Disaster Report Diaries (Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3) Part Nine

This is my exploration of the Disaster Report series where I will chronicle my playthrough like a text-based Let’s Play. Now let’s finish Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3: Kowareyuku Machi to Kanojo no Uta...

Rina Makimura, Saki Honjou, and Ayami Hazuki had escaped from a mob after the teenager’s head, because of what her father might have known about the earthquake…

The only route open to us was into an office with most of the floor missing, but the hole it left seemed like the only way to proceed. I picked up a Nurse Uniform, a Salmon Onigiri, a Special News, and a Gas Lighter. This gave me Disaster Manual 77: Lighters, which said to use it as a heat and light source, but to take care not to set anything on fire.

Remembering that I had picked up Novel Weekly [3], I cracked it open and read a fable called The Cowardly Wolf. The Special News talked about the building we were in, Gloria Inari, a luxury apartment building, which I wouldn’t get to see much of, given the state of it. There was a bundle of rope atop some debris, so I slammed my body against the rubble until the rope fell down, then I used it to give us a way to climb into the hole. I also obtained Disaster Manual 60: Descent By Using Ropes, which explained it was useful for circumventing collapsed stairs, alternatively, you could use curtains or bedspreads. I probably could have used some of the dozens of outfits I’d been picking up, but hey.

At the bottom, I grabbed a Pink Dress before leading the way to a stairwell leading down. Along the way, I grabbed some Red Pumps, and we found ourselves in the underground parking lot. We heard a voice, but it wasn’t our pursuers because it was full of static. While looking for the source of the sound, I found a Casino Compass, Red & Black Boots, Maid Clothes, and Teacher Clothes, which was the outfit worn by the person I chose not to save…

The voice was coming from the radio in a red car (the only non-white vehicle), and it said that a rescue helicopter was on its way to the Hazuki Construction building! Luckily, Ayami knew where to go and could lead us to Kakisan Street where it was.

A tremor struck, and suddenly the ground was flooded with water! A stream of water knocked Saki and Ayami to the ground, and I received three Disaster Manuals. 62: Cardiopulmonary Arrest, 63: Artificial Respiration, and 64: Cardiac Massage, all of which detailed what to do in the event of someone being unconscious and unresponsive. Saki was unresponsive, so I called her name repeatedly in hopes that she would respond, which she did. Ayami also regained consciousness, also we noticed that the water level was rising and I got Disaster Manual 61: Underground Flooding which warned about this exact thing!

Luckily, we weren’t far from the ramp exiting the parking lot, so we were outside in seconds. Parts of the road formed misshapen stairs up to street level, so I led the way up, grabbing Yellow-Green Boots and a Pullover outfit. After jumping across a gap, I called the other two over, and I swear that I saw Saki plummet into the abyss below! But that couldn’t have happened, as Ayami acted like nothing had occurred, and I was able to snag some Beige Pumps and reach the upper section, only to be rejoined by Saki.

It was 2:08 pm when we reached Kakiyama Street. We heard the helicopter and could see the Hazuki Construction building ahead. I warned that the people who had chased us might also be on the way, if they had heard the message on the radio. I obtained Disaster Manual 65: Helicopter Landings, which warned that wind and updrafts from fire may prevent rooftop landings on high-rise buildings.

As we approached the stairs leading up to the building, I grabbed Cornet Boots, a Samurai Compass, a Megaphone, and a Hotel Woman outfit. We rested at a bench, then went up the stairs, where I found Brown Boots, a Capital Weekly, a First Aid Kit, and a Black Polo Shirt outfit.

While crossing the bridge to the building, a tremor struck and the other two raced past me. I hurried after them, having to climb and jump a little as the floor fell away in sections! Upon reaching safety, I received Disaster Manual 66: Collapsing of Bridges, which warned of using pedestrian bridges after an earthquake.

Finally inside Hazuki Construction, the place was a mess. Disaster Manual 67: Skyscrapers warned to keep your wits about you, and Disaster Manual 68: Evacuating to Rooftops said to remain in the middle of a rooftop in case of strong winds or aftershocks.

I found a copy of Hazuki Const. News on the floor along with a Sports Drink, and a Sun Compass. The Capital Weekly I’d nabbed earlier had a diary from a “Reporter J”, which was a bit rubbish as it just said they spoke to people about the deceased receptionist and the Morita Group seemed to have ties to the company. The other publication contained a letter from Daigo Hazuki saying that he was proud of the company.

Using the rubble, I found a way up to the next floor where I was able to grab a fire hose to tie to the safety rail and allow the other two to climb up. I also received Disaster Manual 69: Upwards from Lower Floors, which said to do exactly that, substituting a twisted curtain or bedsheet if no hose was available. However, the instant that Saki and Ayami reached me, the trio who had been chasing us earlier began throwing things at us! I had absolutely no idea how they had circumvented the destroyed bridge to get in through the front doors, but they were still desperate to catch Ayami and punish me and Saki.

My friends ran ahead, but I was cut off from them as more things were thrown. I told them to run ahead and while we could have all run while discussing this, it was only fair that I gave the mob a chance to climb up the hose, I suppose? I ran after the others, the mob on my heels, but I did stop to grab a Police Uniform from the ground. However, as I began ascending the stairs, I had to leave some more shoes behind.

After going up several flights, I somehow lost the mob and caught up to Saki and Ayami. We had reached an office floor — I hadn’t seen another way out of the stairwell before, which made our evasion of the mob even more confusing. However, we heard angry voices still looking for us, and the next set of stairs was blocked by rubble, so we had to look for another route to the roof.

After reading Disaster Manual 70: Dangers of Office Spaces, which warned of office equipment with wheels moving during an earthquake, I picked up a Border outfit and rested at a nearby bench. As we walked along a corridor, a tremor hit and the others ran past me. The floor began to crumble as I followed them, ending with a leap which I almost didn’t make, barely grabbing hold of the edge and pulling myself up before it too, crumbled.

Before heading to the stairs, I checked out a side office where I found a Military Dress and Leg Warmers before going to the stairwell. We were jumped on by the mob coming from the floor below, so we ran upstairs where we found Detective Hikawa! We’d last seen him being washed away in the river, so it was a big surprise that he’d be there, especially ahead of us. He had his gun drawn and told us to get out of the way, so I just ran up the stairs and he fired down at the floor in front of the mob.

Hikawa told us to keep going, and I received Disaster Manual 71: Police Security Actions which said police were authorised to suppress violent acts with warning shots. With some distance between us and the mob, Saki asked what happened after he was washed away, and why he had been aiming at Ishizawa, so he said that he had questions for him, but now was not the time to talk. He asked me to take care of Ayami, so I told him to leave it to me, as he was staying to fend off the mob.

A tremor shook the building and Ishizawa appeared, telling us to follow him. After going up more stairs, a tremor broke the floor between me and the others, with them on the side going up. Ishizawa and Ayami ran ahead but Saki remained, calling out to me. I responded by telling her that I loved her, to which she told me to stop joking — but I told her that I was dead serious. She seemed to accept that, telling me that she’d hear “the rest of it” once we had escaped the island, and that I should keep trying to reach the roof while she made her own way there.

What followed was five minutes of me dying as I attempted to get to the roof. First, I had to knock down a steel beam and walk across it, then jump across a gap. Then jump another gap, followed by balancing across a section of floor covering a larger space, jump a third gap, then hop to a chunk of floor, followed by a larger section before they collapsed under me, and finally leap a final gap. All while the floors fell down behind me, and I had to keep bracing due to tremors shaking things! Only that hopping section seemed to be timed, by the way, or at least had the shortest timer.

Finally at the heliport with the other survivors, I joined them on one of the gantries where Ishizawa had just taken Ayami at knifepoint! Then Hikawa appeared out of nowhere, despite the decimated stairwell, and aimed his gun at Ishizawa!

It transpired that Ishizawa had murdered Morita earlier, but hadn’t had the chance to kill Daigo Hazuki before the CEO had evacuated the island. So, he was going to get his revenge for his own daughter’s staged suicide by killing Ayami, as his daughter had only joined the company to find evidence to back up Ishizawa’s geological survey. Since Ishizawa had lost his work, his marriage, and his daughter because of Hazuki Construction, he felt this was his only option for vengeance.

Not wanting to anger the man further, I asked if Morita and Daigo were just thinking of themselves, and he confirmed that his reputation was in tatters because they swept his findings about the unstable nature of the island under the carpet. So, I decided that I should “take down” Ishizawa, and told Saki that I’d sneak outside the railing and grab his leg from behind. She told me that I couldn’t do that, so I agreed that she was right, but there was no other choice. Saki said that she would distract Ishizawa, and gave me Saki’s Hanky for good luck.

Saki began singing, and I used a First Aid Kit to lower my stress level before slowly walking down the nearby stairs. Other people joined in, somehow knowing the words, while I climbed onto a metal ledge and carefully made my way around and behind the pair.

I grabbed Ishizawa’s leg, surprising him and giving Ayami enough room to move, and Hikawa an opening to shoot, striking Ishizawa in the shoulder — but he kept hold of Ayami. He seemed ready to throw himself and his hostage over the edge, but Ayami told him that his daughter wouldn’t want this, otherwise, she wouldn’t have given him a data disc. Ishizawa was taken aback, and distracted enough for Hikawa to shoot his leg, making him free Ayami.

He begged his daughter for forgiveness, then asked how Ayami knew about the disc. I posited that Ayami did research on Ishizawa’s daughter, but Saki told me politely to shut up. Ayami confessed that she and her brother had killed Ishizawa’s daughter. She went on to monologue, saying it was to get Ishizawa to murder Morita and Daigo, as they had been the cause of her own mother’s death.

The explanation got a little convoluted, but Ayami was actually Morita’s daughter, as Daigo had let Morita sleep with his wife in exchange for help building Central Island. Daigo had felt it was the only way to save Hazuki Construction, which had also enriched the Morita Group through embezzlement. Needless to say, I gasped.

Ayami had been told this by her mother two years ago on her deathbed. She confessed it all to Hikawa, who decided to help her plot revenge. They used Ishizawa because Ayami had witnessed him and his family arriving to visit her mother, but when she returned with refreshments, they hurriedly left, and her mother was in a state of shock which she never recovered from.

Ishizawa explained that his wife had said harsh things to the sick woman, while he and his daughter were unable to restrain her. Speaking of his daughter, he asked whether Hikawa had only got engaged to his daughter as part of the scheme, which he confirmed. Ishizawa went on to ask whether this had given Ayami any solace, but she couldn’t answer that. He then asked if Hikawa had ever loved his daughter, but he literally couldn’t answer that as a tremor shook the helipad, toppling Ishizawa over the side!

Ayami leapt up and grabbed Ishizawa, pulling him to safety — but falling over herself! I had a split second to try and grab her or allow her to fall. Figuring that Saki would hate it if the teenager died, I reached out to grab her.

We fell over 15 stories together into the ocean below, and Saki screamed.

Hours passed and I awoke, clinging to a chunk of wood. Ayami was next to me and also quickly regained consciousness. Of the city, we could only see the tallest buildings — but then we spotted a helicopter! Saki was aboard and spotted something shining near us. She waved, I waved, and the helicopter came lower and lower…

Final Thoughts

So, that was the Good ending, which took 05:16:50, with 79 Disaster Manuals collected, and 39 Compasses. Oh, and rested on benches 28 times. There is a Best Ending, which includes a post-credits scene, but unfortunately, I appear to have missed getting that.

There are nine endings in total, of which I saw three, including the one in Part Five. There was the ending which I got, and the ending where you don’t save Ayami and Saki screams. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a list or video of the other endings, so if you’re interested in those, you will have to play this yourself!

I couldn’t say that I preferred this to the first two games, but it’s by no means a bad entry in the Disaster Report series. The controls and camera worked well with the hardware limitations, the story had some interesting twists, and the graphics were great. And the Geo-City Productions translation team did a great job with the English patch, kudos to them.

The number of outfits and accessories is really surprising, I certainly wasn’t expecting to find such a volume and I can only assume that the male character has the same number of them. I was still missing two manuals, so I’m not sure what I missed picking up or doing for those to not pop up — perhaps they’re male-specific but who knows?

If I have any issue with the game, it’s that there’s no punishment for the teenager and cop who murdered a secretary and framed her for embezzling. In fact, letting said teenager fall to her fate is a negative thing? She feels bad and saves someone’s life as if that redeems her, but Ishizawa wouldn’t have been in danger if not for her machinations. Wait, and what happened to that reporter Ryouko Honda, who definitely was not at the heliport?

The series took a break due to literal natural disasters, but back in 2020 Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories released, so next time I’ll start taking a look at that!