Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3 ~Kowareyuku Machi To Kanojo No Uta~ is the third in a series of action games by Irem that emphasize people beating the odds to prevail against whatever Mother Nature has to throw at them. It's categorized as a Survival Action game, a relative first in my book since I never picked up on any prior Survival Horror games.
The first two were released in the PS2 and upon stateside exposure were horribly westernized, repackaged as Disaster Report and Raw Danger respectively. Hair colors and names were changed, but road signs and other stuff remained Japanese. Here's hoping this one never gets touched by the perpetually dirty and lazy hands of the localization outfits. Besides, I plan on making a wordy translation FAQ/Walkthrough of this game when I've uncovered all of it's little nuances.
I don't think we're in Kansai anymore, Honjou-san.
ZZT3 has you playing a college freshman excited to start a new life in the upscale Central Island, a man-made landmass built from the ground up by a couple of local plutocrats. All's fine and dandy in the tunnel en route to your destination until a Magnitude 7 earthquake strikes without warning. Upon regaining consciousness, you find that you were the only passenger in the bus who survived. To stay that way, you have to seek out other survivors and work together to get out of Central Island in one piece.
No matter what you do, do not pick the last dialogue choice. Why? Because Saki doesn't swing that way.
Death by wet t-shirt... oh hell no.
Aside from dodging instantly fatal disasters left and right, the game complicates things for you via the "Will To Live" system. There are two bars up top which measures your health and stress level. Climbing, running, jumping, almost falling, witnessing death and destruction causes your stress level to increase (the degree varies with events and personality types) Having a high stress level pushes your health back, increasing the chances of succumbing to debris and missteps that are a hair short of a great fall. When your stress is at it's peak, all of your basic movements become horribly impaired. To recover, you need to use First Aid Kits, food, drinks and benches that serve as save points.
So we might get cuts, burns and bruises at this disaster area... big whoop. Two seconds on a bench and we'll be as good as new!
Oddly enough, the atmosphere and gameplay of ZZT3 reminds me of SMT: Nocturne minus the demons and RPG-style encounters. Since Atlus Japan is now practically dead (though we wouldn't have seen a PSP port of Nocturne even if they still existed), this is the next best thing we can get from a different company. In the latter part where basic human instincts become a threat, the game also incorporates a Metal Gear Solid vibe. Best of both worlds, I'd say. It takes a while to get used to being a normal human with no powers, weapons and constantly having to deal with timed disaster escapes though.
The latest Morita-brand car offers excellent soundproofing. Perfect for tuning out explosions, falling debris, and annoying hitchhikers with loud voices.
For some reason, ZZT's developers seem to have an unhealthy obsession with designing compasses. There are 126 in all which can be collected in the game, but most of them are inaccessible unless you're able to play with someone via Ad-Hoc Multiplay Quest, which makes for an annoyed OC hermit gamer like me. But since I have two PSPs and sufficient attention span for multi-tasking, not having another person to play with was no issue at all. *grin*
Say you have to go potty.... SAY IT!!!
The game provides you with practical tips on how to cope with calamities in real life by granting "Disaster Manuals" containing information compiled by the Japan Disaster Information Support Network. Though essentially a sell-out point, ZZT3 also patronizingly teaches us that in case of an emergency, giving away a box of CalorieMate biscuits will increase your odds of survival. I find it funny how people in the game gobble it up with such abandon... I mean, I've had some of the stuff myself and it doesn't taste that great, but then again, taste wouldn't really matter if food is hard to come across and you're just looking for something to tame your growling tummy.
Impersonating a professional rescuer is a criminal offense under normal circumstances, but since there are hardly any cops around, I guess it's okay.
Just because you're busy trying to stay alive doesn't mean you can't look good while doing it. In between picking up the usual fare of consumables and loose items that can be combined into makeshift tools, you can also find costumes and complementary accessories strewn around the ruins of the city. Anything's better than the tattered clothes Naoki/Rina were wearing when the bus went bye-bye, so feel free to go crazy. The costumes range from average (shirts, jeans, dresses), moetastic (school uniform, bridal gown, qipao, office lady uniform, etc) to downright freaky (RPG costumes, samurai gear, sentai get-ups, etc).
Be good to either of these girls, and you'll get a free hanky. Not only does it serve as a license to do fun stuff with them once you get rescued, sniffing said hankies are good for relieving your stress.
Irem amazed me with some of the funky elements (pun intended) they put in ZZT3. I was held aghast with that flaming tornado bit (which by the way, is one of the two most frustrating parts of this game) since it's a bit far-fetched compared to the occasional earthquake, flood and collapsing structure bits. Next, the moe appeal wasn't forgotten in the least: How many unspeakable fantasies can be built on being a hero to a nurse/wannabe singer and a timid schoolgirl? (I have tons, but I'm keeping them to myself, thank you very much) On a related note, yuri fans are in for a treat here: If you play your cards right, you can have Ayami calling Rina "Onee-sama" a la Maria-sama ga Miteiru. Sadly, Saki isn't into the yuri biz, so only Naoki gets to have her. Finally, movie buffs will eat up the references strewn here and there (a certain famous maneuver in The Matrix is among those included for camp value... if you're playing this game, I challenge you to find it).
If you manage to get out of this pickle, you might want to consider giving up your pyromaniacal tendencies... remember kids, fire is a good servant but a very bad master.
On the flip side, there are a handful of aspects in the game that are rather lackluster. For one, you need to complete several full playthroughs to supposedly get a total of 9 different endings, but only 8 are considered in the game's status table. Irem confessed in a public apology notice that the game was actually released with one unchecked aspect, so though the 9th ending is accessible, it will never be counted. The character graphics are pretty for the main ones, but perhaps due to hardware limitations, they had to significantly skimp on the NPCs. Also, majority of the timed disaster events feel a bit too similar to one another, with just the location and environmental hazards being different. The camera angle can be a pain too in places where you can't manually adjust it, and it doesn't help that you can only move using the analog stick. Failure to adjust quickly to the ever-changing camera position during timed events can often prove fatal.
When Saki plays guitar, a whole band can be heard. When she sings acapella, a guitar sound swells from out of nowhere... How DOES she do it?
ZZT3's carrier single "Kimi No Tonari De" by Mai Iida (who serves as Saki's singing voice) fits the tone of the story as a whole. The song provides comfort for those who hear it (the main character's stress level drops in certain events) and even the desperate Eastern Ward evacuation center thugs momentarily come to their senses while it is sung. Though it's pretty much a corollary rule applicable only in games and anime, the song can unite people to the point that almost all the survivors can sing it by heart by the final scene despite only hearing it twice and lacking access to a hard copy of the sheet music/lyrics. Yeah I know, it's a glaringly obvious plothole, but if the "Power Of Music" bit worked for Macross, it can work for ZZT3.
...and here I was thinking that Central Island was some advanced Megalopolis... you can only imagine my complete and utter disappointment.
So if you don't fancy winning against a seemingly endless army of zombies, bioweapons and other monstrosities but still want to get into a spine-tingling game of survival, ZZT3 is highly recommended. See if you have what it takes to escape a doomed island and live to tell about it (and possibly gain a lover in the process, lol).
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