Above all, Zenless Zone Zero is beautiful to look at. HoYover’s latest action RPG gacha title, following 2020’s Genshin Influence and last year Honkai: Star Railhas a lot to offer, with a beautifully detailed world, characters, and animations. There’s even some substance beneath that style, but the game may not be able to outdo HoYoverse’s other successful titles in the long run.
Intelligent functions that relieves the gacha grind make ZZZ perhaps the most player-friendly title in HoYover’s growing library, but it lacks a good lure that makes the player want more. In the twelve hours or so that I spent with ZZZ It’s shaping up to be a promising melting pot of useful features and gorgeous designs, but I fear it won’t garner the same enthusiastic following as its siblings.
Damned, Zenless Zone Zero has style!
In Zenless Zone Zero You take on the role of a Proxy, a person who guides Agents (the characters you control in battle) through dangerous pocket dimensions called Hollows. These Hollows have valuable resources, so the residents of New Eridu (where the game is set) always need a good Proxy to guide them in the hopes of making a profit. At the start of ZZZ, You help a trio of agents escape the Hollows and fall into a rabbit hole of intrigue and mystery that gets deeper the more you play.
New Eridu and its inhabitants are immediately striking at launch, thanks to the game’s incredible urban punk aesthetic that combines futurism and nostalgia. The protagonist duo Belle and Wise (in keeping with HoYoverse tradition since Genshin InfluenceYou can choose whether you want to play as a female or male main character) are another great example of ZZZ‘s wonderful design. Belle has a simple color palette of gray and orange, contrasted only by the dark blue of her stylish short hair. She wears a fashionable ensemble with a geometric pattern that alternates between her main colors and also carries a Walkman-like device on her hip. It’s an outfit that would look right at home in New York City’s trendiest neighborhoods.
This high-quality design extends to the rest of the game’s cast, each of whom is stylish and could very well be your new favorite character, which is ideal for a game where you have to pay real money to get the characters you want. I especially love the variety ZZZ including non-human characters like a bear named Ben Bigger, a first for a HoYoverse game. Likewise, New Eridu is a bright city full of love for the real world’s past. The central district, which you explore when you’re not actively on missions (we’ll get to that), is dotted with shops specializing in physical media (what a concept). Belle and Wise run a video store that you can manage when they’re not busy with their not-so-legal activities guiding people through the Hollows.
ZZZThe core of the gameplay of revolves around the Hollows. You can take on missions that send your party of three into the dangerous dungeons to fight and loot. Some missions advance the story, others are side activities, and still others are combat-oriented challenges to test your skills. Unlike the open world of Genshin Influence or the more extensive space adventures of Honkai: Star Rail the world of ZZZ feels small. This also applies to missions, which you do not start by traveling a long distance to a location, but by starting them from a simple menu. It reminds me most of HoYovers Honkai Impact 3.but the similarities don’t end there. ZZZThe entire combat system feels most like HI3.
Even if it works, I wish I was playing something else
In ZZZyou control one member of your party at a time in real-time combat against hordes of enemies. Each character has a basic, special, and ultimate attack, with the last two charging as you perform basic attacks. This alone is pretty simple and will probably sound familiar to anyone who has played before. HI3 or Genshin Influence. However, ZZZThe specialty of is the assist attacks. Before an opponent attacks, a short sparkle signals that you need to switch characters. With perfect timing, you can dodge the attack and in turn cause great damage. This system gives combat encounters a certain flow that can feel exceptionally good when you string together one assist attack after another, unleash ultimates and decimate the opponent in no time.
HoYoverse constantly switches from one title to the next and ZZZThe fight is clearly the result of a great rework of Genshin Influencewhich to this day has a pretty boring combat loop. The combat shines even brighter thanks to some of the best animations I’ve seen on HoYoverse. Compared to Genshin Influenceit is a wonderful improvement, but cannot reach the same heights as this year’s HoYoverse competitor, Wuthering Waves. WuWa still feels much more committed than ZZZsince even in the most demanding battles of the latter, the flow of combat can tend to involve button mashing without much thought.
Naturally, ZZZThe combat loop is designed to gain in-game resources that you can use to unlock and upgrade new characters and weapons. Thankfully, this gacha grind isn’t nearly as bad as something like Genshin Influence or Honkai: Star Rail. The limited selection of activities makes everything feel more accessible to the player. You can probably get your favorite character with a lot less work than you would in other HoYoverse games, since ZZZwhich shows that the developer is clearly trying to improve the quality of life of its games (and something I desperately hope will find its way back to Genshin Influence And HSR). In combination with the smaller world and the simple mission design ZZZ is the most accessible and player-friendly title from HoYoverse. However, it still hasn’t convinced me.
Ironically, I think this is because ZZZ perhaps sands down too many edges of the HoYoverse formula. While the combat is the most impressive ever in a HoYoverse title, it feels too simplistic, making the gameplay moment-to-moment uninteresting. The characters and world are beautifully designed, but the story itself isn’t very enticing so far. The stories of Genshin Influence And Honkai: Star Rail are the reason why I keep coming back, but even with ZZZ‘s a lower barrier to entry, I find the narrative to be easy to skip. To be fair, the game is in its first week and has only just started the narrative, so it could get better, but right now it doesn’t grab me. More than anything else while I’m playing ZZZ I wish the improved features could be easily integrated into the HoYoverse games I’d rather play.
As much as I love many things in Zenless Zone ZeroI can’t quite classify it in the HoYoverse portfolio. Besides Genshin Influence, Honkai: Star Rail, And Honkai Impact 3., Zenless Zone Zero feels that the biggest hurdles stand in the way of his success. Genshin is already an established hit with an enthusiastic fan base thanks to a sprawling open world and an equally sprawling story. Honkai: Star Rail has become popular in its own right after its release just a year ago due to its tight turn-based combat and gripping space opera adventure. Then there is Honkai Impact 3.which, despite its release in 2016, still has loyal fans. This all expands the potential player base for ZZZ even thinner. However, I hope it finds its audience, because there is a lot to like.
Zenless Zone Zero is now available for Android, iOS, PC and PlayStation 5.
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