After playing through five of the over twenty different endings, here is my review. "Virtue's Last Reward" is the second game in Zero Escape series (with the first game being "999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors"). If you haven't played that game, it is HIGHLY recommended that you go back and get the final ending to "999". Like the game before it, "VLR" uses a mixture of heavy character and story involvement, multiple paths that lead to various endings, and challenging and sometimes punishing puzzles. The move up to the 3DS does little to change the formula of "999" and instead looks to improve upon them. The game has tons of full-voiced dialog (in both English and Japanese) and many more endings than in the previous game. The new characters you interact with are a varied group, each with different backgrounds and secrets to be revealed. The best way to describe this type of game to a newcomer would be to call it a mixture of Visual Novel (ala School Days or Corpse Party) and Puzzle game (like the Professor Layton series). I don't want to give too much away story-wise, as it's best to go into this game not knowing too much about what is going to happen. People who have played "999" knows where it's going, but the added twists and turns along the way will keep you playing til the very end.… Expand

This game was made with a large amount of people with an adherent passion for story-telling and problem solving. This game is an equivalent to a lengthy novel and will quite possibly take up to 40-60 hours of your time, testing your morality, intelligence, and deductive reasoning the entire time. However the only one save 'feature' is a flaw and should be frowned upon, but disregarded. Play 999 first though since luckily for you the 3DS can play DS games.… Expand

Easily one of the best games of the year. Virtue's Last Reward is one of the best stories ever told in video games. I clocked in just over 32 hr to complete everything the game has to offer. It is an incredible value.

Great game. Very strategic. Characters and environments are fun. IGN has reviewed the 3DS version but it had not posted to metacritic!? Is metacritic's 3DS person on strike?!

Where am I, who are these people, and what type of game am I in for??? These are the questions of all new gamers who come into the mysterious, deadly, and thrilling world of Zero Escape. This is no ordinary game, this is one of life and death, and it's a good one at that (watch the trailer or read the premise of Wikiedia or IGN and you'll be intrigued). This game relies heavily on its narrative with a very original and unique plot, interesting character interactions, and varying branches of choices to make (imagine Mass Effect, but much more consequential) with over 20 endings :) You'll be satisfied, enthralled, and wanting more, no worries there (you might lose some sleep too...) The other gameplay portion revolves around intuitive environmental puzzles that are fun and challenging to do (not too easy, nor too hard). The 3d visuals fit the 3ds perfectly, and the soundtrack is haunting, and the presentation convenient (there is even a log function for dialog).

Overall, gamers looking for something truly unique, interesting, unpredictable, and incredibly compelling and off the beaten track, should give this game at least a hour or too (cause that's all it takes to suck you in lol). 10/10 If you think this score is too good, just play the game for yourselves and find out ;)… Expand

One of the most classically engaging stories ever invented. Despite how linear the story is in its splitting up of choices, it never feels like a chore going back and forth between them, because a desire to watch everything is there. A game that demands to be played. A warning though, as the 3DS version is bugged. Saving in the PEC room will likely corrupt your save, so steer clear of saving in that room.… Expand

I don't think I could love this game more if I tried. This game is the visual novel/puzzle sequel to the DS game '999: 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors', and after loving the first game, this one completely surpassed my expectations. This one included increasing text speed and also being able to go to different points in the game, which were very frustrating in the original. This means you won't have to play a room twice if you don't want. It's heavily text based, but there are lots of good puzzles and escape the room type scenarios to enjoy. As far as the storyline goes, it's confusing at times, requires some thinking, but it's completely captivating. I enjoyed all the characters, and it managed to be funny and touching. There's only one save slot, but I can understand why, so it wasn't an issue for me at all. There's also a noted bug in the 3DS version where if you save in certain rooms the game becomes corrupted, this did not happen to me, as I followed advice to not save while in an active puzzle room. I totaled about 45 hours with the game and all paths completed. This is THE 3DS game for me.… Expand

A game that lives up to the standard it's predecessor 999 set. Anyone who loves a good mystery story and some puzzle solving should get this game immediately.

Only bad thing about it is that long time VN fans will inevitably notice some similarities between this game and earlier titles like Ever17 and Remember11, but other than that it's a stellar experienc all the way through.