0 Story

0Story (Import) Review

The game is quite straightforward, and the story progresses on its own, as if you are watching a movie. In certain scenes you are required to make a decision, and the story splinters from there. But while the paths may differ from game to game, the final goal remains the same. The only replay value may come from picking choices to see the different sections of the story.

The other interactive action in the game is shooting arrows. You must occasionally shoot arrows at the girl, allowing you to read her mind. Reading her mind raises a love meter, as does picking the right paths and winning minigames. The minigames range from baseball to rhythm/dancing games, similar to Parappa. Do poorly in the games or make the wrong decisions, and the love meter will decrease. The object of the game is to fill the love meter up to 100 percent by the end of the sixth day.

The video quality is good, but the video isn't compressed as cleanly as you've come to expect from DVD movies, resulting in some pretty obvious artifacting. The few portions of the game that aren't purely video aren't too spectacular either - they look more like average PlayStation graphics than those of a PlayStation2 game.

The game was obviously made for people who are already into the love-simulation genre, attracting a few fans of the game's actresses in the process. An understanding of the Japanese language is a must, and there are a lot of cultural references in the game, which may really look odd for the American audience. Will 0Story relaunch the concept of the FMV game? Will we see a new Night Trap game someday? Sewer Shark 2? Probably not. But 0Story remains a curious and somewhat interesting product, provided you can handle the language barrier.

Gamespot