Skill Descriptions In ZZZ Are WAY TOO LONG | Zenless Zone Zero

In this video I want to discuss the problem with long and overly complicated skill descriptions Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ), and talents in Genshin Impact for that matter. The ZZZ developers have improved on a lot since the game released but in my opinion there are upgrades that need to happen to how skill descriptions are written and presented to players, including the user interface (UI). As a former Genshin Impact player and guide maker, the problem is certainly not unique to Zenless Zone Zero but seems to be present in all Hoyoverse games.

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Hexadaze is a former Genshin Impact content creator covering Zenless Zone Zero.

#hexadaze #zenlesszonezero #zzz #zzzero #genshinimpact

Timestamps
0:00 INTRODUCTION
0:55 WHY THE VIDEO
1:50 WHERE DOES THE PROBLEM COME FROM?
5:11 WHAT MAKES IT WORSE?
9:13 HOW CAN THEY IMPROVE THINGS?
10:56 WHAT ZZZ DOES RIGHT?

[hexadaze]

Am I the only one who hates reading skill descriptions in ZZZ?

[BilabaLabiba]

Skill descriptions are like:

Burnice: Fire thingy
-Table of contents
-Index
-Preface
-Unit 1: basic understanding of a burning chemical reaction
-Unit 2: introduction to petroleum refinement
-Unit 3: Advanced petroleum refinement guide
-Unit 4: How to fight thirens: fluffy tail strategy breakdown
-Unit 5: Flamethrower trigger properties and how they affect your daily life
-Bibliography
-Editorial staff credits

[CaptainMeleon]

good thing you mentioned, the fonts are all bolded and huge and it gets so hard to read

[Egalia_]

They could definitely use HSR system of a simplified, concise description of the skill with a button to view the exact description with all of its numbers, language, etc

[mimo]

I just pull everything and randomly mash buttons like a pro.

[CDAfree]

Yu gi oh, League, Genshin, and now ZZZ, no matter where I go, overly written skill descriptions haunt me :(

[jasonemanuellee]

You can't please everyone. Somewhere out there, there's a random person complaining the tooltips in Hoyo's games are overly long, and there'll be someone who thinks game devs should make the extra effort to ensure everything is properly clarified.

I will be the first to agree that the tooltips in Zenless Zone Zero are problematic, BUT, if anything this video, alongside countless Reddit threads are nitpicking and adding additional pressure to the game devs to focus on things that don't constitute an urgency. The problem that I see here ISN'T long tooltips, but wonky translations, because let's face it, the game is made in Chinese first, then localized for international players. As a Chinese AND a translator who has seen the tooltip in its source language, then comparing it to the translated version, it's clear the translators are struggling with articulation.

It happens. When you spend too much time processing the source language and trying to make sense of it, you tend to lose your grasp with the translated language. I.e. People would assume a Chinese to English translator would demonstrate better competency in translating the sentences into English, but the actual reality is you're spending so much time dumbing the source language down to the translated language, that you're processing more of it in Chinese. And then this happens because translators and QC-ers are stuck in that vicious cycle.

Citing ADHD as a reason for Hoyo to fix their tooltips when they're being overly careful isn't a them-problem, it's the players' problem. First step to resolving said issue is to have awareness of your ADHD, and learn to digest information in bite-sized pieces. That's also the problem with the current generation, they expect everything to be quick, easy, and efficient, and that's just not possible.

[indrawisasi]

Same here! With that long descriptions, somehow the mechanics of the agent is kinda simple, so yeah sometimes confusing🙃

[V-vision]

I went into this fully agreeing with the title, but the Caesar part almost spun me back around. Dead End is one of the simplest descriptions. "Nearby " isn't strictly necessary, but it's one more word for the sake of accuracy. Similarly, "all directions" succinctly adds specificity over "AOE", which could mean a lot of things. If they made both suggested changes, if I were to guess at what the move looked without prior knowledge, I'd assume she throws the shield and hits enemies in a straight line. These are things you'll quickly learn upon using the move anyway, but I think they're succinct enough and add enough context that they don't really add to the argument here. For "invulnerability while using the skill", I guess they could shorten it to just invulnerable, true enough. For the sake of nitpicking on the Parry Counter point, you can be hit by traps.

All that said, yeah they can get pretty ridiculous and changes would be nice lol

[soundplayground]

And most of the paragraphs of text should be spaced out better and only the titles should be in bold text to make it easier to read.

[HeroDarkStorn]

I wonder if this is less of an issue in the game's original language?

[allasterisk]

I didn't know where you were going to go with this so I decided to hear you out but I disagree. I like the depth of combat skills and the descriptions are simple to understand if you actually just read them. I know multiple paragraphs of text are overwhelming. I'm 100% sure that I'm only using like 2 of my agents to their fullest potential. And I'm building 6 teams so that's not great but I steadily learn more about them as time goes on and always have those descriptions if I'm curious about something.

The tutorials that EVERY agent has teaches you the basics of the kit. If that's the only thing you learn about an agent, it'll be enough to carry you through the story content and most of the side content. It's only if you're pushing Shiyu or going hard in Hollow Zero that you actually have to play at a high level that requires in-depth knowledge of your agents' kits. I think that fact alone is what makes ZZZ's combat casual-friendly. You're focused too much on the paragraphs that most people won't read but will be fine without. Out of the dozens of streamers I've seen play, only a few in the end-game even seem to understand their teams but everyone clears the story without struggling.

Also, "I don't know which one specifically is Enchanted Moonlit Blossoms" as you scroll next to it clearly labeled 🤦‍♂For the Caesar description of Dead End, if you removed nearby or only said AOE, it would sound like a ranged attack where she throws her shield. It'd be easy to assume that's a ranged attack that cause damage to a group of enemies like Zhu Yuan EX Special Attack or Nicole's EX Special Attack. A player wouldn't necessarily understand it without using it. I get that a large percentage of players don't like to read a lot of text but I like the depth of combat.

The only part I agree with are the potential improvements. I like the idea of adding advanced tutorials to truly understand an agent's kit and the developer's intentions. I'm sure that would intimidate someone who just wants to try an agent to see if they like them so they should keep the current ones and then make those unlock the advanced tutorials for players that really want to master an agent. Then the game could guide players through the details of the skills in a way that's easier to understand. Also, reduced vs expanded descriptions would be good just to reduce that point of friction for players who see a huge block of text and immediately back out. It would ease them in better.



TLDR: I like the big detailed paragraphs but improvements could be made

[demogladawar]

Long Description is always for the better. People Don't Often read in these current Generation. So, longer description helps train your brain .