Zoochosis

Not great, but not terrible either
I've been waiting for Zoochosis since it was announced in January. The first trailer caught my attention because it looked like nothing I've ever seen or even experienced in the genre. Become a zookeeper in a place where something went terribly wrong. Not only you have to take care of animals, you gotta keep an eye out for impostors that hide in plain sight. They look horrific, have different abilities and want only one thing - flesh. In this case your flesh. Use your wit, gadgets and some carefully processed human meat to succeed on your journey. Sounds like a great recipie for survival horror kind of game.
Skip 8 months and...We got a zookeeper simulator. It's filled with routine and has emphasis on multiple playthroughs. And it's established to not be a survival horror kind of game. In order to see if I'm crazy I rewatched all existing media advertising Zoochosis to see if it's misleading. And...yes. Somewhat. We were shown staged moments that built suspense about animals being lose in the facility and how they come out of nowhere to get you. Another piece was showing how animals can transform basically in front of you, so you gotta be on your guard. Or how multiple mutated animals can be presented at the same time. It never happens. None of it. Zookeeper part is still in the game tho, thanks. Game follows a very-very linear path when it comes to your gameplay loop.
· From your hub area get into the enclouse of animal you chose.
· Collect samples.
· Use information gathered from samples to pinpoint what kind of illness animals have (they are always sick).
· Create a cure for said illness using finite resources you gather.
· After that mutated animal presents itself as a boss.
· Decide if you want to kill it or cure it.
· Craft an item based on your choice.
· Fight the animal by shooting it with a dart gun (don't miss or you'll be forced to quit and load from previous checkpoint)
· Win.
· Repeat till you end a cycle.
This is a very streamlined version of what happens. Certain steps can occur earlier on the list or skipped entirely. It's a very straightforward and simple zookeeper sim with horror elements. Cycles are incredibly short, first one can take your around 2 hours, but the more you play, the faster you complete them. This is where "OMFG GAME IS ONLY 2 HOURS LONG" reviews come from.
The core elements are non linearity and choice making. Depending on your actions the outcome of the game can change. And said actions are not restricted by your interaction with animals. According to what devs said, game has 23 storylines that lead to different endings. From what I've read not all endings are presented as unique cutscenes, but rather as just wall of text explaining what happened. Game has cutscenes tho, with decent voice acting. Although there is a talk going on that it's AI generated. I personally don't think so tho and it's just badmouthing the game. And also according to user agreement game might or might not be collecting your data If you are interested in that kind of thing check it out on it's steam page under system requirements. It's a common practise, but still.
Getting further and further into the cycle and trying to figure out what's going on and how to escape is satisfying enough, therefore I keep going. However I don't recommend buying this for $20 if you expected the game to be just like in trailers. I didn't get it for $20 I got it for $9 thanks to regional pricing. I patiently waited for release, and although I didn't get exactly what I wanted, I don't hate it. No matter how you put it game has a very unique take both in simulator and horror genres.
Game looks great, and in order to make it run better I recommend downloading UE4SS (Unreal Engine 4/5 Scripting System) somehow it makes the game run better. Also make Zoochosis run on DirectX 11 instead of 12 by typing -dx11 in the launch options selecting it in the settings. Patch #2 added that feature. Use TAA as anti-aliasing method and for good graphics put Textures and Shadows on High. Everything else can be low/medium.
At the time of updating this review game recieved 24! patches already that fix various things and even add some new things. It seems like developers are listening to the community and addressing issues ASAP. Performance is getting better by the day. Achievements are no longer bugged. Certain elements like curing the animals made more convenient if you decide to go for extra steps. Lipsync is good now. Good stuff. Keep your expectations mild and give this game a chance.

It's a good game.
It's not the game promised in the trailers.

It's a Zookeeper Simulator for 90% of the game.
10% Horror/Thriller

It's fun and the horror is decent, it's a good game. I just feel like this game could have been magnificent with slightly different direction.
Maybe we will get a spin off or something that is closer to the trailer

im enjoying this game, but it clearly has lack of testing / very different from the trailers
pretty repetitive with the tasks and a lack of mutants, not really a horror game and more of a shooter with tasks to do

I didn't dislike this game. I think it could use some improvements, but playing it was not a bad experience.
Thoughts:
Interesting and exciting designs. I enjoy the body horror.
Requires some micro-managing and tedium like a lot of zoo simulation games. Mechanics are straight-forward once you understand them, but understanding them can be a problem. Certain things are a bit misleading and confusing and other things are just... unnecessary. (Why does the weight of the food you're slicing change based on how much food you have in the cart? This just made trying to get the right portions frustrating.)
Decent (?) voice acting. Could be better, but not the worst I've ever heard. The dialogue and subtitles are incredibly clunky and remind me of something gone through translation and not double-checked by an English speaker, however.
Somewhat interesting story. Everything comes at you kind of fast and the character interactions are a bit weird, but I am intrigued by the idea of the parasites and want to know more. I've completed only the main game and nothing further. New game+ I'm neutral on as a concept.
Story is pretty short for almost 25 dollars, but NG+ and multiple stories means there's more to be seen. Cannot attest to the quality of the endings, though... the first I got was a rather abrupt text box explaining what happened after the cinematic.
Not a fan of the shooter aspect. It's very clunky and out of place and I forget to reload every single time. Actively what irritated me the most out of everything in this game.
No threat of death. Punishment for mess-ups is just obnoxious (or resetting to the last save if it ruins what you're going for).
I like tending to the animals. I like the repetitive tasks of checking them over. I do not like how long the animation is for the blood samples though, and I wish there was just a button to open/close the enclosure instead of having to go into the console every single time. Also - PLEASE just let me take the blood sample without having to wait for them to stop moving! I know I can probably tranquilize them but I do not want to deal with the added step of having to make tranquilizers and reload every single time I want to get a blood sample in a decent amount of time.
Not immediately clear that you make 3 darts at a time. Also not immediately clear what darts you need, or what to do when an animal mutates. I get the idea of the hint we're given, but a simple wording change in the message that explains it would do wonders for clarity.
You can pet the animals.
There are actually a good number of different choices you can make. To all of the people complaining that the main character hardly reacts to anything and has no remorse, I would suggest you sit and wait for dialogue and do not immediately do every action that you're told to do the second you're told to do it. Check your surroundings. There might be alternative actions, or you may be able to choose to do nothing at all. This game gets bonus points for allowing some control over your character's actions.
Character/animal movement is not the best. There's some twitchy movements or jittering and the AI of the animals is incredibly basic. They walk around, they sleep, they run away from you, they chase you and they eat when you give them food (or reject it if it isn't something they want.) They vomit and poop too, I guess.
Enclosures are basic but all different from one another. Be careful in the giraffe one... there's a narrow spot where they can all wedge themselves into and get stuck if there's two chasing you for food. Will require a reload to fix.
Basically: I think the mutated animals and the way they're dealt with could use some serious improvements. They're lackluster in their current state and frustrating to get rid of. Some mechanics could use some clarity and some other could use a bit of tuning. Very few people want to sit through a 5 second animation on every single animal as a part of their tasks in each exhibit.
If you enjoy simulation games with tedious micro-managing, body horror and dark/grotesque things, you might like this game. If you enjoy multiple endings and choices, you might like this game. I do not think Zoochosis is deserving of its current 46% positive rating, but the game could definitely be better. Such is the curse of hype and expectations, however.

I've been enjoying this game, but here's my thoughts- spoilers ahead!
PROS
-Love the monster designs, it's exciting getting each new enclosure to see what form the mutation will take next. It's what got me interested in this title to begin with.
-Leans heavily into the simulator part of it's gameplay, once you're used to the system and what you're doing in each enclosure it falls into a repeatable pattern. I can see why people don't care for this, but I enjoy it and getting to ID different illnesses with the same system.
-Systems to treat and care for the animals were fun, but it took several failed attempts to realize how to make cures with the blood samples- don't submit them to testing, keep them in your inventory!
-Lots of reviews say the voice-acting is bad, but I find these inaccurate. Remarkably average, my issues were more in the pacing than quality of the VAs. Doc especially I thought was a good fit for the character.
-Love the animations for the animals, all of them have different animations for petting/samples depending on what they were doing, like if they were asleep. It's a fun attention to detail!
-Nice accessibility options, the ability to turn off the bodycam is a god send if you get easily motion sick like me.
-The dart gun system being your main weapon is fun, handles well and you can recover missed darts.
CONS
-This game has a LOT of endings, a single 2 choice option will determine if you get one of several good or bad ends. This means the game relies on you replaying it a LOT, and this is where the gameplay loop can get tiring.
-Slight issues softlocking on the hand scanners or when animals get stuck in the environment- reloading typically fixes this for me.
-The voice acting for the journalist Sara is where the pacing and line delivery are the most poorly done, the conversation doesn't feel natural between her and Paul.
MIXED THOUGHTS
-You can pretty easily reload to get hidden achievements and save your darts, like Medical Professional, as the system autosaves each time you move in and out of an enclosure. I used this to my advantage to manage my vials.
-There's little punishment to getting caught by the mutated animals- in the time it takes you to get back on your feet an animal could die, I guess? Death isn't a mechanic and that really takes away the stakes and tension. Similarly, the mutated animals cannot leave their enclosures and follow you into the storage areas even though they break down the doors and such at the start of their mutation boss fight. You have a safe space, which is probably for the best given how you need to return to KATIE to make medicine so that you don't get blocked in the hallway.
-Lots of secrets which is fun, but there's hidden codes that can be found with the UV light to open the other lockers in the HUB. I had no idea this was even a feature until I was searching for how to get the corresponding achievement. Seems you get one code each run, in one of the four enclosures... Still trying to play around with that.
Overall, it's fun, but the trailers do not reflect just how much of a simulator this is. Once you know the drill, the horror loses its substance. The first mutation I saw I was mortified hiding in the storage room, but the horror elements take back burner after you've completed your first run. I don't mind the price, for the visual quality it feels fair. I had my doubts as I did not enjoy this team's last release, Sparky Marky, at all- however this game's premise drew me in enough to try it. I hope they do more releases in a similar direction, this feels much more original and has substance to it.

Why is All Reviews currently Mixed? I think I can answer that:
- Day 1, this game was so buggy that 20% of the player base couldn't even get to an ending
- Very strange behaviors witnessed from the devs, specifically in response to the Community boards, seeming like they were not caring about player input
+ There has been a new patch ALMOST EVERY DAY for this game, and it has helped many previously impacted players to have a much more cohesive gameplay experience
Personally, I love this game. It has potential to compete with Mortuary Assistant and allows me to help take care of animals. So long as the bugs keep getting worked out, there's no reason for me to continue to hate on the game.

After 7 hours I had to call it a day and walk away - but only because my eyes needed a rest! Each day (round) is a little different, offering new opportunities to try a new strategy or find new secrets the game is hiding. I completed 4/5 days and got a different ending every time; This only kept me reloading and starting the next day right away!
Calling this a horror game is a little bit of a stretch as there are a TON of ways more horror can be incorporated into the game. The jump scares included are good, I just hoped for more with this being branded "horror".
I see SO MUCH potential in additions and updates to this as time goes on but even as it is I can't recommend it enough! I will be back for more Zoo work and am excited to see what more comes to the game!