Katana ZERO
Style, CHECK. Vibes, CHECK. Absolutely incredible mechanics and gameplay, CHECK. Beautiful art style and animations, CHECK. This game rocks, I tell ya!!
This is my second playthrough, so I want to write about it while the memories are still fresh. I’ll dive straight into what this game does best: carving out its own identity while standing apart from its peers. Even though it follows in the footsteps of Hotline Miami, it doesn't just translate that style into a 2D environment—it blows the genre's pioneer out of the water. Yeah, I said it: Katana ZERO is a much better game than Hotline Miami..
Well... not in every aspect, obviously. There are parts where it completely shits the bed. I think the game fumbles the ball big time when it comes to the story. Yeah, the storytelling and the whole 'what’s real, what’s an illusion' vibe is super intriguing. But the game goes way overboard with that mystery. It keeps throwing questions at you, and almost half of them never get answered. YEAH, THIS GAME COMMITS THE ULTIMATE SIN. IT ENDS ON A HALF-ASS CLIFFHANGER?
Also... you made the mechanics so fucking fluid and satisfying, but the game constantly breaks the flow with cutscenes and dialogues. I mean, the replay at the end of each level is cool and all, but it totally fucks up the tempo. And why the fuck are there even dialogues? They don't do shit, they just exist. Normally, I wouldn't call this a huge deal, but like I said, these scenes between levels really kill the pacing. Hotline Miami was aware of this, so it kept the breaks much shorter.
The gameplay rocks, by the way. It's fucking amazing. ZERO is incredibly responsive and just as fun to use. The level designs are also great; those guys tried to bring something new to every single level. MAN, especially that Dragon level was fucking insane. I spent the whole game waiting for a solid boss fight with him, but like I said, the goddamn game just ends half-finished.
The Headhunter boss fight was also fucking solid. It was such an epic fight and top notch of the game for me... Anyway, the game is good, just go fucking buy it and play it. We’ll suck its dick again when the DLC finally drops..