Zenless Zone Zero

Zenless Zone Zero has the swagger of a game that knows it’s going to be a big success, and judging by its 50 million downloads at the time of publication, that confidence is not misplaced. In some ways this is a strange beast: artistically it’s all over the place, pulling from a litany of different sources and somehow stringing them all together into a cohesive, compelling whole. But at its heart it’s a character action game with a massive emphasis on team-building, and it’s a bloody good one at that.

Zenless Zone Zero is an immediate and fun game, which manages to capture the user with a perfect aesthetic profile and its fights full of spectacularity. Of course, some will not appreciate the presence of puzzles or the absence of a component linked to the exploration of more open maps, but in any case we are talking about a solid production, perfect to pair with free to play games which require much more perseverance and commitment like Genshin Impact.

Zenless Zone Zero, like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, is here to stay. It is very certain that miHoYo is already working on future updates with more content and new characters. With three different games, the Chinese studio has extended its reach to new territories, and perhaps those who are not fans of open world games or turn-based RPGs can find their new obsession in this hack and slash.

Zenless Zone Zero stands at the moment as one of the best expressions of a genre often subject to fierce criticism, almost always justified. From an artistic point of view, the work done by miHoYo with the game is truly amazing, and every single sequence turns out to be a thrilling spectacle, thanks to an extraordinary use of cel shading and a direction that is perfectly aware of its prerogatives. The fights are as simple as they are frantic, they certainly return satisfaction even if the challenge is lacking for much of the currently available content and the action, also due to the too short missions and small and often repeated scenarios, soon tends to become repetitive.

Zenless Zone Zero feels like a fresh take on a genre that Hoyoverse has done already. Its setting feels unique, and its combo-centric combat allows players to experiment and express their playstyles through team compositions and combo theory. All while maintaining what makes a Hoyoverse game unique: its cast of fun characters and stellar combat. The learning curve for this game is steeper, and the roster is thin out of the gate. For those looking for an action game to stick with for a while, Zenless Zone Zero is worth checking out.