Katana Zero Reviews
Katana Zero's adrenaline pumping action is incredible and its presentation is stellar, but its story feels cut short.
Thoughtfully-designed levels and versatile combat abilities make Katana Zero worthy of a rewind despite cookie-cutter characters.
Stylish and punishing, this is a darkly compelling treat.
Katana Zero starts strong on all fronts, but it doesn't evolve or cohere in ways that sustain the excitement of its early stages
Katana Zero's excellent writing, stylish and thoughtful combat, and gorgeous artwork make its unsatisfyingly short journey well worth taking.
It’s a cynical and sometimes ugly story told with unusual warmth and sincerity.
The fact that a game of this stature manages to carve out a narrative and tone that is as intriguing and as inviting as it is says a lot about Askiisoft's skill in world-building here.
For all its hurried stabbing and spilled blood, Katana Zero is a beautiful game, from the juicy text boxes onwards.
If you haven’t gleaned it already from reading up to this point, Katana Zero is unmistakably a game that you need to add to your Switch collection at earliest opportunity.
A unique proposal as fun as interesting despite it falls too short and sometimes is too hard even for experienced players.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Katana Zero ties an incredibly dark and thrilling narrative directly into fast and deep gameplay to create one of the best games of the year.
Overall, Katana Zero is an inspired effort.
Katana ZERO it's a beautiful and speedy action game that made interesting choices, both in mechanics and narrative... but is falls short in lenght and always left the feeling that it could have gone even farther, with some mechanics not used at full. The 12 levels left 6-7 gameplay hours as much, but it's kinda replayable thanks to the decissions.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
All of this leads to Katana Zero being a tough game to enthusiastically recommend. If you can ignore gameplay flaws and focus on style, you might fall in love with its VHS trappings. However, if you want something beyond style, if you want an interesting interactive tale or a precise action game, you should look elsewhere.
Katana Zero is a fast paced action game which shines thanks to its smooth, brilliant and clever gameplay, while a surprisingly good writing gives to the game an unexpected depth. It's a brand new take on the classic genre mechanics, made even cooler thanks to a lovely art style and a powerful soundtrack.
Review in Italian | Read full review
An elegant blend of 2D action and cyberpunk storytelling, that manages to make a very distinctive experience out of some very familiar indie tropes.
Katana Zero is an incredibly stylish title, from the great looking pixel art to the fantastic soundtrack that accompanies the fast and brutal action. You really get to feel like you're a master swordsman as you overcome the challenges put before you, or die trying.
There is far more I can say about how much I love this game, including the audial delight that is Ludowic and Bill Kiley's soundtrack or VHS visual tricks the game employs as the narrative grows more fractured, but at this point, I've already gushed enough. It can be frustrating at times. It made me want to break my Switch in half. But even in its most aggressively exasperating moments, Katana Zero remains bleak, beautiful, bloody, and brilliant.
Katana Zero is a fantastic 2D action game, it's a great stealth game, and it has an interesting story and universe. The action is fast, fluid, and will have you coming back for more over and over again. But this is just a taste of what could be.