Tell me the tale of the Zero
Kentucky Route Zero has been in the works for multiple years. 7 years, in fact. What started as a small episodic experience became a years long journey to the end which released in 2020. Along with the final episode hitting, a special TV Edition of the game released for the consoles that came will all the episodes and side interludes that accompany the episodes. What it does, it does well, but I can understand this game may not be for everyone. Let me explain.
Essentially, Kentucky Rout Zero (KRZ) is a point-and-click adventure game. There is one difference in this, there is no inventory management. This is a story-driven game that has players moving characters around while either interacting with something in the environment or talking to other characters.
Platforms: PC, XB1, PS4, Switch
MSRP: $24.99
The story follows Conway, a delivery driver in Kentucky that is trying to make a delivery to a certain address. Only problem is, he can’t seem to find the address. He’s told by numerous people to take “The Zero” which is a route that leads to some really strange and fantastical things. Along the way, he picks up some companions that show him the way while diving deeper into their own stories.
This game is all about the storytelling. The most interesting part of this is the player is the one telling the story here. In most games, players choose dialog options to go down certain paths in the story. In KRZ, the player is MAKING the paths themselves. So, while I don’t know what Conway’s dog name is, I can choose what it is and now that’s what his name is and always has been. This works on multiple levels. Players can choose large or small options that can change the back story of a character, or even change how they think altogether, and it’s not just talking through Conway, players can choose to talk though his companions or other things in the environment. There’s even a part where players will take over as a cat and listen to dialog that way. If anything, KRZ has interesting concepts in spades.
The visual style, in 2013 was impressive, sure, this may have been a game changer back then, but in 2020, we have seen other games come and go with this type of style. Still I’m not going to take away from it. There are still some pretty fantastic settings here all very stylish and still look very nice, especially with the play with shadows and muted colors.
Kentucky Route Zero is an exploration game. Now, that’s not going to appeal to everyone. In fact, when I first started the game up, I wasn’t feeling it much. But after I put some time into it and started realizing that I was the one forming the story, it clicked for me. So much that I fell in love with the game. It took almost two episodes for this to happen, but when it did, I wanted to keep going. Not to see the visuals or what location we were all going to next, but to see how I could form the characters and story. See where I led the protagonists. It was an interesting ride even when some parts are a bit monotonous and boring. While the reins were handed to the player, I still feel that in the grand scheme of things, the story is still going to go the way the game wants it to, so while I have tons of options for shaping things, I don’t always have full control over it. It stings a little, but I can live with that due to how well it is handled.
While it took me a while to get into it, I enjoyed my time with Kentucky Route Zero. It has style, it has charm, and more importantly, it has the interesting concept of allowing the player to shape the foundation of the game along with the characters and their motivations. It’s something I don’t think I have ever seen done before, at least, not in this sort of scale. Fans of story driven games such as this will have a great time with it. Don’t expect a lot of action or hard puzzles. This is like cracking open a choose-your-own-adventure book and shaping the words on the page. If that is your thing, you’ll love this.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
