When CGM’s Dayna Eileen presented me with Town of Zoz, she followed it with the message, “Do I want to play this?” After taking a quick look at it, I swiftly responded, “It looks super cute…I kinda want to play it now.” In her infinite grace and awesomeness, she granted me the chance to review it, and I’m so grateful she did because it continues to prove that, even unintentionally, she’ll always send me games that are both adorable and incredibly interesting.
Town of Zoz surprised me in a lot of ways. When I watched the gameplay trailer Dayna had sent me, I assumed it was a simple dungeon-crawling action RPG. But once I dove into it, it began opening up in ways I honestly wasn’t expecting. It’s a game that genuinely does a lot, without really being overly complicated or too intense—combining action, farming and cooking in a unique way that is central to its themes.
Players take on the role of a boy named Ito who is called back to his home while training in the wilderness to be a Shaman Warrior. After receiving a letter from his parents that they need his help with their restaurant, he returns to the titular Town of Zoz, only to be quickly pulled into a strange spiritual dilemma that could seal the fate of the entire town. Together with his family and companion spirit Zeez, Ito will fight and feed the spirits to bring peace to the town.
“Town of Zoz surprised me in a lot of ways.”
It’s a simple and charming story grounded in Latin American folklore and traditions, rounded out by a cast of quirky and endearing characters. It maintains a playful, lighthearted tone throughout the game, very much from the perspective of a boy desperate to prove his maturity and skill. I don’t so much have an issue with the story itself as with the way it’s told.
Town of Zoz begins with a bit of ancillary text offering a vague explanation of who Ito is, and then quickly moves to a cutscene of him training with his Zeez. Pretty soon after, gameplay begins, and the story feels like it’s beginning in medias res, but less organically and more like it’s withholding essential story elements. Similarly, character dialogue will sometimes mention things that either haven’t been explained or seem somewhat out of place.
This extends a little bit to the game’s cutscenes, which, credit where it’s due, are UNBELIEVABLY charming. Presented with a retro anime aesthetic, Town of Zoz’s cutscenes are brilliant to watch, but they’re missing one crucial component: voice acting. And this might sound like a nitpick, but sometimes I found myself missing things that were being said by characters because the animation itself is so mesmerizing and fun that I wasn’t paying attention to the subtitles—especially since they weren’t backed by any voices.
But where Town of Zoz really stands out is in its gameplay, both in its execution and presentation. As soon as I started playing it, the game was giving me PSX vibes—I don’t know why, but I was reminded of Brave Fencer Musashi. Player guide Ito through various dungeon-esque areas, fighting off monsters and solving minor puzzles. Both combat and puzzle solving are done through a combination of controlling Ito and Zeez, but not in a way that’s obnoxious.
“Town of Zoz is a genuine treat for gamers seeking engaging action and a somewhat cozy atmosphere.”
Players will control Ito, using his Spirit Machete to execute a basic combo that is bolstered over time by special attacks. Zeez will target enemies on his own and possess them, dealing minor damage over time and even utilizing big AoE attacks. However, players can also use the right stick to control Zeez directly, or target enemies or objects for Zeez to possess. It creates a unique form of combat where players need to be aware of their surroundings, not just to avoid and execute attacks, but to actively control the battlefield.
In some ways, Town of Zoz actually reminded me a bit of Cuisineer since exploring the world and battling enemies is part and parcel to the game’s cooking element, where enemies drop necessary ingredients for creating recipes. Similar to Cuisineer, while crafting recipes are crucial to completing certain quests, they also give Ito useful buffs for when he’s adventuring, so the ingredients players use, coupled with their success in the Overcooked-style minigame, can actually increase their ability during battle.
As I mentioned above, Town of Zoz does have some Farming Sim elements, but they’re pretty approachable and relatively minimal. Players are given a few plots of land on Ito’s homestead and will need to till the soil, plant their seeds and water them daily in order to grow healthy, delicious vegetables. Players can also use different kinds of fertilizer to improve vegetable quality, which will inevitably improve the quality of the dish cooked with them. It all goes hand in hand with the other gameplay elements to create a seamless experience of cooking and killing.
I alluded to it when discussing the game’s cutscenes, but Town of Zoz has an incredible visual style. The game’s cutscenes are lovingly animated and given an old VHS filter that gives them an awesome sense of style. Characters and enemies are given a brighter colour palette, outlines, and a reduced framerate that make them stand out from the environments and feel much more animated—in the traditional sense. On top of this, both characters and environments are richly detailed and uniquely designed to really give the world a sense of wonder and fun.
The visuals are backed by a captivating soundtrack that makes excellent use of the game’s Latin American influence. There’s a really playful sense of adventure in the soundtrack akin to something you’d hear in The Legend of Zelda, but really highlighted by each song’s liberal use of pan flute. It gives the score a kind of gentle, almost mystical vibe that really suits the game’s tone and world.
Town of Zoz is a genuine treat for gamers seeking engaging action and a somewhat cozy atmosphere. Its storytelling, dungeon-crawling and simulation elements all pair together perfectly for something that’s not too intense, but not too simplistic either. If you’re in the mood for something genuinely inspired, give this a look.
