Zero Time Dilemma: details about the story and the characters, scans

9 March 20169 March 2016 Lite_Agent Aksys Games, Famitsu, Spike-Chunsoft, Zero Time Dilemma

Zero Time Dilemma is featured in Famitsu magazine this week, providing us with our first look at the game itself, but also plenty of details about the story and characters. Thanks to Source Gaming, we have a translation of the various details from the Famitsu article. If you haven’t played both 999 and Virtue’s Last Reward, we recommend you proceed with caution as there’s spoilers to be found below!

The game begins on December 31st, 2028, in the Mars Mission Test Site, Dcom (located in the Nevada Desert). Six days after the start of the test, 9 persons awake in a confinement cell, with a mysterious black bracelet on their wrist. After that, a masked person appear in front of them, and announce that the Decision game is about to begin.

“This is a game that has your lives, my life, and the lives of all humanity at stake.”

After that, the 9 persons are transported to an underground facility, and are divided in three groups: C, Q, and D. In order to return to the surface, and escape, they must obtain 6 passwords. Unfortunately, getting a password is no easy task: they’re only revealed when one of the participants dies. In other words, only 3 of the 9 persons can escape alive…

The game takes place one year after 999: Nine Persons, Nine Hours, Nine Doors, and 46 years before Virtue’s Last Reward. As mentioned in the interview with Kotaro Uchikoshi, it will solve all mysteries from the first two games, and will provide a clear conclusion to the series.

More precisely, the game will provide answers to those questions:

How did Sigma lose both of his arms and one of his eyes?
What is the relationship between Sigma and Phi?
What happened at the Mars Mission Test Site on December 31st, 2028?
Why was the Radical-6 virus released?

Next, we have details about the various characters. This time around, the 9 characters are divided in three teams of 3 persons, and you can actually switch which one you’re controlling at any time. That way, you can progress their stories separately.

Team C

Akane (voiced by Sawashiro Miyuki): a sharp woman, and a cunning strategist. She’s at the head of a secret organisation, and her ultimate goal is to create a peaceful future. She appeared in both 999 and Virtue’s Last Reward.
Carlos (voiced by Sugita Tomokazu): a hot-blooded fireman with a strong sense of justice, who has saved many lives. He’s extremely fond of his little sister, who is suffering from a terminal illness.
Junpei (voiced by Tatsuhisa Suzuki): after the events of 999, he lost all contact with his childhood friend, Akane. He joined a detective agency in order to try and find her. He’s become a bit hardened, and is currently on the run.

Team Q

Eric (voiced by Ishida Akira): he works at an ice cream shop, and Mira is his girlfriend. He’s usually pretty cheerful, but he becomes a different person when faced with danger (much more serious and on edge).
Q (voiced by Toyosaki Aki): a yound child suffering from amnesia (he doesn’t even remember who he is), who is said to be pretty naive, pure-hearted, and kind. He wears a strange spherical helmet.
Mira (voiced by Sakamoto Maaya): she’s Eric girlfriend. A bewitching woman who wears some rather revealing clothes (as you can see on the scans below). She doesn’t really show her emotions.

Team D

Phi (voiced by Omigawa Chiaki): an intelligent and cool-headed woman, who appeared in Virtue’s Last Reward. She has a sharp tongue, and isn’t afraid to be pretty direct when talking to other people. She participated in the Mars Mission experiment with Sigma and Akane, in order to try and save the world.
Diana (voiced by Mamiko Noto): a gentle nurse, who strongly dislike any form of violence. She always has a smile on her face. Following her boss’ orders, she goes and participate in the Mars Mission experiment.
Sigma (voiced by Ono Daisuke): he may look like a 22 years old man, but on the inside, he’s actually a stubborn 67 year old man. Phi calls him “grandpa” from time to time.

Finally, we have details about two other characters, including the one and only Zero. He’s the mastermind behind the death game, but nobody knows his true motivations. He wears a black cloak, and a mask. As for Gabu*, it’s a dog who can travel between all three separated areas, via the air ducts. The characters use it to pass messages along, attaching them to its colar.

Here’s the scans from Famitsu magazine: