|OT| Kentucky Route Zero - Take care. Think of me when you dial zero!

Rockin' Ranger · Jan 22, 2020

Everyone playing should make sure to play the interludes too, they're fantastic as well. Un Pueblo de Nada is as good as any of the episodes.

BEN: I guess it doesn't matter -- the ghost voices don't really come out until you play back the recording later.

BOB: They only exist in recordings, like a copy without the original. A mirror reflecting something that isn't in the room.

prudis · Jan 22, 2020

great OT , locked my news thread News - Kentucky Route Zero - The Final Act V releasing on January 28

Doctor Ironic · Jan 22, 2020

Any news if the Xbox One X version is 4K HDR? And will the interludes be added to the PC version?

Wok · Jan 22, 2020

Great poll! :emo:

Swenhir · Jan 22, 2020

I've been interested in this game since forever, but I have to say seeing Annapurna get their grubby little hands on that project worries me.

lashman · Jan 22, 2020

awesome OT, ListeningGarden ... love it!

MJunioR · Jan 22, 2020

Great OT!

Dandy · Jan 22, 2020

This game is so great. I cannot wait to dive back into it.

Mor · Jan 22, 2020

Amazing OT ListeningGarden, Great job

Since I'm going to start the game again for chapter five, I think it will be a new wild journey.

Doctor Ironic · Jan 22, 2020

ListeningGarden said:
HDR, I'm not sure. 4K was "confirmed" for appropriate consoles, but they say the image will be a 1080p render with nearest-neighbor/integer scaling to preserve certain effects and linework which ends up getting rendered out at too high of a resolution.

All interludes will be included as part of the PC Edition, and they have a new Act select menu that lets you play them at any time. They will also be updating the individual downloads with newly updated builds to be in-line with the final release.

Okay, excellent news. I’m probably going to get the PC version then if the art was “meant to be” displayed at 1080p, unless there is HDR support.

Swenhir said:
I've been interested in this game since forever, but I have to say seeing Annapurna get their grubby little hands on that project worries me.

The game is already on Steam, so I don’t think you have anything to worry about.

Dandy · Jan 22, 2020

Mor said:
Amazing OT ListeningGarden, Great job

Since I'm going to start the game again for chapter five, I think it will be a new wild journey.

I have to replay it as well. I think I stopped at episode 3, but I only remember episode 1.

lashman · Jan 22, 2020

oh, one more thing ListeningGarden - don't forget about the thread cover pic

Mivey · Jan 22, 2020

First time I will be starting this next week. Looking forward to what all that hype is about.
I heard people say it makes time to take some time between the episodes, so maybe I'll play it over the course of a month, one episode each week

lashman · Jan 23, 2020

ListeningGarden said:
It's so tinyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ;w;

yeah, i know

nothing can be done about that ... the devs have to change that (and they still haven't) ... but it looks good anyway!

thanks!

lashman · Jan 28, 2020

ListeningGarden said:

hyyyype!

i can finally start playing it

been waiting YEARS for this moment

Mivey · Jan 28, 2020

Just finished Act 1 and Limits & Demonstrations.

I really like the atmosphere and feel of this game, it's strongly evoking old interactive fiction games, and many of the side adventures you find on the road are essentially tiny IF games. The larger story is still quite a mystery. Given the tone of the game, I have the feeling it's all just a bunch of metaphors and it's not really about simply delivering something to Dogwood Road.

I can't say I'm too hooked into the game yet, More like vaguely intrigued. The interlude was nice, loved to see the three PnP nerds again, and the setting of an art installation is certainly well done. It took me a while to get the connection with Act 1, and I'm still not sure I understand Joseph's backstory 100%, though we did get some interesting glimpses into his life with Lula and Donald, so that's interesting.

As I said, I'll take a week long break until starting Act II.

Wildebeet · Jan 28, 2020

Great OT! Love KR0. Going to wait till this weekend, get a nice bourbon, and (finally) finish it. And the game.

Joe Spangle · Jan 29, 2020

I bought the first Act about a million years ago, i think i enjoyed it a bit but cant really remember much about it so might give it another go.

Mivey · Feb 8, 2020

Finished Act II and The Entertainment yesterday.

Playing this one, I understand why it takes some time to develop each act, as the actual presentation changes in many ways to accommodate the narrative. I really like how it goes back and forth from 2D to 3D scenes, at times giving a sense of actual complex spaces.

The story itself proceeds very slowly, Conway and Shannon get the actual address of Dogwood Drive, and Conway's leg injury is taken care of. Yet we get to understand finally what the Zero is: A mysterious underground route, accessible through a magical entrance. It also houses the mysterious "Bureau of Reclaimed Spaces". The real star in Act II is Lula Chamberlain, who was strongly featured in Limits and Demonstrations, the interlude between Act I and II. While waiting to start her career as an artists, she works by day (or is it night?) as an office clerk. The game generally seems to focus a lot on these personal stories, you get to to talk to or at least hear from many people throughout this act.

I love the magical surrealism so far. How it mixes things from the real world, with things from dreams quite seamlessly.

The Entertainment was most fascinating for the first person perspective, and for giving us more glimpses into Lula and Carrington. The actual play was okay, if fairly boring. Nice twist at the end, though.

Mivey · Feb 17, 2020

Finished Act III and Here and There Along The Echo today

Act III feels to me like the point when the game really comes together. Were before it was mostly interesting due to just doing lots of weird stuff, with this one I feel I understand in a sense what this game is really about. The characters of Conway and Shannon feel more nuanced with each Act, and the new additions from Act II Ezra and Act II, Junebug and Johnny are just great. I really loved that interactive song sequence of hers, Overall, the game has this strange feeling of sadness over it. A lof of great things that could have been, but never did (the story of Lula, Donald and Joseph), Conway who doesn't understand what he will do once this last job is done, and Shannon, trying to find some sense in her past.
Even the more upbeat characters can't really escape this, Ezra being all alone. The closest to actually happy people might be Johnny and Junebug, since they stopped to pretend to make sense of it all and just live as drifters.
Really loved the Xanadu section as well, pure IF nostalgia. The Cave references in this game are, I assume, a gigantic reference to the Collosal Cave Adventure, and Xanadu is the most obvious one yet.
Still many mysteries left, like the Strangers and their ultimate purpose to this game.

Here and There Along the Echo
A great interactive audioplay, in the form of an interactive telephone guide to the Echo River, the setting of Act IV presumably. Absolutely amazing interlude, can really recommend it to anyone with a bit of patience.

Mivey · Mar 1, 2020

Finished Act IV and Un Pueblo de Nada yesterday

Act IV felt like the longest so far, didn't actually finish it in one sitting, but three, though it's also that I played it very late and was fairly tired each time. The group from Act III, that's Conway and Sharron, accompanied by Ezra and the two band members Johnny and Junebug, goes upstream (or is that downstream?) the river Echo, to leave the Route Zero and finally find Dogwood Route. Or is that the goal? Conway is taken over more and more by his deal with the gang from Hard Times, he also took up drinking again, when in Acts I and II he clearly tried to keep it together - even if just for this last job. But after Act III he seems to have completely given up on it. Act IV has probably the most regular structure of all acts so far. You go down the river a bit, hear about some of its strange places, then actually visit another strange place - or stay on board the boat and do something else. I decided to leave the boat each time, as I wanted to find about about River Echo and its places.
It's amazing how each stop feels completely different. Given the loose structure of this game, and how they really try to keep you surprised, it's no wonder this game took many months and years to make.

The themes of loss, money troubles, and an acute sense of nostalgia run deep in this one. I don't really understand if this is a political comment about Kentucky, or rural America in general, or rather just something personal the devs wanted to express and explore. If it is a political comment, then it's remarkable how subtle this game is about it, and how timeless too. No references to current or past events, just a stream of consciousness -esque description of experienced reality.

Un Pueblo De Nada was interesting for two reasons. One it explores Weaver and her strange nature a bit, as a ghost and how she affects so many things in the background of this game. I wonder if the events here are happening at the same time as Act I - when Weaver appeared the first time in the TV.
The other thing were that we saw the musical trio again, but this time as actual people, not semighost like appearances. Guess they run a TV station in their day jobs. Emilys self-critical and insecure thoughts are beautifully contrasted with her non-chalant professional responses. The writing in KRZ is truly superb.

Mivey · Mar 12, 2020

Finished Act V and Death of a Hired Man.

The final act is very different from everything before. Instead of each Act being split into individual chapters, with their own name and introduction, this act takes plays in the same area, which gradually changes as time goes on. Our crew finds themselves in the town with no roads -- mentioned during Here And There Along The Echo. As the name says, it was a quasi-magical place, which was connected to the outside word only via plane. They had a big runway as the only thing resembling a road, and a small plane which brought supplies.

When our crew arrives, it was after a big storm, and torrential rains which lead to a massive flood. The town is greatly damaged, but the worst seems to be the death of two horses, colloquially known as "the Neighbours". These creatures didn't belong to anyone, but instead were in a sense the original residents of the town.
While this description sounds very sad, the actual act - for me - had a positive note. A new, empty house appears - the near-legendary Dogwood Route 5, and our crew decides (or I chose for them to decide) to stay in the town and use the house and the town for their various endeavours. Junebug and Johnny starting a studio. Shannon opening some repair shop, and Ezra reunited with his friend Flora, seemingly staying together in the town.

So on the grave of the old settlement, a new lives begins for our crew. I'm a bit sad though, that nobody seems to mention Conway. Maybe it's because he seems to have given up on them, and everyone wants to avoid the subject.

The final scene, the burial of the Neigbours, is among the most beautiful things I have ever seen in a game, easily. Great ending

Death of a Hired Man, seems a bit strange. It's about how Carrington couldn't perform his play, he also references the ideas you gave him for it throughout the game. In my case it was about holding the play in the Elkhorn Mines. The play is revealed to be about a poem from Robert Frost, the eponymous "Death of a hired Man". The interlude is Carrington and Harry (of the Lower Depths bar) sitting in front of a TV, together with Emily from the ghostly band, and pirate TV station. They talk about an unseen employee of Harry, who wants to help, but Harry seems unwilling to hire him, with Carrington trying to persuade him. They talk about what "home" is, other things.
Having read up on the poem, I get how the irony is that despite the play being cancelled, Carrington still got to perform it without noticing it: The poem is about a pair, husband and wife, talking about hiring some to help them with haymaking, and the husband being, again, unwilling to do so, with the wife trying to persuade him.

It's feels out of place after that effective ending of Act V, feel like the game would be better without this, but maybe that's just me.

Overall, I'm happy to have played it, and thank again ListeningGarden for your great OP, which reminded me of it coming out.

beep boop · Feb 28, 2021

I played through all of this earlier last year, and it did not go down well at all. Still can’t entirely put my finger on why. As a whole the narrative felt very opaque and the pacing of the play was so slow that it came across as very hostile to the player. I think it’d actually have been better if I played an act a year rather than all of it over the course of a few days. I liked a lot of its ideas separately but as a whole it didn’t seem to fit together all that well? Too many seams that felt a little too loose, but perhaps that’s there’s a charm in that that escaped me. I’m also usually not too bothered by fake player agency, but in this game I was. Perhaps I was simply not in the right headspace for this type of experience!

Mivey · Feb 28, 2021

beep boop said:
I played through all of this earlier last year, and it did not go down well at all. Still can’t entirely put my finger on why. As a whole the narrative felt very opaque and the pacing of the play was so slow that it came across as very hostile to the player. I think it’d actually have been better if I played an act a year rather than all of it over the course of a few days. I liked a lot of its ideas separately but as a whole it didn’t seem to fit together all that well? Too many seams that felt a little too loose, but perhaps that’s there’s a charm in that that escaped me. I’m also usually not too bothered by fake player agency, but in this game I was. Perhaps I was simply not in the right headspace for this type of experience!

Playing it all in the span of a few days is not a good choice. One Act a week worked very well for me. You need some time to think and let the game grow on you.
it's definitely an experience that requires active work by the player. of course, not something that's going to work for everyone.

Wildebeet · Feb 28, 2021

This game does an amazing job of capturing appalachia and how kentucky and west virginia actually feel. I wish I knew more about Cardboard Computer's relation to the place.

|OT| Kentucky Route Zero - Take care. Think of me when you dial zero!

Do you have any debts?

I never really had any collateral.

I owe some people some apologies.

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