Zenless Zone Zero, the new character action game by Hoyoverse, combines speedy action with puzzles and some daily life sim activities for a robust free-to-play game.
The best character action games let me enter the combat flow state. I love zipping to my target, pummeling them with attacks, nimbly dodging, launching them into the air, and juggling their body until they eventually give out — or in the case of Zenless Zone Zero, explode into a kaleidoscope of neons evocative of a ’90s television set. Hoyoverse’s latest free-to-play offering excels at frenetic fighting that’s instantly gratifying. If anything, I sometimes wished I could get back to the action more quickly while I was playing, but there’s a lot more to the rest of the game too.
Zenless Zone Zero, or ZZZ, is my first Hoyoverse title. I haven’t tried Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail, but that’s mostly because the setting and game style of ZZZ appealed to me much more. Since my playthrough was a beta with everything unlocked, I can’t speak to how the free-to-play gacha mechanics will be reflected upon my live playthrough.
ZZZ puts me in the shoes of Belle, a teen girl living in a future technology-centered metropolis populated with regular humans, augmented humans, cat people, shark maids, robot espresso makers, and any other combination of personhood ever dreamed up on an anime poster. That’s not a derogatory sentiment, by the way; everything and everyone in ZZZ feels like part of the same chaotic, fashionable universe, and I love it. There are robot rabbits called Bangboo that help with every sort of task. Belle runs a video rental store by day with her brother, but her main gig is serving as a highly skilled guide through interdimensional rifts (called Hollows) that keep spawning in her city.
