Z.A.T.O - I Love the World and Everything in it
Game by Ferry / Nopanamaman
I think this game came to me at a very.. Er Prominent time in my life. I Think I say that about Most Times nowadays, haha.. But I Think I've always been a Sole believer that the Universe gives you what you Need at the Right time, and Maybe this game is an embodiment of that. Perhaps You Play as Asya Shubina, a 14 year old Student who lives at the Vorkuta-5, a Strange but Seemingly well-performing closed City compound in the USSR. Outcasted and picked on initially for her timid, passive Nature, the game follows the Events after an upperclassman, Ira Grachevskaya, someone who [Seemingly [perhaps [maybe? [you think [but she couldn't have]]] defended Asya during a round of rote Bullying goes completely Missing from the complex. Search Parties turn up Nothing. Days Pass. Maybe this is a Sign.
This game treads the line of the Surreal and the Literal. I do think everything in it is Meant to be taken Literally. Outliers in the Signal, the world Course correcting, a strange Psychosis induced by seeing the code of the World- It's all real in this story. I couldn't Tell you why I feel this way, but I think The story would be Weaker if it Wasn't. I want there to be a weight to that Final I Love You. I personally think this game is about Kindness. There are some characters in the game that Seem outwardly Cruel, brash, rude - Ira is offputting, sets herself up to Seemingly enact Cruelty, Smokes in the corner and withdraws from the world. Vadim is a stock Bully type, rallying friends to Pick on a vulnerable target, messing around in rumormongering, but The game- Asya - Thoroughly continues to deny this about These Characters. Asya sees the good in the World, even in its seeming Cruelty- she measures herself as Insignificance, finds the beauty in Berating, counts patterns in Ice Crystals; If the Universe has made it, then Surely it is Beautiful. And I think all the characters In the game represent that. Ira is more than just Cruel, and withdrawn- she's deeply, deeply scared of what others will Do to her. She cares about the People around her, but she's Simply not allowed to Voice it. Vadim, too, has so much He cares about- His family, slowly deteriorating, He has to keep up his own act of being the centerpin of his class, and In that He has to mask the concern for himself, His family, and Hell, even Asya. Maria posits herself as someone Uncaring, acting out her Feelings deliberately to cover up the Deep Wells her condition afflicts her with; but How far can an act go? How long can she pretend to be kind Before she simply is kind?
I don't think I need to Talk too much about the art- I am very fond of the pen-pressureless Simple illustration style with the slight dithering at the ends, and the Edited photo backgrounds give this game a Slight edge of nostalgia that I Think cements the warm, Disconcerting feeling the game gives me. Something is wrong, perhaps, but Everything in this game manages to brush my face and tell me No, it'll Be ok. It takes skill to pull off Both at once, and I think the Music Selection also does an Excellent job at this as well
This game is beautiful. I Do Wish We got a little bit more for the End- I feel like I think it just went by a Little Too fast, and I wish we got a Little more about Tosya before she left- Perhaps it's on purpose, to Purposefully obfuscate her until the end, but I would have Just liked to see more. Perchance. I think amidst all the Cruelty and unfairness in the world, There's just something small and beautiful waiting in the creases of it. I think this game spoke to me a Lot about this idea of the Universe always having its way , something I think I've learned to believe after severe bouts of Trauma. I wouldn't call it God, it's just fate, I guess; I just know I'll get what I deserve if I simply do things right. Maybe it's Reductive or trite but it's kept me alive for So long. And I'm glad I got to see Asya's story, and Maybe I'll see these messages from the universe in a kinder light.
My favorite CG from the Game BTW, next to the Ending one which I won't Post just In case people See this without Playing/Reading the Entire game