Zone of the Enders is one of the weirdest anomolies of a game I have ever played. I've beaten it twice over the year and this is my 3rd playthrough and each time I get through it, I always feel very lukewarm on it. Here's the weirdest part: ZOE as a franchise I have good amount of fondness for. The Second Runner is the better game in all respects with the exception of music but that's personal preferance. ZOE2's opening FMV song is amazing however. I like the spin off OVA and anime series that released along side the game. I like the musical motifs, some of the characters and it's world building. You could argue that it's derivative but there aspects of ZOE that makes it's own especially when acknowleding the larger franchise. This initial game that started everything is considered average even at the time of release with of course being an excuse for Metal Gear fans to play the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo. What annoys me so much is that ZOE didn't have to be like this. It has so much going for it more than a lot of average games I played. If more time and money was given to the game, it could've been at least a good game or not solely relying on the MGS2 demo as a "just here for Godzilla".
The best way of describing the first ZOE is that it's an essay with an okay introduction paragraph, a solid concluding paragraph that suddenly gets cut off and a body of incoherent and messy jot notes.
This perfectly describes the game's story. The way it opens can be a reminiscent of a Gundam anime particularly the original series where the opposing force attacks a space colony and now the civillian reluctantly becomes the protagonist pilots a mech to survive and gets involved in a war he never wanted to be apart of. There's differences no White Base or family dynamic of any kind and the closest to an equivalent to allies that actually help the protagonist Leo Stenbuck are an onboard AI on the mech Jehuty known as Ada and maybe childhood friend Celvice. It's been said many times that Leo is unlikable and whiny but what I find confusing is where his pacifist idealism or his whole attitude even comes from. He's angry at Viola for killing his "friends" but they sold him out so much of his backstory is told about or hinted at but never fully shown, parts of it is but not enough to form a bigger picture.
Then the middle half of the game is nothing but padding with barely much character development or plot progression. As a whole ZOE's story can feel like some weird attempt at an anime series compliation movie where the first maybe second episode are in then it skips over so much, everything feels rushed and it cuts to the ending episode and it expects you to be emotionally invested. The conversation between Leo and Ada towards the end feels emotional but the music does most the heavy lifting but it is completely unearned when ignoring that. Leo, Ada and Celvice barely even had any kind of dynamic at all, not enough to create any kind of investment
There is however one saving grace the story has and that is the character of Viola. She's the thing that prevents the story from being complete garbage. She doesn't have much screen time but she does a lot with what she is given. She starts the events of the game by causing Leo to ride Jehuty, constantly gets in his way and tests his morals of not taking a life then shoots Celvice to show how not killing your enemies could lead to greater trouble and her motivation of wanting a worthy challenge and constantly being at odds with Nohman gave her such a memorable presence. Her death scene when she starts monologing feels earned due to everything she has done prior and this time the music and the writing complement each other. As a player, she earned my respect through her actions. Also nicely sets up the Idolo OVA too. Whenever Viola was on screen, I almost thought the story was actually good. That is a mark of a good villain.
The gameplay is a case of, "man the game is fun at a surface level and that's it". The combat animations look very flashy and stylish especially for controlling a mech. The controls also feel fluid and responsive especially when combined with the animations. Combat can look and feel like you are controlling a fast moving character in a fighting shonen anime than in a lot of mecha shows. You can also transition between shooting and melee combat seemlessly. In spite of the fact that melee strikes are plasma and you are not hitting flesh, melee attacks when landing hits can still feel very impactful and weighty.
There are 3 enemy types. Mummyheads and Cyclops being the most tough. Cylcops' can be attacked from behind and Mummyheads have a deadly laser beam. This attack kept me on my toes since it can really chip away at health can hit you at long distances. There is a decent wind up and sound cue when the laser fires so it's balanced
The bosses are decent and kept me on my toes since they do a lot of damage and have enough challenge and specticle to them.
That's the game. 3 bosses and enemy types. There's barely much of one. A good portion of this short campaign is trying to get past a shield to get to the mountains to then get past the insta kill super laser of the boss who guards the area. You backtrack to previous locations to finally get past the other side of the "hub area" and when you do, the game is almost done.
Overall, that's ZOE. I like the franchise but this initial game is a polished prototype.
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