Zenless Zone Zero review: "Wholesome stories in a stunning anime world"

2024-07-12

GamesRadar+ VerdictZenless Zone Zero is a visual delight served with loveable anime characters in a vibrant urban fantasy world. Bangboo bunnies, graphic novels, and arcade games give the game a lot of character, but it occasionally suffers from repetitive challenges and shallow dungeon mechanics.TODAY’S BEST DEALS$99.79at WalmartCheck AmazonPros+Fun combat mechanics+Features a wide range of quests, challenges, and mini-games+Varied character design with brilliant voice-actingCons-Some battles are rather dull-Dungeon sections are too easy-The story is somewhat predictable

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Zenless Zone Zero is a visual delight served with loveable anime characters in a vibrant urban fantasy world. Bangboo bunnies, graphic novels, and arcade games give the game a lot of character, but it occasionally suffers from repetitive challenges and shallow dungeon mechanics.TODAY’S BEST DEALS$99.79at WalmartCheck Amazon

TODAY’S BEST DEALS$99.79at WalmartCheck Amazon

TODAY’S BEST DEALS

$99.79at WalmartCheck Amazon

$99.79at Walmart

Check Amazon

Pros+Fun combat mechanics+Features a wide range of quests, challenges, and mini-games+Varied character design with brilliant voice-acting

Fun combat mechanics

Features a wide range of quests, challenges, and mini-games

Varied character design with brilliant voice-acting

Cons-Some battles are rather dull-Dungeon sections are too easy-The story is somewhat predictable

Some battles are rather dull

Dungeon sections are too easy

The story is somewhat predictable

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As the second HoYoverse game launched in a post-Genshin world, Zenless Zone Zero undoubtedly felt it had to make an impression when it dropped me in the middle of a police-chasing-gang-chasing-terrorists opening sequence. However, while the slick combat and loveable band of a bossy pink-haired girl, quiet trooper, and trigger-happy cyborg were indeed enough to have me hooked, Zenless Zone Zero suffers from a few flaws that can lower the good time vibe.

Zenless Zone Cinema

(Image credit: HoYoverse)

Zenless Zone Zero screenshot

Fast FactsRelease date: July 4, 2024Platform(s):PC, PS5Developer: In-housePublisher: HoYoverse

Fast Facts

Release date: July 4, 2024Platform(s):PC, PS5Developer: In-housePublisher: HoYoverse

Zenless Zone Zero doesn’t stop there though, with HoYoverse imbuing its storytelling with even more style through the addition of comic book pages. They fir the game’s cyberpunk vibes perfectly, with major portions of the story delivered as if you were reading a graphic novel – complete with dark, gritty action scenes and a healthy dose of humor. It’s different, it’s relaxing, and (although you’re given the option) very much unskippable.

Make no mistake though; looks aside, Zenless Zone Zero’s story isn’t groundbreaking. While it is a lot grittier than HoYoverse’s previous games, it’s still very safe and rather predictable. Of course, the playable characters are all great friends. Of course, everyone escapes from the Hollow with their body intact. And of course, the more treacherous characters have noble motives and are instantly forgiven. Wholesome? Yes – but if you’re looking for shocking plot twists, you won’t find them here.

Hollow hacking

(Image credit: HoYoverse)

Zenless Zone Zero screenshot

So, what does hacking a Hollow look like? A maze built from tiny TVs apparently; as you start a ‘Hollow Deep Dive’ story or exploration commission (a main or side quest), you will land on a Hollow monitor screen where you must move from tile to tile (TV to TV) to progress. That may sound weird, but it’s similar to a dungeon crawler: some tiles are just for walking, others will get you a buff, some will inflict a debuff, and some will drop you into combat.

Here’s the problem though; there isn’t much of a challenge on the Hollow monitor screens. The first of these roguelike-inspired areas are fun to explore as every new type of tile is a discovery, but they become rather tedious once you realize that most monitor screens are nothing but a place to pick up buffs before the action kicks off. Some early quests suggested more depth as their monitor screens introduced different levels and pathways, with buttons that needed to be pushed and railroads that needed to be altered – which, as a puzzle game enthusiast, had me excited – but I soon realized that the steps I took were really just part of a checklist, the order of which didn’t affect the outcome much.

These Hollow monitor screens are more disruptive to Zenless Zone Zero’s flow than they need to be. I don’t wish that they would disappear entirely, but I would happily see them altered to be less time-consuming, with fewer dialogue interruptions and sections that can’t be failed. There are some solid concepts in here, such as the bomber-bunnies, where you basically play Bomberman against your opponents, but it requires such little strategy to win in its current state. Given that HoYoverse has positioned Zenless Zone Zero as a live-service which will evolve over time through frequent updates, I do hope that better balanced, truly entertaining dungeon sections arrive in the future.

Slay ‘em with style

(Image credit: HoYoverse)

Zenless Zone Zero screenshot

While the character build system isn’t as detailed as previous HoYoverse games, it’s still fun to mull over stats and character rotations. The one thing that may dampen your enthusiasm for Zenless Zone Zero’s team-building a bit is its ‘gacha’ system; you must spend rare items on character banners for achanceto obtain a new character. If luck isn’t on your side, and you’re unwilling to throw an unspecified amount of real-life money into the game, you may never welcome your favorites to the team. Then again, youcanplay the full game without ever spending a penny – just not with a full character roster.

I mentioned before that the animations are flawless, and that’s especially true in combat encounters. Each character has a unique moveset that may include gun-slinging pirouettes or sword-slashing backflips. But if you think the motion looks cool, you should see the ending of a battle; the screen becomes frozen as the killing blow lands, resulting in rather spectacular action shots. Ending a battle with as epic an end screen as possible (halfway through that backflip, for example) is a fun challenge in itself.

(Image credit: HoYoverse)

Zenless Zone Zero screenshot

The fun zone

(Image credit: HoYoverse)

Zenless Zone Zero screenshot

Because of this, I feel I can forgive the hint of boredom that pops up every now and then. Zenless Zone Zero is an ARPG, but I’m playing it more for the ‘RPG’ part and less for the action, which is probably why I like it so much. If you’re looking for a game to test the limits of your combat prowess, ZZZ isn’t it, but if you want to experience wholesome stories in a stunning anime world with over a dozen different side activities, Zenless Zone Zero has got you covered.

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GamesRadar+ Verdict

Zenless Zone Cinema

Hollow hacking

Slay ‘em with style

The fun zone

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