Zanki Zero details Haruto, Ryo, Rinko, Yuma, ruins, creatures, and more
There are more than just wild animals to worry about.
Spike Chunsoft has released new information and screenshots of Zanki Zero: Last Beginning further introducing four of the game’s eight main characters—Haruto Higurashi, Ryo Mikajime, Rinko Susukino, and Yuma Mashiro—as well as the game’s ruins, creatures, and more.
Get the details below.
■ Characters
Haruto Higurashi (voiced by Toshiyuki Toyonaga) – Editor of Sloth
Editor at the industry-leading publisher Mashiro Shuppan. 25 years old. After a certain something pushes him over the edge emotionally, he heads for the rooftop, but—when he wakes up after, it was in a world where humanity had fallen.
Haruto is a diligent leader, but to that extent lacks flexibility. He is the last to wake up among the eight people on Gareki Island, and Extend TV declares that his awakening completes the last survivors of humanity. He likes spicy foods and dislikes sweets.
Ryo Mikajime (voiced by Toshihiko Seki) – Artist of Envy
A young and upcoming bondage artist who makes artwork that binds together people and objects. 25 years old. As he cannot afford to make a living off his artistic activities alone, he also works as a cameraman to get by.
Bondage is and always will be his style of art, and he only sees the things he binds as sexual “once in a while.” He is cheerful, sociable, and quick to open his heart to anyone he meets. He can also be unexpectedly cowardly, and at first has a negative attitude towards exploring the danger-filled ruins.
Rinko Susukino (voiced by Haruka Yoshimura) – Florist of Lust
A lovely woman who works for her parents’ flower shop. 25 years old. She is a hard worker with a very helpful and kind personality, but is also a bit of an airhead. When she awakens on the island, she is unable to deal with the sudden change of the conditions around her and seems to be stricken with considerable panic.
Due to the nature of her work, she knows flowers and their language very well, and judges Ryo Mikajime to be a “Cactus-like person.” She believes that she and the others are part of a television reality show, and goes into the ruins, but…?
Yuma Mashiro (voiced by Ayana Taketatsu) – Heiress of Gluttony
The only daughter of the leader of the world-famous enterprise known as Mashiro Group. 25 years old. She is an elusive character with a cool attitude, who does things at her own pace and does not often show emotion. Since she is from one of the wealthiest families in the country, her behavior is somewhat other-worldly.
At any rate, she is obsessed with eating and maintaining style. When the topic of food comes up during conversation, she has a habit of eating fantasy “air meals.”
■ Explore the Ruins to Reveal the Pasts of the Eight Main Characters
The eight main characters are cloned humans who can only live for 13 days, but can regenerate any number of times through the “Extend” system. You will have to explore dangerous ruins while dealing with both the problems of gathering parts to complete the “Extend Machine,” through which it is possible to free the clones from their restricted life spans, and earning the amount of Score required to be able to “Extend” before they reach the end of their life span. Here, we will introduce the connection between the ruins and main characters, as well as the dangers of the ruins that go beyond wild animals.
Gimmicks: The Eight Characters Must Be Alive to Open the “Zanki Hatch”
In the ruins, there will sometimes be a thick steel gate known as a “Zanki Hatch.” In order to open this gate and progress, all eight characters must be alive.
Every chapter has plenty of ruins, which are remnants of buildings that were used in everyday life, such as commercial facilities. But it seems unnatural for gates like the Zanki Hatch to have been installed before the world was destroyed.
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning has a variety of gimmicks beyond the Zanki Hatch, including pressure-sensitive switches and small holes that only children can fit through.
Every Ruin Has a Common Feature
At first glance, the ruins that appear in each chapter, which include station buildings and tree-house style leisure facilities, do not appear to be connected. However, the ruins actually have a common feature. That is, “among the eight main characters, there is a major connection to someone’s past.”
Learn the Pasts of the Eight Main Characters through the Ruins
In Zanki Zero: Last Beginning, the character that the player takes the perspective of changes for every chapter, and the ruins you explore are also connected to that character. In these ruins that are deeply connected to the characters, like if they once worked at an office, the incidents and traumas they experienced in the past will come to light.
The first chapter unfolds from Haruto’s perspective and plays out from there. He will explore the ruins of the “Mashiro Garden Tower,” which is the station building where Mashiro Shuppan, his former place of employment, was located.
“Memories of the Ruins” Recorded in Mysterious “Capture Videos”
Within the ruins are several old televisions like the one in the garage on Gareki Island, which broadcast the same “Extend TV” station as the one in the garage. Depicted on the televisions are episodes of Extend TV in which Sho discovers a mysterious video tape (VHS) and checks it out with Mirai. According to Mirai, these tape are “Capture Videos,” and are “meant to be used to understand the memories associated with the ruins and clear it.”
The first Capture Video, which is questionably titled “Laziness #1: The First…,” shows Haruto as a new employee at Mashiro Shuppan, but how can it be used to clear the ruins as it is intended to be used? And what kind of memories are recorded in the second volume and so on?
Monstrous Creatures will Attack the Survivors
When the main characters discover the figures of humans in the ruins, they express happiness in there being other survivors besides themselves. However, what stands before them is not human, they are monsters with the appearance of humans…
According to Extend TV, these monsters are called “creatures” and are natural enemies to humanity, as they are dangerous beings who mean to take lives of the main characters. Also, Mirai says that “‘creatures’ are the ‘shadow’ of what humanity once was…”
Some Creatures can even speak. Are they really a shadow of what humanity once was?
Mirai says that creatures are not only aiming for the lives of the main characters, they are also aiming for the “Cross-Key.” However, the reason they are aiming for the Cross-Key is unclear.
—Cross Key
The Cross-Key is a cross-shaped metal part attached to the navel of all eight main characters. It preserves all the information, experiences, and memories of the clones.
Due to the information recorded by the Cross-Key, the clones preserve their original personalities no matter how many times they die. In other words, in order to create clones with the Extend Machine, that character’s Cross-Key is required.
In terms of the game system, when a character dies, their Cross-Key is automatically collected. You can rest assured that you will not lose it or forget to collect it. Also, since Mirai is actually a cloned sheep, even she has a Cross-Key attached to her left ear.
■ Shigabane Collection
Here is a look at two of the Shigabane players can obtain. If you missed our previous coverage, read up on Shigabane here.
I Fought a Lot, But Still Died
Condition: Death after attacking enemy more than 100 times
Effect: Attack power increases by 10
Death by Potato Allergy
Condition: Death after a character with a potato allergy eats a potato
Effect: Overcome allergy so that eating a potato does not kill you
Special Soundtrack Extend Ver. – A soundtrack including over 50 songs, including the ending song.
Eight Swimsuits Costume Set* – Includes swimsuit costumes for the eight main characters. The swimsuit costumes also appear in 3D model events.
Nine Clone Avatars and One Animal Set* – Avatars of Haruto and the other eight clones, as well as the Extend TV mascot.
*Both the “Eight Swimsuits Costume Set” and “Nine Clone Avatars and One Animal Set” will be released as paid content via the PlayStation Store after launch.
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning is due out for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita on July 5 in Japan. It is also planned for release on PlayStation 4 and PC in North America and Europe, but a release date has yet to be announced.
