YMMV / Kentucky Route Zero

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Weaver Márquez. Why did she disappear? Is it because her development of "The Formula" for High Times Distillery was morally abhorrent? Did she simply find a life for herself elsewhere? Does she resent her family and thus left them behind, or was she absent-minded in telling them that she was moving away? How come everyone else in town seems to have known her so well? How is she able to hack the WEVP-TV broadcast without being found? Is she actually a ghost?
  • Conway is unable to interact with Ben, Bob and Emily, unlike other members of the cast. They also mysteriously disappear on Conway in the opening scene. What does this say about each party?
• Anvilicious: To put it flippantly, the villain is money. To put it less flippantly, the game is not shy about how its purpose is attacking the core concepts of capitalism, and the willingness by those in power to endanger the lives of those "below" them in order to maximize their bottom line.
  • The game also makes clear that those trying to work within the system with good intentions can still backfire and funnel more money upwards. Weaver Márquez is specifically implicated in creating "The Formula" that Hard Times Distillery uses to ensnare people into literal eternal debt; while she's a math whiz that helped people solve their problem, it made existence much worse for the citizens of rural Kentucky.
• Awesome Music: The entirety of the score by Ben Babbitt is exceptional, from the sorrowful ambient drones to the bluegrass music credited to The Bedquilt Ramblers; from the pedal steel guitar-and-tape loops credited to Cyrano Cole to the luscious art pop show-stopper "Too Late to Love You", credited to Junebug. The trailer for the PlayStation 4 launch of the game is a microcosm of the game's sound universe swept into one of the most luscious sound collages ever designed.
  • Junebug's debut album Too Late to Love You is a fine melding of art rock, dream pop à la Cocteau Twins, and esoteric pop from Japan like Aragon and dip in the pool.
  • "I'm Going That Way", a traditional hymn, sung during Act V's burial of the Neighbors. While prettily sung by what seems like Emily, slowly the ghosts of the abandoned town come in until the final verses are sung in a fantastic chorus. Surprisingly powerful for a horse burial scene.
• Best Level Ever:
  • Ezra's hike through the woods, scored by "Long Journey Home" by The Bedquilt Ramblers.
  • Junebug's hypnotizing performance of "Too Late to Love You" in the bar The Lower Depths, which even allows players to select each of the verses that Junebug sings.
• Epileptic Trees: Due to the way the dialogue system enshrouds even clear answers into implied mysteries, there are bound to be many associated with the game and its lore.
• Genius Bonus: Many that reference Americana, its art and plays, are scattered throughout the game. Many can be found on the Shout Out page.
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: A complaint leveled at the first Act or two of the game. Some players saw the shorter acts at the beginning and lost interest before the longer, meatier acts were released over the game's seven-year release span. The delay between Acts III & IV (2 years) and IV & V (3 years) didn't help matters. Now that the game is sold as one complete title instead of individual programs, this opinion has definitively been re-evaluated as a premature one.
• Memetic Mutation:
  Ron: "Everything on that tape was wild. *half-hearted jazz hands*"
• Nightmare Fuel: The game deals with the real life consequences of capitalism on small towns and rural counties, and thus permeates with existential dread.
• Signature Scene:
  • The opening shot of Equus Oils against the sunset.
  • Ezra's hike through the woods.
  • Junebug's performance at The Lower Depths.
• The Woobie:
  • Ezra. He's a young boy who was abandoned by his parents one night. No-one is able to help him locate clues to their disappearance or even assist him until Conway and Shannon find him and his eagle friend, Julian.
  • Ron. He's introduced in the fourth interlude Un Pueblo de Nada as a country bumpkin who likes filming esoteric videotapes for fun. His life is uprooted by a giant storm that floods his town and kills the town's wild horse friends "The Neighbors." For the duration of Act V, he gathers and buries the horses, all the while cursing the Consolidated Power Company for allowing its worker town to go into disrepair and ultimately be flooded, with deep sorrow and smoldering anger.