Zenless Zone Zero review: Repackaged awesomeness

Zenless Zone Zero is the newest addition to HoYoverse’s lineup of high-budget, free-to-play, cross-platform titles. The game has been on my radar for quite some time, and after spending some time with it, I am pleased to report that it mostly delivers on all fronts.

It’s not without its faults, however, and aspects of the game feel deliberate by design, which heavily detracts from the overall experience. Regardless, Zenless Zone Zero, referred to as ZZZ, is no sleeper and remains a strong entry in HoYoverse’s ever-growing portfolio.

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Zenless Zone Zero review

A living, breathing urban fantasy

The world feels alive with unique NPCs (Image via HoYoverse)

Perhaps the most striking aspect of Zenless Zone Zero is its visual design. ZZZ features a vibrant color palette, with a stylized appearance - much unlike any HoYoverse title released so far. This is further augmented with the use of a game world that feels incredibly alive, down to the most generic NPC.

ZZZ also incorporates Persona-like elements, such as relationships with your roster of playable characters, and a scheduled day/night system. I really enjoyed going through these “Social Rank-Ups” and engaging in rather humorous cutscenes.

While these elements are mostly superficial, they are at the very least entertaining and break what would otherwise be a monotonous loop of combat, which brings us to our next section.

Combat that feels satisfying and easy to execute

Characters stare back (Image via HoYoverse)

The other best part about Zenless Zone Zero is its combat. It is extremely stylish and feels super responsive, regardless of the character chosen. ZZZ’s combat is admittedly simple though, but that’s not a bad thing.

Simply attack, dodge, and counter (with proper visual aids for each) your way to victory. ZZZ opts to switch in characters in a QTE-like fashion for counters though, in addition to having your team possess a shared ultimate bar, forcing players to strategize their moves accordingly.

Another neat little addition is having the characters sometimes stare at the screen before jumping into battle. It’s not just in the cute little details though, and ZZZ has a surprisingly complex list of combos that players can execute in addition to using a specialized Bangboo unit that offers bonus effects.

The controls are relatively simple and, thankfully, don’t require a whole lot of practice to master.

Zenless Zone Zero feels like a true successor to Honkai Impact 3rd

The ELFs in Honkai 3rd feel like a prototype version of Zenless Zone Zero's Bangboos (Image via HoYoverse)

One of the more surprising revelations that I came across while playing through ZZZ is how similar it is to HoYoverse’s first real mainstream title - Honkai Impact 3rd. Both games feature a three-team tag system, a heavy reliance on QTEs, and no vertical combat, unless you consider A Post Honkai Odyssey, which is technically a spin-off.

The Bangboo system also draws many parallels from Honkai Impact 3rd’s ELF system - down to its utility and gacha.

While the story only bears superficial similarities and a more light-hearted tone for now, the Hollow disaster bears a lot in common with the arrival of the Honkai.

Combat also draws a ton of parallels from Honkai Impact 3rd, with the polish and quality of life improvements that have crept into modern HoYoverse titles, making for an overall smoother experience that does feel like a Honkai Impact 4th.

The TV system feels slow and breaks the flow of the game

Navigating through the TV maze can slow things down (Image via HoYoverse)

Steering through Zenless Zone Zero’s combat requires players to navigate what I call the “TV Tube Network”, a series of interconnected CRTs that act as this game’s version of the Elysian Realm.

While it is most certainly unique and makes quite the first impression, it gets repetitive, fast. The speed-up function barely helps since you will encounter a ton of stops along the way. If anything, I would prefer to have fewer distractions and more combat - which is something I really miss from Honkai Impact 3rd.

The TV system is rather stale, but I do hope that HoYoverse finds a way to make it more appealing later down the line.

The game feels too easy

Combat can be entirely "too easy" at times (Image via HoYoverse)

Another major gripe I have with Zenless Zone Zero is that the game feels a bit too easy. Even on the game’s “Challenge Mode”, breaking through boss after boss was nothing too difficult to write home about.

While it could be argued that the ZZZ’s endgame modes exist, they lack enough of a challenge, at least to my tastes. Either that or I was perhaps hoping for another slice of Honkai Impact 3rd’s golden days once more.

The bosses could also use a tad bit more variety in them, but this should get better over time as the devs add in newer enemies via the many content updates it is expected to receive.

A soundtrack that never misses a beat

Combat is accompanied by addictive beats (image via HoYoverse)

ZZZ’s soundtrack is nothing short of hypnotic, drawing me in with its catchy combination of pop and rap. The combat soundtrack is simply stellar, as are the game world OSTs.

Another nice touch is in the game’s gacha, which has a particular song play out when you draw an S Rank unit.

This is deeply engraved within the game’s DNA, as depicted by its usage of CDs for its relics, and the cassette tape motifs present around a character’s skill menu.

While the visuals are stellar, performance can be irregular

Performance is very irregular, especially during QTEs (Image via HoYoverse)

Zenless Zone Zero looks fantastic on PC. Everything is crisp and looks properly rendered, with a unique aesthetic like no other. The game also possesses a plethora of customizable graphics options, on both PC and mobile.

ZZZ even has the ability to uncap framerates entirely, something that is missing in HoYoverse’s flagship title, Genshin Impact. The mobile versions stay locked to 60 FPS though.

Unfortunately, performance can be a bit wonky - for no apparent reason. The game exhibits some massive frame drops during combat, even on a rather high-end system running the game at 1440p.

Performance issues have been acknowledged, though, and we should see the game client grow more stable over time.

In Conclusion

Overall, Zenless Zone Zero is a rather solid game (Image via HoYoverse)

Despite its flaws, Zenless Zone Zero is quite a strong entry in HoYoverse’s lineup of free-to-play blockbusters and should receive longer-term content updates throughout the years. The game’s visuals, animations, and combat impress - even though there is a distinct lack of a challenge in what most of the game offers.

The game takes the best of what Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Honkai Impact 3rd have to offer, repackaging it into a unique product like no other.

Zenless mostly covers a void that was left behind when I quit Honkai Impact 3rd, which remains one of the best gacha games I have ever tried to this date, and I will be looking forward to what the team at HoYoverse has in store for the future.