There is no doubt that ZA/UM has a captivating world and an interesting story to sell, but its heavy handed delivery makes decision making feel like a quick time event, rather than a sequence of branching opportunities for character growth and story progression. There's the right thing to do, and the wrong thing to do. One will progress the story, the other will patiently wait for you to come back and change your mind.

We have been spoiled in this genre lately, so it's important to try and look at this game through that lens. Ultimately, if you are a fan of the jazzy cyber-grunge art direction, you will find few other games capable of reaching the highs of ZERO PARADES. If you like narrative driven cRPGs, you will find few as ambitious and extensive too. But where concise quality and novel storytelling is concerned, there are better options.