Zenless Zone Zero Gameplay and Story

updated_at: November 26, 2024 04:57

published_at: February 06, 2024 04:53

Zenless Zone Zero
Release Date	Gameplay & Story	Pre-Register & Pre-Order	Review

Zenless Zone Zero Gameplay

Exploration

In Zenless Zone Zero, exploration takes players to New Eridu, a vibrant city that feels alive with its bustling streets, as well as its surrounding towns. The hub is packed with NPCs, some you can interact with and others just adding to the atmosphere, giving the place a lived-in feel. You can wander through various spots, like shops for buffs, arcades for mini-games, and control hubs where you can access different missions.

Outside the city, players venture into Hollows, anomalous zones packed with monsters and loot. These dungeons keep things fresh with mostly randomized layouts and puzzles, making each run unpredictable. Recently, however, MiHoYo has been cutting out content with dungeon crawling mechanics, making the game more similar to Honkai Impact 3rd.

Combat

Combat is fast-paced and focuses on real-time action, blending character switching with combo-driven, fighting game-esque attacks. During battles, players can build up decibels, a unique resource used to trigger ultimate abilities for massive damage bursts. Unlike other mobile action games, however, a player’s team shares the same decibel gauge, restricting the use of ultimates to one character at a time.

Encounters mix waves of smaller enemies with tougher elite foes, often throwing in up to two bosses simultaneously. To fight them efficiently, the game rewards precision and timing with mechanics like parries, perfect dodges, and counters. When available, Chain Assists amp up the action, delivering flashy combos while highlighting the quick character-switching system.

Hollows add another layer of depth by introducing temporary buffs that influence gameplay. These perks can boost damage, speed up energy regeneration, or improve defenses, etc., ensuring that each run feels fresh.

Team Building

Team building in Zenless Zone Zero involves assembling squads of three characters called Agents, each with distinct roles and abilities. Alongside these characters, players can deploy Bangboos, robotic companions that provide essential support functions. Bangboos can provide buffs, generate shields, or boost energy regeneration, acting as crucial assets during combat.

Players must balance character synergy and Bangboo abilities to adapt to different challenges. Characters and Bangboos can be upgraded using materials farmed from missions, which enhances their stats and upgrades their skills. Selectively prioritizing these upgrades allows for tailored playstyles suited to various scenarios.

Gacha

The gacha system is a key component of Zenless Zone Zero used to obtain new characters, weapons (W-Engines), and Bangboos. Pull rates for 5-star characters are 0.6%, with a guaranteed pull every 90 attempts. Event banners often feature exclusive characters or W-Engines which players can obtain with a 50% chance for the former and 75% chance for the latter, making resource management crucial for players aiming to acquire rare units.

Both free and premium in-game currencies can be used for gacha pulls. While daily tasks and events provide opportunities for free pulls, premium currency can be purchased for additional chances. The system also includes a soft pity mechanic, increasing the odds of a rare reward the more pulls a player makes.

Zenless Zone Zero Story

The story of Zenless Zone Zero takes place in a future where humanity faces the threat of entities called Ethereals. These monsters emerge from portals known as Hollows, which had swallowed the city's previous capital Eridu. Now, the only safe haven is New Eridu, a walled city that thrives by harnessing the chaotic energy of the Hollows for its advancement. However, even New Eridu isn’t entirely safe, as small-scale hollows appear within its walls sporadically.

You step into the shoes of either members of Phaeton, a legendary proxy famed for their perfect record in exploring Hollows. Proxies facilitate expeditions for clients—ranging from mercenaries to corporate representatives—seeking resources, answers, or personal goals within these perilous zones. While the role appears straightforward, your missions gradually unveil the complexities of New Eridu, its shadowy leaders, and the nature of the Ethereal.

The game’s prologue sets a tense and mysterious tone, with a generous amount of humor in-between, introducing players to the Hollows, the dangers of the Ethereal, and the societal fractures within New Eridu. While delving into the Hollows, players are teased with deeper secrets about the city's reliance on its extraction-based economy and the personal stakes of various characters. Most importantly, the story also gradually unveils the backstory of Phaeton and their reasons for delving into these Hollows.