In 2020, the Chinese company HoYoverse released the incredibly successful adventure Action RPG Genshin Impact, which is still doing great and regularly receives major content updates. However, the developers decided not to stop there, and three years later they released Honkai: Star Rail, which was distinguished by turn-based battles. With the new Zenless Zone Zero, which will be discussed in this review, the developers have partially returned to the days of Honkai Impact 3rd, the company’s earlier project. Here you will find short missions of 2-3 minutes, repeated small arenas for battles, and dialogues in the form of an animated visual novel. However, in reality the game turned out to be much more interesting than at first glance.
Despite the seemingly cheerful atmosphere of the game with bright anime-style graphics, the backstory of Zenless Zone Zero is quite dark. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which creatures known as Ethereals have destroyed most of the people on Earth. The surviving city turned out to be New Eridu, which became the center of resistance against the ethereals. Leaving this place is dangerous, since staying outside for a long time can lead to turning into a monster. And this is where the main characters, known as Proxies, come into play. They are a kind of guides that help explore Caverns – anomalous zones that arose as a result of supernatural disasters.
The activities of our heroes are considered illegal, so they have to act in the shadows. Their main base is located in the video rental store Random Play, which allows them to remain undetected by the government and ordinary citizens while they explore the Caverns and fight the threats posed by them. It also provides them with a stable income and resources to continue working.
You probably noticed that I describe the main characters in the plural. The fact is that there are two of them, brother and sister, and you choose one of them at the beginning of the passage. Moreover, the second one does not disappear from the narrative, as in previous games from HoYoverse, but remains with us and even participates in the plot. Both characters are not spineless dolts who are silent 95% of the time, only occasionally delivering short remarks. They are central to the story and have full voiced dialogue.
In Zenless Zone Zero, there is essentially no global plot and no single goal towards which players go. In this sense, the game is more similar to Honkai: Star Rail, where a team of pioneers explores different planets on which different stories await them, only indirectly related to each other. The main characters here are not trying to save the world or restore the planet, but only perform local tasks related to factions or the city. At the same time, of course, they do not forget to introduce us to the universe of the game and its structure.
Overall, the plot is quite interesting, and there was room for both humor and dramatic moments. For example, a seemingly absurd quest in which we try to return escaped sentient machines for construction leads us to the fact that we learn very intriguing details about the past head of the faction. The story itself is mainly presented in three ways: dialogue in the form of an animated visual novel, full-fledged cutscenes and beautifully drawn comics. I would especially like to note the dialogues – they are not too long with useless chatter, so you don’t even want to skip them. At least I didn’t have such a desire. However, if you do not agree with me, then there is a skip button especially for you, which the “Genisha” and “Honkai” players have been asking for for so long.
What distinguishes Zenless Zone Zero from its predecessors is the presence of a story mode, which allows you to complete the main tasks with characters participating in the story at a particular moment. However, you don’t have to have them in your collection and upgrade them. This solves two problems. Firstly, combat becomes more balanced, and secondly, there are no such strange situations that destroy immersion in the game when you play as someone who is not even in the current quest… For the most part. Sometimes there are tasks in which you definitely need to form a team yourself, but in most cases you are allowed to turn on the story mode and play for those who are given.
Zenless Zone Zero also pleases with its combat system, which turned out to be very impressive and dynamic. Combat in the game is incredibly fun, especially when you do everything right by combining characters wisely, using abilities, parrying attacks and using dodges. With the right skill, the battle can even be completed without receiving damage. I liked the fact that the character does not “turn” into another when changing, but seems to jump out of the edge of the screen, which gives the feeling that the whole team is participating in the battle. Given the smooth, graceful animations and beautiful effects, the gameplay is extremely enjoyable.
The impressions of the gameplay can only be spoiled by the short duration of the tasks, which also take place in the same locations. Often battles are over in just a couple of minutes, and sometimes faster. As soon as you manage to perform an amazing combo-wombo, everything ends and the dialogue begins. It’s clear that this was done for comfortable mobile gaming, but still, the tasks in the main scenario should have been made longer and more varied, adding some additional goals. However, this makes the combat system no less exciting, and it is best revealed in battles against bosses and side missions like “Rally”, which last 8-12 minutes.
The developers decided to transfer all the variety to the TV mode, which replaces the exploration of the world. In it you move around a field created from televisions, solving certain problems. Somewhere you just need to press buttons to open passages, somewhere you need to build roads in order to get people out, and somewhere the game turns into a real “Bomberman”. The game constantly throws up something new. Also on the map you can find enemies that initiate battles, and hidden optional goals.
The authors will leave leveling up in Zenless Zone Zero the same, changing only the details. For example, the maximum character level here is 60, there are your own analogues of weapons and artifacts, and you need to collect six of the latter, and you can also upgrade your skills. All this is improved in the same way as in the company’s previous games – with the help of materials obtained by spending energy in special modes. In fact, I would like something really new in terms of leveling, but, apparently, the authors do not want to change what already works.
The previous statement can also be applied to monetization. I have already said more than once that I absolutely do not like the “gacha” mechanic itself, in which characters are obtained using randomness. Unfortunately for me, nothing has changed in this regard in Zenless Zone Zero. You still need to “spin banners” on characters and weapons, and for better efficiency it is advisable to do this 7 times. This brings incredible money to the creators, and many players are even happy about such a system, so it was obvious that it would not be removed.
In the endgame, you will have to do the same thing as before – grind resources, draining energy to make your characters stronger. There are also analogues of “The Abyss” from Genshin Impact and “Virtual Universe” from Honkai: Star Rail, in which you will also participate. While the former offers a series of battles over several stages that reward you with rewards, the latter is a Roguelike mode where you receive power-up cards for the duration of the race. Weekly bosses are still here. However, if you are only interested in history, then you don’t have to pay much attention to all this. Just go through the story and return to the game when major updates are released – Zenless Zone Zero allows you to do this without any problems.
Zenless Zone Zero is a very beautiful and stylish game made in a retrofuturism setting. Technologies of the future and the past can easily coexist here. People watch movies through videotapes on pot-bellied TVs, and our heroes are helped by advanced artificial intelligence, which, moreover, has an excellent sense of humor. This feature is also manifested in the interface, made in the style of skeuomorphism, which by today’s standards is already considered outdated, but suits this game perfectly. Add to this a great soundtrack and you have a game that will provide you with complete immersion in this amazing atmosphere.
HoYoverse really managed to make a very high-quality action role-playing game with an exciting combat system, an interesting story, a high-quality soundtrack and a great retrofuturistic atmosphere. The company has proven more than once that it knows how to support its games, so Zenless Zone Zero is only at the beginning of its long journey. However, the project is already giving a lot of positive emotions.
