Zenless Zone Zero Review – Gacha Redemption

HoYoVerse’s newest gacha ditches its spacefaring adventures and fantasy tones for a more down-to-earth (literally), albeit more futuristic and post-apocalyptic. In a world riddled with Hollows, these are zones infected with all manner of otherworldly creatures, and it’s up to two new extremely likable characters to stop it all, with style. In short, Zenless Zone Zero is the slickest, flashiest, and most memorable game HoYoverse has created, and that’s me saying it as someone who’s been around since Honkai Impact 3rd.

Although HoYoverse was released barely a year apart from Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero, doubts arise about whether the development time was enough, if it managed to bring something new, or whether it managed to stand out on its own and stay at the top like its siblings. However, ZZZ does have a lot to offer that makes it worthwhile for new players or those familiar with HoYoverse to give this game a chance. And frankly, it is the culmination of everything the company has learned from its past endeavors.

Once More Into the Hollow

Zenless Zone Zero takes us to the beautiful urban setting of New Eridu. While the place might seem peaceful at a glance, everyone can be caught inside one of the many pocket dimension-like zones spawn in the city, also known as Hollows. These places are filled with Ethereals, the monsters you’ll fight throughout your journey.

The story is centered around Belle and Wise, two siblings who own the most retro video store in New Eridu, and any hipster out there will fall in love with it. However, that’s just the facade of their business. Secretly, these siblings are Proxies, people in charge of doing jobs inside the Hollows. These jobs range from retrieving information and objects to eliminating Ethereals. Yet, it’s all hush-hush stuff since Proxies are considered criminals, so all this work is done under the table, so to speak.

After a few events that make the siblings lose their legendary Proxie status, thus justifying the zero-to-hero journey and a long tutorial for us players, Belle and Wise must start taking commissions from all manner of characters, including and not limited to shark girls, furries, accountant bears, whatever Soukaku is, and more. Overall, it is a terrific story that, while it hasn’t delivered an emotional impact like Genshin or HSR, it’s enough to keep you entertained and, most importantly, give you that sweet gacha currency.

Devil May Gacha

If you didn’t know, Zenless Zone Zero is a gacha. And before you think this is a predatory type of game or something like the hate train likes to say, it isn’t. Controversies aside, HoYoverse has always been friendly and free-to-play in many aspects, and ZZZ isn’t an exception. So, to get the gacha shenanigans out of the way, you can expect many of HoYoverse’s staples. Gorgeous waifus that’ll drain your wallet. Six-week-long updates with events in between to give you currency for your pulls. Gameplay systems are locked behind the story. A grinding process requires some form of “energy,” which is refilled daily. And more.

While you can enjoy many things without delving into the gacha part deeply, you’ll eventually have to succumb to it. So, if you’re not a fan of a game that requires you to do daily tasks to progress, it might not be for you. Yet, if you are a fan, this will be a haven and a fun one at that. No, really. ZZZ has some of the best combat mechanics I’ve seen in any gacha. Picture a combination of Genshin Impact character-swapping mechanics with the slickness of Bayonetta or Devil May Cry. Even without jumping attacks, Zenless is miles ahead of any other gacha, at least in terms of combat.

Furthermore, fights have the same base as Honkai Impact 3rd regarding teams of three characters, the combat type, and their “stage” structure. However, ZZZ surprises with the Intro animations/attacks, like Wuthering Waves and the new Chained Attacks, with flashy movements, making this gameplay fun and dynamic. And speaking of dynamism, despite many characters sharing the same element or attribute, the gameplay design of each one is so great that they don’t feel too similar to one another. Even at its launch version, Zenless already has more combat and design variety than any of the competition.

A Day in New Eridu

Unlike the isolated stages of Honkai Impact 3rd, Zenless fills those gaps with “IRL” exploration. You can get to know the city’s different neighborhoods, visit the stores, or see how the other characters walk around the city, similar to Persona 5. Without a doubt, this and the text messaging system make me feel like New Ereidu is not very different from my life, of course, leaving aside the monsters and the fact that I don’t have a furry or a blue demon as a neighbor. At first, I wasn’t a fan of the exploration system with the TVs, but I must admit that I liked that the 90s game style was also part of this mechanic. Moving between those bulky screens and solving the puzzles is a mini-game with excerpts from the story, which makes it great.

Initially, I didn’t like the fact Belle and Wise were not playable characters, especially because I tend to have the Traveler and Trailblazer on my team. Even though they are not in combat, it doesn’t mean they lose the spotlight; it feels more realistic for them to be “the guy in the chair” helping the Agents, like Ned with Spider-man. It also perfectly justifies that the proxy is in the story and not the team, like when the Traveller or Trailblazer spawn only for the story automatically.

Lastly, farming materials are another essential aspect of this gacha. ZZZ doesn’t have the brilliant Auto-Battle of Honkai: Star Rail, but finding all the items in one place, the HIA, is terrific. Plus, players can choose the difficulty of the stage/dungeon by choosing which and how many foes appear. Grinding is something that I hardly enjoy doing, but ZZZ excels in this mechanic compared to Genshin Impact or Honkai Star Rail. The lack of auto-battle modes aside, I feel the lack of exploration or dynamism in these stages makes them feel extremely repetitive. Still, they are one way to get currency for pulls, so it isn’t entirely bad.

A Gacha With a Cartoonish Soul

I don’t have words to describe the music; it’s just incredible. In a world not “so different” from ours, there is a lot of variation of rhythms and genres that adapt perfectly to the story, combat, or character. I felt like I was Anby, fighting with my headphones at max volume; I couldn’t resist including some tracks in my playlists. Not that the other HoYoverse games don’t, but it would be weird to hear Fontaine or Xianzhou Luofu with Trap background music. Again, Zenless Zone Zero seems to be less limited because it doesn’t rely on classic fantasy.

As for the graphics, I can’t hide my bias for ZZZ‘s animations and style. There is a fantastic mix between the overlapping and fluidity of a more cartoonish animation with anime’s style and physics. Not only that, but it is also amazing to see it in cinematics with comic vignettes. This is a thousand times better than the simple dialog panels that make the story of Genshin Impact tedious.

New is Always Better

Genshin Impact was my first love, and the game started this insane gacha obsession in me. However, Zenless Zone Zero undoubtedly awakened that excitement again, even to the point of questioning myself about making ZZZ the main and even the only game for me. The combat ignites the adrenaline, like when I trigger the Chain Attacks, and how it can include the Bangboos in the equation. The humor and Agents are also unique among themselves, but the faction system makes it even more interesting; it adds more to the character relationships as well as the lore.

Discovering New Eridu makes me feel like I’m new to the place, and getting to know the neighborhoods while making new friends along the way is fantastic. Oh yes, there’s even a “friendship” system of sorts in ZZZ. Zenless Zone Zero promises a lot, and although it has similarities with its contemporaries, it is perfectly distinguishable from them. I just hope that as it gets longer, it doesn’t lose its golden touch.