...

26 May 2026

Hello, dear reader. As promised, this blogpost will focus itself on the review of a game I recently played and, to understate it severely, enjoyed quite thoroughly. The game is called Z.A.T.O. // I Love The World and Everything In It (henceforth referred to simply as Z.A.T.O.), it is free on Steam, only requires around seven to eight hours for a full playthrough and I must fervently recommend it as strong as one could possibly recommend a game.

There are some who may take umbrage with my terming Z.A.T.O. as a “game”. Z.A.T.O. is a Visual Novel which features no options for the player beyond choosing when to save and the advancing of dialogue. As a close friend put it, Z.A.T.O. is an “elaborate PowerPoint”. While I understand this perspective, I will be referring to Z.A.T.O. using game terminology for simplicity’s sake. I understand the game’s genre may be one which disinterests some, but I must say that the game is an incredible example of the genre and its strengths, and I would ask that it not be turned aside merely due to its genre.

The game takes place in a Soviet Russian closed city, Vorkuta-5, hence the name (ЗАТО, from “закрытые административно–территориальные образования”, or “closed administrative-territorial formations”). In it, you play as Asya Shubina, a shy and lonely yet optimistic girl, who does all that she can to see beauty and love in the world, no matter what. She is entirely too relatable to myself and many people I know, in not just how she acts, but also in how she is mistreated and the ways she copes with it. The inciting incident of the game comes when one of her classmates, a delinquent by the name of Ira Grachevskaya, is declared missing, with Asya being one of the last people to see her.

There is much more to be said of the story, but I will live it there for fear of oversharing. The game is quite philosophical, with a turn to the psychologically and existentially horrifying in its later half. It is also trivially easy to make a queer reading of Z.A.T.O., although there is no explicit queer content within it. The game’s soundtrack also quite wonderful, and adds incredibly to the feeling of every scene in the game.

Before I take my leave, I must concede that this game will not be for everyone ; a melancholic nostalgia pervades almost the entirety of the game, and the the game’s setting was too relatable to the childhood of a polish friend of mine, to such an extent that she found herself unable to continue the game. Z.A.T.O. also discusses themes of grief, loss, loneliness, and love which may make it too difficult to get through for some. As a last note, both times so far I have witnessed the ending, it has made me cry, with my first playthrough leaving me sobbing uncontrollably (crying being, unfortunately, not an easy feat for me).

Ah, I could go on discussing this game forever. I will spare you that however, dear reader, as I must now away. As always, farewell until next we meet, and thank you for your time.