”The heart is what counts. Not the body…”

one year later and it’s plainly clear that i still love this game as much as when i first played it, if not more. almost 20 playthroughs to my name at this point across many platforms and it’s safe to say that this is my favorite game ever. i have such an immense attachment to this entire series and after dozens of playthroughs between the games, this is the one that stayed with me, which might sound cliche considering it’s everyone else’s series favorite too but it’s all for good reason.
the design philosophy of these games is expressed here in a much more defiant way than the what some may call “enigmatic” execution in the previous entries. at its core every game has the same concepts based around how to play the game but zero 3 makes these concepts much more fun to grasp and play around with yourself. the level design keeps you coming back rather than discouraging the player on a first playthrough due to sheer difficulty. everything the previous games brought to the table is expertly streamlined and just, blatantly more fun. one of the major additions here that, bar none, is my favorite mechanic in a platformer, is the combo system. ex skills in zero 2 were an interesting little reward for playing well but i never really found myself using them too much since a charge slash was always a better option against bosses. z3 changes this by adding an almost dmc-like system that turns fighting bosses into an exhilaratingly strategic spectacle. each ex skill and attack has a priority value in the game, where the lower priority moves can be chained into higher priority moves during bosses to ignore invincibility frames to deal maximum damage. putting all of your ex skills to the test with this knowledge breaks the somewhat formulaic attack strategy the previous games wanted you to hone in on. experimentation is now the key to effectively transforming this game into an action game of sorts, and not just with the combo system. lots of customization options via the newly introduced head, body, and foot attachments encourage you to create a Zero suited for specific, or many situations. cyber elves can now be equipped two at a time and don’t hinder your rank, as well as the brand new recoil rod being a unique tool to weave into your playstyle. all of this provides an extra layer of depth that enhances gameplay in an interestingly diverse and encouraging way that the previous games didn’t exactly need, but it’s obvious that what’s here is a lot cooler.

the dramatic climax of zero’s ongoing character arc is here. in a way zero’s mental battle with omega is kinda symbolic of overcoming a self-deprecating emotional struggle, which a common person can relate to much better than physically fighting your alter-ego lol. coming to terms with yourself to accept who you are no matter what can be stressful for some. the point i’m just trying to make is that zero is sometimes like us. these strangely three dimensional themes being present in a game such as this one helps us enjoy the characters more, and that’s what i feel is done here, whether intentional or not. zero is probably one of my favorite video game protagonists partly because of this.

in the end, i wanna thank Reddish and GodOfMediocity for effectively getting me into this series. back then i had no clue how much impact these games would have on me in the future. inti creates, you have my gratitude.

“It's just me... I am... ... Zero.”