This review contains spoilers
Katana ZERO is a very inspired video game. It holds a bevy of readily apparent influences from other video games and wears them on its sleeves. Hotline Miami is the most evident of these influences, judging from the glowing neon-1980s aesthetic, gritty neo-noir atmosphere, and vaporwave soundtrack. There are also elements of other acclaimed indie games from the past decade that are sprinkled into the fabric of Katana ZERO. However, a heavy sense of inspiration does not imply that the developers of Katana ZERO should be tried in a court of law for plagiarism. The discernable influences of Katana ZERO only mean that the game borrows the best from the modern indie gaming landscape. In many ways, Katana ZERO is an indie game from the 2010s that could compete with its influences in terms of quality, but its peculiar flaws might keep it from being held in the same regard.
An admirable quality of Katana ZERO is its ambitious storytelling. Usually, the focal point of a 2010's indie game with sprite animation would be the gameplay, but Katan ZERO's premise and story have an impressive intrigue. The protagonist of Katana ZERO is a nameless assassin with amnesia who is referred to by the codename "Zero." Each level in the game is an assassination mission given to him in a classified dossier by his psychiatrist that he must burn upon reading the information. After each mission, he will reconvene with his psychiatrist to discuss the recurring nightmares he believes are real and administer more of the "Chronos" drug that gives him special abilities. Nights in his apartment spark a relationship with a wide-eyed little girl who lives next door while newscasts report Zero's daily massacres without knowing his identity. The newscasters refer to Zero as "The Dragon," a proud reputation that takes Zero further down the rabbit hole of disturbing corruption.
Besides all of the elements mentioned above, Katana ZERO takes more than enough inspiration from Hotline Miami's gameplay. The objective is to slaughter all men inside a building or facility and leave the mission unscathed. If the player is hit even slightly, the game restarts them at the beginning of the section, and all enemies respawn. If games like Celeste and Super Meat Boy are precision platformers, Hotline Miami and Katana ZERO are "precision action" games. Katana ZERO takes this principle from Hotline Miami and refines it to near perfection. The action in Katana ZERO is as smooth as the legs of a supermodel, giving the player a sense of fluidity with Zero's movement and abilities. Like any exceptional game that requires precision, dying in Katana ZERO feels like it's the player's fault and not the game's. The Chronos element of the game's narrative also takes place in the action as it's why Zero can rewind time and fix his mistakes. It's a clever thematic twist on the typical trope of restarting after dying in video games. Chrono's powers also include an ability to slow time, which can aid the player in situations with tons of foes and enemies with more firepower at their disposal. The enemies in Katana ZERO are a diverse bunch of baddies, so the player will need to alternate a strategy in dealing with them and not hack and slash to their heart's content all the time. The levels also give the player projectile weapons like lamps, busts, beer bottles, etc., and explosives like Molotov cocktails and sticky bombs to further diversify the methods of murder and to assist the physical limits of Zero.
Katana ZERO also has an interesting dialogue mechanic. Conversations with any of the NPCs in this game will give the player an option of at least two different responses that will garner different results. Before the NPC finishes talking, the player can interrupt with a forward but hostile response that will make the character upset or annoyed. These conversation tactics are used for every bit of text, ranging from Zero's therapy sessions to the bubbly hostess at the hotel who inquires about Zero's bathrobe. These segments are amusing and give the player more dynamic variety, but there is a standout segment that proves the validity of this feature. The drug kingpin "V" is a central antagonist in Katana ZERO. He eventually captures Zero and puts him in an interrogation scene with a gun pointed to his head and a towering brute on the other side. Through trial and error using the multiple conversation system, the player must select a series of perfect responses to free Zero from his captor and prevent getting shot in the head and dying. This scene is a highlight because it uses the Chronos mechanic and the dialogue options to their fullest extent. It amazed me that the negative, red dialogue options I had been avoiding were the key to freeing Zero, showing a depth in the system that was undiscovered beforehand.
The caveat to Katana ZERO's fluid gameplay and interesting mechanics is that the game is too short for its own good. Katana ZERO's development obviously wasn't rushed, but the game itself rushes too quickly to the finish line. I don't think shorter games are inherently less substantial than longer ones; otherwise, the JRPG genre would dominate the rankings of my favorite games. Something about the quick pacing of Katana ZERO leaves me feeling like the game is leaving me hanging. The main reason is that the levels are far too easy for a short game. It's no walk in the park, but it's far easier than its contemporaries. I enjoy the combat's leniency, but the price is that victory feels less satisfying than overcoming a section in a game like Celeste and Super Meat Boy. In those games, there is a quasi-puzzle element to level design in that the developers implemented a correct method of overcoming the level, which feels gratifying to solve. There are so many methods to dispose of the enemies in Katana ZERO that the puzzle aspect is lost on the player.
Katana ZERO's story is also too ambitious for the game's short length. The fourteen-day countdown is supposed to exude an apocalyptic feeling, but the short levels that compose the crux of these fourteen days burn too quickly through the two weeks. The developers attempted to implement a Kojima-like conspiracy plot into the mix after V dies by the blade of another assassin who is actually "The Dragon." Zero learns that he is a former NULL soldier, a group of soldiers in which experimental tests were conducted on them involving Chronos to help them win the war. Zero learns that all his assassination targets are directly involved with Chronos and that eliminating them would eliminate him by proxy. Zero then kills his therapist by bludgeoning him with a rock. He finds his house ransacked with no traces of the girl who lives next door. He learns that his nightmare is a vision of something excruciating he did during the war, and he and the Dragon were NULL comrades. The little girl is seen with two figures that represent comedy and tragedy. There is much to unpack here, and deciphering the full scope might take another playthrough. Is it a comment on the war figures never leaving behind their actions in battle? Every scene with the little girl in his apartment is comparatively sweet, contrasting with the violent bloodshed during the day, showing a more sensitive side to Zero. Perhaps his relationship with the little girl was a sign of redemption and to fix what atrocities he committed during the war, but the resolution is ultimately bleak. Like with any Hideo Kojima-developed plotline, there are too many components I've probably missed to come to this conclusion.
Katana ZERO uses its various inspirations to craft what is the culmination of all indie video game conventions commonly used throughout the 2010s. The elements from its primary source of inspiration, Hotline Miami, are so transparent that comparisons are made between the two before the player even starts the first few seconds of Katana ZERO. However, Katana ZERO takes the ethos of Hotline Miami. It blows that game out of the water with more fluid control, striking visuals, and unique mechanics that make for a better experience. It's like the apprentice besting their master using everything they've taught them. In some ways, Katana ZERO is a crowning achievement for 2010's indie games in that it studied the indie landscape and used its knowledge to come out on top. Still, the brief content of the game leaves me unsatisfied with the whole experience compared to some of its contemporaries. Maybe some DLC will fill in the cracks, but as of now, this is an unfulfilled pipe dream.
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Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
An admirable quality of Katana ZERO is its ambitious storytelling. Usually, the focal point of a 2010's indie game with sprite animation would be the gameplay, but Katan ZERO's premise and story have an impressive intrigue. The protagonist of Katana ZERO is a nameless assassin with amnesia who is referred to by the codename "Zero." Each level in the game is an assassination mission given to him in a classified dossier by his psychiatrist that he must burn upon reading the information. After each mission, he will reconvene with his psychiatrist to discuss the recurring nightmares he believes are real and administer more of the "Chronos" drug that gives him special abilities. Nights in his apartment spark a relationship with a wide-eyed little girl who lives next door while newscasts report Zero's daily massacres without knowing his identity. The newscasters refer to Zero as "The Dragon," a proud reputation that takes Zero further down the rabbit hole of disturbing corruption.
Besides all of the elements mentioned above, Katana ZERO takes more than enough inspiration from Hotline Miami's gameplay. The objective is to slaughter all men inside a building or facility and leave the mission unscathed. If the player is hit even slightly, the game restarts them at the beginning of the section, and all enemies respawn. If games like Celeste and Super Meat Boy are precision platformers, Hotline Miami and Katana ZERO are "precision action" games. Katana ZERO takes this principle from Hotline Miami and refines it to near perfection. The action in Katana ZERO is as smooth as the legs of a supermodel, giving the player a sense of fluidity with Zero's movement and abilities. Like any exceptional game that requires precision, dying in Katana ZERO feels like it's the player's fault and not the game's. The Chronos element of the game's narrative also takes place in the action as it's why Zero can rewind time and fix his mistakes. It's a clever thematic twist on the typical trope of restarting after dying in video games. Chrono's powers also include an ability to slow time, which can aid the player in situations with tons of foes and enemies with more firepower at their disposal. The enemies in Katana ZERO are a diverse bunch of baddies, so the player will need to alternate a strategy in dealing with them and not hack and slash to their heart's content all the time. The levels also give the player projectile weapons like lamps, busts, beer bottles, etc., and explosives like Molotov cocktails and sticky bombs to further diversify the methods of murder and to assist the physical limits of Zero.
Katana ZERO also has an interesting dialogue mechanic. Conversations with any of the NPCs in this game will give the player an option of at least two different responses that will garner different results. Before the NPC finishes talking, the player can interrupt with a forward but hostile response that will make the character upset or annoyed. These conversation tactics are used for every bit of text, ranging from Zero's therapy sessions to the bubbly hostess at the hotel who inquires about Zero's bathrobe. These segments are amusing and give the player more dynamic variety, but there is a standout segment that proves the validity of this feature. The drug kingpin "V" is a central antagonist in Katana ZERO. He eventually captures Zero and puts him in an interrogation scene with a gun pointed to his head and a towering brute on the other side. Through trial and error using the multiple conversation system, the player must select a series of perfect responses to free Zero from his captor and prevent getting shot in the head and dying. This scene is a highlight because it uses the Chronos mechanic and the dialogue options to their fullest extent. It amazed me that the negative, red dialogue options I had been avoiding were the key to freeing Zero, showing a depth in the system that was undiscovered beforehand.
The caveat to Katana ZERO's fluid gameplay and interesting mechanics is that the game is too short for its own good. Katana ZERO's development obviously wasn't rushed, but the game itself rushes too quickly to the finish line. I don't think shorter games are inherently less substantial than longer ones; otherwise, the JRPG genre would dominate the rankings of my favorite games. Something about the quick pacing of Katana ZERO leaves me feeling like the game is leaving me hanging. The main reason is that the levels are far too easy for a short game. It's no walk in the park, but it's far easier than its contemporaries. I enjoy the combat's leniency, but the price is that victory feels less satisfying than overcoming a section in a game like Celeste and Super Meat Boy. In those games, there is a quasi-puzzle element to level design in that the developers implemented a correct method of overcoming the level, which feels gratifying to solve. There are so many methods to dispose of the enemies in Katana ZERO that the puzzle aspect is lost on the player.
Katana ZERO's story is also too ambitious for the game's short length. The fourteen-day countdown is supposed to exude an apocalyptic feeling, but the short levels that compose the crux of these fourteen days burn too quickly through the two weeks. The developers attempted to implement a Kojima-like conspiracy plot into the mix after V dies by the blade of another assassin who is actually "The Dragon." Zero learns that he is a former NULL soldier, a group of soldiers in which experimental tests were conducted on them involving Chronos to help them win the war. Zero learns that all his assassination targets are directly involved with Chronos and that eliminating them would eliminate him by proxy. Zero then kills his therapist by bludgeoning him with a rock. He finds his house ransacked with no traces of the girl who lives next door. He learns that his nightmare is a vision of something excruciating he did during the war, and he and the Dragon were NULL comrades. The little girl is seen with two figures that represent comedy and tragedy. There is much to unpack here, and deciphering the full scope might take another playthrough. Is it a comment on the war figures never leaving behind their actions in battle? Every scene with the little girl in his apartment is comparatively sweet, contrasting with the violent bloodshed during the day, showing a more sensitive side to Zero. Perhaps his relationship with the little girl was a sign of redemption and to fix what atrocities he committed during the war, but the resolution is ultimately bleak. Like with any Hideo Kojima-developed plotline, there are too many components I've probably missed to come to this conclusion.
Katana ZERO uses its various inspirations to craft what is the culmination of all indie video game conventions commonly used throughout the 2010s. The elements from its primary source of inspiration, Hotline Miami, are so transparent that comparisons are made between the two before the player even starts the first few seconds of Katana ZERO. However, Katana ZERO takes the ethos of Hotline Miami. It blows that game out of the water with more fluid control, striking visuals, and unique mechanics that make for a better experience. It's like the apprentice besting their master using everything they've taught them. In some ways, Katana ZERO is a crowning achievement for 2010's indie games in that it studied the indie landscape and used its knowledge to come out on top. Still, the brief content of the game leaves me unsatisfied with the whole experience compared to some of its contemporaries. Maybe some DLC will fill in the cracks, but as of now, this is an unfulfilled pipe dream.
------
Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
AzeXiR
1 year ago