We, as humans, quickly grow bored of repetition. Disinterest rises to the surface when we hear that yet another movie, TV show, or video game comes out that borrows heavily from already established tropes and genres. However, every so often, a piece of media will release that puts an interesting spin or new take on an established genre. One could argue that shows like Game of Thrones or movies like Disney’s Zootopia fit this bill, and for games, it would seem that Zanki Zero is the most likely candidate.
Spike Chunsoft’s latest RPG will launch in Japan for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita in the summer. The game will pit players in a battle for survival on Gareki Island, with 7 other people. All the characters in the game aside from the player character, are actually clones of humans, inspired after the Seven Deadly Sins of humanity as prescribed in Christianity. They are:
- Minamo Setouchi – The police officer of “pride.”
- Haruto Higurashi – The editor of “laziness.”
- Yuma Mashiro – The madam of “gluttony.”
- Mamoru Ichiha – The doctor of “greed.”
- Rinko Susukino – The florist of “lust.”
- Zen Kihoda – The farmer of “anger.”
- Ryou Mihanashi – The artist of “jealousy.”
- Sachika Hirasaka – The girl of “original sin.”
Survival in Zanki Zero is linked primarily to a water supply station, and the player must find ways to improve on this base to ensure that all the characters on the island make it out alive. Through the course of the game, the characters will age, and if they are not taken adequate care of, their HP will hit 0 and they will die. However, the remaining people on the island can use a mechanism referred to as ‘Extend Machine’ which uses scores to revive or create clones of the deceased character.
There are dungeons and ruins for the player to explore through real time, with items to be collected and enemies that can be fought. In fact, these enemies will even attack if you are sifting through your inventory. You can also take on missions that are assigned on Extend TV, the local television station that serves as a guide for the people on the island.