Deverloper: AskiiSoft
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Platform: PC
Genre: Action, Platformer, Side-scrolling
Gameplay Stats: 5 hours, 11/22 Steam Achievements
Katana Zero is a game in the same vein as Hotline Miami and Furi. A very stylish fighting game that is very soundtrack driven. It's received some very high praise and was recommended to me by a friend from grad school. (Thanks Rob!)
Visuals: This game has some BEAUTIFUL pixel art. It's definitely higher fidelity than 16-bit stuff, but I'm not sure what to call it. Maybe it's what 32 bit pixel art would've looked like? Above the pixel art though, the animations are gorgeous. I have to imagine that this game displays at more than 30 fps because of just how smooth everything is. The action is fast paced the majority of the time and it's all gorgeous. When the action slows down, everything still looks extremely pretty. Additionally, the game has kind of a cyberpunk/samurai aesthetic that I really enjoyed. Well done.
Audio: The music in this game is bumpin. It's got kind of a synthwave feel and it suits the game extremely well. The music is calm and slow when it needs to be and faster paced and intense when it needs to be. I generally enjoyed the faster paced songs more than the slower ones, but that's me in general. I suppose the slower songs would make better background listening in the future, but if I was working diligently on something then I would definitely prefer something faster paced. The sound effects are also really good here. The audio, much like the visuals are extremely well done.
Gameplay: This is another strong point for the game. The controls are extremely tight and I think in hindsight I would recommend playing with keyboard and mouse instead of a controller. My controller is also dying though, so your mileage may vary with that one. I did have some minor frustrations with the controls, but they seem pretty similar to how my controller has acted in other games, so I'm quite sure my controller is at fault here. You run through rooms killing bad guys Hotline Miami style, except in a side-scrolling fashion instead of a top-down one. Your character can also slow down time to allow you to make very precision movements, like reflecting bullets, that would be extremely difficult in regular time. Very satisfying puzzling out the solutions in your own time and then watching a full-speed replay after each little area.
Plot: Here is my only issue with the game and I need to get into some spoiler territory to talk about it, so skip ahead if you want to discover this for yourself. You are this ninja assassin that takes a drug to allow you to essentially keep trying fights until you win. The back story that you find out about the drug and how/why it was used is really really interesting. At one point though you start fighting other people that are taking the same drug as you and I think that was handled clumsily. They change dialogue if you die to make it seem like they are privy to your trials and errors, but I don't understand how when I kill them they don't get to try again as well? It seems like these fights should have been handled on more of a morale level maybe? Like you need to beat them three times in a row for them to actually give up and die or something. But even then, it seems like in the game's lore that taking the drug doesn't really give people a choice about dying, so I really don't get it. I wish they would have structured the game differently so this issue wasn't' present.
Overall I really enjoyed my time with this game and I think I will likely revisit it in the future. Maybe follow a guide so I can get all achievements that I missed or something. It definitely gets my recommendation even if I found some of the plot to be frustrating. The gameplay here is good which is what sets video games apart from other media in my mind. I wouldn't recommend a book/movie made about this, but I think it's a solid video game. [8.5/10]
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