There was a time before I knew about killing games. Prior to Hunger gameprior to Danganronpaprior to Squid fishing game. And then I played 999.
On the face of it, the killer game seems sociological: We tend to watch a single “player” unwittingly enroll in a game where only the strongest, smartest, or worst Only the best tricks can survive and win prizes. Everyone else will die or be killed in traumatic and bloody ways designed to entertain fictional audiences. The point is that a fictional audience is also a real audience – one’s audience. Player. Friend. The premise of murder games is that you have to be pretty sick to enjoy this horror spectacle, but the fact that killer games still exist in the media means that they to be exciting. Does that make us sick?
999: Nine people, nine o’clock, nine doors are one Saw-like a murder game that takes place in a mysterious sunken ship filled with locked doors, scrawled with huge numbers, one digit in red paint. As the title suggests, there were nine people on board, each with their own digital watch-like device strapped to their wrist, each with a different number on said device. Players must group together to enter numbered doors by adding their numbers together – 4 and 1 can enter door 5, for example – but if a player goes through a door they should not or try to remove the device, they explode.
It’s no surprise that people start dying pretty quickly, because most people on board have secrets, and some of them are murderous types. But that’s not really the crux of the 999 story, as it gradually becomes clear that something else is going on. Why are you all here? Who put you here? Who is everyone? And can it really get out?
I don’t want to spoil the game, because I think everyone deserves a chance to play it for themselves and have the fun and exploration happening in real time. Also, I’m not entirely sure that I maybe explain the plot, even if I wanted to – it’s the kind of story that only really makes sense if you’re actively following it and there’s a lot that you might need to know about basic philosophy easy to understand. So instead, I’d like to talk about 999 representing the game world – and what killer games really mean.
Because, yes, listen, I Not a murderer. Or a psychopath. I am quite ordinary and have the ability to distinguish fact from fiction. I have never, not once, trapped a group of teenagers of all kinds in a barn, school, or a boat, and caused them to bump into each other. I don’t have the resources for that! But playing killer games like 999, Danganronpa and Virtue’s Ultimate Reward is a fascinating look into the human psyche, accompanied by superb writing. (Anyway, most of the time. Let’s not talk about Danganronpa’s love of sly and sometimes scary tricks.)
The killing game is not original. From the fights of the Roman gladiators to the story of 1924″The most dangerous game“, people have always been fascinated by killing for the sake of sport, and there’s almost always a class system involved that determines who has to play and who gets to watch. It’s basically an extreme version of the game. modern poverty, where billionaires hoard their wealth and those below the poverty line, except that the game allows the latter to potentially become the old game… while the wealthy patrons of The game is still on track.
In 999, the game is unusually divided into classes – the poor, the young, the old and the rich mingle equally in the arena of captivity. Instead, the motive here is not to elevate oneself above poverty, but is twofold: One, for the captives to escape (the reward is their life), and two, situation forming the solution to an old problem, and become people who are not aware. in a machine built for revenge.
As Junpei, one of the people trapped in this killing game, you are expected to team up with several others to solve a series of logic puzzles to solve each room, and then come up with Difficult decisions when the whole group comes together. after each puzzle – decisions like who to pick next and potentially who to leave behind if the numbers don’t add up.
As a player, you don’t really face the threat of death, because you can put the DS down at any time – but the stakes per puzzle are sky-high anyway, since Every character you meet has a complex, complex, and profound interior, and you want to see each of their stories to the end. It’s not just about rescuing Junpei, your avatar – it’s about trying to find the best solution, the solution that everybody life.
So yeah, there’s probably a small part of sociopathy in enjoying the murder game – or at best, a morbid fascination, like real crime buffs. It helps us to distance ourselves from stories, either because they are fictional or because they are being told as if They are fictitious, so we never have to face the real people behind the stories. But it’s not just about enjoying the thrill. Murder games allow us to witness the depths of human depravity – but also human generous.
Hunger Games sees its protagonist organize an impromptu funeral for a young girl, even though it puts her in danger. Squid Game shows its protagonist taking care of an old man, even though the old man is statistically the worst partner in the game. And 999 shows us people who want to escape, but not always at the expense of someone else’s death. The easiest solution for 999 is to kill everyone and use their bracelets to escape without having to have a bunch of tedious conversations. But murder games would be boring if everyone in them was a killer; The excitement and attraction comes from the fact that these players care too much for an easy way out.
999 is one of the best killer video games out there, and its sequel, Virtue’s Ultimate Reward (the third installment in the trilogy, Zero Time Dilemma, isn’t quite as good), and that’s it. largely because it was absolutely brilliant. story and its unique narrative presentation. It’s more zigzag than a fusilli bag and greener than Lot’s wife, but that’s not its only charm: None of its characters are who they first appear, and in the end , you’ll want to save nearly all of them – even having seen their worst flaws. The test doesn’t just complete puzzles in the escape room segments. It finds humanity in an inhuman situation.
