Gotta say I was pretty disappointed with this. The gameplay is super basic and linear, the player choice is very superficial (I played through it twice doing the opposite thing the 2nd time and the game was mostly the same until very late), and I really missed the road trip element from the original.

The skating mini-game has some cool music and art design, though still fundamentally feels a bit mobile game-y to me. It's about 3 hours long for a single playthrough. Overall it just feels kinda tossed-off and low-effort.

𝟖,𝟓/𝟏𝟎 👏 𝐀 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋-𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐋
When I saw the first trailer with rhythm platforming, more faded visual, as it seemed to me then, also with bad designs of the main characters and the poster of the game, I was extremely skeptical, I was expecting just a average indie, an additional story for fans at a maximum of 7/10, apparently, most players and critics took the game that way,
But I immediately saw something more in it,
Mile 0 - is an example of an ideal Prequel, a small local masterpiece, the same gameplay, the same great visual, but an absolutely self-sufficient story that will suit even those who didn`t play the original, at the same time it perfectly complements it and does not spoil the original story in any way,
This game doesn`t have a "roguelike" unique concept of the original, where each player will have their own walkthrough and their own order of story scenes, there is no atmosphere of travel, So what? This is a different game, it shouldn`t copy the approach of the original, but at the same time it retained the features of the source, the world here consists of 3 large locations, in each of which a small plot scene awaits us, the choice of which location to go first and which one to go to second and third - depends on you,
for me, "Zero Mile" is a full-fledged original product, a continuation at the level of the original, with not so much replay value, but with its own "completely different" atmosphere, the sunny life of the minister's daughter next to the dictator's palace, and the game has a powerful competent ending, which is very lacking in the orig. Road 96,
People also complain that the decisions don’t really affect on something? C`mon, it was the same in the original, I believe that it`s enough for decisions in games to create the illusion of choice, it`s impossible to write several high-quality scenarios in 1 game, one but exciting is better, after all, the games are a scripted attractions for a couple of hours. At the same time, M0 has its own new choice system, where you must balance between 2 points of view in order to be able to make any decision in the final, there are 4 endings, by the way.

I already see that I`ll be in the minority, I thought a lot about lowering the rating, but I can’t, my conscience just won’t allow me, I dived into an unreal atmosphere, laughed at cool dialogues, got into the story and ending based on the friendship of 2 characters, while all the characters in the game are made very interesting, Dixiart has some talent for this, this is the first story game in..how many.. 2 years, probably? people, what's wrong with you, even AAA is now coming out with a disregard for it, story-driven games simply don`t exis, they have died out,
and here is a completed competent story, yes, I didn’t really like the roller/skate`s sections, but there are few of it, they serve more as a background mini-game, the concept is correct, it was made for emotional release, and in order not to have to draw too complicated cutscenes, but they could be better, for this you can really take away 0.5-1 points, but the 2nd rhythm game, about running away from Adam, is very funny, it’s a pity, the rest of the "races" are not like that.
You will also find a couple of new cool tracks here, you will find soul-warming references to the original, Mile 0 just "made my day", it will definitely become my contender for the best game of the year, despite the disappointments of some fans and gameplay-minded critics.

😊Subscribe on my Steam`s Curator`s page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41977550/
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Увидев первый трейлер с ритм-платформингом, как-будто ставшим более тусклым визуалом, и, такими себе дизайнами главных персонажей и постера игры, я был настроен крайне скептично, ожидал просто скромненькой индюшки, дополнительной истории для фанатов на максимум 7/10, видимо, большинство игроков и критиков именно так и восприняли игру,
Но я сразу разглядел в этом нечто большее,
Mile 0 - это пример идеального Приквела, маленький локальный шедевр, тот же геймплей, тот же шикарный визуал, но абсолютно самодостаточная история, которая подойдёт и тем, кто не проходил оригинал, в тоже время она прекрасно дополняет оригинальный сюжет и никак не портит первоначальную историю,
В этой игре нет немного"рогаликовой" уникальной концепции оригинала, где у каждого игрока будет своё прохождение и свой порядок сюжетных сцен, тут нету атмосферы путешествия, ну и что? Это другая игра, она не должна копировать подход оригинала, но при этом она сохранила черты первоисточника, мир тут состоит из 3 больших локаций, в каждой их которых нас ждёт небольшая сюжетная сцена, выбрать в какую локацию идти в первую очередь, а в какую во вторую и третью - лежит за вами,
для меня "Нулевая Миля" является полноценным самобытным продуктом, продолжением на уровне оригинала, с не такой большой реиграбельностью, зато со своей "совсем другой" атмосферой, солнечной жизни дочки министра рядом с дворцом диктатора, зато игра имеет мощную грамотную концовку, чего очень не хвататало оригинальной Дороге,
Также жалуются на то, что решения особо ни на что не влияют? Кмон, так было и в оригинале, я считаю, что решениям в играх достаточно создавать иллюзию выбора, невозможно прописать несколько качественных сценариев в игре, лучше один - зато захватывающий, всё-таки игра - это заскриптованный аттракцион на пару часов. При этом Mile 0 имеет свою новую систему выборов, где вы должны балансировать между 2-мя точками зрениям, чтобы иметь возможность принять любое решение в финале, концовок тут аж 4, кстати.

Я уже вижу, что буду в меньшинстве, я много думал над тем, чтобы понизить оценку, но я не могу, просто совесть не позволяет, я погрузился в нереальную атмосферу, смеялся с прикольных диалогов, проникся сюжетом и концовкой, основанной на дружбе 2 персонажей, при этом все персонажи игры сделаны очень интересно, у Dixiart какой-то талант к этому, это первая сюжетная игра за сколько, года за 2, наверное, люди, что с вами не так, даже AAA сейчас выходит со наплевательским отношением к истории, сюжетно-ориентированных игр просто нет, они вымерли,
а тут законченная грамотная история, да, покатушки на роликах мне не очень понравились, но их мало, они больше служат фоновой мини-игрой, концепция правильная, оно сделано для эмоциональной разрядки, и чтобы не надо было рисовать слишком сложные катсцены, но могли и получше, за это действительно можно отнять 0,5-1 балла, при этом 2-ая ритм-игра, про убегание от Адама, нереально забавная, но жаль, остальные "заезды" более проходные,
вы также найдёте тут пару новых классных треков, вы найдёте греющие душу отсылочки на оригинал, Mile 0 просто "сделала мой день", она однозначно станет моим претендентом на лучшую игру года, чтобы про неё не писали почему-то разочаровавшиеся фанаты и геймплея-нутые критики.

Кураторство в Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37365104

It’s difficult to describe how disappointed I am with Road 96 Mile 0. It is uninspired, uninteresting, and constantly pushing dialogue about authoritarianism and misinformation without ever actually saying anything about it. While I enjoyed seeming more of the old characters like Sonya, all the new characters, including the other protagonist Kaito, are badly written and impossible to care about. The musical skateboarding sections are a joke, and some of the most unpleasant and unresponsive controls I’ve felt in years. While both the score and licensed music tracks are phenomenal, it does little to offset the subpar voice acting and wildly inaccurate animations. Road 96 was a masterclass in storytelling, proving that procedurally generated stories can create a personal, compelling narrative for each unique player. All Mile 0 has proved is that lightning doesn’t strike twice.

Full review: https://gameluster.com/review-road-96-mile-0-a-road-with-no-direction/

I was initially surprised as to why this game exists in the way that it does but after doing a little digging I found out that it takes after a mobile game that the devs previously did and by the dev's own admission, is a little side project to flesh out the back story. In that context, I don't feel like dunking on this game too much but I will briefly mention why I don't think this is worth playing unless you really liked the first game.

Mile 0 lacks substance in terms of story, what backstory explanation it adds is minimal and what new content it adds is forgettable. Primate reason is that the characters fall completely flat, barely straying from how they can be described in a sentence. Admittedly you can influence how the 2 main characters think but it hardly matters given how dull they are. To top it off, it caries over the juveline half assed political theme from Road 96 too.
The environment art might be alright but the character models look janky and oddly oily, to the point where Zoe looks worse here than the original game. On the gameplay side it combines bare bones exploration and subway surfer like minigames which are somewhat reminiscenet to Sayonara Wild Hearts, to its detriment I say cause it's nowhere near as good.
At least the soundtrack is good, they even managed to get a track out of The Midnight, one of my favorite bands!

De todos os jogos que eu joguei esse ano esse com certeza não é um dos melhores, não acho que é nem mediano.
Esse é o primeiro jogo que eu faço a review enquanto jogo pois estou achando muito mal feito, pelo amor de Deus onde que foi a animação e arte dos personagens ? O que era simples mas visualmente bonito, se tornou em contorno de papelão aqui, os personagens super travados e feios. A musica é a mesma do primeiro com alguns adendos e não é ruim.
Não vou nem falar que toda gameplay do primeiro jogo é inexistente aqui, pois você joga só com 2 personagens até onde eu fui.
Sem contar as partes que são uma copia de sayonara wild hearts, jogo que eu nem joguei direito mas a gameplay é super parecida mas pior e mais simples. Meu deus eu não aguento mais jogar essas partes, meu desgosto pelo jogo aumenta cada vez que eu passo por elas.
Não aguentei mais, vi video no youtube mesmo sobre o final. Como que a gente sai de um jogo indie legal com uma gameplay até repetitiva, mas com um estilo divertido mesmo tendo seus problemas para esse jogo daqui ? Sem palavras, como um dos meus joguinhos favoritos indie de 2021 teve uma sequencia como essa aqui.

Eu adorei Road 96 da @Digixart e essa prequel, apesar de bem curtinha não fica devendo nada pro jogo original.

O tipo de narrativa que consegue tratar de temas sérios e ainda trazer aquele quentinho pro coração.

Uma grata surpresa.

Road 96: Mile 0 is actually a pretty fun expansion on the first game. We got plenty of backstory that wasn't in the original game, and I think it definitely enhances the Road 96 experience with a nice tale. However, there are some pretty glaring flaws, both to do with the story and otherwise.

The runner minigames are very silly, but it's clear they had a vision for them so I'm willing to discount their silliness despite everything, and it is short break from the constant exposition. However, some of the hitboxes in the runner sections are pretty inaccurate so you have to give everything a wide berth and that's not always possible. Sometimes you have to keep going until you figure out where the hitbox really is through trial and error. Frustrating.

And while I mentioned how much I did enjoy the plot, I had to overlook some things. For starters, the moral choice system undermined the story. What's the point on including one if the character you're controlling will contradict your actions during the cutscenes? I would've preferred it if they just railroaded me a bit more, so they could tell the story they wanted to tell instead of giving me the freedom to contradict the plot. My other real gripe is that the climax is very goofy and sucked all of the emotional tension out of the moment.

Otherwise, I enjoyed this. You may miss the road trip vibes of the original if you were a fan, but I think the fun exposition will make up for it. And Colton. I actually ended up liking that little ratbag in the end and I hate myself for it.

Really confusing prequel to a game that I might have to replay now to see how it holds up. The reductive political and morality system in this game is really weirdly ideologically charged - which in itself every morality system is, of course, but this one's really confusing in its messaging. The ending especially is kinda dumb in its setup. On the gameplay side of things, it's essentially a worse Sayonara Wild Hearts with some really great setpieces. Not worth playing for alone, but nice enough as a change of pace while playing!

Where road 96 dared to carve its own path, Mile 0 regresses and does nothing interesting feeling like an industry plant of a game. Depressingly linear with a fragile illusion of choices mattering, a bad skateboarding mini-game, terrible pacing and uninteresting characters. At least its still a Road 96 title and Zoes voice actor is way better than the original but Kaito doesn't belong in this game. Just make a prequel to R96 not a mashup you are not Nintendo you cant make smash bros. The ending I got actually flowed well into Road 96 and the last hour-ish is actually pretty good but otherwise an all around disappointing game.

Road 96 e um dos meus indies favoritos disparado, senão o melhor, a forma que aquele jogo me imergiu naquele mundo e inigualável, uma puta experiência. Pra agora fazerem um prequel tenebrosa, com uma historia curtissima e mal desenrolada, o Kaito e um personagem que pra mim achei muito sem sal, sem graça, e sinceramente sem ele na trama não faria diferença alguma. Os minigames de "subway surfers" achei uma merda, e ainda tucharam conquista de rank nessa merda, eu não vou perder meu tempo. A direção de arte e boa mas graficamente e uma bosta em comparação ao primeiro jogo, um papelão mal feito com expressões facias duras ou quase inexistentes, gameplay dura em alguns momentos ate sofrivel. Eu senti mais vontade de rejogar o outro jogo que essa merda, Enfim, pior jogo que eu joguei esse ano. Passe longe desse jogo, ou apenas fique com primeiro game que e uma obra prima dos indies.

Road 96: Mile 0 no es un juego necesario, ya que no aporta demasiado a lo que se ve en Road 96.

Me ha gustado volver a ver a Zoe y estoy bastante contenta con el final que me ha tocado. No es el mejor, pero el momento de la sonrisa demuestra lealtad.

Un juego normalito

Back with our favorite dumb bitches... with 80% of the gameplay being roaming around a map and talking to people in the first person view just like the other game but gamers are a bit entitled so the skating sextions ain't cutting it... it does reek of tumblr energy to be fair but... when have humans not adapted? Embrace the cringe. Bear with a few bugs and that's it... you are gaming in its purest form. Easy to S rank everything but the scoreboard is hoarded by some romanian hacker I think I don't know how else he got millions of points above everyone else.

This one's more about the destination than the journey... in terms of choices anyways. Usually the opposite with prequels, what a daring concept. It cemented Zoe as the de-facto protagonist of the franchise which makes sense she was the "just like you fr" character in the first game. I still like the artstyle and- my goodness, Zoe aged more than that Alex kid between the games. At this rate, Trump Jr. will outgrow him... hilarious concept btw, turning him into an anarchist was something I didn't know I needed.