is in his ending. Did he see the hologram of Sigma?

If so, why did he not expose him then and there? And if not, who did he think Zero was?
Yes. When Tenmyouji and Quark return to the Director’s Office to get the picture, he sees Doctor Klim’s hologram. So he realized Zero = Doctor Klim = Sigma.

Maybe he didn’t tell the others because he could have potentially assumed that the others were in on it as well.

I assume he told Clover the truth after they escaped, since she escaped with Tenmyouji.

And the reason why he said “I know Zero very well” is because he realized that Sigma, who was present, was Zero, but he also remembered that he had met Sigma 45 years prior at the test site when he was still young.

That is why he had stated that he knows Zero very well. And the reason why he wanted to punish Zero is because he wanted to leave Zero/Sigma behind and trap him.

Q75: Sigma said that there were three reasons for him to be at school at 2 AM on the day he was kidnapped. His home computer stopped working, his Buddhist doctor said he still had to work on Christmas, and his girlfriend broke up with him a week before.

Were these events engineered purposefully? The part about his girlfriend seems particularly suspicious, as he says she broke up with him through e-mail and that he wasn’t able to contact her at all afterward.
Yes. It was all engineered by Akane and the Crash Keys.

Q76: In the Luna end, Luna says that “Zero Jr.” lured Dio into the facility. How did he do that?
The term lured is a figure of speech. Dio knew about the location of Rhizome 9 in the briefing he had before he started his mission.




Q78: Why wasn’t Santa with Akane on Rhizome 9?
That’s because…

Q79: In the Dio end, Dio says that he’s going to take Sigma and Phi to a shelter where some people who survived the disaster are living. What kind of place was this?

The facility’s on the Moon, so it can’t be just an ordinary shelter. Is it another Rhizome?

Also, who are the people inhabiting the shelter and how is Dio acquainted with them? If they’re survivors from the Radical-6 outbreak and reactor explosions, it seems strange for them to be on friendly terms with someone from Free the Soul.
The three of them headed towards Rhizome x. (The x has a number to it.)

It’s a lot bigger than Rhizome 9 and there is a very comfortable living environment. By the way, each Rhizome is actually connected with an underground road. However, Rhizome 9 was abandoned, so the road to the other Rhizomes was closed off.

In Rhizome x there are various people from various nationalities living there. The kinds of people include millionaires who paid large sums of money after the April 2029 tragedy, government researchers and officials, chosen children, etc.

However, 45 years have passed since and most of those people have returned to Earth. The people that remain currently are eccentric people who enjoy living on the Moon, researchers, scientists, laborers who are mining the Moon’s rare minerals, and those who lived so long on the Moon that they couldn’t adjust to Earth’s gravity.

It has nothing to do with Dio really. He knows a few people here and there. And even to those that know him, he hasn’t revealed that he is a believer of Free the Soul.

And besides, only a handful of people know that the tragedy 45 years ago was Free the Soul’s doing.



Q81: Was Luna the robot who was created to look after K when he asked for a mother?
Yes. In actuality she wasn’t created because K asked for her, but that’s probably what the young K interpreted.

Q82: In 999, the young Akane sees events through Junpei’s eyes. Does she do something similar to see futures in this game?

Also, where does Brother get his information from? Does someone transmit it to him?
I don’t think young Akane was watching the VLR world through the eyes of Junpei Tenmyouji.

However, old Akane’s consciousness can freely jump to different histories, futures or pasts.

Brother gets his information from himself. He too is an ESPer.

I just thought he’d look good with a harp…


Q84: Did Tenmyouji ever develop romantic feelings for anyone other than Akane in the many years he searched for her?
The feelings he has towards Akane is beyond just romantic feelings.

At the test site Tenmyouji found out about the great burden imposed upon Akane. I think he wanted to free her from her burden, so that is why he was looking for her.

Q85: In 999, Akane flirted with Junpei quite a bit in the puzzle rooms.

While she was wearing Kyle’s armor, did she take the opportunity to tease Tenmyouji a little even though he didn’t know who she was…?
If that was the case, then that would be pretty cute, right?

Q86: Did Doctor Klim program Luna to fall in love with him, or did that happen on its own?
It would be the latter.

Well, it’s hard for us to define what the feeling of “love” is for her but… Actually there is no guarantee that your definition of “love” and my definition of love, and anyone else’s, are the same too…

Q87: What sort of cloning technology allowed Left and Kyle to be created?

Does it require incubation by a human surrogate, or is it all done artificially somehow?
There are a few titles of mine that feature clones.

Up until now I’ve always used the setting that they were born from a surrogate mother, but for VLR I have set it so they were born from an artificial uterus.

On a side note, the water tank in the Laboratory wall is in fact just that.

Q88: How did Alice and Light get along while they were in the SOIS together?
At the very least, I don’t think they had any problem with one another

Q89: In Tenmyouji’s ending, we find out that Quark can write extraordinarily well for his age. How did he learn to if he never went to school?
There was a woman who used to be a teacher that lived in their neighborhood. Quark learned how to read and write from her.

Q90: Alice tells Tenmyouji about another man she met who believed she was the Ice-9 mummy of legend. Was that man a younger Junpei, or Seven, or someone else?
Yes. That man was the young Junpei Tenmyouji.

Q91: In the endings where someone escapes, what happens to the others?

If someone on the outside is alerted to their predicament, are they rescued?
What do you think happened? I urge you to let your imagination run.

Q92: Is there more to what happened to Alice’s father than what we’re told?

They hold him for over ten years, then just brutally murder him? Was that really just to scare Alice?

And what about the other scientists who were mentioned having been abducted? And how did Brother make all of them do what he wanted?
Everything written about Alice is all there is to her story.

In this world there are heartless people, as well as cruel, inhumane organizations that go beyond our imagination.

I mean just the other day there were atrocities in Algeria. The problem is that the terrorist group who kidnapped the hostages, and the Algerian troops who bombed the terrorists and hostages, were all working in the name of justice.

I’m sure neither party felt that what they were doing was cruel. The same is the case for Brother. And again, the same goes for Akane.

They are just doing what they think is the right thing to do. So what does that leave us? Are the things we do on a daily basis really the correct course of action?

It’s a very difficult concept. All we can do is pray that such tragedies will never happen again.

Q93: Did Jumpei get to talk more with Akane off-screen, and if so, what about?
For Junpei there are 45 years worth of feelings, and for Akane, a million years worth of feelings and emotions, resonating within them both.

There is no way I can write them all here. But what I think is that there was a tranquil and majestic silence between the two of them.

Maybe just looking into one another’s eyes was enough for them.

And finally…
For everyone who took the time to play 999 and VLR, thank you so very much.
And I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all the questions you’ve thrown my way.
This time I have answered in the form of a Q&A. However, what I’ve written here is an answer, but at the same time it isn’t.
A piece of work, whether it be a movie or a novel or a game, what is written and disclosed is all there is to it.
My cherished theory is, “Once a piece of work leaves the hands of a writer, it becomes the readers’ work, who is the receiver.”
So just because the writer says something as supplemental information, I do not want you guys to think that is the right way to interpret it.
What I have written in the game is all there is to it. So anything other than that I leave to the imagination of the reader.
I encourage all of you to let your imagination run free and add to the areas that have not been written yet.
And the answer that is born in your mind is the true answer.
-Kotaro Uchikoshi