ZeroRanger Reviews

A great shmup that unfortunately betrays its own unique appeal right at the end. The unique mechanic of ZeroRanger of turning your score into continues is, in my opinion, a great way to keep a player engaged and get better at scoring, while also forcing them to overcome the challenges they're struggling with (unlike arcade shmups where you can just pop a quarter and continue right where you left off, and basically brute-force your way through with coins). I think that's great! It both keeps you in the momentum while also pushing you to get better at the challenge you're struggling on. While the difficulty can be a bit imbalanced at times (the difficulty has a bit of a rollercoaster) it's overall challenging but fair. Unfortunately, that gets all thrown out the window by the end of it as the final challenge of this game completely changes the way you're supposed to play (which is NOT communicated whatsoever) uses your continues as hit points and [b]deletes your entire save file if you die.[/b] Meaning all those hours spent going through the game are completely thrown out the window, you're back to square 1, and have fun grinding for continues (which can take a fair amount of hours if you want to give yourself the best chances to finish the final challenge.) Some may say that final challenge is "optional". I disagree; [b]the game clearly, EXPLICTLY wants you to attempt this[/b], as the entire point of the game and its driving motor is the story. It's why any player would want to keep playing. It gives you a choice by the strictest sense of the word, but that choice might as well be "do you want to finish the game or just press start and quit?" because that's basically all that "choice" is. That's no closure. I hear those who say "the entire point of shmups is to aim for a high score and clear it all in 1cc", but I feel that's completely missing the point of why people can be drawn to ZeroRanger; it's BECAUSE it's different than most shmups, and did not rely on a grueling hardcore arcade experience to get your fun from. It felt like it was aimed at a different kind of player, who do enjoy shmups, but do not find their motivation to lie in "high score gets bigger" but instead to experience a satisfying narrative. Is it the stated goal of the developer? I don't know. But by how the game has been constructed, what the game communicates to the player, that scoring was certainly not the end goal. It sucks, because I got through this game thinking it was pretty good. While the color palette can be VERY confusing in some areas (that train segment and some boss patterns can be an absolute mess to read) the game looks gorgeous, and the entire OST slaps from start to finish. It too bad that the game completely betrays the player's expectations and it's own uniqueness in favor of brutally punishing difficulty and reverting back to being yet another run-of-the-mill, arcade-style hardcore shmup where if you lose you start from level 1. leaving you with the option to tediously grind back all those continues just to get another attempt at learning a boss. Whoever says this is a "great shmup for beginners" is a lunatic, because it absolutely is not... At least not if you expect a player to finish the game, which they should strive for. It feels incredibly disrespectful toward the player and their time, no matter how "it makes sense thematically"; it'd be an outrageous amount of arrogance to think it warrants betraying the player like that. I think ZeroRanger has been a banger all the way until it's final challenge, where it really drops the ball and feels like a huge disappointment at the end of it all.

Peak music and great gameplay, its also got cool bosses and the final part is kinda hard and punishing.

Found love in shmups thanks to ZeroRanger, I'm still not good enough to beat it without continues but I'm now really close. It just feels amazing to play, music is godly and never gets old. Must play if you [b]COMPLETED[/b] Void Stranger, but oh well I probably don't even have to mention it.

I hate to do this. So much about this game is worthy of praise, and I can completely understand the love it gets. But I just feel the need to provide a counterpoint based on my own experience. Essentially, I was led to believe that this would be a good place for someone to get into the shoot-em-up genre, and as someone who has already enjoyed (if not ever actually finished) games in that genre. Well, unfortunately, I hate it. The visual and audio design are top notch. The story is drip-fed in increments, which builds interest in the curious player, but doesn't stand in the way of diving back into the core gameplay loop. And if you're a more deft hand at this kind of game than I, you will most likely find some enjoyment in this short but sweet game. However, I really cannot agree with the consensus on this game being in any way approachable for someone who is inexperienced with, or even just not very talented at, this style of gameplay. Having limited continues is, I know, a staple of the genre. But frankly, that's the number one thing that's going to make people bounce off of games like this. I don't ever get the feeling of "I wanna go again!" when I've run out of continues. It just feels bad. I have requested a refund, but to assuage my guilty conscience I will be using that refund to purchase the developer's other game, Void Stranger, which seems much more my speed.

More games need big drills and girls piloting giant mechas Music is peak Story is peak Gameplay is peak Play void stranger

It pains me to give something with such obvious love and passion poured into it a negative review, but unless you're a masochist or a shmup god, don't bother. Without spoilers, the final act and "twist" is such complete and utter frustrating bullshit that it completely taints the entire game experience for me. And no, it doesn't matter how cute the meta-fictional narrative is or how the ending contributes to it - I'm not stupid, I get it. But the frustration far outweighs the fun or artistic value for me. There is no enlightenment to attain here.

It is very difficult to innovate in a genre nearly as old as videogames themselves. So why not to just rely on well tuned mechanics and try to build something clever around them? …and ZeroRanger is [i]really[/i] clever indeed. Where it comes to shooting gameplay itself, game doesn’t leave a lot to be desired. Readable action despite limited color palette, excellent feeling weapons and upgrades, balanced roster of enemies and threatening bosses. Explosive, intense and reasonably difficult: ZeroRanger is just plain fun on the mechanical merits alone and seems to be very approachable for beginners and veterans of a genre alike. Where System Erasure’s effort goes from great to wonderful is all the things surrounding gameplay. ZeroRanger’s artstyle is one of the best implementations of artificially limited color palette I’ve seen in recent years. Soundtrack is absolutely spectacular and full of bangers that will make you buy an OST immediately after playing. And the story? Ha. You are getting not a single hint from me! ZeroRanger is one of [i]those[/i] games – where you tell your friends to not check anything about it before playing. There are no lore dumps or obvious answers – just breadcrumbs you need to collect and figure out on your own, which is extremely fun to do. Additionally, I’m amazed how game’s themes are seamlessly tied to gameplay experience. There is a lot of boldness and courage on display from the design standpoint and I’m happy to report that developers’ risk worked out excellently from my perspective. I’m sure decisions that have been made are divisive, but in the end, they contributed to the first rate gaming experience, I will long remember. Go buy some oranges on your way home.

SuperEyePatchWolf made me buy it. Great music, great gameplay, great shmup, 10/10.

Forget everything you know about gaming, and leave your expectations at the door. Thanks mr eyepatch wolf.

One of the greatest games of all time from a studio that's produced 2/2 all timers. Uncompromising, unflinching and a unstopping rush of art. Advice for anyone on the fence: - if you've played any 'challenging' game in the last few years, you will experience 99% of ZeroRanger if you invest the same patience - if you're not a hardcore SHMUPer, this is arguably this best intro to the genre - if you get stuck, experimenting with your loadout helps a lot - if you enjoy mecha or classic shooters, this is a distilled love letter to both, drink it up - if you play games muted, treat your ears to this one - if you fall in love, Void Stranger