Zone of Lacryma

About

Zone of Lacryma is a single player arcade shooter game with post-apocalyptic and science fiction themes. It was developed by oop.hok and was released on July 23, 2018. It received positive reviews from players.

Zone of Lacryma is a story driven 2D shooter inspired by the classic shmups but with a couple of twists. Custom built levels, multiple weapons, an upgrade system and a rich story to lead you through the missions.

Skip User Reviews

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 23 reviews

story5 positive mentions

Unique and innovative gameplay combining classic shmup elements with new mechanics like speed-based weapon charging and upgrades.
Excellent and distinctive art style with a restrained color palette and well-crafted pixel art.
Engaging upgrade system that allows different playstyles and adds replayability despite the short campaign.

Very short game with limited content, requiring replay of the same missions to fully upgrade the ship.
Frustrating control and movement mechanics, including fast ship speed and slowdowns when using focus mode.
Simplistic and blunt story heavily reliant on tropes, ending abruptly and leaving an unsatisfying narrative experience.

story
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
69%
12%
The game's story is light, short, and relies on familiar tropes, offering a decent but unsatisfying narrative that serves mainly as a backdrop to the gameplay. While it features some interesting elements and is well integrated with mission progression and ship upgrades, it often feels secondary and leaves players wanting more depth.
- “Took me around 3 hours to beat with a lot of retries on the last few missions, but there was absolutely no filler, no stages where I actually knew what was going to happen; it was exclusively good content from start to finish.”
- “This game is a pretty good shmup with some very light but well-told story.”
- “The story line is short, and to talk about it in bits and pieces would give large chunks of it away, so I won't -- but there is a story here.”
- “It relies heavily on tropes, and as a result it's a story you've heard many times before.”
- “Nevertheless, I had the intention to go through it, but an escort mission is just stupid.”
- “You're expected to rerun missions to get enough upgrades to flesh out your ship's capabilities; so in effect, you have to recycle content.”
gameplay
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
33%
11%
The gameplay is praised for its innovative mechanics, such as acquiring weapon charge through movement, and a seamless blend of classic shoot 'em up elements with modern features. While the shooting experience is engaging and supported by a rewarding leveling system and strong storytelling, some mechanics may detract from the overall enjoyment. Overall, the gameplay offers good replayability and justifies the purchase despite limited campaign content.
- “Great storytelling combined with dynamic and rather innovative gameplay: you acquire weapon charge when moving.”
- “Good shoot 'em up gameplay with a nice leveling system and a neat story.”
- “Flawless blend of classic shmup gameplay and new school elements.”
- “It's refreshing that the difficulty doesn't come from having a million trillion bullets on screen but some of the mechanics kind of ruin the experience.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
The game's graphics feature a unique and well-executed pixel art style with a limited color palette, setting it apart from typical shmups. The visuals are praised for their distinctiveness and artistic quality, avoiding overly complex or garish colors while maintaining an excellent visual presentation.
- “A great shooter with an interesting graphical style using a limited palette.”
- “I like the graphics; the color palette isn't a rainbow mumbo-jumbo like most titles of this genre, and the pixel art is from the better part of pixel art, not from the lazy-ugly-Undertale group.”
- “The story is interesting, the gameplay is great, and the graphics, even though they're just pixels, are amazing.”
- “Visuals try to stand out and use only a few colors with some low res graphics.”
- “Visuals try to stand out and use only a few colors with some low res graphics.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music features a somber, industrial-space-themed soundtrack that fits well with the game's restrained color palette and spacious stages, creating a cohesive atmosphere despite being unremarkable.
- “The restrained color palette, the spacious stages, the somber soundtrack, it all feels good together.”
- “The soundtrack is there, nothing special, it fits the industrial-space theme of the game.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding is present occasionally, with some players finding it mildly repetitive but not overly burdensome.
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers a challenging experience that evokes strong nostalgia and heartfelt appreciation for classic 80s and 90s arcade shoot 'em ups, resonating emotionally with fans of the genre.
- “A challenging yet heartfelt ode to the arcade shmup classics of the 80s and 90s.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers a solid replayability mechanic that helps compensate for the limited campaign content, enhancing overall player engagement despite its shortcomings.