I Didn’t Want to Enjoy Zenless Zone Zero: My First Three Hours With Zenless Zone Zero Before It’s Xbox Release
I think like most people back in September 2020, the term ‘gacha game’ meant nothing to me. In fact, I hadn’t heard of such a thing before. And as I was stuck in my own personal island with the new Animal Crossing release, or hitting demons on the head so hard it collapsed into their ribcage on Doom Eternal, the release of Hoyoverse’s Genshin Impact meant…very little to me. In fact I saw it as nothing more than a Breath of the Wild clone with microtransactions. Even later on, picking the game up and playing through the patches, I eventually stopped due to this feeling. I just wasn’t a fan of forking out amounts of money to ‘wish’ for a character I could actually play the game with. It felt malicious, and with the gaming industry already having its fair share of shoddy business practices, I decided that no fun could be had in this game without whaling out my savings. So I left. And this did disappoint me, because there is a good game within Genshin Impact. Exploration was fun, the world was vibrant and colourful, and whilst the story for me left a bit to be desired, the character designs and personalities that differed from region to region kept me wanting to play, but in the end, it comes back to that word. Malicious, like the title was pulling me in further before attempting to sink its teeth into my wallet. I hated that feeling. This brings me to a sort of weird statement in my 2025 gaming life, as after encouragement from my gacha gamer partner, I decided perhaps I should provide Hoyo with a second chance, but this time, with their more recent July 2024 release Zenless Zone Zero, a game more reminiscent of their older title Honkai Impact, than Genshin. From what I had seen of Honkai Impact however, this did not leave me feeling any more excited, and more worried that the jaws of gacha consumerism would swallow me whole, and bring forth the realization that all these games are just lavishly covered capitalism machines…with jiggle physics. So it surprised me that, after my first three hours with the game, I was met with a stylistic, charming, neo-90s button masher, with some genuine heart, even if that heart works off the cogs of the money machine.
In the first three hours you play through mainly two ‘commissions’, this being your introduction to the game world and some key characters. You play as a ‘Proxy’, this being either the male character Wise, or the female character Belle, up to the player's choice (I went with Wise). Either character chosen, both characters are regarded as the quite legendary ‘Phaethon’. We soon learn that the humble video rental shop the two characters live in is actually used as a base of operations for their main job: rescuing ‘agents’ from Hollow’s, these distorted spaces which corrupt those who stay inside for too long. It's a fun setup, but what had me more intrigued was the animation. This game’s animation is smooth, and incredibly bouncy. Even subtle movements are full of this lively expression. From simple conversation, to flashy ultimate animation’s in combat, ZZZ provides a fluid, almost Disney-like animation which genuinely took me off guard. Soon enough you are introduced to the ‘Cunning Hares’, a commission based group who end up trapped within one of the hollows. We are introduced to two of the three members, Anby, a more monotone, statistic spouting character, and Billy Kidd, an almost Deadpool rip-off robot…cowboy? Either way, the interactions between the two and especially Billy Kidd’s tenacity is instantly infectious, and I cannot lie,I was grinning, and sometimes even chuckling at the dialogue presented between short combat tutorials.
The combat here may be the highlight of the experience for me. Genshin had a somewhat enjoyable combat system, elemental effect feeding into each other to create powerful DPS between characters, that on top of the artifact system provided a gameplay loop of constantly getting stronger alongside the world. Here, it's almost a ‘fight for your life’ mentality. Combat is flashy and quick, making use of the system I had seen in genshin previously. Mouse for regular attacks, E for an alternative, more powerful attack, and Q to unleash a character's ultimate, all of this seamlessly pays into each other. I cannot state how smooth the combat experience is, and thus, how fun it feels. It is true button mashing delight. Of course, I am sure there is a technique or pattern one could learn, however with the further introduction of Nicole, the pink-haired leader of the Hares, and whose weapon is a half briefcase half black-hole launcher, swapping between characters, mashing E’s and mouse clicks? It is satisfying to the nth degree. This becomes even more fun with the introduction of character swapping after a relevant ‘E’ action is hit, causing a sort of quick-time event to be triggered where youtube can choose one of the two other members of your team to come out and deal additional damage, this can be done multiple times in a row. Then there is parrying. When an enemy attacks, a golden flash may appear, leading to an opportunity to mash SPACEBAR and parry the attack, another character will come out in their place, allowing you to hit back instantly. It's gratifying, hectic, but just damn good fun. Design wise, the game is also just down-right gorgeous. From the retro-futurism of New Eridu, which almost reminds me of Jet-Set-Radio, to the flash of particles, the bright clang of weapons causing sparks, to gun flashes, black hole warping, to bangboo waddling in a simulated maze-like arena, the game has fixated on a stylised design and ran with it, and it succeeds.
But of course, at some point you are reminded what this game truly is. A gacha game. The ‘wishing’ system in ZZZ is introduced around two hours in, and like Genshin, you are given an amount of free ‘wishes’ to use for your first go around. The system remains similar to Genshin, you can pull for Characters and ‘W-Engines’, which are the equivalent of weapon pulls, with banners which also have a W-Engine only version. With my free ‘wishes’ I did indeed get some good pulls. No ‘S’ rank agents, however I was provided duplicates of Billy Kidd and Anby, which much like Genshin, provide character unlocks in the form of the ‘Cinematic Mindscapes’, much like Genshin’s ‘Constellations’. So with all the similarities, what's the difference between these two money makers? And to be honest? I’m not too sure. Being only three hours in, I cannot say that down the line, the need to spend money will actually happen or not. I can only say it feels…different here. It is still a gacha game, and as such, it still wants you to spend money, but it just doesn’t feel as forced as Genshin Impact. I felt comfortable with the characters I had and the engines I used, where I didn't feel like I had to use all my free wishes, or open my wallet for more. Whereas in Genshin, the need for better characters with deferring elements felt almost like a necessity to actually play against some of the bosses or enemies in the game.
Do I believe that if you are susceptible to gambling but you want to play this game you should? Absolutely not, nor any other game for this manner, but if you are not like that and think the vibe of ZZZ is up your alley, I don’t believe you will be disappointed with the first three hours of the game, nor its gacha system, which in my experience, felt more like a suggestion rather than a necessity. Overall, Zenless Zone Zero has hooked me, in a way I didn’t expect. Whilst I entered fearing the worst, I have instead experienced a seemingly lovingly crafted, stylised action game, with gacha elements which do not feel at all as intrusive as Genshin Impact. With a captivating story, and characters which jump from ‘monotone fighter’ to ‘guy with a gun who never shuts up’, I genuinely am surprised to say that I do recommend this game to anyone looking to try it. And with its release on Xbox happening in June alongside the 2.0 update, now is the best time to experience all New Eridu has to offer.
