History VideoGame / KatanaZero

* DevelopersForesight: Once returning home, [[TheProtagonist Zero's]] TV will tune in on a news channel detailing the aftermath of the killing spree he caused. A lot of small actions done by the player will be mentioned in the report: For example, Josh Rose is typically DrivenToSuicide, but can also be killed by the Sword of Masters, or other throwables like the statue and the cleaver that also spawn in the segment. This will change the way his death is described. If the player pisses off the receptionist on the way in or admits to killing people on the way out, two police officers have to be killed, in which case the news changes the body count and specifically mentions the officers.

* EscortMission: Subverted. The first level ends with what appears to be an escort quest involving the protagonist taking care of an injured scientist, who even has a health bar, only for the scientist's head to detonate soon after when V triggers an unseen bomb.

** The little girl whom the protagonist can befriend appears in the first few nightmares, and [[spoiler:is indicated to be a hallucination by two police officers who state that the man whom the girl claimed was her father lived alone]]. Furthermore, to the observant player, [[spoiler:what seem like gameplay inconsistencies are actually hints to this effect. When she cleans your house, it's spic and span -- but after you go out and get movies, the house returns to the same state of disrepair. Even minor things, like the girl sticking pictures of smiley faces to the walls, are reversed. It's almost like they never actually happened... (The game will swap back and forth here -- when he wakes up the next morning? Clean again. ...In other words, when he's paying attention, it all looks clean.)]]
** In the same vein of apparent 'gameplay inconsistencies', during the Slaughterhouse, [[spoiler:skipping the first video (or watching it & then resetting the room and skipping) does not change any dialog from the mastermind -- he'll still address you like you tripped all the previous videos. It turns out this makes sense, because they're all recordings.]]

* LighterAndSofter: The Katana Hero campaign is a retelling of the main story, but with the protagonist as a heroic spirit hunter and a far less serious atmosphere.[[spoiler: Even the transformation the TrueFinalBoss undergoes is considerably less horrific, as instead of a horrific mass of flesh he turns into a giant Dragon. ''He even survives the fight and undergoes a HeelFaceTurn!'']]

* {{Americasia}}: Played with. It seems like a standard cyberpunk example of the trope, except that the country of Neo Mecca, despite having the feel of immediately post-Vietnam America, is an Arab country[[note]]Clues include being set in a rocky mountain, and an orange sky during daytime (which is normally associated with Saudi Arabia and Egypt)[[/note]] with Japanese influence instead. This occasionally pops up to add flavor (for instance, a war medal is the Distinguished Service ''Crescent'').

Gameplay-wise, the levels are essentially you planning out your line of attack during your assignments. You can counter bullets with your trusty katana and make time go slower to get the drop on your prey. You can even grab certain objects and throw them at the baddies. The good news is your enemies go down in one hit. The bad news is you go down in one hit too. Should that happen, you have to start that section all over again, enemies and everything, so don't get cocky. After you finish a section, you get to see a security cam play out in your real-time so you can see how unstoppable you were.

!!''Katana ZERO'' provides examples of:

* LighterAndSofter: The Katana Hero campaign is a retelling of the main story, but with the protagonist as a heroic spirit hunter and a far less serious atmosphere.

A free Beta Branch called [[ShoddyKnockoffProduct "Katana Hero"]] was released on April 1st 2023 on Steam, changing the story into a strange hunt for evil spirits and altering some small aspects of the game.

* ArcWords: The very first words that the player sees, is someone asking TheProtagonist about ''The Men in the masks.'' [[spoiler:As one of them is even minorily seen in the Hotel level, reading up an newspaper. And even during The Studio level, one is seen as FreezeFrameBonus, as he is sitting in the director's chair during the glitching out effects. Then they make their first clear presence after drugging [[TheProtagonist Protagonist's tea.]] And after he wakes up, glitching out occurs once more, and the player once again sees those dreaded words appearing, but this time is from the psychiatrist.]]

( VehicularAssault: During the bike section, you will face against an helicopter that V resides on.

* AndIMustScream: Allegedly suffered by [[spoiler:Zero's noisy neighbors at the hands of V, and potentially any other Chronos users who died from withdrawal.]] It is heavily implied throughout the game that [[spoiler:the withdrawal caused by the drug 'Chronos' results in the persons perception of time slowing to a stand still as it fully leaves their system. The effect lasts an incredibly long time, if not eternally, leaving them trapped in their own mind.]]

** The second only appears in the [[spoiler:normal ending, when the Psychiatrist begs for his life and offers Zero all the Chronos he wants. Zero disregards his offer and brutally beats him to death]].

* ChildSoldier: Assuming that the age seen in his dossier is correct, [[spoiler:Zero couldn't have been older than ten during the Cromag War]]. Whether this applies to [[spoiler:the rest of the [=NULLs=]]] is uncertain.
* {{Cliffhanger}}: [[spoiler:The girl has apparently been kidnapped by Tragedy and Comedy, and Null Zero runs away from his apartment pursued by the police, likely in search of the girl.]]

** Zig-zagged by the war veteran after Mutual-Nil Prison. If [[spoiler:Zero obeyed his directive not to kill anybody during the preceding level, he will always stab the vet to death, regardless of what dialogue options are picked]]. If [[spoiler:he ignores his directives and kills the police investigating the prison, he will spare him unless the player [[KickTheDog selects the "Kill Him" option]]]].

* DevelopersForesight: Once returning home, Zero's TV will tune in on a news channel detailing the aftermath of the killing spree he caused. A lot of small actions done by the player will be mentioned in the report: For example, Josh Rose is typically DrivenToSuicide, but can also be killed by the Sword of Masters, or other throwables like the statue and the cleaver that also spawn in the segment. This will change the way his death is described. If the player pisses off the receptionist on the way in or admits to killing people on the way out, two police officers have to be killed, in which case the news changes the body count and specifically mentions the officers.

* FateWorseThanDeath: [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane Possibly.]] V claims that this happens to anyone who goes into [[spoiler:Chronos withdrawal]]. Whether he's right or not is debatable, however, given that at this point [[spoiler:V is either being tortured to death by Fifteen or dead already, and the "V" whom Zero has this conversation with is a dismembered corpse who appears in a hallucination]]. It's left up in the air whether this is a way for Zero's suppressed memories to express themselves, something more paranormal, or just a straight-up hallucination.

** The Media eventually begins referring to the protagonist's activities as being the work of a serial killer known as 'The Dragon.' [[spoiler:Although the game deliberately tries to wrong-foot the player into thinking that this means Zero, if one watches the TV long enough after the first level, it airs a report stating that the police are currently seeking the same serial killer, even though this is presumably one of Zero's first operations. This is an early hint that the Dragon isn't Zero.]]

** [[spoiler:It is implied that the girl is a hallucination at the end of the game, where the man assumed to be her father claims to have lived alone. She's referred to by Tragedy as the manifestation of Subject Zero's conscience, and is "kidnapped" when he decides to don the metaphorical silver mask of death.]]

* HeroAntagonist: Although most of the enemies faced in the game are hired goons and thugs working for V, Zero doesn't hesitate to cut down the SWAT officers who are just trying to stop the rampaging samurai. The psychiatrist chews him out for it.

** It eventually becomes apparent that [[spoiler:all your targets within the game are linked to the NULL project and/or Chronos in some manner, and are being systematically wiped out by government assassins like yourself. In their session before the bunker level, Zero can even lampshade that the psychiatrist is probably going to order his death as well, and that he's lying when he insists that's not the case — proven when Zero finds an assassination dossier on himself after killing the psychiatrist stating that he's to be disposed of if he learns too much]].

** If the receptionist knows that Zero is an assassin and tells the police, the psychiatrist will order someone else offscreen to take her out.
* IAmWho: The protagonist is not given a name at all for most of the game. The closest he comes is a nickname the media apparently assign to his killings. [[spoiler:They have him confused for someone else. His real identity is Subject Zero, a Gamma NULL — a psychically augmented super-soldier with the ability to see into the future with incredible clarity. He's also not the real — or at least the ''only'' — Dragon, as another NULL, Subject Fifteen, demonstrates.]]

* LeaveNoSurvivors: This is the protagonist's mandated M.O. Unless he's explicitly supposed to avoid casualties, the player can't leave an area unless all hostiles are dead. This is actually PlayedWith to a certain extent, as the psychiatrist's behavior makes it fairly clear that this is only supposed to apply to criminals, thugs, and bodyguards. When Zero is sent after Fa Yuan, a prison inmate who is thus guarded by police and civilians, the psychiatrist explicitly orders him not to kill anyone, and after Zero's escape from Chinatown, the psychiatrist chews him out for killing an entire team of SWAT officers. [[spoiler:This is probably because the psychiatrist works for the government, just as they do.]]

* TheManyDeathsOfYou: Downplayed compared to other games, but ''Katana ZERO'' has a few unique game-over screens. One that stands out is that if Zero blows himself up in one of the Bunker's elevators, the "No, that won't work." message is replaced with, "That would be a funny prank."
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: For a given definition of "[[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness mundane]]." [[spoiler:It's extremely unclear what Tragedy and Comedy are, and whether they're hallucinations or something more. Their appearance in Chinatown is the only time they actively interact with people other than Zero, which ends with them killing a massive amount of SWAT members to save Zero's life should he choose to live… but at the same time, it's entirely within Zero's ability to kill them by himself. It should also be noted that although a single SWAT member does acknowledge the duo's initial appearance, choosing to die in the following conversation makes the scene play out like they never showed up. Although they kidnap the girl in the game's ending, she's implied to possibly be a hallucination as well, which only complicates matters.]]

** Also PlayedForLaughs when V picks you up for a limo ride; V requests Zero's katana in order to cut up drugs with it. [[ShmuckBait You can give it to him,]] in which case you have to fight through the first two rooms of the ensuing level without it.

* NotQuiteFlight: One of the unlockable weapons has this effect. [[spoiler:The Savant Dagger's range is abysmally short, but it has such a rapid attack speed that Zero can stay off the ground almost indefinitely just by rapidly slashing.]]

* SequelHook: Quite a number. [[spoiler:SNOW and V's employer is still around, Zero is on the run, Fifteen is still hunting down the Chronos manufacturers to murder them in vengeance for his fallen NULL brethren, and the girl has been kidnapped by Comedy and Tragedy for unknown reasons. In addition, how Chronos is made, why SNOW and V's employer wanted it, and who Comedy and Tragedy are is still unknown. Comedy even claims that, just before the final level, only the ''first act'' has been completed. There is even a "to be continued" in the credits.]]

* SuperSoldier: This is what [[spoiler:NULL soldiers were intended to be, thanks to the power of Chronos. Most of them were purged, with the only known survivors being Zero, Fifteen (who is the real Dragon), and a woman going by "Headhunter".]]

* ATasteOfPower: The Prison Tape. You play as [[spoiler:Fifteen]], rather than Zero, as he slaughters everybody standing between him and Fa Yuan. [[spoiler:Fifteen]]'s secondary ability is a FlashStep that instantly kills anything in his line of movement, no questions asked; ShieldBearingMook[=s=], turrets, regular grunts.. This also lets him get past fields of lasers that Zero can't cross.
* TitleDrop: ''Katana ZERO'' refers to [[spoiler:the player character, whose real "name" is Subject Zero and who wields a katana]].

* YouHaveFailedMe: The psychiatrist will say this with increasingly threatening undertones if you fail to complete his objectives to the letter. [[spoiler:When Zero refuses to kill Al-Qasim's family in the bunker, the psychiatrist's mysterious employer pulls this on ''him'', and is strongly implied to have murdered his daughter before coming for him next]].

** The protagonist can engage in a CardBattleGame with the receptionist provided he befriended her, resplendent with ''Anime/YuGiOh'' references.
** The credits song is called "ComeAndSee" which is a reference to the movie with the same name, that ends traumatically in the war setting.

->''"So... Tell me again about the men in masks..."''

->''"So... Tell me again about the men in masks..."''