Enemy configurations get harder and the stages get more elaborate, but using the same strategies to progress gets old. That static moveset isn’t a problem by itself, but after exhausting its repertoire, Katana Zero struggles to present you with interesting ways to use your powers.

Jumping around, slowing time, and deflecting bullets is fun, but your options never expand (apart from one exception that I won’t spoil). This randomness occasionally prevents you from mastering familiar sections quickly to get to the tricky bits, which feels like a pointless hurdle that only eats up time. For example, executing your plans depends on repetition and precision, but guards don’t always go back to the same default positions after a screen reset. The thrill of those moments propels you through the levels, but frustrating design can make it difficult to reach those peaks of joy. When you finally clear a tough screen, Katana Zero makes you feel like a genius assassination architect, overcoming harrowing odds and emerging as the lone survivor. Can you quickly roll past and slash him without alerting another guard? Or knock him into some lasers? Or lure him to a more vulnerable position? You die often as you find the answers to these questions, but respawning is rapid, so the deaths don’t feel punitive. Except now you’re facing an enemy with a shotgun, and you can’t deflect that blast with your sword. On your next attempt, you use your limited time-slowing power as you kick the door open, allowing you to slash the bullet and deflect it back at the guard. You open a door, but a guard immediately shoots you, so time rewinds and the screen resets. Making plans and refining them through trial and error is the most entertaining part of Katana Zero.

Katana zero story