When I saw Katana Zero being announced I must say I was hyped. Just going by what was in the trailer, I was so intrigued that I had to play it. I had the opportunity to review Katana Zero for the Nintendo Switch and I must say I am in love.
Even if it sounds biased, I feel that this is one of the best indies to hit the console so far. That is because of the premise of Katana Zero that lets you play the game in a way that lets you finish the missions any way you want to. This makes it a fresh experience each time .
Katana Zero starts in an interesting way, with you in a psychiatrist’s consultation. After asking a series of questions and writing down your answers, he proceeds to give you a dose of your “medication” then hands you a dossier with the information of that night’s “job”. When you leave the office and open the dossier to get your target’s information, you get a Mission Impossible kind of vibe where you destroy the dossier and get to work.
I honestly did not expect this setting and with Katana Zero you must be ready to expect the unexpected. This this game is a rollercoaster of emotions, secrets and intrigue that cannot be stopped once started. once you start you cannot stop. The game captures your attention in a way that I haven’t experienced before and I commend the developer for it. I won’t spoil the story in my review, as you need to experience it yourself and get your conclusions about it. I can only tell you that the more I uncovered, the more I wanted to play as the writing is exceptional.
But what about the game itself? Well, I have to say that Katana Zero has one of the most satisfying game mechanics I have experienced so far. The controls have a simple but effective scheme, you attack with Y, jump with B, A is it to grab objects like knives, bottles, statues etc( will get in more detail why later) and you can dodge with R or ZR. ZL is interesting as it lets you activate a really cool time mechanic: Slow Time. All of these elements come together for a action packed experience in which you can take down enemies in the most flashy and brutal ways.
Enemies are down in one hit, so you just need to be fast when unsheating your blade. However, they are not sitting ducks since just like the enemies die with one hit, so do you. When you die, time rewinds and you go back to the beginning of the stage like nothing happens( it actually has a cool VHS like rewind feeling) and you take on the enemies again. This rewind mechanic serves a purpose since you can see where you made the mistake that got you killed, or even think about another way to tackle the stage. When you are able to finish the stage, you can look at a replay of the stage you just beat and it feels so satisfying to be able to see everything you did.
But that doesn’t mean that you have all the time in the world, since there is a timer for each stage. If the time allotted for the stage ends you need to start again, so you need to plan your moves accordingly and you need to do it fast. This adds another layer to the game because sometimes you need to have quick reflexes to dodge and counter enemy bullets.
By slowing down time with ZL, you can enemies back their bullets killing them at the same time. Or you can take advantage of enemy placing to be able to dispatch two with a single swipe. You can even use items with A to get some easy killings, like throwing a molotov cocktail to some fuel drums, or using a cellphone to activate a remote bomb, among other ways. You can be creative or ignore them and in some cases you can increase the difficulty by deciding not to use them and its all up to you.
Some enemies have weapons that clash with your sword, and when this happens there is a brief cool down gauge that appears above your head. You cannot attack until this gauge is depleted and this is a great addition, because you are not like Ryu Hayabusa slashing here and there with infinite combos. You are a master of the sword and a master kills with one swing.
Needless to say the pixel art is PERFECT,, with each stage so well detailed even to the most minimal detail. The music is excellent and each tune goes amazingly well with each area you come across. It would be hard to pick a favorite, but Chinatown is really good, and the music on the club is awesome as well.
Bottom Line: I could write a lot about my experience with Katana Zero, but you can guess it was a great one, I love the game I feel that everything was well thought to provide a fun gameplay experience but also providing a good story, this game is a must have period. I cannot recommend it enough.
A Review Code was provided for this review.