
USSR, 1986. A girl goes missing in the closed city of Vorkuta-5, yet not a soul seems to be concerned. Uncover the mystery behind her disappearance and transmit your signal to the universe.
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USSR, 1986. When Ira Grachevskaya goes missing in the closed city of Vorkuta-5, not a soul seems to be concerned – except for the quiet outcast Asya Shubina, that is. Uncover the mystery behind Ira’s disappearance, transmit your radio signal to the universe and learn why a bird flies past the window.
Meet the cast.

A problem child and a truant, Ira doesn't have the best reputation. Her standoffish demeanor makes her difficult to talk to, especially for someone as meek as you. There is a rumour she's been meeting with an older man.

Marina's carefree personality makes her quite popular among her classmates. Adults don't seem to like her very much, probably due to poor grades. Despite the girl's outgoing nature, her worldview is rather cynical.

A boy with an unpleasant sense of humour. Likes picking on people weaker than him, namely you. His family has been a little out of it the past few weeks.

You. Not worth writing about.
Z.A.T.O. is a linear visual novel with roughly 7-8 hours of playtime. There are no choices. The ending is predetermined. Sit back and enjoy your time in a town that doesn't exist.
DISCLAIMER: the game contains strong language, loud noises and flickering images.
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Languages: English
Engagement
Reviews
Themes across 171 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
Reviews
以下内容可能涉及剧透,文笔不好请见谅 [spoiler] 世界的残酷与绝望是无数作品都曾涉及的命题。而与大多数这些作品不同,asya既没有与残酷的世界积极抗争,也没有在灰暗的生活中绝望堕落,而是将自己身处的世界架空为一个有生命的意志,用宏大的视角俯视自己的生活,从而为自己的孤独,遭遇的欺凌乃至沃尔库塔-5的消失找到合适且可爱的理由,通过将自己微不足道的生命纳入和谐完美的宇宙来近乎强迫的让自己爱着世界。 我不知道这样的生活方式是否正确,或许真的只有这样,她才能作为意识到世界的本质的代码敏感者仍然维持着相对正常的精神状态。可是“世界”这个概念太过宏大,asya却太过渺小,她只能不断积攒自己爱的力量,才可能发出能被宇宙聆听的爱的电波。但在这个过程中,asya被ira所保护并对其萌生别样的情愫,与marina和vadim一起体验了充满友情的一天,她积攒的爱从虚无空洞的对世界的爱转向实在具体的对身边人的爱,她不断“违抗宇宙的意志”,或许也是对自己曾经的世界之爱的某种否定。在游戏的最后,当asya甚至遗忘了自己的名字,她曾经空洞的世界之爱彻底退场,她积攒了许久的爱意成为对友人tosya,抑或是对自己的告白,响彻空空荡荡的沃尔库塔-5号。 “爱世界”是asya一直以来的信念,但这太大了,凡人不知从何做起。asya的“爱世界”,归根到底可能只是她对痛苦的逃避,把世界的残酷正当化的理由。而当ira和marina进入她的世界,asya找到了值得去爱的人,甚至会为了对ira和marina的爱违抗对世界的"爱",她也才感受到积攒下浓烈的爱意,在游戏最后她对tosya的告白,或许也象征了她内心一直被“世界之爱”搪塞的空洞,终于被真正的爱填满。 Z.A.T.O.的悲剧正在于当少女终于获得完整的内心,她生活的世界却随之消逝。Z.A.T.O.的温情也在于即使少女生活过的世界不复存在,她的爱却化作无线电波存在着。世界的残酷与绝望是无数作品都曾涉及的命题,而在这部作品中,世界并没有改变,但在这操蛋的世界里,asya还是获得了被爱填满,将爱传播的幸福。用宏大叙事在绝望的生活中麻木自己不是罪过,但也不要忘了找到微小的爱的可能性,至少后者通向的是微小的,真正的幸福。[/spoiler]
Beautiful game. Insane this is free. I will be buying it for some sum of money on itch.io to support the creator. If you like things such as Paprika, NieR, OneShot, etc. you'll definitely enjoy this.
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Concurrent players on Steam, sampled daily since tracking started.
Hours played at review time, across 171 reviews with recorded playtime.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
Love! It’s love! What a bitter sweet ending to a bittersweet game.
Interesting little visual novel. I was not expecting an emotional or deep story since it's free, but boy was I wrong. A good filler between games if you're into VNs and have ~5 hours to spare.
this game sat collecting dust in my downloads until i decided to play it, and i definitely regret not playing it sooner although the writing isn't perfect, in its entirety i enjoyed reading/playing through this. the story is very layered, and confusing to grasp at times, but thats what i like about it. its also free, which is very cool for the content it provides im not one to write reviews or read visual novels, but this story was far too good to not voice my love for it
Good Vn Art : 7/10 - love the art, but need more sprites Music : 7/10 - amazing music that sets up the atmosphere Character : 7/10 - Felt alive, though one characters only appears as a plot device Story : 9/10 - amazing
我爱这个游戏。我爱这个游戏。我爱这个游戏。
Its hard to put all the words i wish I could say about this game into a review, because so much of why I love this game is that it spoke the things I had long felt and longer still struggled to say. That the universe is all encompassing. That even mediocrity is its own kind of transcendental beauty. That you are the universe, experiencing itself. That you have no choice but to love yourself, because love is all there is. That love is hurt, and love is impossible, and yet you must try. You must find the love. It is out there, waiting for you, with open arms, with a face just like yours.
The best stories are the ones where you're unable to recognize yourself. Existence can only happen in relation to other people, and even the most subliminal forms of perception try to find themselves within that infinite line. Although anyone can justify to themselves a life so simple and succinct one would wonder why it had to even be said in the first place, we really begin to question ourselves once we let those answers vanish into thin air. Otherwise, the only world to live in is the one in where we are alone. 8/10. Our wonder is the face of our dreams. I wonder what your dreams will look like.
Haven't finished the whole game yet, but I LOVE the story and the characters, the atmosphere and vibe of this game is incredible. I highly recommend playing this masterpiece it treats topics like mental health and more...
Audience
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.