Above all else, Zenless Zone Zero is gorgeous to take a look at. HoYoverse’s newest motion RPG gacha title, following 2020’s Genshin Affect and final yr’s Honkai: Star Rail, has lots a lot going for it, with a superbly detailed world, characters, and animations. Beneath that model there’s even some substance, however the sport could not be capable to greatest HoYoverse’s different profitable titles in the long term.
Good options that reduce the gacha grind make ZZZ maybe probably the most player-friendly title in HoYoverse’s rising library, but it surely lacks a great hook that can preserve the participant coming again for extra. Within the dozen or so hours I’ve spent with ZZZ it takes form as a promising melting pot of helpful options and beautiful design that I’m anxious received’t garner the identical avid fan base as its siblings.
Rattling, Zenless Zone Zero has model!
In Zenless Zone Zero you tackle the position of a Proxy, an individual who guides brokers (the characters you management in fight) via harmful pocket dimensions known as Hollows. These Hollows have worthwhile sources, so the residents of New Eridu (the place the sport is about), are at all times in need of a great Proxy to information them in hopes of turning a revenue. At first of ZZZ, you assist a trio of brokers escape the Hollows and fall right into a rabbit gap of intrigue and thriller that solely will get deeper the extra you play.
Instantly upon beginning, New Eridu and its inhabitants stand out visually, due to the sport’s unimaginable city punk aesthetic that blends the futuristic and nostalgic. The protagonist duo Belle and Sensible (per HoYoverse’ custom since Genshin Affect, you get to select to play as a feminine or male major character) are one other nice instance of ZZZ’s fantastic design. Belle has a easy grey and orange colour palette solely contrasted by the darkish blue of her trendy brief hair. She’s carrying a modern ensemble with geometric patterning that alternates between her major colours whereas additionally sporting a walkman-like system on her hip. It’s a match that might be proper at dwelling in probably the most modern neighborhoods of New York Metropolis.
That top-quality design extends to the remainder of the sport’s forged, every of whom is trendy and will very effectively be your new favourite character, which is the perfect for a sport that asks you to pay real-world cash to get the characters you need. I particularly love the variability ZZZ gives, which incorporates non-human characters, like a bear named Ben Larger, a primary for aHoYoverse sport. Equally, New Eridu is a shining metropolis crammed with a love of the true world’s previous. The central neighborhood you discover whereas not actively on missions (we’ll get to these) is affected by shops devoted to bodily media (what an idea). Belle and Sensible run a video rental retailer that you just get to handle whereas they aren’t doing their less-than-legal actions guiding individuals via the Hollows.
ZZZ’s core gameplay loop is centered across the Hollows. You’ll be able to settle for missions that ship your celebration of three into the harmful dungeons to struggle and acquire loot. Some missions progress the story, some are facet actions, and a few are combat-focused challenges to check your talent. In distinction to the open-world of Genshin Affect or the extra expansive house touring escapades of Honkai: Star Rail the world of ZZZ feels small. That extends to missions, which you start not by touring a protracted distance to a location, however by launching into them from a easy menu. It jogs my memory most of HoYoverse’s Honkai Affect third, however that’s not the place the similarities finish. ZZZ’s total fight system feels most like HI3.
Even when it really works, I type of want I used to be enjoying one thing else
In ZZZ, you management one member of your celebration at a time in actual time fight in opposition to hordes of enemies. Every character has a fundamental, particular, and supreme assault, with the latter two charging up as you carry out fundamental assaults. This alone is pretty easy and possibly will really feel acquainted to anybody who has performed HI3 or Genshin Affect. Nevertheless, ZZZ’s particular sauce is it sassist assaults. Earlier than an enemy assaults, a brief sparkle indicators to change characters. If timed completely, you dodge the incoming assault and might in flip do some huge injury. With this method, fight encounters tackle a sure stream that may really feel exceptionally good while you string collectively help assault after help assault, unleashing ultimates and decimating the enemy very quickly.
HoYoverse continually iterates from one title to the subsequent, and ZZZ’s fight is clearly the results of some nice iteration on Genshin Affect, which to this present day has a reasonably boring fight loop. Fight shines even brighter due to a number of the greatest animations I’ve seen HoYoverse put to display. When in comparison with Genshin Affect, it’s an exquisite enchancment, nonetheless it may possibly’t attain the identical heights as this yr’s HoYoverse competitor, Wuthering Waves. WuWa nonetheless feels rather more engaged than ZZZ, as even within the latters’ most difficult fights the fight loop can lean in direction of button-mashing with out the necessity for a lot thought.
Naturally, ZZZ’s fight loop is in service of gaining in-game sources by which you’ll unlock and improve new characters and weapons. Fortunately, that gacha grind isn’t practically as dangerous as one thing like Genshin Affect or Honkai: Star Rail. Every thing feels extra simply accessible to the participant via the restricted assortment of actions. You’ll be able to in all probability get your favourite character with lots much less work than it will soak up different HoYoverse video games resulting from ZZZ’s method, which exhibits the developer is clearly making an attempt to make high quality of life enhancements to its video games (and one thing I desperately hopes makes its manner again to Genshin Affect and HSR). Mixed with the smaller world and easy mission design, ZZZ is HoYoverse’s most approachable and player-friendly title. But it nonetheless hasn’t gotten its hooks into me.
Satirically I feel the rationale for that’s as a result of ZZZ sands perhaps one too many edges off the HoYoverse components. Whereas fight is probably the most spectacular it’s ever been in a HoYoverse title, it feels too simple, which makes moment-to-moment gameplay unengaging. The characters and world are gorgeously designed, however the story itself isn’t very attractive as of but. The tales of Genshin Affect and Honkai: Star Rail are what preserve me coming again, however even with ZZZ’s a decrease barrier to entry I discover its narrative to be simple to bounce off of. To be honest, the sport is in its first week and has barely gotten began on the narrative entrance, so issues may get higher, however proper now, it’s not gripping me. Greater than something, whereas enjoying ZZZ I discover myself wishing its improved options may simply be put within the HoYoverse video games I’d fairly be enjoying.
As a lot as I really like many issues in Zenless Zone Zero, I can’t fairly place it within the HoYoverse portfolio. Alongside Genshin Affect, Honkai: Star Rail, and Honkai Affect third, Zenless Zone Zero feels prefer it has the largest hurdles in the best way of its success. Genshin is already a longtime hit with an avid fan base due to a sprawling open-world matched by an equally sprawling story. Honkai: Star Rail has turn out to be in style in its personal proper after solely being launched a yr in the past on the power of its tight turn-based fight and enthralling house opera journey. Then there’s Honkai Affect third, which regardless of releasing again in 2016, nonetheless has loyal followers. This all stretches the potential participant base for ZZZ even thinner. I hope it does discover its viewers, nonetheless, as there’s a lot to like.
Zenless Zone Zero is now out there on Android, iOS, PC, and PlayStation 5.
.
