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How does this get such high scores?...
posted by LemmyKoopa (MADISON, WI) Jan 2, 2011
Member since Jan 2011
10 out of 21 gamers (48%) found this review helpful
Here’s how I’d summarize 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors. It’s a graphic novel told in a very unique way on the DS. The story contained therein is somewhere within the suspense/thriller/mystery genres, so if you like those genres and want to read a graphic novel on the DS, this is a good choice for you. The characterizations are great, and as a choose your own adventure novel, 9-9-9 does a good job.
As a game, however - not so much. That’s because most of the “game” is simply reading the story. And it’s a good story. But I expected a game, not a book.
Between the hours of reading are some basic point and click puzzles where you click around rooms, collecting items that you may combine with other items and use in certain locations. The puzzles are ok, but not exactly Professor Layton standard. If you do come across something tricky, generally hints will get dropped if you click on things enough. Basically, click everywhere and you can work it out. The only time things get tricky is when you have to keep numbers or symbols in your head for some time; an in-game notepad function would have been helpful.
This game has multiple endings. If you want to see all the endings or don’t like the one you got, you’ve got to start again. 9-9-9 gives you some help in going through the game again: you can scroll through the text you’ve seen before very quickly. But you cannot skip such text entirely, and it can still take minutes to get through very long scenes. And if you encounter a puzzle you already solved on a previous playthrough, you must solve it all over again...
If you want to play something entirely unique on the DS and are up for reading a suspense novel, this game is for you. But I am not convinced that many gamers will find what they're looking for here, and while I enjoyed the story I did not love the game. My score of 4 indicates this game has some merit, but is best suited for a select group. If you don't think you fall in that group, skip it.
As a game, however - not so much. That’s because most of the “game” is simply reading the story. And it’s a good story. But I expected a game, not a book.
Between the hours of reading are some basic point and click puzzles where you click around rooms, collecting items that you may combine with other items and use in certain locations. The puzzles are ok, but not exactly Professor Layton standard. If you do come across something tricky, generally hints will get dropped if you click on things enough. Basically, click everywhere and you can work it out. The only time things get tricky is when you have to keep numbers or symbols in your head for some time; an in-game notepad function would have been helpful.
This game has multiple endings. If you want to see all the endings or don’t like the one you got, you’ve got to start again. 9-9-9 gives you some help in going through the game again: you can scroll through the text you’ve seen before very quickly. But you cannot skip such text entirely, and it can still take minutes to get through very long scenes. And if you encounter a puzzle you already solved on a previous playthrough, you must solve it all over again...
If you want to play something entirely unique on the DS and are up for reading a suspense novel, this game is for you. But I am not convinced that many gamers will find what they're looking for here, and while I enjoyed the story I did not love the game. My score of 4 indicates this game has some merit, but is best suited for a select group. If you don't think you fall in that group, skip it.
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