quick and dirty translation of the first review, no spoilers!
Famitsu Review
Genre: Adventure
Taget Audience: Fans of the ZE series, People who like Room Escape/Mystery&Suspense games,
Average Playtime: 25h
reviewer1 (8/10): While this is the 3rd game in the ZE series, ZTD also is very enjoyable for people starting off with this game. I thought the the gimmick where every 90 minutes your memory get’s erased by the bangle, the three different viewpoints of the teams and the scenario of unearthing the truth behind what’s going on in those fragments were all fantastic. I also liked the emphasis that is put on interpersonal human drama. The difficulty of the puzzles is rather high. I also noticed that the Japanese voice acting isn’t perfectly lip-synced, which might be because of the focus on selling the game overseas.
reviewer2 (8/10): I found the setup very interesting where you go through the story of the three teams in non-chronological order, slowly getting a better sense of the bigger picture and ultimately reaching different conclusions. Being able to skip past scenes after having seen them once is also a great choice. The ‘Quest Part’ where you go about solving puzzles is quite challenging and you can have fun with it, but I would have hoped for there to be a hint function for people who play the game primarily for the story.
reviewer3 (8/10): The mysterious story is very intriguing and the setting doesn’t give you that artificial feeling that’s so common in the Room Escape genre. The structure of the game, where you looking at the Flow Chart, put the Fragments together piece by piece and have different experiences depending on who of the 9 people on the three teams you control ist very elaborate. I also would have liked a help function for when you’re stuck at a puzzle, but I’m thankful for being able to switch to another teams in the middle of it. Also, there are instances where the way you use items becomes difficult and it’s not very user-friendly.
reviewer4 (8/10): The evolution of the game where you experience it from the point of view of three teams in fragments and the feeling of me wanting to quickly find out the truth behind the story got me really excited and had me asking myself “what will happen if I do it like that?”. The difficulty of the puzzles during the Quest Part ist rather high and it’s really necessary to make free use of the memo function and put up an honest effort when tackling the challenges. The light banter of your partners during that part serves as a kind of motivation. On both systems (3DS/Vita), the game makes good use of the touch screen for a good user experience.
edit: there's also a new article in this issue of Famitsu, including new screenshots and an interview with Uchikoshi.
Famitsu Review
Genre: Adventure
Taget Audience: Fans of the ZE series, People who like Room Escape/Mystery&Suspense games,
Average Playtime: 25h
reviewer1 (8/10): While this is the 3rd game in the ZE series, ZTD also is very enjoyable for people starting off with this game. I thought the the gimmick where every 90 minutes your memory get’s erased by the bangle, the three different viewpoints of the teams and the scenario of unearthing the truth behind what’s going on in those fragments were all fantastic. I also liked the emphasis that is put on interpersonal human drama. The difficulty of the puzzles is rather high. I also noticed that the Japanese voice acting isn’t perfectly lip-synced, which might be because of the focus on selling the game overseas.
reviewer2 (8/10): I found the setup very interesting where you go through the story of the three teams in non-chronological order, slowly getting a better sense of the bigger picture and ultimately reaching different conclusions. Being able to skip past scenes after having seen them once is also a great choice. The ‘Quest Part’ where you go about solving puzzles is quite challenging and you can have fun with it, but I would have hoped for there to be a hint function for people who play the game primarily for the story.
reviewer3 (8/10): The mysterious story is very intriguing and the setting doesn’t give you that artificial feeling that’s so common in the Room Escape genre. The structure of the game, where you looking at the Flow Chart, put the Fragments together piece by piece and have different experiences depending on who of the 9 people on the three teams you control ist very elaborate. I also would have liked a help function for when you’re stuck at a puzzle, but I’m thankful for being able to switch to another teams in the middle of it. Also, there are instances where the way you use items becomes difficult and it’s not very user-friendly.
reviewer4 (8/10): The evolution of the game where you experience it from the point of view of three teams in fragments and the feeling of me wanting to quickly find out the truth behind the story got me really excited and had me asking myself “what will happen if I do it like that?”. The difficulty of the puzzles during the Quest Part ist rather high and it’s really necessary to make free use of the memo function and put up an honest effort when tackling the challenges. The light banter of your partners during that part serves as a kind of motivation. On both systems (3DS/Vita), the game makes good use of the touch screen for a good user experience.
edit: there's also a new article in this issue of Famitsu, including new screenshots and an interview with Uchikoshi.
