Created by just three people over the span of nearly a decade, this indie point-and-click adventure finally wrapped up with its fifth chapter. Kentucky Route Zero is a dialogue-driven narrative experience with a bit of puzzle-solving but mostly just walking through the environments and guiding the story constituting the gameplay. It is not the kind of story that can be taken literally, with strange detours and unexplained phenomena pervading throughout the adventure.

I didn't find myself liking it much as I played, as I failed to grasp much of the story's meaning. However, the game's quiet ambiance and curious musings have stuck with me in the weeks that have followed me completing it. It was interesting to see the cast of characters grow overtime, from its lonely truck driver Conway and his dog, to a ragtag band of travel companions, until eventually you'll be experiencing a whole community. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but Kentucky Route Zero strikes a fascinating tone of haunting loneliness but also of peaceful resignation. The characters never seem weirded out by their increasingly surreal circumstances, but simply accept them as they are, accepting things as characters often do in a dream.

Between the episodes (which tend to be about 90 minutes each) are short interludes which at first feel entirely disconnected from the general plotlines, but always ended up tying in. Sometimes you might learn more about a location's past, or a periphery character’s backstory.

One of the game's biggest strengths is its presentation. The minimalistic art style works really well, as it allows the player to fill in the details using their imagination. The soundtrack from Ben Babbitt is haunting and quirky and makes great use of different styles. I especially liked the in-game folksy song performances, of which there is at least one per episode.

While Kentucky Route Zero lets you shape details of the backstory with dialogue options, it never makes a difference in the general throughline of its tale. I could see this game being completely alienating to many players. Outside of the obtuse and surrealistic storyline, you'll have to put up with slow-paced clunky controls, and the occasional moments where the directions on where to go in the game's open-world travel map aren't clear, which is frustrating. Despite its faults, there are still moments of this weird little experience that I won't soon forget.

Reviewed on Nov 14, 2022


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