Best Horror Games That Aren't Horror Games: 999

Huh. That’s weird. Did I make a blog or something? Shit. Guess I have to update it now.

Yeah, sorry for the wait. I’ve (mostly) written up a couple posts since numero uno, and I immediately put them aside because I decided I shouldn’t dive into those subjects right away. They’re coming though. Topics were music in the Mother/Earthbound series and female characters in games, the latter of which is a doozy and, in retrospect, will need a whole lot more than one post.

Also because Sarkeesian-oriented shitstorm.
Not touching that with a ten foot pole.

So what am I going to write about instead? Well, it’s October, and because I’m one hundred percent original all the time and none of my brilliant ideas have ever been conceived by another human ever, I’m going to write about horror games in honor of Halloween.

“Horror games?” I hear you scoff through the monitor. “That’s all anyone will talk about these days. Slender, Amnesia, scare cams, Pewdiepie (don’t even get me started). We all know the drill by now. Just give it a rest.”

You’re right. Talking, writing, or making videos about "scary indie games" is basically an internet cliché at this point, through no fault of the games themselves. To make matters worse, Resident Evil is now effectively dead courtesy of RE6, and Silent Hill hasn’t been good since 2003. Why should anybody care about survival horror right now? Well, I’m going to answer that question by dodging it entirely. Fuck “survival horror;" I’m going to talk about games that are creepy, atmospheric, and psychologically unsettling without necessarily fitting under the umbrella of one genre, games that are some of the best out there, yet sold poorly or flew under the radar. These are the best horror games that aren’t “horror games.”

(Come to think of it, I guess VtM: Bloodlines fits that bill pretty nicely. CONVENIENT.)

Alright, so first up is this little guy:

9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors is a psychological thriller puzzle game/visual novel for the Nintendo DS. WAIT WHERE ARE YOU GOING COME BACK. Ok, yes, it’s a visual novel, but hear me out. 999 essentially alternates between two modes: the “escape the room” sections, where you explore and interact with your surroundings one screen at a time and solve puzzles, a la Myst, and the story sections, which are text-heavy and non-interactive, save for the major decisions which will have an effect on the game’s ending. Assuming I haven’t lost you already, you may have noticed that what I just described sounds like the most boring fucking game in the world. It’s alright. I thought so too. Then I played it.

Normally, I make a habit of avoiding visual novels like the plague, but 999 succeeds in two major ways. First, its puzzles are a major step up from the usual point-and-click adventure game fare, in that they are actually logical and not needlessly obtuse. While the game might be a tad on the easy side overall, the puzzles stay consistently fun, clever, and challenging enough to be rewarding without feeling frustrating or cheap. But more importantly, 999 features good writing, well-rounded and memorable characters, and a story that will grab you from the word go, keeping you glued to your DS until it’s all over. No, seriously, I know how that sounds, but there’s no hyperbole here. When I first got this game I played straight through until I beat it, barring maybe two or three bathroom/food breaks,  then immediately started over to get one of the other endings.

So, what is the story of 999? Imagine David Fincher and the creators of Death Note getting together to rewrite “Saw,” and you have a pretty good idea. You are Junpei, a Japanese college student who wakes up on a sinking cruise ship with eight other people. Your captor, known only as Zero, reveals that you have all been chosen to play the “Nonary Game,” in which you have nine hours to escape the ship. You and your fellow participants must cooperate, conspire, and betray their way through a series of rooms in order to reach a door labeled, you guessed it, 9. And all the while, you slowly discover pieces of a larger puzzle at work, leading you to wonder just what Zero’s true game is.

Zero.

The premise is nothing new, but its execution is so one-of-a-kind that you’ll immediately forget. As stated, the game’s writing is captivating, on the level of a decent thriller novel. This is owed in part to a translation by Aksys Games that remains one of the better translations out there, barring a few quibbles (descriptions can drag on somewhat, and one minor plot point late in the game makes no sense in English). Practically none of the awkwardness of a Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid translation is here; dialogue is crisp, clever, and occasionally hilarious, and the text descriptions of certain events are orders of magnitude more evocative than any million dollar cutscene could ever hope to be. One scene early on describes a character’s death in such a way as to make me physically uncomfortable, while showing none of it onscreen. When is the last time any gratuitous video game scene of heads exploding or limbs getting sawed off evoked any reaction in you other than laughter?

Although I have to admit, it's cathartic as fuck.

That’s not to say 999 doesn’t have solid visuals. Art design is excellent and the pre-rendered backgrounds look great for a DS game. The Myst comparison is appropriate here since the game world is basically presented in slideshow format; however, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The graphics are there to enhance the text, after all, and they do their job nicely. Character portraits are striking and effectively set the characters apart visually, something that anime-styled games often fail to do. In several cases the character designs are practically tailor-made to seem like blatant anime stereotypes (naïve and innocent schoolgirl, big dumb guy, "generously proportioned" lady, etc.), just so the game can set up expectations about the characters that it then gleefully subverts later.

The cast.

Unsurprisingly, 999 excels in the sound department in addition to just about everything else. The soundtrack is both surprisingly varied and highly effective at establishing tone. The puzzle sections are accompanied by appropriately cerebral electronic ambience, while the story sections alternate beautifully between pulsing bass synths, creeping violins, and melancholic pianos. It all feels perfectly appropriate for the situation but somehow never derivative or same-y, which is exactly how a soundtrack should be. Yet the most effective moments of 999 are completely silent, save for the occasional sounds of footsteps or beeping timers. Play it at night, with headphones on, and you’ll see what I mean.

The game has its flaws, to be sure. Being a fairly slow reader, I never had a problem with this, but I've heard people complain about the slow text scrolling speed. Also, while I do think the writing is way above the general standards of most games, in some cases it can devolve into the juvenile and ridiculous. Just try to stick with it, trust me. Finally, I personally enjoyed the uncertainty of not knowing what ending my decisions would result in, but if you don't like the possibility of an unsatisfying ending, I would recommend reading one of the non-spoiler walkthroughs out there. The game does expect you to play through it more than once, but 1) you can scroll through text you've already seen very quickly, 2) you can skip puzzle rooms you've already completed, and 3) you'll more than likely want to anyway.

999 is a game with no shortage of strengths but I have yet to even touch upon its greatest achievement: it is a story that could only have been told as a video game. Without spoiling anything, even the format of the DS hardware itself is tied to the narrative in a twist that will send your jaw crashing to the floor. Instead of trying to be just like a book or a movie, 999 embraces its medium to great effect, and to me, that's the definition of a good video game story. So go play 999. You won’t be disappointed.