Yet to be released in the UK 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors is one puzzle/adventure game, interactive novel game that’s well worth importing. Mixing elements of old adventure games, Japanese storytelling and a definite Saw vibe, 999 is a gripping blend of gory mystery and puzzle solving.

The game begins with the protagonist – Junpei – waking up in a ship, having no memory as to how he arrived there. On his wrist is a bracelet with a single digit, “5″, and the door blocking his escape is the same number. After the window conveniently explodes, flooding water into the room, you’re charged with finding the exit using the stylus to investigate your surroundings and combined objects.

After a successful exit Junpei remembers that he was ambushed by a masked man calling himself ‘Zero’ and telling him that he will participate in the Nonary Game, a game “where he would put his life an the line”. He eventually meets up with eight other people — all of whom have been similarly kidnapped — and woken up on the mysterious ship they find themselves on.

Thanks to Zero eventually announcing the rules of the game you find out that you have to escape the ship within 9 hours, going through a door marked 9. To do this you must also follow all of Zero’s rules or a bomb, inserted inside their guts will explode. Around the ship are other numbered doors and only groups of 3-5 people whose digital root equals that number can pass. Behind those doors usually hides a series of rooms with puzzles to solve.

What I liked:

Atmosphere – Using only text, still backgrounds and sound 999 manages to convey the feeling of being on a large ship effectively. The slow creak of distressed metal, the grating of the doors and the sound of interaction when you tap or combine objects all create a tangible atmosphere of claustrophobia within an industrial setting.

Evokative writing – With no voice acting it could be difficult to make interesting characters without resorting to cliched stereotypes. At times 999 veers close to this descriptor but does a damn fine job of making every one of your eight companions unique and interesting. But what stands the most is the juxtaposition of awkward humour next to the descriptions of horror. The game will happily throw clever banter between characters — some of which is genuinely funny — and then the next moment delve into explicit descriptions of rent human organs, torn guts and bloodstained wall. It works a dark magic in conveying the shocking twists the story can go in.

Multiple endings - There are six endings in total dependent upon your choices through the game. Some will come from which door you decide to go through, others on how you interact with your comrades. Each playthrough reveals new twists or information about the story, the situation and who exactly Zero is and why you’re there. It’s a testament to the writing that I was willing to play through several times in order to find out all the details.

The puzzles – These range from simple tasks like finding a missing object to complex maths puzzles, Sudoku challenges or a drawn-out process of item combination and environmental interaction. None are dull or stupidly challenging and I often found myself powering through them just in order to reach the next story section.

What I didn’t like

Redoing puzzles - The game has a skip feature for blasting through text you’ve already seen in subsequent playthroughs. This is great but it doesn’t extend to the puzzles you’ve already completed. In order to get all the ending it means going through the same puzzles 3-6 times which is an awful bore. Most especially the first puzzle which has to be done every time you begin a new game. It would mean the game would be reduced in length tremendously but it put me off getting more than three endings.

In Conclusion

This is a great, charming and shocking adventure game. The mixture of puzzles, gory plot-twists and mixture of conspiracy theories and modern myths make it an must for anyone interested in those genres. It rewards multiple playthroughs by revealing more information about the plot and the characters you find yourself working with. Once you discover the real ‘true’ ending it’s fair to say that your socks will be well and truly blow off — it’s a complex tale that may seem fantastical at first but never breaks the rules of its own world. Though only available as an import 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors is a must for the DS’ final few months of active service.

999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors - DS review, 8.3 out of 10 based on 3 ratings