Almost 20 minutes after completion as I am writing this review, my hands are still shaking. This is the single hardest game I have ever played (excluding player made levels) yet it is the best use of video game difficulty I have ever experienced. This was my first ever shmup game, and I went in completely blind. At first I was having an incredible time, amazing visuals, precise and fast paced gameplay, intriguing dialogue, and a really good soundtrack. I was getting through pretty quick with the use of continues, and didn't really think much of it. Continuing onward, the stakes kept getting higher, harder bosses, more deaths, but I was used to this sort of difficulty. At this point in the game it would seem like every boss you beat was going to be the last, and there were many tense moments yet awe inspiring and rewarding. I kept getting the chills in these sections and thinking to myself, "wow this game is insanely good!" But then after thinking it was finally over, the game threw another twist at me, and presented the true, actual final boss. This is what destroyed me. i spent probably 4 hours of attempts trying to beat it, until I finally did, but I had used all my continues at this point. Thinking the game was over, I was presented with a final choice, this time it seemed like if I went through and completed it, my efforts would've been rewarded to the fullest. The game told me I had one chance, but I didn't take it literally. This is where my only gripe with the game comes in, I don't have any issue with save deletion, I just wish that it would've been more clear that that risk was there. It could definitely be argued though that each player should experience this happen to them once for a full narrative experience, so I understand why the devs did it. I then spend pretty much an entire nother day getting all my continues back, and attempted the final boss again. This time I went in to the last section with 4 saves, and unfortunately still couldn't beat it. At this point I was genuinely furious and almost watched a completion of the ending, but I stuck through and gave it one more chance. On the third try, I had gotten a lot better and went in to the final section with 7 continues. While I was playing this I think it was the fastest that my heart rate has ever been, the stakes are just absurdly high. Finally I cleared the boss, but It was with no continues left, I was insanely scared that I wouldn't do it, but I just barely did, providing me with probably the most ultimately rewarding experience I have ever had playing a video game. At the end of all of this, I cant say that any other game has brought me this huge of a range of emotion, in fact I don't even think anything else comes close. The beauty of this, is that with a story similar to the likes of gurren lagann, about overcoming odds that genuinely seem impossible, this is a beautifully executed game, and probably the perfect genre to provide that experience. At the time writing this, while I was genuinely furious and ready to come raging into a review for this game upon the first save data deletion, I have now come full circle and understand that the game would not be as meaningful otherwise. Just like its heavy inspiration gurren lagann, this game presents themes about the boundless will of humanity, and does that by creating a game which genuinely places you inside an experience in which you literally are going against extreme odds to complete it. The shmup genre consisting of extreme tests of mechanical skill is an incredible way to do this. At the end of the day, ZeroRanger has struck me like no other game, and for that reason it might be my new favorite game of all time, but I will wait a bit before fully making that claim. Everything is done so well even down to the color scheme which I adore. Moving forward I will have to get more into the shmup genre because I had an amazing time regardless of the narrative functions. While this is going to be hard to recommend to many people because of its entry barrier, I would still advise anyone who is interested to give it a shot, and on the off chance that they stick all the way through, they will experience a game like no other.