Zenless Zone Zero: The GwG Review
Dylan Atkinson, Contributor
Despite the immense popularity of their other games, I hadn’t engaged with any of MiHoYo’s work until Honkai Star Rail (HSR) last year, which stuck with me thanks to a combination of fun characters, a compelling planet-hopping narrative, and an enjoyable turn-based battle system with just enough depth to keep me engaged. I had known that Zenless Zone Zero’s (ZZZ) release was coming up, but I didn't have any intention of playing the game because the thought of committing myself to two gacha games simultaneously was somewhat daunting. However, after trying out ZZZ on a whim and playing well over 70 hours now I can say I’m impressed by so much of ZZZ but also feel its 1.0 version doesn’t leave the strongest first impression.
ZZZ is an action RPG that centres around the siblings Wise and Belle who work as illegal proxies from the back of their video rental store that take commissions from various individuals and factions. Proxies exist to guide those that enter hollows, dangerous environments which contain monsters called ethereals. As the narrative unfolds they undertake many commissions from different factions that are all strangely connected, which pulls the siblings and factions deeper into a massive conspiracy. Wise and Belle themselves don’t participate in combat; instead, you play as a team of three agents that you create or are given during certain story missions to fight ethereals. Each agent has their own unique play style with distinct strengths and weaknesses, encouraging you to experiment with team compositions to maximise their synergy in battle.
The most immediate difference between ZZZ and Hoyo’s previous games is the graphical fidelity. ZZZ looks an entire generation ahead of Hoyo’s other games. Although the explorable environments outside of combat are quite small, they feel so dense, packed with stores, graffiti, and advertisements for all sorts of in-universe products. The video rental store Wise and Belle run is an amazing homage to all kinds of films, each with a lovingly detailed and unique box art. The funniest is a film titled ‘Family’ which features two men clearly intended to be Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson with cars and explosions in the background. It’s an obvious parody of the Fast & Furious franchise that shows that kind of humour Hoyo enjoys.
Screenshot by the author.
ZZZ’s universe may seem at first to exemplify cassette futurism, an aesthetic that utilises technology from the ‘70s in a sci-fi setting, but the universe is too modern to neatly fit within this definition. It’s more like classic technologies have been injected, or perhaps reintegrated, into a contemporary setting creating a very distinct vibe and taps into ‘90s / early 2000s nostalgia. This makes ZZZ’s urban fantasy setting stand out greatly from the high fantasy and sci-fi aesthetics of Hoyo’s other games.
Screenshot by the author.
It’s quite a shock to bounce between HSR and ZZZ because the difference in character detail is staggering. Hoyo has received a lot of valid criticism for the lack of body types in their games: to be more specific, only a small number of model types are used for the entire cast, which makes their character designs very homogenised. To play devil’s advocate, this is likely done to save time and resources on making new characters since Hoyo updates their games every six weeks. However, their costume design could also stand to be more unique. The construction of outfits in HSR can be incredibly similar despite characters originating from entirely different planets. For example, the characters below are all from different backgrounds but they all use the same model base and their outfits have very similar construction. Each outfit features exposed shoulders and legs, detached sleeves, high heels and a similar dress length.
Screenshots by the author.
ZZZ’s characters by comparison are significantly more unique both in their costume and character designs. Obviously, characters like Ben Bigger and Von Lycaon have unique models, but if the other playable characters aren’t using unique models Hoyo is doing a significantly better job at masking that. I am slightly concerned that Hoyo won’t maintain this level of diversity in the character designs moving forward since the game’s launch trailer, which almost certainly showcases upcoming characters, doesn’t feature any thirens (anthropomorphic animal characters) beside Ben and Lycaon. I think it will be really disappointing if Hoyo doesn’t capitalise on what they’ve established with ZZZ’s world.
Screenshots by the author.
Combat is the game’s main draw, and it is quite fun and extremely flashy, especially the defensive parry which has an incredibly satisfying visual and sound effect. Perfect dodge and parry are both extremely generous, but this was likely done because performing these actions on a touchscreen is much more difficult than with a controller. If your expectation of ZZZ is an action game as complex as Devil May Cry you’ll find ZZZ extremely underwhelming.
Combat makes a strong first impression but the simplicity quickly reveals itself. Individually, each character isn’t very complex, but playing as a team of three that you’re constantly swapping between helps to prevent combat from feeling repetitive. Continuing to play beyond the prologue reveals slightly more depth, but that’s not necessarily because combat opens up more as you progress through the game. Characters get stronger as you enhance their attributes but there aren’t any upgrades that fundamentally change how a character plays. There are some exceptions but most of the upgrades just enhance their current moveset. As you become familiar with the character’s moveset, create your own teams, and play more game modes that are set under a time limit, ZZZ becomes much more engaging. That last point is especially important because I’ve found that ZZZ is at its most engaging when you’re playing under a time limit and are forced to maximise your damage and really learn enemy movesets.
Screenshot by the author.
Having fought every enemy in the game, however, I find that the enemy variety isn’t sufficiently robust. As a live service game, more enemies and bosses can be expected over time, but the current lineup really could have used a couple more enemies. In the future, more variety is also needed with enemy design, because very few enemies have much going on besides parrying and dodging when the game tells you to. Something that also hurts the game’s variety significantly are the hollow environments. The 1.0 environments all fall along the same line of destroyed buildings, train stations, and streets which is appropriate for the urban setting but does lead to a lot of visual repetition.
Something that hurts 1.0 more than this though is the current roster of agents, because 1.0 agent specialties (their classes) are really uneven in terms of distribution. Of the 17 characters playable in 1.0 there are: 2 anomaly, 3 stun, 4 support, 7 attack, and only 1 defence character. Ben being the only defence agent brings into question what exactly the purpose of the role is. Ben himself is not a weak character in terms of gameplay, but a traditional ‘tank’ doesn’t really work in an action game where you can ‘get good’ and perfectly dodge and parry every single attack. For a launch version, ZZZ’s combat is acceptable, although I still wish the 1.0 characters were slightly more complex because some characters have hidden attributes in their gameplay. Nicole has several secret ways of executing her EX special attack by spinning the analogue stick while she’s charging and if Ben is in the same team as Koleda he enhances some of her attacks. Little aspects like these would go a long way in making the cast more complex without needing to add new attacks.
Screenshot by the author.
Character interaction is an aspect of the game that, personally, makes ZZZ much harder to stomach as a gacha game than HSR. The interaction you have with each character’s gameplay is so much more tactile in ZZZ compared to HSR that missing out on limited characters is potentially much more frustrating. As a free-to-play player, with each update you’ll typically have enough of the premium currency to pull for 1 of the 2 new premium characters added each update. But even then, the chances of getting the limited character are 50/50 when pulling them, so you might miss out regardless unless you pull an S rank again at which point the limited character is guaranteed. These limitations are direct and inevitable consequences of the game being designed around gacha, and if you want to continue playing the game it's just something you have to accept. If you don’t have experience playing gacha games already, it’s unlikely that ZZZ is going to be the one that draws you in.
The gacha system is mostly identical to Hoyo’s other games, but it features a separate bangboo channel which uses a unique premium currency to pull on just that channel. A Bangboo is a non-playable fourth team member that provides small bonuses if your team fulfils certain requirements such as including at least 2 ice characters. Despite the Bangboo channel being much more generous than the other channels, it’s still similar enough to the regular gacha system that it feels like Hoyo is starting to push the envelope on their monetization practices.
In between combat encounters are hollow exploration segments which are just okay; they certainly aren’t what you’re playing ZZZ for. These segments are similar to old dungeon crawlers where the hollow environment is abstracted and represented by a wall of TVs that you move between, and certain screens can play special events when moved over. Hollow exploration being designed this way is almost certainly another consequence of the live service model. Breaking up combat encounters with these instead of creating a unique level for every major mission makes the development of future content much more sustainable. I found a lot of the missions to be somewhat lacking because combat is where the game’s main enjoyment lies. This is where rally missions stand out because they take place entirely outside of hollow exploration and have you progress through a stage while fighting enemies. They include little secrets to uncover before ending in a boss fight. Rally missions are essentially miniature Devil May Cry stages, making them the most enjoyable mission type. ZZZ does get a lot of mileage out of hollow exploration by mixing a gimmick into some hollow exploration missions. The most memorable was definitely ‘To be a Bangboo Master,’ which has you train and battle with three bangboo to become the ultimate bangboo master.
Screenshot by the author.
The progression of 1.0 is extremely front-loaded with tutorials, introduction to mechanics and the many game modes. This cannot help but make for an incredibly overwhelming experience for people jumping into ZZZ as their first Hoyo game. It feels like the developers expect that you’re already familiar with most of what the game introduces. If I hadn’t already gone through this process in HSR and recognised what the HSR equivalent was for each mechanic and game mode, ZZZ would’ve been much harder to get into.
Certain features are also unlocked much later than they should be. In particular, the events page, VR training, and agent trust should have been made available much earlier in the game. Agent trust especially should be available much sooner, as it’s currently unlocked towards the end of the main story. Agent trust events are essentially Persona social links, minus the relationship at the end, whereby spending enough time with agents you can increase your trust with them and view special events that express more of their character. It’s another great addition that separates ZZZ from Hoyo’s other games and I’m unsure why it takes so long to unlock, because until you unlock agent trust it feels like the game doesn't want you to get too attached to the characters. I’d also like it if daily content was shortened since the daily battles are extremely unengaging and fairly pointless; I don’t see why it would be a problem if you just spent the energy and got the resources instead.
ZZZ’s story is extremely front-loaded and throws tons of in-universe concepts, people, and factions at you very quickly. It’s a form of storytelling Hoyo is very familiar with because HSR begins in a very similar manner. This practice doesn't make the narrative impossible to digest, but it does feel like the game is trying to grab your attention as fast as possible. I think the bigger issue with 1.0’s story, however, is the lack of payoff. The entire 1.0 main story is effectively set up for future chapters, establishing most of the current factions, characters, and mystery surrounding an unknown monster. This is obviously to be expected of a 1.0 version, but HSR’s 1.0 story did have a big payoff that also functioned as a compelling hook for the game.
One narrative element that works for me is the presence of Wise and Belle, with only minor changes depending on who you choose to follow. It’s a great way ZZZ separates itself from other gachas where the main character choices are largely interchangeable and the character you don’t select is effectively ejected from the game. It also creates more natural conservations during narrative segments because the two get to discuss the situation with each other. I also like how it makes working two jobs (the video store and hollow commissions) more plausible because they share the responsibility.
I am interested to see where the story goes and if some of the subtle lore elements will come into play. I’m especially curious if there’s a story behind this picture of a younger Wise and Belle with two people’s faces conveniently removed.
Screenshot by the author.
I’m cautiously optimistic for the future of Zenless Zone Zero. In its launch state the game is just compelling enough to continue playing, but it also needs some changes. I think that if the minor issues with 1.0 are addressed, if the narrative delivers on its setup, and if combat becomes slightly more engaging, ZZZ could be an excellent title that I’d be more than happy to continue playing.
