Publisher: Devolver Digital
Release: Out now
On: Windows, MacOSX
From: Steam, GOG, Humble
For: 11.39, $15, 12.49
Katana Zero has the juiciest text boxes I’ve ever seen. During dialogue, words can imply the pace of speech by appearing letter-by-letter or thumping on screen one word at a time. Words and phrases can be highlighted in different colours, and can further suggest intonation by animating wavily or by each letter shaking as if terrified. When in conversation, there’s a timer during every player choice, and new dialogue options might open up at different points during that countdown. You’re also able to interrupt every line said to you, whether to bypass the story or to roleplay as a rude jerk, and doing so causes the text of the person speaking to scatter like smashed glass.
All of this is important, because it turns out story is as much the appeal of this 2D platformer as its propulsive, Hotlime Miami-like ultraviolence.
