Katana Zero's time hopping atmosphere is captivating and its hack and slash puzzle rooms often entertaining to figure out, but a forced tone and occasional mechanical jank hold the experience back. The story is immediately gripping as it jerks through a timeline of events, accented by a time sensitive dialogue system that gives the feeling of player agency. This makes the loss of control experienced during time jumps unsettling in the best sort of way. In between these story segments are puzzle rooms that players have to clear without getting hit. The seamless resets of rooms helps to encourage experimentation while players work out the best way to get through and it feels good to ultimately blow through a room that was giving trouble. Overall, the oscillation of these elements makes Katana Zero a generally enjoyable and engaging experience.

Unfortunately, the game strays into an obnoxiously edge lord tone in a way that at least partially derails an otherwise interesting narrative. On multiple occasions, the game attempts to be shocking, but it falls flat and feels unearned. Ultraviolence and abominable actions can have a place in stories, but throwing them out as short hand for narrative development with little build up risks backfiring. On a more mechanical note, occasionally enemy attacks do not seem to follow the set pattern for them. Further, catching a bullet from off screen never feels good. When clearing rooms is predicated on memorizing how they play out, deviations like this are frustrating.

There is still an engaging experience to be had in Katan Zero, however. The overall future aesthetic, time shenanigans, and slashing puzzles make for a generally enjoyable and often thrilling time over the game's compact run. Another, more restrained editorial pass and a slight tightening of the mechanics could have made it potentially great.