No Longer a Proxy. Zenless Zone Zero 3.0 Review
Zenless Zone Zero started as a bold HoYoverse experiment - a stylish action game with an original proxy concept and an urban fantasy atmosphere. But HoYoverse immediately began to "fix" the game to appeal to a mass audience. And version 3.0 finally put an end to the project's original ideas. In this article, we examine what ZZZ lost on its way to the "formula for success," whether former players should return to New Eridu, and why even the stylish Victorian city of Roskelifer doesn't save it from feeling derivative.
Last year, with the release of version 2.0, we wrote that HoYoverse, due to dissatisfaction with the game from some of its audience, began to gradually abandon the original elements of Zenless Zone Zero and bring the game's appearance in line with the general formula of its projects. In my opinion, this did not benefit ZZZ. Firstly, the game lost some of its originality, becoming an increasingly typical project of the company, and secondly, these changes began to break the original game design and unique atmosphere, which negatively affected the design and lore.
The second season generally exacerbated this departure. Combat locations — hollows — became a full-fledged place for exploration and puzzle-solving, on par with peaceful locations. Yes, the HoYoverse formula still works, but it's frankly a shame that the developers decided to roll back the original concept to familiar rails.
Apparently, the game is not living up to the financial expectations placed upon it. Otherwise, it's difficult to explain the expansion of platforms, including the release of ZZZ on Steam (the game was released on Xbox even earlier). For comparison: the flagship Honkai: Star Rail, which is already in its fourth year of development (current version 4.x), confidently remains on the list of the most profitable gacha games, while remaining available on smartphones, PC in its own launcher, and PlayStation. It is not on Steam or Xbox.
The third season (version 3.0) finally broke with the original concept, but in a narrative sense. Let me remind you that initially, our protagonist is a proxy, an intermediary. At the beginning, we were told about the great proxy Phaeton, under whose guise are a brother and sister (Wise and Bell), who were the object of some secret experiment. Thanks to their peculiarities, they can maintain communication inside hollows filled with ether and ethereal monsters, while remaining outside. In addition, they see the ether in a way that ordinary people cannot, and this allows them to conduct expeditions inside the hollows, like experienced trackers.
This is a logical concept that explains why we control a bunch of third-party agent characters, and not our protagonist, and why a cute robot-banbu (the proxy connects through it) goes with this bunch into the hollow. In the second season, our proxies themselves began to enter the hollows for their exploration, which in story moments looked like a departure from the lore. And the question arose, why then is there a banbu in the hollow?
And in the new version, the scriptwriters went further. Now we are not just an observer, a proxy, but also an agent ourselves. The inner ethereal "self," born from a murky past, materialized into our combat alter-ego — Pyrois, endowing the protagonist with new super-abilities and making him a full-fledged playable and combat character. He is unique in some ways — he has as many as four super-strikes to choose from, but otherwise, the new agent plays just like the old ones. Why?
Perhaps someone will like this. But from a plot perspective, this is a classic Deus ex machina. The scriptwriters artificially added some murky events in the past, which we were not even hinted at in the first year and a half of the project's development. Some timid hints of this began only during the second season, half a year before the release of version 3.0, and now our alter-ego jumps out from within.
This is so artificial that it completely devalues the original role of the proxy. Instead of developing the story through the prism of control, charisma, and interaction with agents, the developers resorted to the hackneyed trope of the "chosen one" who simply must personally wield a sword.
Sic! And initially, neither Belle nor Wise look like fighters. And, by the way, in story missions, there's simply no place for banbu anymore. Um... So why a gacha banner with them? Only for trials?
Such a turn not only breaks the lore but also demonstrates a crisis of ideas: when the original concept stops bringing instant super-profits, it is mercilessly replaced by proven, but alien to this world, templates.
ZZZ, meanwhile, is perhaps the least loved (or at least the most underfunded) child among HoYoverse's top three projects. New locations here are not as detailed or as massive as in HSR, let alone Genshin Impact. Although, overall, the designers maintain a high standard of quality, especially compared to projects from other studios.
So what's in 3.0?
In version 3.0, we were introduced to a secret floating city in the clouds — Roskelifer. The city is located in a storm belt, where it is very problematic to get to by ordinary transport circulating above New Eridu due to strong winds. But Roskelifer has its own airships here. More than 60% of its inhabitants are banbu. Their main job is to calculate corrections ("Rosetta data") for the navigation devices of the hollows, the so-called "carrots." This work is critically important, as the very possibility of meaningful movement within the hollows depends on it.
Following HoYoverse tradition, this location has a specific earthly prototype: in this case, the old quarters of Victorian London. And I would like to tell you a little more about the new city, but there isn't much to say.
There are few new locations, and they are not very large. There are some references to well-known English cultural anchors, such as the Globe Theatre (here the banbu are in charge of the production) and Oxford University. There's even its own Baker Street, where you can meet a local Sherlock Holmes, and the Iron Coffee Maker will offer you a cup of fragrant tea instead of coffee. Airbuses, reminiscent of London's double-decker buses, run between the city districts.
But all this is given in light strokes and references, and does not create any special atmosphere. And the plot itself does not acquire any purely English notes. London here is simply a change of scenery and character costumes.
Usually, major updates in HoYoverse projects (especially versions with index 3.0) contain some serious innovations that change the combat system or expand game mechanics. In Genshin Impact, these were heroes of the new Dendro element, in Honkai: Star Rail — the new Path of Remembrance (and in 4.0, also the Path of Joy), and in ZZZ... practically nothing. Well, except for the already mentioned ethereal alter-ego. And there aren't many other innovations either: a jetpack for banbu that allows exploring inaccessible locations in normal mode? This is a direct nod to the "robot birds" from HSR 1.0. A separate mode with a banbu auto-battler? That's not new either, to be honest.
The real-time combat system with parries, dodges, and character-switching chains remained unchanged. Each character has their own unique skill applications that need to be learned. Everything as it should be in "adult" projects.
Among the novelties, veterans will only be pleased with new challenging trials. But only veterans, and those with full wallets. Power creep (the growth of new characters' power and, accordingly, the strengthening of enemies), although not as pronounced as in "Honkai," is present. And if you have a good team of proven fighters, they will have a hard time with new enemies, unlike fresh characters from the latest banners. And you still have to try to get these newcomers.
Moreover, in ZZZ, the synergy of skills, elements, and specializations of fighters in a squad is crucial. This feature is more pronounced here than in other company projects. So, while you can certainly get "anyone" from the banners for free, assembling a working squad is problematic if you're not a whale.
In story missions, there are no problems with characters: new fighters will be given out during the story, demonstrating their skills to make you want to get them. There are no problems with character availability in many other modes either: all characters are available there, albeit with someone else's pre-set progression. But in difficult trials, please use only those you have in your own collection.
And here lies the main trap: the game gently pushes you to either put up with the insurmountable difficulty of the trials (and the lack of generous rewards for completing them), or open your wallet for new characters, finally blurring the line between a fair challenge and artificial extortion.
Veterans are not in fashion here
And being a veteran in ZZZ is not so easy. Endless grinding in monotonous battles for resources completely kills the desire to return to the project daily. Although the developers offer new activities with each update and even issue tickets for automatic grinding in some of them, going to the same arenas day after day to "unravel" the same enemies over and over again eventually becomes very tiresome. And without this, it is extremely difficult to accumulate "pulls" for banners.
Open your wallet? You can, of course, but that's not a panacea either. In fact, a donator will still have to spend money and continue grinding, as paid resources do not negate the need for daily routine actions for maximum efficiency.
So we traditionally warn: if you have problems controlling your spending and are prone to gambling, gacha games are not the best choice. You risk spending much more money on the project than you can realistically afford. In such a case, be prudent and do not install the game, even if you really like its appearance.
Generally, ZZZ characters are a separate topic. In terms of fan service, this project is ahead of all HoYoverse projects. And at the same time, it's the most "masculine." The list of fighters overwhelmingly consists of waifus in rather revealing outfits. For those who want them, there are additional outfits for an extra fee. They look, no doubt, attractive. But a "harem" for anime is normal. Especially if you have a male character as the protagonist. But what if you don't? Some moments look ambiguous and/or funny.
What else is worth noting in the current state of ZZZ are the technical nuances. It's unclear what causes it, but when playing on a smartphone, the application occasionally crashes. With other HoYoverse projects on the same device, such problems are not observed. In addition, the game periodically "forgets" profile data and saved progress, forcing the player to re-download them from the cloud every time they launch. However, apart from these annoying moments, the technical part otherwise works stably.
Diagnosis
The latest iteration of ZZZ leaves a mixed feeling. There's an update, but no sense of novelty. And this is the main complaint about ZZZ 3.0, and indeed about Zenless Zone Zero as a whole. If you played this game and left, it's doubtful that returning will bring back your former excitement and emotions. If you already play other HoYoverse projects, ZZZ is unlikely to give you fundamentally new sensations. Perhaps the combat system might surprise you, but even that effect will eventually be negated by grinding.
What remains? The plot? Here it's more of a function than a full-fledged story. Characters? Cute waifus and fan service can maintain interest in collecting, and that, perhaps, is what a significant part of the fan base relies on (read the reviews on Steam, where every second one admires the outstanding forms of the characters). But is that enough for a good game?
But if for some reason you have avoided HoYoverse games until now, then Zenless Zone Zero is a good entry point into their signature universe. The dynamic combat system, stylish urban fantasy visuals, and charismatic characters can still captivate a newcomer. Just remember: behind the bright wrapper lies the same proven company formula with its grinding, gacha, and gradual burnout. And if you are ready to accept these rules of the game — welcome to New Eridu. If not — perhaps you should look for something more original.
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