Katana ZERO, a time-warping samurai escapade, boasts stunning visuals, music, mechanics, and writing. It's one of 2019's best games thus far.

Completing each of the 11 missions only took a few hours but my playtime increased dramatically trying to earn each of the different endings. In so many aspects I was left wanting more. I want to play more as the secondary character, I want to understand the story better, and in so many cases I just want to know what the hell is going on. Katana Zero is such a wild drug-crazed adventure that I just can’t get enough of and I will continue to be getting my fix of it for weeks to come.

Katana Zero is an incredibly stylish title, from the great looking pixel art to the fantastic soundtrack that accompanies the fast and brutal action. You really get to feel like you're a master swordsman as you overcome the challenges put before you, or die trying.

Katana Zero is a mesmerizing title. The narrative twists and turns in odd ways, and the payoff is both open and satisfying. The action is crisp if you can commit everything to memory well enough to create small, bloody masterpieces. With a familiar yet attractive presentation, Kata Zero feels right at home on the indie-loving machine that is the Nintendo Switch.

By the end you'll probably be left wanting more. [Issue #40 – July/August 2019, p. 18]

After a sort of simple and slow beginning, Katana Zero unleashes its fantastic gameplay and narrative. We wish it had more reasons to replay it, as it is a little bit short, but it is absolutely fantastic while it lasts.

If you can ignore gameplay flaws and focus on style, you might fall in love with its VHS trappings. However, if you want something beyond style, if you want an interesting interactive tale or a precise action game, you should look elsewhere.