Spike Chunsoft’s Zanki Zero: Last Beginning should be a home run for me. It’s a first-person dungeon crawler developed in part by Lancarse, the company responsible for the first two Etrian Odyssey games and one of my all-time favorites, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. In a space that is full of duds, Lancarse’s work stands out. Zanki Zero is also the work of
-
Colorful visuals, quality character animations, and good music help nail Zanki Zero's vibe
-
Sticking with the survival systems and playing with difficulty options can lead to lots of systems-level payoff
-
Overarching sci-fi story can be intriguing
-
Character drama falls flat, relies too hard on shocking content
-
Gameplay feels divorced from the narrative
-
Combat tries to be flashy, but its foundation is not fun to engage with
