Zero Parades For Dead Spies – Part 6-7 (Finale & Final Thoughts)
With all of our enemies neutralized, it’s time to take stock of our handiwork.
Streamed on my Twitch.
You can find Andre on his Twitch channel.
I fear for ZA/UM in the wake of this, especially give the recent news of layoffs at the studio in the wake of Zero Parades’s underperformance. Though my experience is purely anecdotal, I can say that very few people I know even touched the demo for this game, let alone the full version. And yet, a good number of them would consider themselves fans of Disco Elysium.
Part of that is certainly the sordid state of affairs surrounding the company and the way it forced many of the lead developers out, but beyond that Zero Parades lives eternally in the shadow of its predecessor. There are hints of creativity and imagination here, but they are smothered by the desire to recreate the magic of what came before without fully understanding it.
The last thing I want to do is pour salt on the wounds. Despite all of my griping, I do like Zero Parades. I liked it enough to replay it on stream, and bring my friend along for the ride. And yet, I cannot deny that it does not hold up to the level of quality I should be able to expect “from the team that brought you Disco Elysium”.
Hopefully, if ZA/UM is able to make a new game, they’re willing to do something bolder and more unique. Something that can step into the light and hold up on its own merits. They are a skilled team and it would be a shame to lose them.
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