Zenless Zone Zero Early Review: Is the Game Good?

Zenless Zone Zero is the newest game by HoYoverse, and being the HoYo fan I am, there was no way I wouldn’t check it out.

Zenless Zone Zero takes a completely different approach to HoYo’s other two big games, Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, and decides to focus more on the combat side of things, following in the footsteps of Honkai Impact 3rd.

From my early hours with the game, I can safely say that Zenless Zone Zero is an absolute blast to play. I’ll go over this review by looking at the following aspects:

• Story
• Graphics
• Gameplay
• Characters
• Gacha

After that, I will give an overall score for the game and share whether I think it’s good or not and if it’s worth your time. So let’s not waste any more time and get started.

Story

I’m generally not much of a story person, and I don’t delve deep into the stories of any games I play. I also did not treat Zenless Zone Zero any differently. I’ve currently gotten up to Chapter 1 of the story, and I’ve generally enjoyed my time with it.

Some of it is presented in a comic book-like manner, while other parts are simple interactions between characters, with a cutscene sprinkled here and there. All in all, I love how HoYo has approached handling the story, and the art direction that the game has taken can clearly be seen in it.

When it comes to the story itself, it is written in an easy-to-understand manner, and the translations are top-notch. Most parts of the story are voiced, which further helps one invest themselves in the world of New Eridu.

Although I have yet to reach any major turning points or big revelations, the story so far has done a good job at making me want to see what will happen in the future, which is always a plus in my book. And, let’s not forget that ZZZ is the first HoYo game to actually add a proper SKIP button to their story content, so if the story is not your cup of tea, then just go ahead and use it.

Graphics

When it comes to graphics, Zenless Zone Zero can be a hit or miss, depending on what you like. Its main art direction follows an anime theme, with a lot of comic book references sprinkled throughout the world. The world is vibrant, and the colors pop no matter where you go.

Each stage I’ve experienced has been beautiful, and Sixth Street is just a joy to look at. Seriously, one could simply stay and look at the shops for hours.

It is definitely unique, and that can be seen in everything, be that the world, characters, or even UI elements. It is clear that Zenless Zone Zero is a game with a ton of character.

Gameplay

When it comes to gameplay, I love how ZZZ plays. When I first started, it seemed a bit bland. I thought. “I am supposed to only smash my mouse button,"  but I quickly learned that it’s more than that.

Yes, you do smash your mouse button a ton, and yes, it’s not the most complex of systems, but it’s fun, really fun. The uniqueness of how each agent plays alongside the chain attacks makes every aspect of the combat flow smoothly, and it just feels nice and satisfying when you land a series of chain attacks.

Additionally, having the ability to play the game with unlimited FPS just makes the combat feel way nicer.

Characters

HoYo rarely misses with their character designs, and they for sure did not miss when it comes to ZZZ. I won’t go ahead and say that every character is something breathtaking, as some do look bland and can be mistaken for your run-of-the-mill NPC, but even those that do look bland have a polished look to them that fits the world perfectly.

What makes the agents in Zenless Zone Zero stand out is not so much their looks as their combat styles. Whenever you pick up a new hero, you will notice that each of them is unique and has a different gimmick to them that you must learn to fully utilize that character.

This makes it so that you will always have someone new to test out and play around with to see if they fit your playstyle or not. And for me personally, the more I play a character and start to learn them, the more I wish to continue playing them. It just feels good to finally begin mastering a character, you know?

Gacha

There’s no hiding the fact that Zenless Zone Zero is a gacha game, and because of this, it is sure to push a ton of players away. Additionally, it is not like ZZZ uses some extreme F2P-friendly gacha model. No, they’re sticking with the same model that was used for Honkai: Star Rail. 50/50 on limited character banners, and 75/25 on limited weapon banners. The only saving grace is the Bangboo banner, which was thankfully set at 100%, but that doesn’t save the fact that Zenless Zone Zero is still predatory.

Luckily, from what I’ve seen as of now, it does a good job of giving players a lot of premium currency, and given the nature of this game and the fact that its exploration is not nearly as expansive as Honkai: Star Rail's, we can suspect that we’ll receive a good pull income from events, which might help out in our pulls, but unfortunately, that is still to be seen.

Is Zenless Zone Zero Good?

So, here we are, and it’s time to answer the question of whether ZZZ is a good game or not. For me personally, Zenless Zone Zero is an amazing game. I’ve been a gacha fan for quite some time now, and instance-based action games have been my cup of tea ever since the Dungeon Fighter days.

As such, Zenless Zone Zero perfectly fits the missing spot for me when it comes to an action-packed game that I can mald over for hours on end, trying to master characters, and thinking of builds.

Though I also do realize that ZZZ is not for everyone, even if the game is not for you, it should still be acknowledged that the game has done an amazing job at bringing a beautiful world to life while also doing it with the utmost degree of polish, which we’ve grown to expect from HoYo games.

As of right now, I’d rank Zenless Zone Zero a solid 8/10, and a game that is worth your time if you like this genre of games. This rating is based solely on my early impressions of the game, and it is subject to change, so do take it with a grain of salt. As I’ve already mentioned, everyone enjoys different games, so my rating might not match yours, and that’s fine.

What matters is that you play what you like and have fun doing so. I’ll likely be putting out a lot of Zenless Zone Zero content from now on, so be on the lookout for that.

See you next time!