I admit it, I really wanted to take the path that Digixart paved with so much care. And while I may have sounded very enthusiastic when I gave Road 96 an A review, I was completely captivated by its story and narrative in those hot days of August 2021.
It had been a long time, but the small French studio had yet to tell one more story about Petria, the president Tyrak and especially its two young protagonists, Zoe there Kaito (yes, the same Kaito from Lost in Harmony, the studio’s first title). Car Road 96: Mile 0 (which will arrive at the beginning of April) is a much more contained adventure than the first title, and it would seem to be much more intimate, since here it is not at all linked to the decisions we make with the players and to unite the puzzle pieces of the characters with the procedural narrative.
These traits are those that emerge from the first few minutes of the one-hour demo that I was able to test, and which was preceded by a talk on John Fanise, its director (whom we had already interviewed a few months ago). In it, the developer confirmed that it will be a smaller adventure that will take place two months before the events of Road 06, that it will talk about the origins of the characters’ motivations, and that it will also respect the course of the player in the first delivery.
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“We wanted to respect the decisions and consequences that the players chose, which is why we chose to do a prequel, instead of a second part”
Road 96: Mile 0 also moves away from the political message that was (not so) veiled in Road 96, and replaces it with a new narrative through the music and its way of portraying teenage emotions and, in the words also of Fanise , “the construction of identity and the passage to adult life”. However, it is intended to be an adventure that can be lived even in one or two game sessions, thanks to the accessibility. I have also verified it in these first bars of the game, where in addition to delving into the background and motivations of the characters, I also found that in the new musical sections (which are more tests of reflexes to the rhythm of the music than anything else), whenever I was making a fatal mistake, the game would take me back moments before I stumbled. It’s part of the philosophy to open my arms to any player, even those who are starting now. “I don’t like games that are blocking progress, we are I’m sure there are plenty of ways to progress through the adventure without the puzzles or musical notation levels holding you back.
Even so, and despite the fact that it has differences with Road 96, some of its central elements are here, such as the design and the artistic section, the control Point and click and, of course, the emotional background he leaves behind. The adventure is not linear, but it is easy to move between the sections where the narrative takes place thanks to the existence of a central hub (which is this abandoned construction site that we see in the art of game). From there we will access different environments of Shandy Sands, and we will also meet some familiar faces, which I will not mention so as not to spoil anyone’s surprise. Suffice it to say, I now also have a broader understanding of some Road 96 characters’ backgrounds, as Mile 0 takes place two months before the first game begins.
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What I’ve seen so far intrigues me more than it solves, since it’s a very short test (even if the game is too), but it has all the elements for which I have loved the first: A great story, well-constructed characters, a clear social message and a metaphor for the world we live in. Road 96 is the start of the story, and I have high expectations when the title arrives on April 4th.