Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors DS
User Score
8.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 82 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 73 out of 82
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 82
  3. Negative: 6 out of 82

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  1. tantei
    Dec 7, 2010
    10
    Very fun, very well done story, neat trick to the real ending. this is a game that should not be missed be fans of puzzle games, phoenix wright, or great story telling. Warning it is rated Mature for a reason
  2. SalarymanDaishi
    Jan 1, 2011
    10
    Visual novels simply don't get better than this! Incredibly well-written, creepy horror adventure with paranormal overtones, starring nine hapless people forced to play a deadly game in a ship rigged to sink in nine hours. Over a dozen routes, six endings, and potentially over 20 hours of spine-chilling terror. Granted, it's more about reading than playing, the puzzle sections aren't terribly challenging, and there's fair bit of restarting and fast-forwarding already played content in order to get to the bottom of it all but still, for me this one turned out to be the Game of the Year!… Expand
  3. angelrubio
    Dec 5, 2010
    9
    The narrative is intriguing and the characters are as compelling as the puzzles and decisions. You get a good feeling of accomplishment without getting stuck too often. The art is simple but looks good and the sound goes along nicely without standing out too much. You'll probably, though, miss a text speed switch as you read over never ending instructions on how to enter a number in a case but that becomes a lesser issue at later stages in the game. Very recommended.… Expand
  4. Slappydavis
    Dec 17, 2010
    10
    Astonishing story, it is easily the best story of any game this year. I was simply spellbound during the entire game, going without food, going without sleep, it is just fantastic.
  5. Wormoid
    Jan 8, 2011
    10
    Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors is so compelling you will not be able to put it down until you have completed it, even then you will be longing for more. This has the most intriguing story-line of any game yet, easily out-doing the likes of the Phoenix Wright series, which have an amazing story-line, but 999 just blazes past it in caomparison. The expertly spellbound story-line will keep you well entertained, a deathly game with many great puzzles.

    The best thing about 999 is the amazingly tantalizing multiple endings, depending on how well you do in the game, all the endings are compelling. The characters are well suited, many that throughout the game you will learn to love. Despit the high price is well worth it, worth even 10 times the amount. You would have to be mad to miss out on this magical gaming experience!    … Collapse
  6. Nurv
    Jan 26, 2011
    10
    I've played many great games, but none have ever had a story that compares to 999. The gameplay was puzzling the first couple times through the game, which honestly leaves the only problem in the replays, but going through to achieve the best is well worth it. I personally think it's the best game of 2010 and definitely worth buying.
  7. SwoopTrust
    Nov 5, 2011
    10
    Excellent story, and makes it's way on my Top 10 DS games at position 1. Sublime narrative, great puzzles, likeable characters, has everything to be what it is: a must have for the system. Looking forward to it's sequel on 3DS and Vita.
  8. theshonen8899
    May 13, 2011
    9
    This game is unlike anything you have ever played before in your life. If you hate reading then this largely text based adventure may bother you, but they aren't very long and very engaging so it shouldn't be a problem. The puzzles are extremely clever and the game properly gives you hints if you have difficulty solving them; I never had to resort to a walkthrough. The characters grow on you at an amazing rate and by the time you are done with the game you will love them. The repetition was annoying at first but each playthrough offers different puzzles and there is a convenient fast forward feature. Overall, this game has largely been ignore but it is without a doubt a hidden jewel of the year. Absolutely amazing.… Expand
  9. Wheezy247
    Apr 7, 2011
    9
    I was very impressed with Nine hours, nine persons, nine doors. The story was simply enthralling and the characters are some of the most interesting characters I've seen in a video game. First of all, if you don't like story driven games, or reading, then I wouldn't recommend this game, because you will be reading a lot. The art style works and the music goes well too. I kind of wish that they put in just a little voice acting at certain parts, or maybe a few cut scenes that were not push a button and read. Each playthrough probably last around 8 hours, but I guarantee you will want to play it for a different ending. I only played through twice before I got the "True" ending, but I'm sure it could push you past 30 hours if you went for all of them. I highly recommend doing this, because you will appreciate the story the more you know about the characters and the plot. The game, though lengthy, left me thinking and made me want more. I truly hope that Aksys Games decides to continue with the series and maybe make a game similar to this, or perhaps even a sequel. The puzzles in the game are fun and clever, and the story will have you glued to your DS to find out what happens next.… Expand
  10. SetsunaSeiei
    Apr 3, 2011
    10
    Adventure games on Nintendo DS have already seen many great entries such as Phoenix Wright, Time Hollow or Hotel Dusk, but 999 is really something else: mixing visual novel narrative and adventure sections, it's probably the most captivating videogame of his genre I have ever played. The true ending is something that will leave you speechless, so don't abandon the game after having seen one of its minor endings.… Expand
  11. vahn
    Feb 28, 2013
    9
    If you hate story driven games and screens filled with words, static images, few animations and basically no action, go away and never return: I say this because it's basically a visual novel game, and in that regard it can be either hated or loved by people depending on their tastes. So, with that said, this game is really well done and I really loved the plot of this game, probably one of the most exciting plots and with MANY twists that can be either silly, or just mind blowing. The game, like I said, works like a visual novel and you'll basically never move on your own, except when you have to solve puzzle, in which you have to explore in a first person perspective, and go along with the story and once in a while you'll have to choose either dialogues, and most importantly, doors, which are basically the prerequisites for the 6 (not 9?) endings you can get. The setting is thrilling and I loved the fact that it's a deadly game setting instead: it's very refreshing and kinda overlooked, and the plot itself has so many twists that even mentioning half of them can probably be a spoiler. The 9 characters (technically it's 8, since one dies RIGHT at the beginning. No real spoiler) are either likeable and hated...but that's really more up to the player's taste to either like one specific character or not since each one of them has his own behaviour and his own twists that will hook you in or just lure you out (I hated Clover for instance...and if you play in a specific way, you'll see why). Even the main character, which is "really" annoying, I could never get to hate him because he was just a normal person and his stupid sentences and selfish dialogues weren't really about being offensive: he basically was a normal guy trapped in a ship (although they go very often into the swear words department...). Great setting, great story, great dialogues (for the most part), great twists...but the rest fails hard, although I can't really consider them game breaking: the graphics are mediocre and they don't particularly shine, but in a "visual novel" style game it's hardly an issue...although even similar games like Phoenix Wright, which has still images too, has much more detail and color (although it was a drawing there, and it's 3d cg graphics here). Characters are well drawn and have very few but good animations and they are well different and immediately strikes your eyes for their own look (ESPECIALLY Lotus....), but we won't ever see them outside still images cutscenes and dialogue screens, which is a true pity. The puzzles are so mindblowing easy too (except the very last one, but it's still easy) and we could have used much more effort in making them at least hard the first time playing the game and give us the possibility to skip the puzzles, since we will have to finish the game at least once in order to unlock the true ending and the game itself is very short and you'll spend most of the time waiting for the text to finish on your first play. Yes, no text skipping on your first playthrough, but after that you can skip any text "you have already read" until new dialogues or scenes will occur, which is actually good. But yeah, even your first time won't last that long and won't probably clock over 5 or 6 hours (not 9?!) and much less if you are skipping all of the old dialogue. But it is a visual novel style game and reading the game is essential here, and while I'm no expert in these kind of games I really loved the story, the characters, the setting and pretty much anything despite the small flaws. If you love story driven games but don't mind reading a lot of text, you'll just love the story and will hunger for more (there's a sequel afterall). Probably not the best on a "visual" side, but on the "novel" side it's just great. If you like thrilling stories, give it a try. As long as you like to read...… Expand
  12. henry_csf
    Nov 12, 2012
    10
    Do not care about people telling you there are resemblances between this and Saw movies or even the review from Eurogamer comparing it to the poorly executed Lux-Pain. This is visual novel at its best and where it belongs, the meant-to-play-them DS. The puzzles are somewhat challenging, in a healthy way, but the plot is so good and scary I was astonished for about a week after completing the real ending, and that is what matters the most. If you want a visual novel to play (and if you're adult), play it.… Expand
  13. Rolento
    Feb 15, 2013
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I really don't know what to say, I think everything I'd say about this game wouldn't help make it sound or look as good as it actually is. Words would just ruin it. I guess in a way I'm implying this game is "better than me"? Well that's silly of course, but this visual novel... it's just, mind-blowing. A premise I often make: maybe I'm just not so genre-savvy, as I admit I always liked "mystery novels" but I can't remember reading/playing many of them, so perhaps there's more works out there that manage union of twists and plausibility THIS good that I don't know of, and I apologize for this lack of mine that will inevitably influence the review. I apologize because, unlike the low yet noticeable amount of people who like to bash visual novels for being what they are supposed to be, I am aware that one should not go about reviewing without any knowledge about genres. All I'm saying is that life is a bit more complicated than your homemade "0 bias gud bias bad" beliefs seem to make you think: I would never complain about a piece of electronic music for its lack of guitars, therefore, even though I hate with a passion the relativist attitude of "if u dont like it just dont watch it", in this case it has another sense, which is that of "don't look for interactivity and major gameplay in something that is more structured to be a read rather than anything else", as suggested, by the way, by the small amount and extreme simplicity of the puzzles in the game (which, in my opinion, is like one of the few flaws of the game, but seeing as, for starters, as I said they were probably intended to be so for the player to advance in the READING and, also, they are perfectly integrated in the plot and in many, many ways). That said, the game has anything a reader should look forward to. It has a deep, intricate plot, it turns the common mechanic of visual novels of replaying with different choices into an obligatory feature that turns out to have a meta explanation, making all the endings canonical. Every little conversation and lines from the characters that didn't seem relevant end up being essential. Personally I was surprised by the plot twists all the time: I automatically and smugly always assumed the most absurd resolution and then thought "nah can't be it", I was constantly expecting plot resolutions that wouldn't live up to the expectation and the hype the game itself was slowly injecting into me at every playthrough. And yet the disappointment never arrived. You can really tell these guys worked hard on the plot, I suggest you read the interviews with the game creator that tell you a bit about the creative process behind it (but not before having completed the whole game, or you are in for some massive spoilers). Sometimes I wish I could just erase my memory and feel once again the thrill of every plot twist there was, but that hedonistic wish is annihilated by the fact that the plot still leaves one in awe even after knowing everything. The twists are great and a major plot element, but you can tell they worked hard on the writing to make them fit as good as they could and, I admit, in some points the consistency gets a bit weak, but they are, like, literally one or two points I would complain about honestly, and even with them I dare you to look for something that did a better job at fulfilling your expectations of "what's the mystery's solution gonna be like". I give the game a 9. Appropriate and ironic, for obvious reasons, and because a 10 would probably be out of instincts due to the fact that I just finished the game and I'm still thrilled. Still, it's not perfect. They could (although I would never dare to ask for this AS WELL, or I would be asking for near perfection, and therefore giving out a legit 10/10) make the puzzles a bit more complicated, and the final resolution could have a bit more sense, but... yeah, the argument is pretty much "another bit of effort and it could be perfect", and that my friends is what "9" means. The graphics are very cool, but I think they could have added some more animations to them. Especially Clover, for most of the bad routes (and good) she's supposed to look catatonic, instead they just recycle her sad sprite. Nonetheless animation is very fluid. This is meta, has time travel, has a "Saw" setting mixed with, I don't know, Liar Game, had number symbolisms all over the place (I'm a sucker for those), it had that rewarding distribution of "90% of the game will look normal, then suddenly paranormal and put your ds upside down" that really gives emphasis to all of it, it has paranormal mysteries a-la Fringe but perhaps more plausible (negative shoutout intended), great characters/subverted stereotypes, actual relevance of any freaking word of the entire novel for the player's understanding of the mystery (and two red herrings, alright, but those turn out ot be maybe not so much of red herrings after all with the, unfortunately, open ending). Just, wow.… Expand
  14. vervain
    Jun 14, 2012
    10
    If you can get past the forced slow pacing of the hefty amounts of text in this game, you'll find one of the most engrossing, chilling and satisfying story-based adventure titles ever released. For those new to the visual novel genre, you will be reading a LOT in this game. If you're a fan of classic point-and-click adventures, this one is not to be missed. Multiple endings create good replay value, and the characters and dialogue are solid. I couldn't put this game down!… Expand
  15. LadyAlerie
    Sep 20, 2012
    10
    This game has one of the bests stories I've ever read. This game deserves more attention. The story is just GREAT. The OST is perfect in every moment. The puzzles are very well done, with a good difficulty. There are many endings, and each of them will make you say "WOW!". There is a sequel for 3DS and Vita coming soon in USA and EU.
  16. life_andlimb
    Dec 8, 2012
    9
    Do you like games that force you to use critical thinking skills (arithmetic, puzzles, weighing choices against each other)? If so, buy this now. If you're kind of on the fence about it, I can offer a brief overview of what to expect from this title. You will be reading... a lot. "Digital novel", or whatever they call it, is probably the best way to describe it in a few words. Also, if you care to get the most out of the game, you will be reading (or skimming) a lot of material more than once. When you're not reading, you will either be making decisions or playing through one of the many puzzles, where, from my experience, usually deals with finding a way out of a room. These puzzles aren't difficult to the point of being frustrating, but they require you to learn, analyze and discuss any items found in the environment and figure out how they can help you either solve the immediate problem, or how they fit into the context of the plot more generally (which is the case maybe 5% of the time). Throughout the game, you will learn about all kinds of trivial things that may seem completely off topic at first but eventually all connect in some way or another. In this way, the story is kind of a puzzle in itself. I'm not going to say that I blame people for giving this game a negative review; it's on the verge of not even being a game, the graphics leave much to be desired (mainly overlaid 2D images), and some might find the story a bit over the top. With that said, I really encourage everyone to at least try it out (find a used copy or something) and give the game at least an hour before you decide to put it down. Whatever this game is, it is certainly unforgettable.… Expand
  17. Yulo303
    Feb 19, 2013
    10
    A masterpiece. Just like Saw, where one person captures others for a "survival game" with puzzles, so is this game. The characters are all very different and interesting. One very good thing I just have to note about it is that you will probably not get stuck in this game. Being good on puzzles will help you solve them faster, and if you take too long to solve a puzzle the characters will have a say in their own perspective about the puzzle(aka hints). The longer you take, more hints, so even if you aren't very good at puzzles, you will eventually solve them. You are given multiple choices throughout the game, something that encourages replays. In conclusion get this game, it's amazing.(P.S. contains some bloody events)… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
82 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Nintendo Life
    Oct 21, 2011
    80
    999 is stunning. It sports a captivating plot driven by a fantastic cast of characters, a satisfying mix of puzzles and interesting mathematical, scientific and philosophical quandaries to ponder.
    Read full review
  2. Adventure Gamers
    May 13, 2011
    60
    999 is a gutsy, mature story that blends horror, science, and character-driven drama in intriguing, thoughtful ways. It's also backed by some sparse but solid gameplay, melding traditional puzzle types with a cohesive math-based theme that nicely suits its subject matter. Unfortunately, what could have been a taut psychological thriller all too often becomes a plodding, pace-killing narrative full of bloated, poorly-integrated dialogue.
    Read full review
  3. Official Nintendo Magazine UK
    May 11, 2011
    90
    A fantastic experience from start to finish. It is a game that truly expands what narrative video games can be capable of, and does so with a engrossing story that draws players in until the very end, all six of them.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »