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.
3 Comments
I don't really understand what you mean by Grapes with Lynch influence, care to explain? I get how it's magical realism focusing on struggling Americans, but I feel like that comparison is a bit ham-fisted.
This review was written originally 2 years ago on GG (I'm currently working on transferring my reviews as I no longer want to be associated with that site), so my memory of the game itself has been faded. All I can really say is I'm not a fully patient person. I cannot really deal with media that really wants you sit there and ruminate or reflect as you're currently partaking in it. Movies with long shots of not a lot happening like A Ghost Story, 2001: A Space Odyssey, or even the latest horror craze Skinamarink. Kentucky Route Zero felt like it was constantly wanting me to sit there and reflect on the difficulties of these characters all struggling to find work or wealth. Every character or text box felt like it's own 20 minute monologue on how "these time are tough" and I frankly couldn't see much expansion past that. Maybe more was said in later chapters of the game, but The Barfly chapter I grew frustrated. That sequence went on for so long, and by its halfway point I pretty much began button mashing my way through the constant giant text boxes for the rest of the game.
AnarchoFooty
1 year ago