If it is not surprising to find in Road 96: Mile 0 the character of the runaway and fiery Zoé, one of the beautiful encounters that one could have on the road to Road 96, those who knew Lost in Harmony, the first DigixArt game, will also see a nice reference thanks to the character of Kaito. The borrowings do not stop there since Road 96: Mile 0 is described as a narrative adventure game with musical gameplay phases. This ante-episode takes place shortly before the road trip of the summer of 96, the opportunity to discover the circumstances which led Zoé to leave her home, the young girl sharing the poster with Kaito.
The two teenagers are meant to illustrate two opposing perspectives on life in Petria, a fictional country ruled with an iron fist by the authoritarian head of state Tyrak. Zoe lives in White Sands, the only affluent community in Petria, under the same roof as a father who belongs to the government as oil minister. Opposite, Kaito grew up in the significantly less fortunate town of Colton City and moved with his parents to White Sands in hopes of finding work and escaping pollution. In contact with this dark boy, Zoé will discover disturbing facts about her country and, by the way, about her own father. Made up of decisions and obstacles to avoid, the musical sections serve as psychedelic parables to delve into the inner world of Zoe and Kaito. Distinctive sign of Road 96the concept of random encounters does not seem to be reused here.
“In Mile 0, we wanted to show where Zoé came from, as well as the reasons that led her to leave her comfortable life. However, we didn’t want to do it in a conventional way, we opted for a more delirious way, with musical sequences full of metaphors, in which you go through the convictions and doubts of Zoe and Kaito. Funny thing is, YOU decide how you want them to evolve.“, explains Yoan Fanise, CEO of DigixArt. Speaking of music, we hope that Mile 0 will be able to offer us such pretty nuggets as Road 96. The single Land Locked Heart from the American synthwave band The Midnight, which we hear in the trailer, will in any case be available soon. Road 96: Mile 0 will be released for download on April 4 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Switch and PC.
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