I seem to remember a time many years ago when there were lots of Final Fantasy VII clones running amok in the gaming world and for the most part they were critically and momentarily well received, even though they were ripping off Square Enix. Nowadays it seems that every RPG developer is instead cloning the Persona series, and that necessarily isn’t a bad thing. If a game works, why not try to duplicate it while adding your own little nuances to make yours different, whether that be a new combat mechanic or a different type of storytelling. Developers Acquire and ZeroDiv have taken a joint chance and made their own type of Persona clone, one to tide over the rabid fans waiting for Persona 5, with Aksys Games publishing the game for us here in the States. Some people may groan that we’re getting another incarnation of the aforementioned P-series, but I laugh at them, these are the kind of people that think Call of Duty actually changes from year to year. At least in this game there is some semblance of creativity and if you’re a JRPG fan, Mind Zero is a game that you need to take a good look at.
The story in Mind Zero is one of those that you must follow closely or be lost for awhile. You play as protagonist Kei Takanashi who is currently attending high school in a town where murderers are becoming rampant and people are reportedly seeing a man with a giant axe at the scene of each crime. Being a high school student you are of course intrigued but fearful, then one day as you’re walking to school with your friend Sana Chikage, she see someone chasing a young boy. She pursues them and you are obliged to follow, but as you follow you get sucked into a dark mist and end up in a room full of mystical weapons, talking to someone called The Undertaker. She tells you that you cannot leave until you choose a weapon, and if you choose poorly you will die.
As such Kei does the only responsible thing and starts to wander the room full of weapons. Then Kei hears a voice in his head that leads him to the correct weapon and once the weapon is chosen, Kei is now imbued with his MIND. MIND is a mystical character that allows Kei to see into the other world, which they call the ‘outer world,’ and you can use this being in battle in this alternate universe. The Undertaker then throws Kei back into the real world, which they call the ‘inner world,’ with his friend Sana and they have their first battle. That is only the beginning, to save some from spoilers I will stop there, but the story continues to build as you try to find this axe man with your high school friends.
The battle system is another standard one for JRPG’s. It’s turned based and uses the usual prompts to let you trounce your enemy and when you haven’t activated your MIND yet, you get the option to Attack, Charge, Item, Burst and Escape. Attack allows the character to attack their enemy with the weapon that they chose from the Undertaker, it’s good against low level grunt, but useless against bosses. Charge is basically your defense and using it means you gain some MP and take less damage when attacked. Item and Escape are the usual actions, one helps you heal or use a special item in battle while the second allows you to escape a battle should you not be prepared. When you choose Burst you cut in line and are given the first action in that move, so it’s useful if you are fighting a beast that is much stronger than you so you can make the first hit and gain an advantage.
When you tap the left trigger button you activate your MIND, which is the mystical being that is attached to you and your weapon and you are given three actions to choose from. Your MIND can use Attack, Skill and Burst. Once again Attack is the standard attack, but it takes much more damage off your enemy, while Burst once again allows you to make the first action in the turn. As for Skill, this is where the money is and when faced with a tough boss you’ll want to use this option, as it will take off as much health from them as possible. Once you’ve mastered your MIND, the game will be your oyster.
The graphics look very pretty on your Vita’s screen, whether it be the cut scenes, dungeon crawling or battling. The cut scenes pop with vibrant color and great anime style, the facial expressions during the cut scenes are great and will really make you laugh during the humorous parts of the story. When you are dungeon crawling you are thrust into first person mode and must navigate using your D-Pad, which makes it easier. The dungeon visuals, while a tad bland, still convey an world that is not our own and when you are traversing these dungeons you know that you are in the ‘outer world.’
The battles are also in a first person view, which makes the fights a bit more visceral due to the fact that your enemy jumps at the screen and slashes at you. The attack animations from the characters, MIND’s and enemies are also very well done, they’re not choppy and flow very well as you battle. Finally the overworld map that allows you to progress through the game and take on side missions is nicely done as well. It isn’t as nice as Google Maps, but as you control the icon on the map to find the next story mission, you get to see important parts of the city and past areas.
The sound and music in this game coming out of your Vita’s speakers are amazing. Right when you boot up Mind Zero you know exactly that you’re in for a JRPG and the Japanese music that blasts from those tiny speakers is actually a pretty snappy tune. The only problem I have with it is that I can’t understand what they are singing about, but that definitely doesn’t dissuade me from playing the game. The voice over actors do a great job with the lines as well, nothing is phoned in and you can tell that the actor who portrays Kei really wants to convey that his character is apathetic. The person who voices another main character, Leo, really channels his inner goof ball to portray the comic relief in the character, and Sana’s actor really comes across as the tough heroine in her dialogue. It feels as though every part of this game has had both developers put their all into it, crafting as a result a real amazing experience.
Mind Zero is also one of those JRPG’s that anyone can pick up and have a blast with. Other JRPG’s out there have a huge learning curve, which makes it difficult for people new to the genre to get ingrained into these games. The developers of Mind Zero though have been nice enough to give us a difficulty setting so that no one will get stuck and not be able to progress. The coolest feature that I see though is the fact that you can play the game in its native Japanese and I think that’s a nice little touch that will help me on my way to learning a second language.
Fans of Persona should give this look and while Mind Zero isn’t as polished as that series, it will tide the Persona fan over for the time being. Unfortunately there is a low replayibity to the game seeing as there is so much to do, and it is hard for me to replay a thirty for forty hour game right off the bat. The positive is that if bought, you would be buying a 30 to 40 hour game for a pretty nice price.Vita owners that are looking for a great game to play, one that will take up a good amount of their time and is just fun, need to seriously consider this game. I’m still a JRPG newbie and I’m loving my time with Mind Zero.