Zenless Zone Zero is yet another hamster wheel to add on to the live service-style gacha games to the HoYoverse wheelhouse. Featuring its unique flavor of aesthetic but leaving a lot of other stuff under the hood very much the same. I’m going to take a closer look at what it has in store to help you decide if this is the sort of game you want to have a spin with.

Also hi, I’m Lentropy, resident game reviewer of Reimaru Files, and finally back after visiting the outside world and touching grass, unfortunately, the grass touched back. Never again. We handle all sorts of little geek interests and covering games that are getting popular or I think deserve a little more attention is my little corner around here, so let’s begin.

The first thing that attracted me to Zenless Zone Zero (Z3) was the promotional material I got from Tokyo Game Show 2023, it was an old booklet fashioned like a 90s paperback comic book you might have been able to buy in the corner store. And yes the 90s was about 30 years ago which should give you a hint of where my childhood more or less lies, and I fully embrace my geek seniority benefits and pension, if that ever existed. Z3’s presentation makes use of CRT TVs, cheap children’s toys, and the street shops that you can regularly visit carry this very over-the-top presentation to pull customers in. Though it was a lot more flamboyant from how I recall it, it can still give me a strong dose of nostalgia and bring me back to simpler times. It’s like a fusion between the wild personality that the 90s have and a more mature take on the design elements with modern minimalism. Finally, there’s the Bangboos that are a much more endearing version of the minions, these cute, quiet, round little buddies were something I wanted to see more of. And we probably will, with future merchandise. With the devs promising that the game was more of a combat-centric experience for Z3, and promising a great launch experience, I’m like: “Alright, I’m game.” And downloaded the game on PC, which required a lot more than I expected, finalizing at 50 GB.

It starts about as you’d expect for any Hoyoverse game of recent, you get to pick between playing as the guy or a girl, though this time around both of them work together during the story, as siblings that run a video rental store. Using this as base of operations where they also do their other job, as internet hackers who work alongside contractors that do jobs hidden away from the public eye, as well as the authorities. Making use of the video store as a setting makes a perfect jumping-off point for whatever genre or story HoYoverse wants you to get into. Unlike its predecessors, they don’t have to build an entire region to create a new faction. It’s not an open-world kind of game anymore. New people just have to meet Belle and Wise and they can get their stories running. Z3 only needs to give you a movie poster to give you a better idea of what’s in store for you.

On one end, it makes trying newer ideas cost a lot less, which can encourage the creative minds within the development teams to push the envelope of what they can make. Heck, we have a bear and wolf-boy already leading the charge. On the other hand, it can make the new content look possibly shallow, since there’s no new world to go along with it for the audience to get immersed in. And this more experimental approach might not be ideal when your cost of development continues to stack over time.

At least at this point, I would say that Z3 has succeeded in most of the areas they want to lead in, particularly in selling their characters. Their designs are stylish, but not overbearing. The voice work is great for both languages I listened to, which are English and Japanese. And of course, the attention to detail for expressive animation was much appreciated by the world. Particular favorites for me were Corin, who reminded me of Bloodborne, and Billy the Kid, because everyone wants a friend like this guy.

Each of them belongs to a faction where they carry their flavor, and the stories they play through just about match the vibe they bring. The first few chapters take their time giving you some world-building but the pace does pick up properly after that. The pay-offs for each chapter don’t feel like it takes too long to get to. I enjoyed Belobog Construction’s story the most, and I’ve probably played its ending many times over. So, if you end up liking at least a few of these characters by the time you get through a chapter or two, I’d say congratulations to the development team behind them, because now you probably want them on your team.

And this is where one of the bigger problems starts for Zenless Zone Zero. So this might be news to you, but HoYoverse likes to make gacha games. You can play it for free, but if you want to enjoy the game the way you want, that’s another story. So let’s say you want to play Ellen Joe, who is the feature character for the first set of limited banners in the game. Meaning, that for a limited time, you can get her for your roster. You can win her over a few rolls if you’re lucky, and hopefully at 90 rolls if you’re unlucky. No, it’s never guaranteed.

When you pair this up with how long it takes you to earn the in-game currency to reliably get what you want is uh- a long time. And how much they work to obfuscate how much you’re spending if you want to get this done the easy way, well, that raises a few eyebrows so-to-speak. And the gacha action doesn’t end there, the standard these days is for a double-banner, where the matching weapon or whatever key item for the character is also up for grabs. There’s a 3rd layer to this with Bangboos, which play out sort of like Palicos in Monster Hunter. But since I can’t visibly see that you can buy your way into rolling for more of those, I’ll leave it alone.

So let’s say that you got the characters, what can you do with them? Honestly, there’s a variety of actions that come along with them, some have complex movesets, and others have one button. But in general, your actions in combat boil down to attacking, dodging and parrying. Skills and ultimates can also be used, but you already know that. There’s a lot here that works very much like how you would expect it to if you’ve ever played the likes of Honkai Impact, Genshin, or Wuthering Waves. On top of that, you also develop their levels, weapons, accessories, skills, and more. So grinding? Yeah, a lot of grinding.

What it offers you to play through is pretty standard stuff as well. Aside from stories that HoYoverse likes to focus on, you get various grind quests (HIA), challenge stages (Shiyu Defense), and their roguelike (Hollow Zero).

Combine this with the limited energy system, it looks like the ideal way to play this is in little episodes of 1-2 hour sessions daily. Where every little thing I do seems to net me a small amount of gacha rocks, in finishing activities and collecting achievements. Going through the monthly pass and every other little thing that lets me collect rewards reminds me of popping bubble wrap. Whenever I claim rewards, it’s like I’m getting the tiniest shot of dopamine, the only thing it’s lacking is having some anime girl tell me that I did a good job. Which in retrospect, might be a little concerning, but we’re done with it in around an hour. I can efficiently farm whatever I need within 15 minutes. This kinda relieves me knowing that I don’t have to put so much time into this to be able to play it. And it’s that thought that has me conflicted.

“Why do I think that not having to play the game makes the game better?” That’s what sort of bothers me. If you’re thinking about min-maxing your time, it makes sense. But am I having fun? It’s again, the same stuff, the same if not worse gacha mechanics. So why would I put myself through the same old grind as HSR or its contemporaries when I’m already doing that? And that’s when it hit me, what if I wasn’t doing that, yet?

If you think about it, the presentation and more casual approach to the title are trying to find a fanbase that’s not where Genshin Impact or Honkai Star Rail are aimed at. Removing the open-world concept from the new game might also help in letting lower-end machines and mobile devices handle the game better, though honestly, your mileage may vary. And considering the age of its predecessor, Honkai Impact 3rd, it seems like a good idea to refresh its action-combat genre with a new title. With new characters, a revamped system, well, some of it, and possibly a new audience.

It looks like they’re pretty confident in pretty much the entire formula. Combat in wide-open arenas, plenty of challenges and grinds to do, generic but well-executed stories that give a good pay-off before too long, there’s actually not a lot of surprises. As a veteran player, I was hoping they’d at least mix up how the stats and equipment work, but here we are with a very similar hamster wheel, but with a different coat of paint.

It’s for this reason that I don’t think this is going to be a great pick-up for those who are hoping for an entirely new experience. But if nicely designed characters and the pretty standard stories they play through are something you want to chew on, this is something you may want to have a swing at. There is a promise from the developers that they do plan to change up how the game plays, particularly for the TV system, which is like playing through some sort of board game. This appears to be a big thorn in the side of many of the current players, so let’s just see if HoYoverse does plan to change it up soon, which they’ve already posted on twittter (or X) about.

Otherwise, I can only really recommend this to those who have yet to experience the HoYoverse formula, given they can resist the FoMo of gacha banners. But hey, if your luck with currently available gacha games doesn’t seem favorable to you, here’s another one you can try your luck with.