999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is a cult DS hit that struck a chord with North American gamers through its gripping, disturbing story and ever-popular escape-the-room puzzles. Its direct sequel, Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, is much, much better.

"If you've ever wanted to explore the potential of gaming outside of the expected, let Zero Escape provide just the experience you need." - 1Up (A-)

"There should be no timeline ever created that doesn't contain you playing this game." - IGN (9.5/10)

"Don’t let this one pass you by; VLR is one of my favorite games this year." - GameInformer (8.75/10)

"The reason I love games like Virtue’s Last Reward is that they’re such a refreshing change of pace. Sometimes, it’s nice to step away from the “NEXT GIGANTIC BLOCKBUSTER!!” and play something that entertains me in a totally different way. The drama that can unfold between people when they’ve been put into situations that challenge their humanity can be amazingly engrossing; Virtue’s Last Reward is a master at doing just that thanks to a combination of a fantastically enthralling story, interesting characters, the creation of a legitimate sense of drama and tension, and a top-notch English translation by the folks over at Aksys." - EGM (9.0/10)

The reviews point to the 3DS and Vita versions being pretty much on equal footing. Both have their own advantages (Vita graphics, 3DS stylus). There's no problem with playing the game on your portable of choice.

Fantastic little game, anyone who enjoys point and click puzzle type adventure games and doesn't mind a whole bunch of exposition should jump on this one.

Could you elaborate on the bolded?

Edit: Total browser failure. My bad.

Anyway, I believe that those who enjoy excellent stories will like this series, even if it means putting up with a type of gameplay they're not familiar with.

This wasn't even on my radar, but now I'm interested. From the looks of it, this will be one of the top few handheld games for either the 3DS or Vita so far. If that's the case... I'm not sure how I can justify not buying it.

There are large sections of the game where you are just watching things unfold.  If you are one who thinks gameplay is the only thing that matters then I don't think the escape sections will be enough to satisfy you.  It's probably about half puzzles and half dialogue/watching crazy events unfold.  

Maybe if you defined looking around a room to try and escape it (classic point and click gameplay of just searching around and trying to find something useful) as not gameplay.  Or he could be far better at puzzles than I am and just blows right through them.  

i'm sure someone will tell me i'm lying ... but i have soo many vita games right now that i just can't get this game right now. maybe next year if there is a lull in releases.  i do hope to play it at some point.

Can't wait until they officially reveal the third game.

I really loved 999 and I'm really looking forward to this game. I was worried that it wouldn't be released in PAL regions, but the wikipedia article for the game says it is! (Nov. 16th) Yay!