pretentious review warning:

Kentucky Route Zero is probably the most beautifully written game I've ever played, but I still don't know if I can recommend it to everybody.

It's a story that's not done, ready, and interpreted for the consumer, because it can't be. It's not finished before you play. Or after, for that matter. The story of Kentucky Route Zero is entirely ephemeral, much like the oral tradition that clearly inspired it, and you, the player, are one of its main storytellers. It foregoes the pacing, arcs, and flourishes we expect a story to give us, and delivers something that's a lot more satisfying because it's a lot less satisfying. It's a story that reads as incredibly real not despite it's surreal, unusual style, but because of it.

Most of the time in real life you don't get neat closure or dramatic goodbyes when someone drifts out of your life. When life takes something from you, there's no rhyme or reason to it. No poetic justice, no promise that it'll all even out in the end. Kentucky Route Zero understands and respects this truth, and still manages to deliver a story with purpose, meaning, and hope.

For large parts of the game I wasn't able to logically understand the implications of what was happening, I was caught up in the moment and it totally went over my head. The thing is though, I didn't need to. At it's best, Kentucky Route Zero can completely bypass your left brain and inject the emotion right into your veins.

If you're not in the mood for this kind of story, don't force it, you'll probably only end up frustrated.

But if you are okay with it, okay to set some time aside and get lost in the story until suddenly you're not, buy the game.