Planning a new story every few weeks with continuity for a central plot that will last for years is difficult. It is even more complicated when a story has nail-biting points or cliffhangers, and then you have to connect them to the next part. In the case of HoYoverse, its games have very interesting themes and deep lore, but the points where there is less drama sometimes lose strength in their narrative. Unfortunately, when this happens, players get filler events that can feel boring, and it looks like the next Zenless Zone Zero patch might have this same problem for the Astra Yao and Evelyn banners. It is also sad that, when this happens, the ones who suffer the most are the new characters.
Will We See the Same Filler Curse of Other HoYoverse Games in Zenless Zone Zero?
Dull patches or events are something that Genshin Impact was not spared from, like in the whole Sorush event in Version 3.6. Or even with interesting events like Secret Summer Paradise, which only had re-runs on its banners. Another example is Summertide Scales and Tales in 4.8; the story was entertaining and gave hints of the main story, although many decided to skip the characters. Even though Emilie was the new 5-star character of this patch, many preferred to wait for Natlan, even though she is an excellent addition to Burgeon teams with Kinich. The tricky thing about events is that they take very long to give the rewards, and if you don’t, you lose some big lore drops.
The same happens with Honkai Star Rail, where sometimes the story ends in a big cliffhanger and is left aside for a long time, like Jingliu. Also, many filler patches occur in Xianzhou, as was 2.5, which, despite having great characters like Yunli, the story did not get better until the arrival of Feixiao and Lingsha. HoYoverse devs also tend to forget the rest of its locales, such as Belobog being neglected. Also, it didn’t make sense to focus on the end of the Planet of the Festivities with “Farewell, Penacony” and return to it after only two Paches with a somewhat mediocre story. Don’t get me wrong, Rappa has her charm as a character, but after version 2.6, I can’t stand monkey jokes.
ZZZ Might Be Approaching Its Filler Stage Soon
Now Zenless Zone Zero might face its own filler chapter because, for Version 1.4, all factions are about to collide in the main story. After the great build-up about Pearlman, the Hollow, and Phaeton’s past with Miyabi, we will finally see the central conflict. However, the latest teasers and trailers are already showing new characters out of this conflict, or at least until now, as Astra Yao and Evelyn didn’t have any strong appearances. Only Astra Yao appeared in a poster on the newspaper stand, but only that.
There is still no confirmation of a 2.0 version. But let’s take a look at the recent facts. The drip marketing for these two characters means they are coming soon, as that is HoYovese’s M.O. This means that Zenless Zone Zero might get its filler or quiet moment that will sadly feature Astra Yao and Evelyn, who have been well-received by the community. Hopefully, this game won’t follow the same footsteps as its siblings. We know that the good story beats should be saved for major updates, but I only hope these filler versions are good and monkey-free.
