Riddle me this
So I've been watching Gackt playing Ao Oni, and I absolutely adore him playing horror games. Also, I'm a sucker for horror game riddles, so I was very intrigued by the one he eventually managed to solve in Ao Oni #3 after really getting into it. Having watched the video once, I got an idea of what the riddle was about, but I didn't seriously try to understand or solve it, nor did I follow Gackt's train of thought on the matter.
I wanted to go on with my life, but the gamer in me couldn't stop thinking about that damn riddle and was just itching to get a chance to solve it properly. So I sat down, watched the video again, took some screencaps, and got to work. Of course, you can't really solve it, if you can't play and try for yourself. Instead, I followed Gackt's attempts closely and managed to figure out how he figured it out. :)
Anyway. Here's how the riddle can be solved. Please keep in mind that the video doesn't show us each and every one of Gackt's attempts, and so I just have to assume he went through some of the same trial and error methods I did in order to arrive at the next step of the solution.
We have a safe with a numerical code consisting of four numbers from 0-9, and four figures placed on top of the numbers.
And the game gives us this clue, which Gackt's staff was kind enough to point out more clearly. Though, you can also see the pattern on the unedited clue.
Now the red figures drawn on the piano around the numbers, somewhat resemble the figures on the safe. You can find the figure that is connected to the number 1 on the second position of the safe line-up. The number 5 figure is right next to it, on the third position. Obviously, the figures are telling us where to put the numbers in the code.
So now we have: _ 1 5 _
The problem is, that there is no counterpart of the number 9 figure on the figure code on the safe. We can't put 9 anywhere into the code.
Gackt and his people actually tried to juggle the numbers randomly at first, but when nothing worked, he decided to try a more serious approach and ended up here by applying the method I just explained.
Having figured that much out, they try to get the number 9 in there as well, but again, nothing works. It is certain, though, that the next step has to involve the number 9 or the figure it is written in. Since they tried to put 9 on either and both of the positions that are left in the code, it has to be the figure.
The key is to find the figure in the code, and G eventually finds it in the first figure, only upside down. And since the figure is upside down, he turns the number around, too, and instead of 9 adds 6 to the first position of the code.
So: 6 1 5 _
Naturally, you'll try the easy way and add both 6 and 9 in the last remaining free spot only to find out that it doesn't work. So it has to be a different number. You can also try 1 and 5, just to be sure, but in this particular combination neither of them will work. The problem now is: we have no number and no matching figure for the last spot.
Gackt did something I wouldn't have thought of and concluded that if the first number of the code is a reversed 9, then the last spot could be... an inverted 5. That would be 2. I can see where he's coming from, the way the numbers are written, but still. 2 is really far fetched. And it doesn't work.
G starts over, but this time knowing two things for sure: 1) this _ 1 5 _ is fixed and cannot be changed, and 2) the only other numbers possible are 6 and 9.
We can see G and his people taking their time discussing and trying things out. G is determined enough to figure this thing out and goes as far as to draw the code, figues and clue on paper (which I had to do, too, by the way). If the two figures in the middle are set and defined, then he has to do something about the other two. Something like looking at them from a different perspective. He turns the whole figure code upside down.
So now we have this.
(to compare)
Which for the code means: _ 5 1 _
But if you take a look at the figures now, the first figure is the same one as the one on the piano that has 9 written on it. And the last figure now looks exactly like the figure on the piano that 5 is written on.
So we can safely add these to their according spots.
9 5 1 5
G might or might not have tried to enter the code like this. If he had, he probably found out it didn't work. So what is the final solution?
Since this is the code written from the figures upside down, you have to turn it back around. (Also remember that the middle part of the code cannot be changed, so you HAVE to do something to get _ 5 1 _ back to _ 1 5 _)
If you turn it back, you get this:
5 1 5 9
Again, G might or might not have tried to enter this code, we don't get to see. The trick is to reverse 9, too, since 9 is the number you got while having the figures upside down. So if you turn the whole thing around, 9 has to move along and turn into 6.
5 1 5 6
This is the correct code that opens the safe. The reason 5 does not change while tossing the thing around, upside down, is because it has a set figure from the start, and 5 is defined as unchanging. Whereas 9 is written in a figure that looks like a 6 which is a hint to turn the numbers and figures around.
I liked this riddle a lot and hopefully there'll be a few more! :D
I wanted to go on with my life, but the gamer in me couldn't stop thinking about that damn riddle and was just itching to get a chance to solve it properly. So I sat down, watched the video again, took some screencaps, and got to work. Of course, you can't really solve it, if you can't play and try for yourself. Instead, I followed Gackt's attempts closely and managed to figure out how he figured it out. :)
Anyway. Here's how the riddle can be solved. Please keep in mind that the video doesn't show us each and every one of Gackt's attempts, and so I just have to assume he went through some of the same trial and error methods I did in order to arrive at the next step of the solution.
We have a safe with a numerical code consisting of four numbers from 0-9, and four figures placed on top of the numbers.
And the game gives us this clue, which Gackt's staff was kind enough to point out more clearly. Though, you can also see the pattern on the unedited clue.
Now the red figures drawn on the piano around the numbers, somewhat resemble the figures on the safe. You can find the figure that is connected to the number 1 on the second position of the safe line-up. The number 5 figure is right next to it, on the third position. Obviously, the figures are telling us where to put the numbers in the code.
So now we have: _ 1 5 _
The problem is, that there is no counterpart of the number 9 figure on the figure code on the safe. We can't put 9 anywhere into the code.
Gackt and his people actually tried to juggle the numbers randomly at first, but when nothing worked, he decided to try a more serious approach and ended up here by applying the method I just explained.
Having figured that much out, they try to get the number 9 in there as well, but again, nothing works. It is certain, though, that the next step has to involve the number 9 or the figure it is written in. Since they tried to put 9 on either and both of the positions that are left in the code, it has to be the figure.
The key is to find the figure in the code, and G eventually finds it in the first figure, only upside down. And since the figure is upside down, he turns the number around, too, and instead of 9 adds 6 to the first position of the code.
So: 6 1 5 _
Naturally, you'll try the easy way and add both 6 and 9 in the last remaining free spot only to find out that it doesn't work. So it has to be a different number. You can also try 1 and 5, just to be sure, but in this particular combination neither of them will work. The problem now is: we have no number and no matching figure for the last spot.
Gackt did something I wouldn't have thought of and concluded that if the first number of the code is a reversed 9, then the last spot could be... an inverted 5. That would be 2. I can see where he's coming from, the way the numbers are written, but still. 2 is really far fetched. And it doesn't work.
G starts over, but this time knowing two things for sure: 1) this _ 1 5 _ is fixed and cannot be changed, and 2) the only other numbers possible are 6 and 9.
We can see G and his people taking their time discussing and trying things out. G is determined enough to figure this thing out and goes as far as to draw the code, figues and clue on paper (which I had to do, too, by the way). If the two figures in the middle are set and defined, then he has to do something about the other two. Something like looking at them from a different perspective. He turns the whole figure code upside down.
So now we have this.
(to compare)
Which for the code means: _ 5 1 _
But if you take a look at the figures now, the first figure is the same one as the one on the piano that has 9 written on it. And the last figure now looks exactly like the figure on the piano that 5 is written on.
So we can safely add these to their according spots.
9 5 1 5
G might or might not have tried to enter the code like this. If he had, he probably found out it didn't work. So what is the final solution?
Since this is the code written from the figures upside down, you have to turn it back around. (Also remember that the middle part of the code cannot be changed, so you HAVE to do something to get _ 5 1 _ back to _ 1 5 _)
If you turn it back, you get this:
5 1 5 9
Again, G might or might not have tried to enter this code, we don't get to see. The trick is to reverse 9, too, since 9 is the number you got while having the figures upside down. So if you turn the whole thing around, 9 has to move along and turn into 6.
5 1 5 6
This is the correct code that opens the safe. The reason 5 does not change while tossing the thing around, upside down, is because it has a set figure from the start, and 5 is defined as unchanging. Whereas 9 is written in a figure that looks like a 6 which is a hint to turn the numbers and figures around.
I liked this riddle a lot and hopefully there'll be a few more! :D