Have to admit, I’m really looking forward to getting back on the road that Digixart has so carefully paved.when i amReviews on Gamereactor SpainI may sound utterly enthusiastic when I give Road 96 a 10, but the truth is, its story and narrative totally grabbed me on a hot August day in 2021.
It’s been a while, but the small French studio still has a story to tell us regarding Petria, President Terak, and most importantly, its two young protagonists, Zoe and Kaito (yes , the same Kaito from the studio’s first title, Lost in Harmony). Because Road 96: Mile 0, coming out in early April, is a more restrained adventure than the first, and it feels more intimate because here it doesn’t quite work with the choices we make or the characters’ puzzles with the procedural narrative put it together.
These features were evident in the first few minutes of the hour-long demo I was able to try out, following a presentation we interviewed game director Yoan Fanise a few months ago. In it, the developer confirms that it will be a smaller adventure that will take place two months before the events of Road 96, that it will talk regarding the roots of the characters’ motivations, and that it will also honor the player’s journey in the first game.
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“We wanted to respect the decisions and consequences of player choices, so we made a prequel rather than a second part,”Farnes pointed out.
Road 96: Mile 0 also got rid of the political message hidden in Road 96 (it wasn’t) and replaced it with a new narrative through the music and its representation of teenage emotion, in Fanise’s words,“The Construction of Identity and the Transition to Adulthood”.But, because of its accessibility, it means an adventure that can be enjoyed even in a game session or two. I found this in the early stages of the game too, in addition to digging deep into the characters’ backgrounds and motivations, I also saw this in the new music section – it was more of a test of the musical reaction, every time I made a mistake One big mistake and the game will take me back to the moment before I stumbled. This is part of the philosophy of opening arms to any player, even those just starting out. Fanise clarified,“I don’t like games that block progress, we’ve made sure there are many ways to progress through the adventure”,There are no puzzles or sheet music levels to stop anyone.
Even so, despite its differences from Road 96, some of its core elements are here, such as the design and artwork, the point and click controls, and of course the emotional backdrop it left behind. It’s not a linear adventure, but it’s easy to move between parts of the narrative’s progression thanks to the central hub, the abandoned construction site we see in the game’s artwork. From here, we’ll visit different environments in Shandy Sands, and we’ll also meet some familiar faces, so I won’t say much more to avoid spoiling the surprise. Suffice it to say, I now have a wider understanding of some of the characters in Road 96, since Mile 0 takes place two months before the first game.
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What I’ve seen so far intrigues me as it’s a very brief preview (although the game is also short), but it has all the elements I loved regarding the first game: a great story, well thought out Constructed characters, a clear social message and metaphors regarding the world we live in. Road 96: Mile 0 is where the story begins, and I have high hopes for the title’s arrival on April 4.
