The latest title published by Hoyoverse, Zenless Zone Zero (or ZzZ for short) was the protagonist of a press event in Singapore, where the Chinese development house has one of its many studios. After the Beta some time ago (here the test of the Beta of Zenless Zone Zero) we got our hands on a more refined but not yet definitive version of the experience. We had fun, and we returned home curious.although with some doubts about some aspects of the production.
An accessible, fast-paced action game
Zenless Zone Zero is a very different game from other Hoyoverse games. Shares Real-Time Gameplay with Genshin Impact and with Honkay Star Rail the modern/futuristic setting, but since the early stages of development it was designed to be more action-oriented (here is the review of Genshin Impact), while not forgetting the RPG component. High combat rhythms, high level of spectacularity and pyrotechnic choreography are the daily bread of ZzZ and it is no coincidence that the producer Zhenyu Li He listed among his favorite games and sources of inspiration products such as Devil May Cry e Bayonetta, insieme a Monster Hunter e Street Fighter 6 (here is the preview of Monster Hunter Wilds).
“I want to make the real-time action genre more accessible and less niche, suitable for as many people as possible.” said Zhenyu Li, who then continued: “in ZzZ each button corresponds to an immediate reaction, a combo and I think it is very satisfying. It is not difficult to learn to play, everyone can do it. However, there is also no lack of strategy: those who want and know how to do it, can make the experience more technical“.
In fact we cannot deny that the fights in ZzZ were all more than satisfactory, despite not offering a number of combos per character comparable to that of some of the aforementioned inspirations. Regardless of the composition of team of three fighters required for each task, the battles always proved to be very fast, including simple attacks, special moves, “ultimate” to be launched once the appropriate bar is loaded.
It is not impossible to complete the battles always using the same character, but it is strongly recommended to often change the protagonist using the appropriate command: the switch is also instantaneous and fluid, and represents perhaps the most important strategic element of the experience. Both with common opponents and during the most heated boss fights, Zenless Zone Zero seemed to shine more just when we found ourselves chaining together moves and attacks of all three members of the team. You start attacking with one character, you find the perfect moment to switch fighters and you continue with his signature moves, then maybe you dodge an assault, trying to avoid the last blows to activate a satisfying bullet time. Then you start again with a new combo, another series of switches and finally, why not, you execute the most suitable finisher among the three available (one for each member of the party). Looking at the team as a single “block”, the number of different hits must be multiplied by the 3 fighters and then, again, by the number of possible rotations. Not to mention that the protagonist changes in time with the attacks of an opponent they turn into perfect parries or dodges (depends on the character who comes into battle) and in a very effective automatic counterattack.
When it comes to challenge level, the verdict on whether or not button mashing is a viable option in ZzZ will have to wait for the final balances arriving on July 4th. “The base game and the story mode are designed to have the widest possible audience” said producer Li, before adding that “those who want a higher difficulty will have a series of dedicated missions already at launch, and we are working to create more even more challenging“.
For now, no opponent has ever worried us, but it must also be said that we had been provided with a special account with all the characters brought to their maximum potential. “In any case, Zenless is an action game: to overcome adversity you will need… to know how to play well!” concluded the producer smiling: we’ll see. In conclusion, however, in this non-final version it seemed to us that the commands were always responsive and we didn’t notice any major bugs or glitches. Furthermore, we appreciated the “physicality” of the blows and impacts both suffered and received.
“Exploration” and other game modes
Even when not fighting, the title published by Hoyoverse is characterized by a good variety of options and activities. To be honest, during the test none of these were able to interest us that much, unlike the fights that remain the main dish of Zenless. Both in the missions of the story mode, and within the roguelike dimension “Hollow Zero“, before we can support third-person battles we will have to overcome some rather boring phases, defined as “exploration”.
In reality, however, the term does not seem so fitting to us, given that we will limit ourselves to moving a piece that represents us in the cardinal directions. a chessboard of “television screens”each of which shows an image related to what will happen when we land on it: we could get a bonus for our team, access to a shop or, hopefully, entry into one of the combat arenas. The system works overall, there are many different types of boxes, and the screen effects and models seemed to be of good quality. However, the exploratory component remains a component of the package that at the moment has not exactly thrilled us.
The same goes for the tasks present in small urban areas open map part of the complex called New Eridufull of NPCs but equally not very “alive” and original. In these situations we controlled the main character (the male or female avatar chosen at the beginning), and we had to go back and forth between points of interest and various individuals using the mini map, exhausting a long series of dialogues each time to complete the mission.
These visual novel-style side quests are meant to deepen the emotional bond between the player and the NPCs whose needs we fulfill, enriching the narrative dimension of ZzZ which we, in the short time available, were not able to really test. However, it seemed to us that even these moments, present from time to time as interludes in the main story missions, were too slow paced and did not fit well with the rest of the game.
“In the future we aim to create longer combat missions, but for now we have thought long and hard about what the best path to follow was.” said the ZzZ producer when asked about the issue. “We’ve come to the conclusion that we’ll evaluate which mode makes the title more fun in the long run, and act accordingly.“. It seems that the update schedule planned by the development team will be dense, with more or less one update every month and a half similar to Genshin Impact and Honkay Star Rail. But “we are focused on the quality of our contents, before their quantity” concluded the producer.
Charismatic characters and excellent animations
Another of Zenless’s characteristics common in all titles with publisher Hoyoverse is the importance attributed to the protagonists, splendidly realized both in terms of physical appearance and in terms of fighting movements and idle animation. We feel like saying that the work done by the animators is of a high standard. Fluidity, choreography, effects: everything works together beautifully to enhance the character models.
Even the “bad guys” are quite varied, while we were not too impressed by the arenas, rather anonymous. In the trial version the roster was composed of 15 elements all different, which can be grouped according to a series of parameters. The protagonists were first divided into six “factions” which recall youthful “crews” with members united by a common passion, by belonging to a neighborhood, or sometimes represent groups of workers from the same company. For producer Li this division is so important that when we asked him which teams he prefers to use in ZzZ he told us “I choose members first of all based on the faction, trying as much as possible not to put together elements of rival factions, or thematically incompatible ones.“.
However, in our opinion, you can also have fun studying the most efficient team possible against a particular opponent with known weaknesses or resistances. Each of the warriors is also distinguished by elemental type and specialization. There are ice, electric, fire, physical and ethereal type fighters and their roles can be attack, support, stun, anomaly o defense. They are all fairly self-explanatory definitions, which immediately indicate to players the style that the characters use on the field and the best way to make their skills shine to the fullest.
An attacker, for example, is perfect for breaking through enemy defenses with ease, but has little HP. On the other hand, a support is not able to do much damage, but can distribute buffs and debuffs in quantity. Side note: It’s not there yet, but an actual healer is already “under the knife”, ready to be added to the list.”when we have found a suitable balance“, said the producer. Even though we didn’t get to test all the characters as much as we would have liked, at the end of the demo we had a pretty clear idea of which team was our favorite, identified by trying to keep in mind the advice of the producer of ZzZ regarding “aesthetic and thematic affinity”; which then in reality often seemed to become a playful affinity as well. Alexandrina (or Rina) ed Ellenfor example, are two maids from the “Victoria Housekeeping Co” faction and are particularly effective together. The first is a support character with the “electro” element, capable of attacking from a distance and, if necessary, stunning the enemy. The second, on the other hand, is a fast warrior with a high output of ice-type damage, who can prolong the enemy’s stun by freezing it immediately after Rina has finished acting with electricity. Result? Elegance and style to the max in maid clothes, without losing efficiency.
Another couple that works very well, despite being made up of members from different factions, is the duo with the “frosty” Soukaku of the “Section 6” team and the “flaming” Ugly of the Belobog Heavy Industries team. Again, it is a support and an attacker who bring out the best in each other, thanks to combos that intertwine with particular effectiveness and spectacularity. The ice tornado that freezes every enemy you encounter emanating from Soukaku and his fan becomes lethal and beautiful if launched together with the high DPS fire vortex generated by Koleda’s giant hammer.
As for the “third member” of each team, we were fixated on one element in particular, suitable for both of the aforementioned configurations: Nicole Demara. The support armed with a machine gun briefcase is part of the Cunning Hares AKA Gentle House mercenary faction, and has a kit that “groups” enemies by keeping them anchored to a gravity bomb which is effective to say the least.
