Zenodeath Reviews

Outstanding shoot 'em up 10/10

Tough shmup with run n gun sections that remind me of thunder force II a tad bit. Lovely game to follow up Super XYX

Zenodeath is a combination shoot 'em up and top down run 'n gun alternating between the two genres. It does an adequate job with both. Though, I think the shmup is better while the run 'n gun is a tad easier. Zenodeath the shmup is about as basic as the genre gets. Which as someone that likes basic STGs, is no bad thing in itself. The player has the choice of pilot which changes some aspects like shot type. The player has a main shot, and a secondary shot type with slower movement and limited bullet canceling/invisibility frames bombs. I actually like the pace of the this game, as it the bullets are aren't so fast that it's an exercise in memorization of positioning. But not so slow that ones reflexes aren't tested a bit. Many of the enemy attacks are well-trod in the world of shmups. So, if the player has mastered them in other games, it would take long to solve them here either. Which can be an issue, but I personally like having some of my skills transfer well to other games. As well as being punished for the ones I haven't completely mastered yet (tracking bullets with slow-fast movement to create a gap). My biggest complaint is the color palette. Especially the enemy bullets which can get lost in the chaos fairly easy. The top down run 'n gun is probably the weaker of the two modes. I know I found myself just wanting to get through them to get back to the shmup part. Which may be due more to I bought this for the STG part. But Zenodeath is no Shock Troopers, either. The player still has their two shot types. With the primary continuing to fire in the same (1 of 8) direction if the button down. While the secondary fires in the direction of movement. At least the character I played through the game. The player also has the same bombs as well. The run 'n gun is considerably easier if the player moves cautiously. Though, the bonus score timer tries to push more a more aggressive play style. However, I found that timer probably enforces more efficiency routing than aggressive play. As the run 'n gun sections aren't about moving from one end of the map to the other. No, the player must seek out targets to destroy before confronting the end of stage boss. Which further dragged at a section of the game I wasn't as interested played. Furthermore, the color palette affects the game play even more. Not with the bullet visibility, though that can still be an issue, but places the player character can travel and where they can't. The ground color is on the darker side also making it a little tough to figure out where the player can traverse and where they can't. At least at first. The game is consistent enough that once the player does learn this, the issue isn't nearly as bad. Graphics, Sound and Music are things I find charming if not of the best quality. Color choices for visibility not withstanding, I like the graphics of Zenodeath. Their simple more 8-bit or early 16-bit type stuff that I like. The sound design is good, and I liked the music. Zenodeath isn't looking to revolutionize either the shmup or top down run 'n genres. And the game certainly could have issues that some players won't like. However, I found it affordable enough to get for a small time indy developer that it felt they were still figuring somethings out in this game. If for nothing else, Zenodeath is a fun enough game to credit feed though at least once, but probably not a game that I would ever bother learning well enough to 1cc.

Interesting shmup but not without some flaws. There are 2 kinds of levels, vertical classic shmups and topdown run n gun levels. Both with pros and cons. The music is ok and probablt the best of the series. the controls are precise and spot on. It has modern convinineces like autofire button, focus button and small hitbox. The graphics are below average, but still an improvment over the other games in the series. The excessive color palette and bad drawing affect a bit the bullet visibility and is not suited for long playing sessions (my eyes start to hurt with that brightness). Those issues are most notable in the run n gun levels where is hard to distinguish areas where you can walk from areas of the background making travel worst than it should be. , but eventually you will get used after a few plays. The audio is good. Now about the 2 styles of levels. The vertical shmup is fun. It is a classic shooter of early 90´s with simple but fast bullet patterns.a bit generic, but solid. The run and gun levels are ok , but less interesting, but i do apreciate them because at least they try to do something uncommon as they mix elements of run n gun with shmup. You have a small labyrinth (not complex) where you have arrows pointing to multiple targets that you have to destroy and then proceed to fight the boss. I would prefere that a predetermined path where you would kill those targets in a order (without arrows pointing) before the boss as having to travel in a labyrinth (even if it is easy) is not exactly a concept that i love in shumps because you will backtrack to parts where you have been before where all enemyes were destroyed and the action will get stale. The control is good and is exactly like you see in shock troopers. The price is a bit high considering other offers in the market and recomend a buy with at least (40% discount). In the end is still a fun game wioth precise controls and some inovative ideias (run n gun) that could be better polished by other games. The prodcution values are a bit low, but still better than the rest of zeno series

My favorite STG's that no one knows about. Amazing mix of shmup alternating with run n' gun. The run n' gun sections play like a mix of Fixeight and Contra III (top down). Total play through clocks in @ 1 hr but never outstays its welcome. Normal and Hard difficulties. Excellent medal based scoring system and jamming OST. Online leaderboards included. It's just an all around amazing effort by the devs. 11/10

Zenodeath is the final game in the Zeno series and the developer's experience shows. High quality indie shmups like this are a real delight! The game includes shmup sections and top down run 'n' gun sections. The game is much longer than average as a result, which can be daunting when doing full runs, but the added variety means it really doesn't feel its length when you're in the moment. As someone who is new to the second type of gameplay I was sceptical, but I'm glad I have it a chance. The scoring system revolves around chaining enemies, collecting medals and strategic use of bombs for big bullet cancels, which is more than enough to keep you on your toes, and to make going after the many point-based extends rewarding. The soundtrack is, as expected, excellent and while the visuals still lack some of the flair of bigger-name releases (more animation in bosses would be the single biggest improvement) the vision of the game is successfully executed, with the story of the invasion of the alien planet and the journey to its core being successfully communicated by the backgrounds and enemies alone. This kind of care and attention to detail is one of the things that makes games like this so great to discover.

I can't say the game is bad, but there are so many better shooters that go on sale, I can't recommend this unless someone wants another mediocre shooter that offers nothing innovative or interesting and gets tedious quickly. At least it was just $5+ tax and I've had bad food at restaurants that cost me more money.

Really cool shmup, probably the best in the Zeno series for sure! I also was pleasantly surprised about the top down ground sections, those were really fun. It should get it's own game. It took a minute to get used to the controls on those but no big deal. Awesome soundtrack, colorful pixel art, 2 difficulty settings, and customizable bullet colors are a huge plus too.

From the little I've played I can safely say this is the most enjoyable entry on the Zeno series, sure the art direction has never been Grybanser's forte outside of Super XYX, but the visibility issues from the previous entries are almost completely gone, controls are tight, music is good, the on ground levels add a very good amount of variation from the typical shmup action and they reintroduced Jet Buster's scoring which was already really fun. If you want to play a Zeno game definitively skip the other ones and jump directly into this one, it's worth every penny.