Katana Zero (Xbox One)
The way we perceive time differs from person to person, but while some may think it passes faster or slower than it truly does, time still moves at the same pace for all. In Katana Zero though, some can see beyond the present, glimpses into the future not only helping them avoid death, but making them into an ideal killing machine. In that way, Katana Zero is a game where you can technically see a death a hundred times, but the hero of the adventure never experiences it himself, instead viewing the many ways he could try to approach his mission before finally finding the future where it works and executing his plan.
Taking place in the futuristic cyberpunk city of New Mecca where you can find both neon cityscapes filled with the rich elite and destitute and dreary back roads populated by less scrupulous types and those abandoned by society, Katana Zero focuses on the work of a samurai who very much stands out in this space for dressing in a classical way and using a blade as his weapon. At first an unquestioning weapon used by unknown forces to wipe out other problematic members of society, this samurai starts to change as a mysterious dream tied to his past haunts him. While he does have a therapist he attempts to speak to on these matters, the therapist is simply the physical arm of the greater group who uses the samurai as their hitman, keeping him on a string since the therapist is the only one who can administer the injections he needs. It is very likely this troubled samurai with his mysterious identity could have continued down this road until his usefulness ended, but as he struggles to remember his history, he comes across a young girl who lives next door.
The young girl manages to start breaking down the barriers in the samurai’s heart. While you are free to pick your responses in conversations, sometimes even given the option to speak up before all the options appear in order to be terse and direct, the budding friendship between this samurai and girl is important for starting to root this man as something more than his work as an unflinching hitman. The almost fatherly relationship that develops gives you a moral root and an investment in the character as he begins to question his life and work more over time, defrosting and opening up enough that you get a character who you want to see succeed. The little girl isn’t the only character with an interesting dynamic with the samurai, because while hers is a pure friendship that adds some vulnerability to our killer protagonist, the Russian mobster V instead comes in as a warped reflection of what the samurai could be. V relishes in his violent work and goes the extra mile instead of efficiently killing targets. Charismatic and brash, V is the first adversary the story really throws at you over the course of multiple missions and one of the more memorable ones, but his associates begin to help you dive deeper into the world Katana Zero takes place in as well.
Katana Zero does do a good job of building up intrigue and begins to touch on ideas like an almost Vietnam War-like scenario involving the abandoned veterans of an unpopular war and the idea of using people like the samurai as a weapon is given a closer examination, but things do start to take some surreal twists as well. Unusual visions and sights start to make you question the reality of the game, and as things begin to escalate and answers are thrown your way, Katana Zero begins to hook you with some dramatic story progress only to end with an incomplete tale. In fact, the game practically acknowledges before the finale that we’re only in Act 1 of something larger. There are some important resolutions to characters and ideas though before the curtain falls surprisingly early. With the first release of this game in early 2019 there is still no sign of the next installment at the time of writing but this does at least work as an intriguing first episode that doesn’t feel cut short so much as something that could have been a strong first act for a bigger game. As long as the narrative does continue eventually the cliffhangers aren’t the kind that sting too much to sit on and you have a good amount of interesting plot and characters to make this story work within the space it does fill. It even has a few moments of delightful comedy in between the more serious plot elements, goons waiting around having little stories to eavesdrop on and your responses at moments can lead to little pile-ups of absurd comments before you get back to work.
The action is Katana Zero’s bread and butter though, this sidescroller focused on the idea of killing your way through area after area filled with men and machiens who can kill you in a single hit. While on your way to your designated target you need to clear each smaller area completely of enemies, your main means of doing so a blade that inherently requires you get close to your targets. There are some stealth elements, the player wanting to make sure they don’t alert enemies by moving about loudly or showing up in their line of sight if they aren’t ready to quickly dispense with the target, and while a few enemies do need to get in close to attack as well, many carry guns that can instantly kill you and force you to restart the current area. The areas are usually well designed so that a death can be bounced back from quickly but you do need some skill and responsiveness to take down every foe to open the way forward and you do have a few tools to help you out even if a gunman spots you. Your blade can deflect bullets and you can slow down time for a bit to better respond to single shots, but some foes pack weapons with bullet spreads that do necessitate a better approach than simply sending shots back to sender. You are able to pick up items from the environment to hurl at a foe or use as a distraction though so your options aren’t so limited that they’d grow rote.
While the game does place a few moments with clearly telegraphed solutions, Katana Zero does feel like its action segments are flexible enough to encourage different and personalized approaches. You don’t need to perform exact sequences of events to take down every foe and you can even adjust on the fly if you slip up, the restarts being as quick as they are meaning you can experiment or learn from a mistake without being overly bothered by it. Some areas have environmental hazards you’ll need to avoid but these can often be turned against your opposition as well and the items you find laying about start to evolve from things you simply throw in someone’s face to more complex options like a remote activated bomb you can use as a trap. It does feel like this area could have kept evolving if the game had kept going and some moments like a motorcycle portion feel a bit too easy compared to the game’s usual solid balance of rooms that require skill to clear safely, but most bosses do ask for you to apply those same learning and avoidance tactics to contained battles that feel more in line with the mechanics experienced elsewhere.
Some secrets or unusual missions will ask for you to do more than just kill everyone in your path and these can be interesting breaks from the norm, but the core action doesn’t really wear out its welcome either. You’re living on the edge of your blade in every situation and figuring out the best path forward in a game conducive to such a style. Setting up traps, concocting your own ways around troublesome foes, and figuring out how to overcome enemies with different weapon types leads to moments that can be tense yet quick, the player feeling like a pro when they finally get things to line up or feeling like they scraped by by the skin of their teeth after things almost went awry. Different area layouts keep the approaches diverse as you need to incorporate the level geometry to save your hide or get the drop on the opposition, and while some moments can seem like they press in a little too hard on you until you figure out exactly what’s at play, new ideas keep slipping in so the gameplay loop doesn’t wear thin.
THE VERDICT: While it is a shame Katana Zero ends before its full story is told, the principal characters receive the focus they need for this first outing in this cyberpunk world. Intrigue, action, and even a little comedy mix together well here, your work slicing your way through action puzzles that have multiple potential outcomes made all the more compelling by the sci-fi backdrop and story context. Your small set of available actions are definitely put to the test and the areas you need to clear introduce new elements to keep the contained killing sprees fresh, and while there is a good bit of learning through failure, you pop right back in to try again so quickly that it’s much easier to focus on the satisfying process of putting your attack plan together.
And so, I give Katana Zero for Xbox One…
A GOOD rating. Almost a pretty clear cut case of a game that could have been amazing if there was just more of it, Katana Zero really starts to touch on some meaningful evolutions in story and gameplay before it unfortunately starts the credits roll rather than iterating on those ideas more. Boss battles make good use of the “learn through experiencing it” gameplay approach but also lean on it perhaps too strongly compared to the area-clearing portions where a good plan can usually handle much of what you can see, and some questions you’re left asking at the end are a mix of tantalizing mysteries and simply things left hanging incomplete. Katana Zero does a lot of good work in the space it fills, drama and comedy coexisting well and the characters given room to establish themselves and grow by interacting with each other. When the game began to add more uses for items and environmental hazards it kept itself from running dry, but it didn’t go so far as to elevate this game as high as it clearly could have gone. It establishes a world with a strong style and the synth music has a few good hits amidst more functional blood-pumping tracks, the time mechanics like the slow down and quick retries giving you the room to continue the adventure rather than dwelling on your losses. It’s a fun and flashy bloody action game with a heart to it, perhaps too tight in what it expects at times in terms of movement and responsiveness but always trying to lay out a good challenge that you can often find a few different ways to overcome.
The realities of game development likely meant Katana Zero had to end when it did but the evolution on show coming to a stop suddenly does keep it from being all it could be. You get a good helping of the core action puzzles that do have a lot of fun trials for your mind and reflexes but when it starts to show you some more complex ideas as you approach the finale it feels like it was only starting to realize its full potential. Katana Zero doesn’t disappoint though even during moments where it might expect a little bit of trial and error to learn what enemies are lurking about and what they can do, it having the right affordances to let you learn and react quickly enough that the action remains a satisfying trial rather than a repeated frustration. The story does a lot to enhance the game too despite those time-bending killing sprees perhaps being solid enough they didn’t need accompaniment, so while it would have been nice if we got more than Act 1 here, Katana Zero is still a compelling game that is deep enough to make up for not going the full distance with its action design and story.