Zenless Zone Zero Review: Stylish & Fun, But Dragged Down By Gacha Mechanics

ZZZ Review: Playing a gacha game gradually transitions from being fun to becoming a chore. Zenless Zone Zero is no different.

ZZZ returns to the real-time combat that made Genshin Impact popular and puts its own spin on it.

Source : miHoYo

ZZZ Review: Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ) is a new game by HoYoverse, creator of popular titles like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. It is the latest in HoYoverse’s line of gacha games. Genshin Impact revolutionised the gaming industry upon its release, bringing in millions of players on different platforms like mobiles, computers and consoles. It’s sprawling open world, elemental mechanics and well-designed characters made it an instant hit.

It’s time to find out how ZZZ measures up to its predecessors. 

First, What Are Gacha Games?

The term ‘gacha’ originated from Gachapon. Gachapon refers to toy capsules that can be obtained from machines. The machines and capsules are both called Gachapon. A person uses money to get a capsule from the machine. This capsule has the chance to contain any one of the many toys available in a particular machine. 

The most important thing about Gachapon is that the outcome is not guaranteed. This is the principle gacha games are built on as well. 

Gacha games work like virtual Gachapon machines, offering a selection of different characters and items with specific drop rates. Then, the player tries their luck in an attempt to get the object of their choice. Initially, some forms of tokens are provided to the player to play the gacha but later on, the process of gaining free tokens becomes extremely slow and gradual. 

This is where the player is encouraged to spend real money. This formula is what games like Genshin Impact, Fate/Grand Order and of course the topic of discussion today, ZZZ, work on. 

What Does ZZZ Bring To The Table?

HoYoverse games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail are some of the highest-grossing gacha games in the world. Genshin Impact has a somewhat medieval aesthetic and is set in an open world. It also has a real-time combat system.  

On the other hand, Honkai: Star Rail has a more futuristic and celestial aesthetic with a turn-based combat system, set in a semi-open world. Both games dominate the charts and cater to different demographics. So, how does ZZZ distinguish itself from the two?

ZZZ returns to the real-time combat that made Genshin Impact popular and puts its own spin on it. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, it has a modern aesthetic with a splash of colour and retro elements sprinkled in. 

Personally, I find its design and art style to be more attractive than Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. 

The game also has a very unique storytelling style, combining animated cutscenes, comic panels and visual novel elements. An atmosphere of excitement is maintained from the very start. 

The core combat mechanics work quite well, and character animations are extremely fluid. The game has a parry mechanic in addition to a structure or poise bar below the enemies’ health bars, which players of games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Lies of P might be familiar with. 

The bar fills up when you attack enemies and once full, using a skill will leave enemies stunned. During this time, they take increased damage from attacks. 

The combat is snappy and fun enough in a casual capacity.

The game has a vibrant environment, but it’s nowhere near as expansive as its predecessors making the potential for exploration limited. 

However, we have yet to discuss the most important part of this gacha game, the gacha system itself. 

The game has a system that most veteran gacha players would already be familiar with. This includes a standard permanent banner, an event weapon banner and an event character banner. 

The drop rates within the game are similar to other HoYoverse titles like Genshin Impact.

The game came out less than two weeks ago, on July 4, and they have several launch bonus events that reward the player with a total of more than 100 pulls for the gacha. 

This is quite generous as it guarantees all new players at least one S-rank rarity character. 

ZZZ Review: Final Verdict

While ZZZ definitely has its own unique identity, one cannot deny the resemblance it has to previous HoYoverse titles. Having a similar formula isn’t necessarily a bad thing, something Souls-Like fans are already aware of. 

However, with gacha games, you are essentially trading one endless loop for another with similar weapons, levelling, and character systems.

The game has certain quality-of-life improvements like the ability to skip most dialogue and cutscenes, which is good for people who are only playing for the combat but this doesn’t change the fact that the endgame is still going to be similar to previous HoYoverse games. 

Playing a gacha game gradually transitions from being fun to becoming a chore requiring the player to complete daily missions to secure important currency and items. This author says this from personal experience having played Genshin Impact for more than two years. 

And the sad reality is that I’m not willing to do the same thing all over again. I’m sure the game will definitely garner an audience that admires the casual aspect of the game but there will also be many who dislike the game due to how similar it is to its predecessors. 

It has the potential of being a hit with first-time gacha players but it might not be able to replicate this success among other gacha demographics.

(The author is a student of Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi)