When A Game Doesn't Like You

ZeroRanger matters and so do you

If a  video game could break your spirit, hand you the pieces, and dare you to thank it for that privilege, ZeroRanger would be that game.

ZeroRanger is a one-of-a-kind experience: 
Impeccable mechanics, 
     polished maps, 
          unique enemies, 
               weapon pairings, 
and literal Gundam suits.

I have never really cared for shmups¹… until this game.

I gave it a try after having my mind blown by Void Stranger, a game that was cruel and yet enticing.

And ZeroRanger is the same, if not worse.

It’s story whispers enlightenment… and despair.

And then at the last possible moment, it erases your progress for even daring to finish.

Yes, erases your progress.

Not hyperbolically.
Literally starting over from scratch.
This is intentional.

The save wipe is vicious. Absolution.

You’re cleansed, but scarred.

After I beat despair, I felt awe, betrayal, exhaustion… all at one moment.
A trifecta that felt bizarrely spiritual.

This game doesn’t love you back.
But it also doesn’t insult you.

It demands and rewards total surrender.

Now, whether that’s holiness or masochism is left to you, the player.
Will you become the ZeroRanger?

1. I’ve also never understood why this genre gets a cute name. We don’t call RPGs rolepies for something.