Game Primer: ZENO Remake

[marinehaddock]

Links

itch.io

ZENO Remake

ZENO is an RPGMaker horror game originally released in 2015 and remade in 2021. It's only available on PC but is available in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese and English. It can take 1-3 hours for a playthrough but it took me about 8 hours for all the endings I got.

I can't speak for the quality of the Korean, Chinese, and Portuguese translations, but the English translation is... a bit lacking. My Japanese speaking friend suspects it was almost entirely machine translated; I suspect it's because the translator is Chinese and was either translating from the Chinese version or from the Japanese into English (which would be two non-native languages) and wasn't quite as fluent as people may be looking for. That said, the story is coherent except for some confusion with the localisation of "nii-chan"/"nii-san" but it's most notable for the choice to have Tsugino occassionally talk in chat speak and "something" is consistently written as "sth" (which, as a smth truther, took me a bit to work out). Also dead people are referred to as "unconscious", which makes it seem like Maeno is just in denial about the corpses. I've played through the game multiple times and while the translation issues definitely jumped out at me the first time, on subsequent playthroughs I found they weren't actually that prominent and there were no points where the translation prevented me from progressing.

The Brief

Two guys wake up in a room with...
AMNESIA!
In order to leave the room, they have to be handcuffed together. When they exit the room they find some information about their identities. One of them is a genius, the other is a serial killer and they appear to be in some sort of facility? As they explore, they find a slew of corpses. The pair have to try and escape while exploring the facility and solving the puzzles that litter the facility.

I'll be real, the premise of this one didn't hook me, but this is a trust the process game to me.

This is a very traditional RPG Maker horror game; filled with puzzles and fun ways to die. I had a great time seeing the death scenes, a lot of them are really fun. There's an option to have random chases happen which I went without. Spoiler: there is only one actual chase sequence in the game if you have this option turned off. It's short but the mapping is a pain. If you do turn them on, they function on random chance to (de)spawn as you enter and leave areas.

Content Warnings

Depictions of Mental Health	The game involves a new mental health condition being discovered and experimental treatments for it.
Cannibalism	Prominent from the second level onwards; there's a lot of cannibalism happening in this facility.
Blood	There is an option at the start to turn off excessive blood; I never tried it out to see how much of the blood it removes but I assume not all of it.
Gun Violence	Not prominent, I believe it's only in one ending. Highlight to reveal which: Bad Ending F: Retribution, however it is mentioned in Sin Ending D: Checkmate
Suicide and Asking to be Killed	Some of the corpses around the facility may be. Highlight for endings featuring suicide Normal Ending B, Sin Endings C Highlight for endings where someone asks to be killed Sin Ending D, All versions of the true ending (C, D, and E) and all versions of the Ushirono part (F, G, and H)
Explosions and Bombings	One of the routes Ushirono Part features a character that specialises in blowing things up.
Murder	Yeah.
Torture	Lot of things featured would realistically be considered torture, but also some of the endings are specifically torture based.
Glitchy Screens	All sin ending routes have heavy glitching imagery
Flashing Lights	On the first floor of puzzles, once you go through the long hallway, there is 3 doors on the left and one of the right. When you go through the door on the right, there is a flashing green light. There is no way to toggle it.

Characters

	Aki Maeno - A supposed genius, not that he remembers much. He's a strategic problem solver and quiet, frequently lost in thought. He's managing to stay calm about the situation and just focus on making his way out.
	Haru Tsugino - a murderer, but of course, he has amnesia now. He doesn't remember killing all those people and he's pretty horrified by the whole situation. He's shouty and crass, but he does seem to be remembering things faster than Maeno.

Endings

Normal endings are any endings you will get for not getting every bonus thing. True endings mean you got the bonus things. The sin branch is essentially you almost got the true ending and then you stepped away from your keyboard for 5+ minutes at the wrong time. The Ushirono branch is only available as new game plus if you get the true ending AND have certain key items. The game overs are pretty hard to get accidentally except for the chase one, all the others you'll probably have to go out of your way to get.

Normal Ending 0: Oblivion	I haven't got this ending so I can't give a full opinion. It's the ending you get for "I explored absolutely nothing" and I wasn't committing to playing through the game again just to get nothing.
Normal Ending A: The One I’m Waiting For Never Returns	The first ending I got; if you don't get it first time I don't feel it's necessary for understanding anything. It's a perfectly good ending and I enjoyed it.
Normal Ending B: Crime	One of my favourite endings and the ending that inspired the entire game. I love what it does for their relationship.
Bad Ending C: Punishment	The first of the true ending route; you can't really accidentally get this one, you really got to opt into it. I think this one is worth seeing, though a lot of the same themes are reiterated in other endings.
True Ending D: Proof	Personally, this is my favourite ending. It suits them so well and it feels like the the perfect level of happiness without everything being perfect.
True Ending E: Respective Regret, Respective Future	This is the same as True Ending D except one more character is alive. This is the ending that is canon to the epilogue game.
Bad Ending F: Retribution	Not a big fan of this one but I do think it's worth seeing to give another side of their dynamic
Bad Ending G: Never-Waking-Up Paradise	This wasn't a standout ending to me, but it does have some good character interactions and gives the thesis statement, so I think it can be good to see.
True Ending H: Thank You For Playing	If you want everything tied up in a neat bow, this is the ending. All the plot is basically resolved, everyone gets their ending, and there's very little left to worry about. I appreciate it for what it is and I think it's nice to have the completed thesis statement with Tsugino laying his feelings bare, but I prefer endings that leave more room. I think it's worth getting for all the story it offers.
Sin Endings	All sin endings are unnecessary, but they're quick and easy to get, so you can enjoy them for a little bonus
Game Over (Chase)	You don't need this one, it'll just happen if you fail the chase sequence
Game Over: Intestines	A silly ending that plays into the stereotypical horror. It feels self-aware that it's silly but it's the one even the creator will meme
Game Over: Escape	This is the one I don't feel you have to get, but it can help cement some of the feelings being put into the game when compared with the actual endings
Game Over: Drowning	One of my favourites! I found this one so fun, I kept trying to find variations on it cause it was so silly.
Game Over: Height Increased	I don't think this one is particularly necessary but it does have a lot of variations depending on what you've unlocked in the story and some of them can be really fun character parts.
Game Over: Did You Call	Lacklustre, can be skipped
Game Over: Never End	Sad but my ship is real so-
Game Over: Unreality	Not a particularly standout one
Game Over: Dream	I genuinely don't remember if I got this one
Game Over: Melt	Incredibly funny visual tbh, it's a quick one so it can be fun to do just for the silly
Game Over: Explosion	Another favourite! I think about it a lot, but it does take AGES to get it but I like what it says about them :]

Why I Like It

Listen, I know the premise of this game doesn't promise much. I picked it up, expected it to kind of suck but do for a halloween game with friends.
But I fell in love with it.
Mostly for the homoeroticism- but also, hey, canonically queer character! I loved how the Tsugino and Maeno's relationship grew throughout the game and learning their previous connection to each other. I liked how the game handled conflicting feelings and coming to terms with love. I especially loved how it handled Tsugino and his feelings and treated him with so much care.

Comments

[muccamukk]

That sounds really interesting (I love amnesia plots! even if they're very silly, medically speaking, feed me more!) The translation errors made me laugh out loud, especially in a horror came. "Unconscious"! Amazing!

[marinehaddock]

I'm so glad there's people out there who like amnesia plots!! I feel they get a lot of shit and having to be like "no I prommy it's still good and actually adds interesting elements to the story!!" is so tiring lmao

I really hope you can get the chance to play!

[eff_ess_oe]

Havent played this one yet (been meaning to though once I clear my backlog), but the though tof Maeno being like "nah they're just unconscious" when interacting with a dead body makes me laugh. To quote Wendy Williams, "Denial is a river in Egypt".

[marinehaddock]

I hope you can get to it!! Honestly love just imagining Maeno as the game progresses Increasingly Insisting no one is dead despite the overwhelming evidence