2021's Road 96 featured a cast full of colorful characters, each offering the player a diverse range of experiences, skills, and more that would ultimately affect the player's fate at the end of the game. While DigixArt's new indie title chooses to focus in on just one of those characters, it also features plenty of scenes and cameos with a handful of favorites from the first game. Those who want to meet these characters for the first time or see them again can play Road 96: Mile 0 now on PlaySation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Game ZXC spoke with creative director and studio co-founder Yoan Fanise about who players can expect to see in Road 96: Mile 0.
Road 96: Mile 0 Sees the Return of Zoe, Sonya, John, and More
For those who played the first game, one protagonist of Road 96: Mile 0 will be a very familiar face. Zoe returns from the first Road 96, and instead of only getting five fleeting encounters with her, players now get the opportunity to play as her, uncovering more details of her past and deepening their understanding of the oppressive country of Petria along the way.
In Road 96, Zoe is a troubled teenager trying to escape Petria much like the player character. She is witty with an affinity for music and a sharp tongue, speaking against anyone in a position of power. However, in Road 96: Mile 0 she is painted in a more naive light—not yet having left home to live on the road and not hardened by the realities of the world. She retains her wit but is skeptical when she begins to learn the truth about the government and the world she's been living in, refusing at first to believe any of it.
The one who begins to change her perspective is her best friend and new character to the series—Kaito. He may be new to the Road 96 games, but Kaito is actually first seen as the main protagonist in one of DigixArt's previous games, Lost in Harmony, the story of which informs Kaito's background as the kid of a working class family from the poor capital of Petria. Although his and Zoe's upbringing couldn't be more in contrast, their friendship is the cornerstone of Road 96: Mile 0's story.
"...it had to be Kaito, whose backstory with Aya was perfectly fitting Petria’s lore. Although he’s from the poor capital with a different background, he’s ok that Zoe gets close to him, and she quickly becomes his best friend."
Zoe is not the only returning character in this new installment in the series, either. Fans of the games will be quick to recognize some familiar faces as many of the central characters from the first game also play a variety of roles in Road 96: Mile 0. Whether it's a fake interview with Petria's favorite, fussy journalist Sonya, clandestine meetings with the gruff resistance member John, or a helping hand from whizkid Alex, players new and old will surely fall in love (or back in love) with Petria's diverse cast of characters.
The choice to include these characters again is not simply an act of fan service for returning fans. In their mission to set out and tell the backstory of Zoe, DigixArt simultaneously divulges a small glimpse into the past of some of Road 96's pivotal characters after the events of Road 96: Mile 0.
"Players love the characters you meet in Road 96. We love them too, they’re like our children, and we wanted to dig more into the ones that fit with this new plot."
Road 96: Mile 0 is out now on PlaySation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Windows, and Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.