You know, I like Katana Zero. It’s a simple gameplay concept that works and is fun. This is amazing music. This is an exciting thriller with interesting characters. So yes, I like it, I really like it, but… it’s also a terrible ending. And I want to speak out. Enjoy reading my subjective opinion!
The Art of the Cliffhanger
I sincerely believe that the ability to beautifully, skillfully design “to be continued” is a kind of art. Incredible skill of deceiving the player/reader/spectator, not granted to everyone. The obvious basis for a sequel and the lack of it right here and now, it would seem, should cause irritation, but screenwriters with this talent miraculously avoid this side effect of the desire to build up intrigue in order to raise the level of anticipation for the sequel. The global story is not over, but you are satisfied. Definitely very clever.
This is achieved (and I’m sure I’m stating something that is obvious to everyone) through the end of history, not global, but local. In other words, the history of this “volume”. There are new adventures and events over the horizon, new questions and answers, but the central conflict of the part has been resolved, there is a climax and finale. This creates a sense of integrity and completeness. False, but at the same time true. "Tom" becomes self-sufficient.
Of course, an example. They will The Evil Within 2. The game is a psychological family drama, where from the very beginning Sebastian Castellanos, the main character of the story, has a clear goal – to save Lily, his daughter, who, as it turned out, was not burned alive several years ago, but was kidnapped by Mobius and placed in STEM as the core of the system.
Fire in Sebastian’s house
As the story progresses, the hero overcomes the difficulties he encounters along the way and experiences personal growth, overcoming his guilt complex and accepting himself, the events that have occurred and the new reality. The final result is a reunion with my daughter.
Sebastian and Lily’s reunion
In fact, this is not even a brief retelling, but rather a small factual summary, leaving a huge number of important things behind. Which ones exactly – I suggest you find out on your own, if you haven’t already. Believe me, the game is worth playing if you have empathy. Those who played are well aware of the volumes omitted.
For what purpose did I https://casinosiegercasino.co.uk/login/ bring this excerpt?? In order to clearly demonstrate the completeness of the “volume”. The protagonist has a goal and he achieves it, the plot is complete. Yes, there’s a cliffhanger after the credits. Yes, there are certain global questions that imply the presence of an answer to them in, for example, the third part, if it ever happens (which I doubt, but I will be sincerely glad). But the “volume” is finished, the work is self-sufficient. The “background for the future” doesn’t cause any irritation, the cliffhanger works, I’m satisfied and want more. Magic!
Katana Zero
After the obvious facts have been stated and illustrated with an example, you can return to the subject. And, God knows, I am sincerely saddened that I have to do this within the framework of this topic.
But first – the beautiful key art of the game
So, Katana Zero tells us about a certain person Zero who works for some organization. He comes to meetings with an intelligent-looking man in glasses, with whom he talks about nightmares and from whom he receives healing injections and folders with targets for elimination, to be destroyed immediately after getting acquainted. The following questions immediately arise:
Why is the man with glasses and the organization he represents interested in removing people from files??
Another meeting with a man with glasses
If you haven’t played, then believe me – they are key in the first part. No, as you progress, not only they arise, and the very mindfuck presentation of the story (I should note that this is not a leaky mindfuck for the sake of mindfuck, but a really interesting puzzle that brings pleasure, I can’t help but praise the guys from Askiisoft) only contributes to this. But, firstly, they are no longer in the category of light spoilers. Secondly, the answers to them are the answers to the questions above. We put questions related to the global layer out of brackets.
And here, I think, it’s worth explaining why I attribute these to the local layer, since I classified some others as global and left them somewhere there. The reason is simple – in my opinion, there are two key moments in the plot of Katana Zero that determine its artistic integrity. The first is the mystery of the main character and the bundle of secrets that is directly connected with it, through the unraveling of which it is revealed. It turns out that the fifth question on the list is the key one, and the other four are the foundation for answering the fifth.
Our mysterious protagonist in all his glory
The second key point is the neighbor’s girl (who, let’s put it this way, is more of an image, but further – spoilers, spoilers, spoilers, and the moment is subjective) and our relationship with her. They also influence our perception of Zero and reveal a different side of him, shaping the image of the protagonist in everyday life, outside the world of secrets and shedding blood.
Zero and the little girl next door you’re sure to love
The problem is that neither of these two things get the ending they deserve. However, the paths are different.
Katana Zero provides answers to the first three questions, stops at the explanation of the fourth, without forming a comprehensive picture (I note that this, of course, is only my interpretation of the events that took place, I would be happy to read other opinions in the comments; perhaps I myself came up with questions that the screenwriter did not even think of asking, the answer is exhaustive, the author is a fool), and all this is not enough to give a full answer to the fifth. Zero’s identity is still shrouded in some layer of mystery, and the full answer seems to have been snatched from our hands.
And here everything is more complicated. The fact is that the relationship with her, going through all the stages, reaches a certain local, again, culmination. No, the truth is reached, it exists. Then one wonders why the hell I stink?
Because the game cannot deny itself the pleasure of making the poor girl part of an insidious plot hook, throwing in additional soil for the CPGS. Yes, what kind of hook, hook, hook, I would say. It seems good, there is something to think about, but somehow with this move the developers blur the impressions of what seemed to be at least one full-fledged local branch out of two, depriving us, the players, of any sense of completion and a feeling of true satisfaction from getting acquainted with the whole story. But that’s how it is.
As a conclusion, I would like to once again note that, despite the harsh, even brutal cliffhanger, Katana Zero is a wonderful game, even one of the best games of 2019. I highly recommend buying it and trying it out for yourself, just be prepared. It’s easier that way. Or wait for the sequel.
Well, the last time to complain about the scriptwriters’ love for such moves. Isn’t it Wolfenstein 2?? Oh, how can you forget this?.