You know that giddy feeling you get when a game does something flawlessly right? I felt it using the cool Grappleshot in Halo Infinite for the first time; when going through a music video-like sequence in “Control”; and when you fight the beautiful hideous Hyperion boss to the ethereal organ melodies in Returnal. Perfectly Preserved Memories I reach for when I need a reminder of how good games can be. Imagine my surprise then when that crazy mood resurfaced during a hands-on preview for Zenless Zone Zero, the upcoming release from Genshin Impact developer miHoYo. Something I already saw during the second beta – and I had a lot of problems at the time.
It was the Twin Puppets that did it. A boss was randomly selected in an area I randomly stumbled upon while browsing the new maps. From what I can gather, you can challenge these ‘Hunt’ bosses three times a week to get level materials or coin rewards, a standard way to keep you coming back and building new characters shiny. Farming resources isn’t exactly exciting, but that’s exactly why the combat got to me so much. I had no idea what to do for most of it, but damn did I feel good quickly swapping between my three characters, seeing gorgeous transition animations, and blasting the duo with chaotic ultimate attacks.
My little bunny Bangboo-the-robot-thing even joined in the fun to slap the boss, after I knocked my girlfriend Nicole over by being distracted by the spectacle of the Puppet attack. It felt like I was back in a weird, anime version of Returnal, figuring out how to dodge and weave in my offense, only this time the arena was dressed in comic book style clothing, reminiscent of the urban setting in games like Persona 5, Radio Jet Set and Hi-Fi Rush. An ultra cool design combined with super smooth combat. Hello precious gaming memory, sit next to Master Chief, you’ll feel right at home.
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But then, that was part of my main problem with Zenless Zone Zero even in the second beta. There wasn’t much room for these Twin Marionette joys, because most of your time was taken up by the Hollow Deep Dive (HDD) mode, a TV-style mini-game that had you slowly moving up, down, left and right in a repeating top-down view of the board to advance the story. There was some variation in what you did during these excursions, like solving puzzles, but not enough to keep the boredom at bay after you retired from the very brief stints with the more enjoyable combat sections, or exploring the extremely cheerful streets of the post towns. apocalyptic of the New Eridu. While I can’t confirm if these pacing issues have been fully fixed, as I wasn’t able to replay most of the story during my preview, I’m happy to report that HDD screen time has been drastically reduced during each part next game. There’s also a new double-speed switch so you can scroll across the board and read dialogue faster while on these HDD segments. It’s almost unbelievable how much this simple tweak has changed how the Zenless Zone Zero feels, now that its focus is on looking and feeling super cool, not floating around on this flimsy board.
As for why the HDD TV mode is still included and presented the way it is, Zenless Zone Zero producer Zhenyu Li told Eurogamer that while some don’t enjoy exploring HDD TV, others actually do. So there was “much consideration and thought” before “exploration weight was confirmed”. I still don’t find it an exciting experience, but this compromise at least let the art and combat shine more and for longer. Li also said that additional methods of exploration besides TV mode are being considered, on top of new additions already planned for launch. The already stellar fight is also still getting complicated, with Li mentioning that the team had “actually thought about having fewer people in the group” than the typical three members (more than three, however, can get “a little chaotic or messy “).
With a team of around 400 people working on Zenless Zone Zero (“and growing”), you can see how the studio’s “parallel pipelines,” as Li calls them, allow the team to freely experiment with future updates while prepares for the upcoming global. Start. But what about the other changes made in this release version? First, the daily battery charge endurance system is no longer required to experience stories and side missions. A win – though it really shouldn’t have been included in the first place. One of my favorite additions is the introduction of a “hard mode” instantly available while playing the main story chapters.
From my experience, this optional switch won’t be the cause of any broken controller, but combined with the ability to select trial story characters – raised to a suitable level so you can experience the campaign with them that are involved in the actual plot – actually makes Zenless Zone Zero feel like a more traditional gaming experience. It’s like choosing between easy or normal difficulty. Live service games often live in their own place, with specific character builds, updated schedules and reward systems that can cloud the story experience at times, so while this doesn’t exactly seem revolutionary, it’s a small step towards designing something . fun for both casual story players and those looking for something deeper while playing the campaign.
This freedom of choice is something that Li emphasized in our interview. He’s more personally concerned with “combat” and “action feedback” feeling good, and so he wants you to “do whatever you think is fun and cool,” whether that’s scratching for gear best and exploiting enemy weaknesses, or using trial characters on the mission’s easiest difficulty. I think most developers like to pretend that their game can be played in different ways, but it really feels like Zenless Zone Zero can.
Li also talked more about balancing all aspects of the game, especially regarding some people looking for an automatic mode switch for combat and exploration. The team is considering it, Li said, but wants to further investigate whether this is a “genuine” demand from players, whether they actually want this particular type of auto tool. Whatever the team decides, they “want to do something that’s really fun for the player,” rather than introducing a system that just takes the hands off the keyboard.
This mentality extends to the day-to-day difficulties of some experiences with the live service and gacha games in general. While daily quests don’t look like they’re going anywhere in the release version, Li says the team is working on an update for casual players to help them squeeze in some daily time even if they don’t have a lot of time to play . If this all sounds a bit overwhelming, don’t worry, the open secret behind all these types of games is that you don’t actually need to commit to all the features, rewards and dailies to enjoy them. From my playtime it certainly seems that Zenless Zone Zero is following this trend, perhaps even more than most, as almost everything is optional. This technically also extends to character attraction in the game’s gacha system.
When asked if the limited characters that can only be obtained from these gacha pulls affect how the team balances combat, Li said that while there are some activities for players who are “up to date with the latest characters,” they can ” experience the story without too much difficulty… I believe players can complete most of the action parts with the characters they like.” However, when talking about the characters that affect the ease of battles, Li tells us that “this is an action game, so what I need to emphasize is that you need to practice your action skills. No matter what kind of characters you’ve gotten so far , as long as you practice, you’ll get used to fighting characters you like.” This is what it felt like playing through the latest preview, but there’s no telling how much clearing the harder modes in Zenless Zone Zero will be depending on the character until its full release.
That said, if you’re planning on pulling out because of the recent shuffle in the current meta’s roster, or decide to get a character because you like their playstyle or look, it’s still annoying that it’s either related to spending a ridiculous amount of money. , or farming in-game currency by consuming everything they throw at you. It’s the exact kind of ‘balance’ that can’t be applied to casual players. This feels especially painful in Zenless Zone Zero, where so much effort has been made to accommodate those unwilling to endure a direct service. The ability to play multiple characters for free, in bursts, means it’s easy to tell people to just ignore the optional gacha system – but I’d be surprised if many people listen. Zenless Zone Zero’s emphasis on designing engaging characters—combat and backstory—coupled with the constant buzz already happening on social media makes it easier said than done. A problem with almost all gacha games, not just Zenless Zone Zero.
General gacha issues aside, I ended my last preview of Zenless Zone Zero with the suggestion that major changes needed to be made before full release – especially when the game’s strongest points, like combat, were buried under HDD TV mode, its biggest weakness. and the thing that also took you most of the time. Turns out I was wrong. Zenless Zone Zero didn’t need major changes, just some well-targeted tweaks. Reducing the cost of charging the battery to play the story, mercifully reducing the time spent in HHD TV mode, and adding some options for both casual and combat-focused players is all it took to turn it around Zenless Zone Zero from a slog to a thrill. Hey presto! Looks like miHoYo could be in for another winner.
This preview is based on a press trip to Singapore. HoYoverse paid for flights and accommodation.