Has that same "road trip" vibe as the first one although it feels more fun, despite the protagonists' urgent and depressing reasons for going on said road trip.
I found it much shorter and much less difficult than the previous entry, which is not a bad thing in this case. The tedium of Zero-One, for the most part, has been stripped away. Travelling between areas is much quicker, and the new energy-recovery functions of SOPHIA greatly facilitate simultaneous combat and movement. It also adds a bit more of a puzzle element to combat in enclosed spaces where you now have to actively manage your energy usage and recovery. There's less to collect to fully power up SOPHIA, but what arsenal you do gain feel more like fully-fledged upgrades as opposed to "weapons you use in a very specific situation to clear an obstacle." Due to the shorter game length I feel like I didn't get to play around with all of the upgrades as much though, particularly the on-foot ones.
Speaking of, I'm still not the biggest fan of the on-foot sections, but the addition of the counter system adds some intricacy and a much needed flexibility on behalf of the player. Even just the minor tweaks to the visuals really improve the sense of speed as well.
I could actually see myself revisiting this game for a quick run-through some time in the future, unlike Zero-One which had so much slog that I think two playthroughs is currently enough for my lifetime. I'm kind of disappointed that there's no hard/destroyer mode that really forces you make use of your entire arsenal in this one, I actually would've liked that challenge this time.
Zero-One had this pervasive feeling of "you against the world" loneliness to it, with Jason and Eve being the only characters who have dialogue during the entire story. I absolutely love the way the world has been expanded in Zero-Two, especially with the references to other Sunsoft titles. I always appreciate the "you are not alone in your fight" message in video games no matter how much it gets done.
I also really like the sequence before the true ending. While I won't elaborate for spoilers, it's a great final challenge and tests the sum of what you've learned from both games in the series.
I think I have my expectations set a bit too high for Zero-Three, but I'm excited to play it anyways.
I found it much shorter and much less difficult than the previous entry, which is not a bad thing in this case. The tedium of Zero-One, for the most part, has been stripped away. Travelling between areas is much quicker, and the new energy-recovery functions of SOPHIA greatly facilitate simultaneous combat and movement. It also adds a bit more of a puzzle element to combat in enclosed spaces where you now have to actively manage your energy usage and recovery. There's less to collect to fully power up SOPHIA, but what arsenal you do gain feel more like fully-fledged upgrades as opposed to "weapons you use in a very specific situation to clear an obstacle." Due to the shorter game length I feel like I didn't get to play around with all of the upgrades as much though, particularly the on-foot ones.
Speaking of, I'm still not the biggest fan of the on-foot sections, but the addition of the counter system adds some intricacy and a much needed flexibility on behalf of the player. Even just the minor tweaks to the visuals really improve the sense of speed as well.
I could actually see myself revisiting this game for a quick run-through some time in the future, unlike Zero-One which had so much slog that I think two playthroughs is currently enough for my lifetime. I'm kind of disappointed that there's no hard/destroyer mode that really forces you make use of your entire arsenal in this one, I actually would've liked that challenge this time.
Zero-One had this pervasive feeling of "you against the world" loneliness to it, with Jason and Eve being the only characters who have dialogue during the entire story. I absolutely love the way the world has been expanded in Zero-Two, especially with the references to other Sunsoft titles. I always appreciate the "you are not alone in your fight" message in video games no matter how much it gets done.
I also really like the sequence before the true ending. While I won't elaborate for spoilers, it's a great final challenge and tests the sum of what you've learned from both games in the series.
I think I have my expectations set a bit too high for Zero-Three, but I'm excited to play it anyways.