Spike Chunsoft Ventures into Dungeon Crawling with Zanki Zero: Last Beginning

-GeekyGamerGirl87- When I first saw the trailer for Zanki Zero: Last Beginning I was drawn into it because of the context of the story, and the fact that this was a dungeon crawler, which as I have covered a lot of Spike Chunsoft’s games in the past (Stein’s Gate Zero, Stein’s Gate Elite, Chaos;Child) this was the first time I had seen a dungeon crawler from them, and so I was intrigued and wonder how the game would turn out, as Spike Chunsoft— for me— is more so known for their visual novels. However, when we here at thedailygamepad.com were given a free review copy of Zanki Zero: Last Beginning for PlayStation 4; I was excited to cover the game and just like the others before it. I fell in love with it. Before I go into my review, I would like to thank Spike Chunsoft for providing us at thedailygamepad.com with a free copy of the game for review.  Also, I would like to take the time to let the readers know that the game does bring up subjects of suicide and death. If you or someone you know are suicidal please contact the suicide prevention line at 1-800-273-8255 or text 741741. Understand you are not alone. someone is there to help you. Now that that has been said, let us get into the review.

Zanki Zero: Last Beginning is a game that does a very well job of combining a visual novel with a dungeon crawler. As with the other stories from Spike Chunsoft has provided for us, this story does not disappoint. As always, I will try to be as vague as possible with the story as to not give away too much of the story. You play as Haruto Higurashi, a 25-year-old editor who seems to have had it with his current life and decides to end it. Upon jumping off the building he hears a splash and is left confused when he is awakened by a little girl named Sachika Hirasaka who has a prosthetic arm and leg. She tells Haruto that they are on Garage Island and that he is the eighth person to join their team and takes him back to the others. As Sachika has mentioned there are the six other people here on Garage Island. They all are twenty-five years old including Haruto. The other six people on the island are Ryo Nakajima, an artist who seems to be chill and lazy. Mamoru Ichiyo, a very muscular doctor in training who hopes to go into pediatrics and enjoys lifting weights as a hobby. Zen Kubota, a farmer from the countryside in the mountains, who’s a little more than what he seems. Minamo Setouchi an up and coming police sergeant. Rinko Susukino, a young woman who works in her family’s flower shop. The last person is Yuma Mashiro, a plus size Lolita dressed girl who is the daughter of Renji Mashiro, a wealthy man.

Upon meeting the others Haruto Higurashi accuses them of kidnap until the TV in the garage comes on and a show called Extend TV comes on. The hosts of Extend TV are Sho — a young boy— and Mirai—a sheep—  and tells the group how they are the last eight survivors of humanity and must repopulate the world and must do this through a series of missions that are provided by the hosts. A little skeptical, Haruto thinks they have all been kidnapped and this is some sick twisted reality show, and that they need to find a way off Garage Island, but soon finds out that this is not the case at all.  Again, that is as much as I am going to share of the story out of respect for the writers and not to give away the entire story.

As stated, this is still very much a visual novel, with the added effects of a dungeon crawler. The game is a single player mode game and you play as Haruto. There are three modes you can choose from. They are “Easy Mode”, “Normal Mode”, and “Hard Mode”. In “Easy Mode” enemies are nonexistent. This is ideal for those who want the story only. You do not have to worry about Stress, Bladder or ailments in the game. All your destinations will be marked on the map to push the game along. In “Normal Mode” the enemies are not too strong, but you do have to watch your Bladder gauge, and your stamina doesn’t decrease. The challenges get harder as you get used to the game. In “Hard Mode” you do get a real challenge; this is for those who are looking for more of a gaming aspect. You will get strong enemies and better rewards, but you must manage Stress, Stamina and Bladder. When it came to the controls of the game for PlayStation 4 you use a controller. The game is available on PC and I imagine that the game would allow for you to use keyboard/mouse as well as the controller. In terms of the graphics, the graphics are very pleasing to the eye and have been drawn nicely.

The game does feature Japanese and English voiceovers. You can choose to do Japanese voiceovers with English subtitle and vice versa. As I have played the other games with Japanese voice over with English subtitles, I choose to play this game the same way.  It always makes me feel as if I am watching a subbed anime episode when I play them this way.  When it comes to the dungeon crawl aspect of the game, it is a grid-based dungeon crawl. This was something I loved because it makes the game a bit easier to follow for me. The map which is accessible by the touchpad on the PlayStation 4 controller is easy to read. Another cool feature in the game is Haruto can become encumbered if he is carrying too much stuff. However, the other members of the party cannot become encumbered if they are. Now, I will admit that this was the case in the Normal Mode; it could be very different in the Hard Mode of the game. Although I loved the dive into the dungeon crawling genre, there were a few things that were a little off with the game.

One of the biggest features they had in other games that aren’t in this game was the Log. In previous games, if you missed something in the dialog during the visual novel, it allowed you to go back and read it. However, in Zanki Zero: Last Beginning that feature is not included which makes me a little sad. Sometimes I accidentally skip over the dialogue. Therefore, I would have liked that feature to be able to go back to what I missed. The controls do take a moment to get used to on PlayStation 4. My brain is trained to use analog sticks to move around. However, it is the directional pad you use when moving around. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing just a reminder to gamers that on the console it’s usually directional pad to move around in dungeon crawlers. Another thing is that it takes a while before the system menu is introduced in the game. I would have liked the option of the system menu to have come up a little earlier, but with it wanting to focus a bit more on the dungeon crawler portion of the game, I understand why the system is introduced later. The last thing that I wanted to point out is that sometimes things aren’t explained very well. For example, they mention how I could now save my game. They did not show exactly where the save point was (or I was a little dense and didn’t think clearly) but I walked around the game for an hour and a half looking for a save point, when the save point was right in my face.

Zanki Zero: Last Beginning does offer trophies/achievements for those of you who are trophy/achievement hunters. There are a total of thirty-eight trophies/achievements for you to collect. They come easy, and if you are into visual novels/dungeon crawlers the trophies/achievements will come to you rather quickly.  For those of us who choose to purchase the game on Steam, the game does include steam trading cards. I am unsure how many cards there are in total, as I reviewed the PlayStation 4 version of the game.  

Overall, I thought Zanki Zero: Last Beginning was a good game and a nice change of pace for Spike Chunsoft. The story is excellent enough to keep visual novel lovers intrigue, and the dungeon crawling aspects of the game were a nice touch to the game. If you would like to play Zanki Zero: Last Beginning, you can do so on Steam or PlayStation 4 for the price of $59.99 USD.