This has been an easy game to replay over the last year or so- it’s like two hours long, there’s a ton of variation thanks to the combination of the different Ace styles and the flexible approach to missions, it’s thematically and narratively dense- and yet I can’t seem to write anything cogent on it, even after multiple playthroughs. So, forgive me if this is scattershot; wanted to get something (anything!) down that might help me make sense of this.
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I don’t know if anything that’s got this many weapons manufacturers in the intro can be considered truly anti-war, but I like the way the game’s philosophy comes out in the scoring system, Metal Gear style. You’re given a subtle nudge to engage in dogfights thanks to fact that enemy pilots are worth far more than some defenseless blip on the map- especially apparent in the few score attack missions where you can hit the threshold far more quickly by engaging enemy formations than picking apart a hapless armored column. Also keenly felt in the few times where you can select which operation to participate in- select an Air-to-ground mission has the Belkan forces betrayed by their own CO’s and making last stands with aging equipment, but take on the air-to-air missions and fights become much more evenly-matched, your opponents still able put up an intense fight- and sometimes they’re even able to walk away. In a game so critical of the bureaucratic and corrupt intentions of warmongering nations, I think it sees a lot of truth in these showdowns; philosophies and worldviews tested, but in ways that don't threaten to consume the rest of the world. (obvious exception being the threat of nuclear annihilation in the finale) And, more broadly, the emphasis on dogfighting is one more example of the strange harmony between the Arthurian imagery and the world of air warfare- cutting through the sky to seek out other Knights to ransom off.
There’s some more mundane structural stuff I’m also really keen on; with so many games centered on player choice I find I just end up making the same choices on each playthrough- committed to a particular alignment from minute one, but there are a lot of decisions to make regardless of your chosen style, with the usual array of open-ended maps and planes to customize, alongside the previously mentioned operations that have you tackling entirely different objectives. For as much as Zero is tackling narratively, it never shies away from the legacy of its arcade roots, and that might be part of the reason the game moves along with such an expert pace.
If there is one issue with it, it’s that the different Ace styles feel somewhat disconnected from their intent when actually playing; I gravitate towards the Knight style, but that’s partially because the act of sparing neutral targets demands so little from you. In practice it feels like it embodies the sort of pragmatism that the Soldier style is meant represent, and playing as a “Soldier” seems positively sociopathic as you have to keep a mental check of how many neutral targets you’ve killed and how many you need to spare- but maybe that’s the nature of stepping into a worldview that seems far outside my own.
Anyway, I could keep going, still feel like there’s so much here; give it another playthrough or two I’ll find something totally different to hone in on. In the meantime, I can’t recommend it enough.
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I was never able to find out what kind of a person he really was. But whenever they talked about him, they always had a slight smile on their faces.
That, perhaps, may be my answer.
—
I don’t know if anything that’s got this many weapons manufacturers in the intro can be considered truly anti-war, but I like the way the game’s philosophy comes out in the scoring system, Metal Gear style. You’re given a subtle nudge to engage in dogfights thanks to fact that enemy pilots are worth far more than some defenseless blip on the map- especially apparent in the few score attack missions where you can hit the threshold far more quickly by engaging enemy formations than picking apart a hapless armored column. Also keenly felt in the few times where you can select which operation to participate in- select an Air-to-ground mission has the Belkan forces betrayed by their own CO’s and making last stands with aging equipment, but take on the air-to-air missions and fights become much more evenly-matched, your opponents still able put up an intense fight- and sometimes they’re even able to walk away. In a game so critical of the bureaucratic and corrupt intentions of warmongering nations, I think it sees a lot of truth in these showdowns; philosophies and worldviews tested, but in ways that don't threaten to consume the rest of the world. (obvious exception being the threat of nuclear annihilation in the finale) And, more broadly, the emphasis on dogfighting is one more example of the strange harmony between the Arthurian imagery and the world of air warfare- cutting through the sky to seek out other Knights to ransom off.
There’s some more mundane structural stuff I’m also really keen on; with so many games centered on player choice I find I just end up making the same choices on each playthrough- committed to a particular alignment from minute one, but there are a lot of decisions to make regardless of your chosen style, with the usual array of open-ended maps and planes to customize, alongside the previously mentioned operations that have you tackling entirely different objectives. For as much as Zero is tackling narratively, it never shies away from the legacy of its arcade roots, and that might be part of the reason the game moves along with such an expert pace.
If there is one issue with it, it’s that the different Ace styles feel somewhat disconnected from their intent when actually playing; I gravitate towards the Knight style, but that’s partially because the act of sparing neutral targets demands so little from you. In practice it feels like it embodies the sort of pragmatism that the Soldier style is meant represent, and playing as a “Soldier” seems positively sociopathic as you have to keep a mental check of how many neutral targets you’ve killed and how many you need to spare- but maybe that’s the nature of stepping into a worldview that seems far outside my own.
Anyway, I could keep going, still feel like there’s so much here; give it another playthrough or two I’ll find something totally different to hone in on. In the meantime, I can’t recommend it enough.
—
I was never able to find out what kind of a person he really was. But whenever they talked about him, they always had a slight smile on their faces.
That, perhaps, may be my answer.