Kentucky Route Zero

This game moved me to tears in the most beautiful way- not from challenge or overcoming any tough sections or obstacles, but because of how the player interacts with the story.

It's an adventure game without puzzles - the game is oriented only around surreal visuals and a narrative that is driven by the player, as you play. What dialogue option is chosen then becomes the character's truth, creating an incredibly unique and tailored experience.

I connected with a lot of the characters in this game, but the sequencies with vocal music simply shook me everytime, often something I still think about and how I play games now.

I'm actually quite surprised at the acclaim that the game has been getting over the years as I feel that it's definitely not a game for everyone. While most games are defined by challenges that are either about having good dexterity or strategy, Kentucky Route Zero is a game that has none of it. While traditional adventure games have you making decisions that made lead to death or have some puzzle like things to figure out, KRZ also throws all those basic concepts out. It's all about the story, the visuals, the atmosphere and the narrative.

The gameplay is mostly about choosing where the dialogue is going, but the choices are mostly un-consequential as there aren't really any good or bad ways to go about the game, you will get to the end no matter what. The dialogue choices are about you and your experience with these characters and what you want them to talk about or answer. There's a definitive use of dreamy and surrealist sequences here and that is for me the charm of the game, how the story and the ambience just draws you in. You could argue that the game plays more than a film than a game, and that might be true, but it doesn't really matter as Kentucky Route Zero is paving its own kind of adventure game and its always have nice to have innovation in established genres.

It reminded me a lot of the experience I've had with Virginia (which I've enjoyed more, but it's not to say anything wrong really with KRZ), both games are creating this sort of "alt" adventure game experiences where immersion is key. While I'm pretty sure this is not a game that everyone will enjoy, and I do think that it must be played just to have a glimpse of where the genre can be taken too. Definitely looking forward to the final act being released, and the story could really go in any sort of direction and I don't expect for it to make that much sense as mystery and meditation are some of its strongest suits.