Um jogo SUPER inteligente...mas para mim talvez um pouco inteligente demais.

"Kentucky Route Zero" não coloca o jogador no controle de um personagem, mas sim no controle das ações, como em uma peça de teatro, o jogador deve dirigir os diálogos e sentimentos dos "atores" em cena.

Tecnicamente e estilisticamente este jogo é impressionante. A música é envolvente e a atmosfera que o jogo cria realmente funciona a todo momento. Infelizmente, a falta de uma narrativa envolvente realmente prejudica o game.

O ritmo super cansativo dos atos/episódios deixa o game maçante, fazendo você perder o interesse nos diálogos/escolhas de diálogos (que são primordiais no jogo). A primeira metade do jogo foi boa mas para mim o game se perdeu após o terceiro ato.

Se você gosta de fazer uma viagem surreal, "Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition" vai lhe agradar. Se você quer jogar jogos que respeitem seu tempo de jogo, provavelmente não é para você.

EDIT:6 months or some time like that after i played it i aprecciate a lot more the risk that went into it,and even if its flawed and a slog to read at times it is good too at times,so in retrospective,is pretty decent

Strong 6 to light 7

Extremely dissapointing.
The game is extremely boring at times,in fact,is the only game that i nearly fall asleep playing,it is one of the most pretencious games i ever played,and that build up for act 5 that is by far the worst part of the game,it feels like a waste of time that wastes all the build up from the previous acts.another that this game does badly is conway,he is the character that we most see and he just dissapears and we never seen him again,no conclution,no develompent,no nothing,characters in general this game does badly,they feel flat af.
By far the best part of the game are the interludes,my favorite being the third one,it gives me a really good sense of exploration and makes my imagine how the place,eventually we see how it is in act 4 and it kinda kills that sense of imagination of the interlude,but still by far the best section in the game,another thing this game does right is perpectives as they are constantly changing.

This game just feels as it doesnt stand tall on anything and feels incomplete and a waste of time.

EDIT:6 months or some time like that after i played it i aprecciate a lot more the risk that went into it,and even if its flawed and a slog to read at times it is good too at times,so in retrospective,is pretty decent

Strong 6 to light 7

Extremely dissapointing.
The game is extremely boring at times,in fact,is the only game that i nearly fall asleep playing,it is one of the most pretencious games i ever played,and that build up for act 5 that is by far the worst part of the game,it feels like a waste of time that wastes all the build up from the previous acts.another that this game does badly is conway,he is the character that we most see and he just dissapears and we never seen him again,no conclution,no develompent,no nothing,characters in general this game does badly,they feel flat af.
By far the best part of the game are the interludes,my favorite being the third one,it gives me a really good sense of exploration and makes my imagine how the place,eventually we see how it is in act 4 and it kinda kills that sense of imagination of the interlude,but still by far the best section in the game,another thing this game does right is perpectives as they are constantly changing.

This game just feels as it doesnt stand tall on anything and feels incomplete and a waste of time.

English | Español

A magic game about a journey full of emotions that happens through an improbable road story. Slow, thick, with tons of text and a heavy inspiration in other media beyond videogames, especially theatre. This is a unique experience.

Un juego mágico sobre un viaje cargado de emoción que se articula como una improbable historia de carretera. Lento, denso, con muchísimo texto y fortísima inspiración en medios más allá del videojuego, especialmente el teatro. Una experiencia única.

Destinato a rimanere relegato nelle classifiche di uno sparuto manipolo di temerari, "Kentucky Route Zero" è un videogioco di enorme importanza, non fosse altro che per la capacità di mettere in luce gli enormi limiti della critica e del pubblico di giocatori, entrambi relegati ancora a una condizione di minorità.
L’opera magna di Cardboard Computer - frutto di dieci anni di lavoro - è un’avventura grafica colta e raffinata, un romanzo interattivo che usa e rielabora innumerevoli fonti letterarie e cinematografiche (da Lynch a Márquez, tanto per citare i riferimenti immediatamente evidenti) attraverso cui costruire il drammatico racconto di un’America popolata da emarginati della società in piena crisi economica, senza rinunciare a una vena di brillante ironia. Strutturato come una pièce teatrale in cinque atti e cinque intermezzi, "Kentucky Route Zero" ammanta situazioni e personaggi del realismo magico tanto caro alla più celebre letteratura sudamericana, creando un’atmosfera di lucida assurdità che rimanda a tanti classici del fantastico, conferendo ulteriore fascino al racconto dal ritmo compassato.
Recensito con il consueto pressappochismo dalle testate italiane per poi scomparire velocemente dai radar, KRZ innalza il livello del medium videoludico e attua una riuscita commistione tra differenti linguaggi amalgamati in maniera sorprendente, candidandosi di diritto a gioco del decennio. Un’esperienza che - per i motivi espressi sopra - non può essere adatta a tutti ma deve essere consigliata a tutti, aiutata dall’ottima traduzione italiana resa in uno stile molto vicino all’elegante prosa dell’inglese originale.

I'm kind of at a loss for words with this one. At times excruciatingly slow, at others utterly captivating. Always mesmerizingly beautiful, subtly unsettling, and thematically dense. All written with characters and scenes worthy of a Pulitzer.

I found myself initially pulled in by questions about the nature of the world. What was real? What was happening? But eventually, Kentucky Route Zero gently pushes modernistic exploration aside and instead focuses on its themes and how the characters interact with them. The world that surrounds them is simply filled with icons that lend emotional resonance to its themes.

But by engaging with it on its own terms, Kentucky Route Zero is affecting. Absolutely thought-provoking and haunting. And has earned a place at the table alongside the other works of classic Americana.

Lo rural se da de la mano con el realismo mágico, surrealismo y experimentalidad sumado a una toma de decisiones que, cualesquiera que sean nuestras decisiones, nos conduce, inevitablemente, al mismo camino: ser devorados por el entorno. Pero al menos podemos decidir cómo construimos nuestros vínculos en un mundo de imperioso destino y cuáles decidimos que sean nuestros recuerdos. Y lo decidimos por unos personajes ciegos y ambiguos que afrontan la vida de la única manera que saben: mirando al futuro, juntos.

'Kentucky Route Zero' es una obra maestra con una capacidad descomunal para hacernos sentir, con ecos de Márquez, Magritte o Lynch -entre muchos otros-, entramando un libreto de teatro en cuya función somos espectadores y ejecutores en tiempos difíciles.

Kentucky Route Zero is maybe another contender for one of my favorite games of all time.

Combining the aesthetics of semi-dystopias and hazy late night drives and modern art, with the storytelling methods of both American folk tales and theatre (which as a theatre major I just loved) and adding the rare use of the removal of player influence to sell the story's impactful moments just blew me away.

It uses all of this to tell a beautiful story of the effects of Capitalism on both individual through the accrual of debt, and the way it effects larger communities through improper care in search of greater profit. It does all this while not feeling super trite and having compelling and interesting characters.

It's mind blowing that I left it this long for me to play it, and that it isn't constantly being brought up as a reference point for other game devs. Maybe because it's so singular in it's vision that it just can't be replicated, who knows.

There will probably be nothing quite like KRO ever again, and that's okay with me.

Kentucky Route Zero is... difficult. It feels like an experiment on how much patience a person has. There's something here that may truly be great but my GOD is it long, strenuous, and BORING. By "The Barfly" sequence I tapped out. It's just a modern take on The Grapes of Wrath but with a David Lynch influence. You can pack that down into a 2 hour indie and I'd be happy, but no no no this game's gonna make sure you get it by droning on and on and on. I honestly don't know how this game has such great reviews and accolades because as much as I enjoy the aesthetic and wanted to like this game, the week it took for me to beat this game felt like a whole month.

I once began this game in 2020 and stopped playing after only a couple hours of gameplay. It was not yet the right time for me - this game can feel like a heavy weight at times. I am so glad I gave it another shot.

Though this game is much more than a visual novel, if you generally do not enjoy reading books then this game is not for you. Much of the game play time is spent reading text without an animation or visual to support it. For me, this is alright as I am someone who felt immersed enough by reading the dialogue and narration. Some will disagree, that is fine.

Aside from that barrier that people seem to encounter, this game is a phenomenal experience front to back. At first I was frustrated by the fact that the game would introduce something fantastical and strange but not explain it's meaning. Much is left up to the interpretation of the player. But once I got used to the magical nature of the game, I was able to let go of trying to take things too literally.

The dialogue options and art direction are a real achievement from the developers - though the art assets are simple in design, they suit the game's atmosphere. I absolutely adored when the canonical folk songs would bleed through from the background. By the end I was totally invested in the characters and was left with a strong impression.

Not often do games manage to be poetic without risking their maturity. KRZ is as sophisticated as it is innovative. Highly recommend it.

THE FUCKING TOO LATE TO LOVE YOU PERFORMANCE oh my GODDDDD!!!!!! i got GOOSEBUMPS!!!!

by the way i recommend to anyone who freaked out like me to read the Ben Babbitt (Junebug) FACT mag interview on writing the score for the game ~ they honestly seem like such a cool person & i had to buy junebug’s bandcamp album afterwards!

(also watch junebug’s 360° music video for “static between stations” —youtube link)

Created by just three people over the span of nearly a decade, this indie point-and-click adventure finally wrapped up with its fifth chapter. Kentucky Route Zero is a dialogue-driven narrative experience with a bit of puzzle-solving but mostly just walking through the environments and guiding the story constituting the gameplay. It is not the kind of story that can be taken literally, with strange detours and unexplained phenomena pervading throughout the adventure.

I didn't find myself liking it much as I played, as I failed to grasp much of the story's meaning. However, the game's quiet ambiance and curious musings have stuck with me in the weeks that have followed me completing it. It was interesting to see the cast of characters grow overtime, from its lonely truck driver Conway and his dog, to a ragtag band of travel companions, until eventually you'll be experiencing a whole community. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but Kentucky Route Zero strikes a fascinating tone of haunting loneliness but also of peaceful resignation. The characters never seem weirded out by their increasingly surreal circumstances, but simply accept them as they are, accepting things as characters often do in a dream.

Between the episodes (which tend to be about 90 minutes each) are short interludes which at first feel entirely disconnected from the general plotlines, but always ended up tying in. Sometimes you might learn more about a location's past, or a periphery character’s backstory.

One of the game's biggest strengths is its presentation. The minimalistic art style works really well, as it allows the player to fill in the details using their imagination. The soundtrack from Ben Babbitt is haunting and quirky and makes great use of different styles. I especially liked the in-game folksy song performances, of which there is at least one per episode.

While Kentucky Route Zero lets you shape details of the backstory with dialogue options, it never makes a difference in the general throughline of its tale. I could see this game being completely alienating to many players. Outside of the obtuse and surrealistic storyline, you'll have to put up with slow-paced clunky controls, and the occasional moments where the directions on where to go in the game's open-world travel map aren't clear, which is frustrating. Despite its faults, there are still moments of this weird little experience that I won't soon forget.

Kentucky Route Zero is a game about liminal spaces. Cardboard Computer's surrealist masterpiece finds its characters in search of things that may or may not exist. In the most literal sense, what they are looking for is the Zero, a hidden highway where our hero Conway is scheduled to make his final antique delivery to 5 Dogwood Drive. However, Conway and his cohorts' adventure is far more existential than the mere exploration for a mysterious address. Like the Zero, which exists somewhere between real and unreal, each of KRZ's heroes find themselves adrift between two states of being—life and death, employment and unemployment, companionship and loneliness. Their odyssey through a post-recession Kentucky, itself belonging to a space between the prosperity of the super-rich and the poverty of the working classes, finds them in search of something that will ail this liminality. What that is, however, even they don't seem to know. What is it that makes 5 Dogwood Drive so important? Maybe at this address they hope to locate the American Dream, or even the meaning of life, both of which are equally as elusive as the lost highway they are in pursuit of.