Zenless Zone Zero - Review (Austin)

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Zenless Zone Zero is the latest from Mihoyo, the studio and publisher that re-wrote the gacha game rule book in ways that the rest of the industry is trying to re-create. We've never reviewed a Mihoyo game here in the channel, and after spending 40 hours with ZZZ Austin can confirm that Mihoyo have set an incredibly high bar when it comes to presentation, combat and content, and almost all of that is accessible without having to spend a dime. Still, that gacha stuff is always tugging at you, gently inviting you to spend on things that will aleviate the grind. ZZZ is a solid and worthwhile game, but that gacha business model carries all sorts of question marks about the future, so many that anyone considering jumping into ZZZ should do so with caution.

Video written, voiced and edited by Austin B.

#Review #ZenlessZoneZero #Mihoyo
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[mitchellharder]

I like how Austin says "we" as if Ralph is the venom symbiote inside his head

[refinedcactus]

Arkane Austin got shut down but Skill Up Austin is prospering.

[statixfear]

It's so refreshing getting a review from content creators that are normally outside of the gacha sphere... bcz lord knows the gacha sphere feels a little problematic due to tribalism. That vocal minority fandom that keeps dunking on one game or another just bcz their favorite game is "better"

[whitecomet]

Strange time in gaming, when other devs paywall dungeons and content behind seasonal passes only to later take away access to those dlc's to test if players will tolerate their bullshit.
Then comes along the worst monetization model around, but the game has no paywalls, with free updates every 40 days, and with a balance that lets you play through endgame on the freebie normie-tier characters with ease.
I'm guilty of playing both, destiny 2 and Genshin Impact, but the amount of dosh i've thrown at destiny is in the triple figures while i'm still f2p in genshin getting to experience all the content it has xd

[ianwagstaff]

“A cool game built on a shitty business model.”

Yeah, that sums up everything they make.

[MikeBuckleyBBOYS]

Playing this super casually without engaging in the gacha aspect monetarily. Seems pretty good!

[tonkatuff]

Hoyo games really are "tragically free to play." They could be releasing legendary premium games but there's so much money to be made off of whales. Why make a finite amount of money when you could instead make infinite money?

[MyNameIsNurf]

Fuck man. I have been playing this and enjoying the hell out of it. I GENUINELY wish Mihoyo would give us an MMO in this universe. It's literally BEGGING to be its own ARPG Looter Shooter/Battler. Imagine being able to make you own custom proxy and run around would your friends doing combos off each other and fighting bosses. This art style and combat + Destiny/Diablo like activities and gear would be a dream game.

[Space-lxy]

In my opinion the best way to get into this type of games is avoiding the fandom and content creators that will push you to spend money into the game because is really toxic

[michaelmemory]

When the SkillUp channel is doing a gacha review, you KNOW it’s a dry month.

[CactusProductionGame]

Back in the day I played Genshin at launch and discovered it just because one friend told me about it. Did I like it? Maybe, but its gatcha component was too much to bear for me in the long term. I've invested 20 hours approximately, unlocked Diluc thanks to a lucky drop, and enjoyed playing with him; maybe that was the main reason I've stayed so much. I loved the art style and the music, but the combat and variety weren't just enough for me as a player.

Skipping to the present I downloaded zzz out of curiosity with zero expectations but it just liked immediately with the top-notch animations, cinematography of combat, roguelite elements and light-earthed narrative.
It was a shock for me personally to realize I was really enjoying a gatcha game. Wow.
Surely the game as Austin said is not perfect, it has continuous transitions and low paced dialogue system but overall it all blends together in a well-crafted experience.

Lastly, I think I'm the only one appreciating the grid movement system between combat sections. I think it's a really cool and unique way of presenting progression in an action gatcha game: I love roaming around in open worlds with lots of activities but when I played Genshin I got bored pretty quickly of navigating these blank spaces.
Then zzz came with this new approach which makes the navigation of a menu genuinely fun even if it has a very clean presentation and no gorgeous sunsets over collapsed societies, and I'm a Level Designer!

Finally, the flow of the combats are really something worth trying in the game even for a couple hours.

Thanks for reaching the end and reading me, appreciated :)

[savant]

There is no sentence that could describe the slight disappointment I felt being unable to jump nor air juggle

[thegreatbadabinski]

i’ve unironically loved playing through this one, despite the gacha mechanics, the core is solid and addictive, once you can come to terms with the bilious business model, there is genuine talent in hoyoverse’s teams

[darrylaz]

Coming from a gacha player circa 2013, its absolutely fair to say to proceed with caution with any gacha game. The reason that industry grow is one part economic demand, where players from generally developing Asian countries would rather play free games/unable to pay paid games on the go via portable means, and one part greed, because of course they would.

It's like making a deal with devil, he'll give you access to everything but there's a cost from taking too many and lose control. Play smart, and the only thing you waste is time spend and storage. Maybe give the devs a couple bucks change if you like them and want to support them, but never go full whale. Once a free-to-player, try to stay that way.

[epiccontrolzx]

Having played Genshin, the biggest issue with ZZZ is how little time you spend with the characters you pull for. After the story, you mostly only see them for very short bursts in the combat sections and that's it. I took this for granted in Genshin, but yeah, seems pretty fundamental for a *character gacha* game

[HungPhamVan-irdt]

As someone who has followed this channel since Warframe days, I never expected to see ZZZ review here 💀.

[spice]

It's refreshing to see someone talk about this game who is not otherwise in the gacha game community. There is a lot of blind hate being thrown this games way from a lot of gacha players right now, that I feel is very undeserved. ZZZ has a lot to love when it comes to style, combat, excellent music, and even some of the story moments. I'm glad to see these things acknowledged. Hearing someone actually talk about the gacha model and acknowledge it's bad, and *specifically why* it's bad is nice too.

Too often in this space I hear people talking about how "This gacha game is so generous with rewards vs this gacha game!!" completely forgetting the fact they are all predatory and stingy with rewards at some level. As someone who plays Genshin, Star Rail, ZZZ, and other gacha games, I would say it's very fair to say "proceed with caution". There's no denying the insane level of quality you get from Hoyoverse games, but if you are someone who is susceptible to FOMO then it's probably not for you.

However, if you have self control and recognize these games are designed to be more than easily completely cleared at the highest level F2P, then you are in for a great experience with consistent updates for free. Even though I have spent money on all these games, I find I have still spent less money on each one individually than something like Destiny 2 due to the free update model.

As a whole, coming from a "gacha gamer" perspective I think this review could not have done a better job of hitting the nail on the head in regards to ZZZ, and even other Hoyo games by extension.

[kanna]

Finally an actual reviewer reviewing the game bro the discourse around this game has been so borked

[disorderedfm]

"Character Action Game after all, a genre not concerned with difficulty" Uh, what? Ninja Gaiden? DMC3? God Hand? This was the difficult genre before Souls came along.

[SwedishSword]

THANK YOU for defending the depth of the combat system. The onboarding phase of this game takes too long, but it's been really misrepresented as a fundamentally easy game when we are literally a week into its lifespan. The controls are accessible and the telegraphs are very clear, but there's no reason to believe this will be the status quo forever. There are already enemies who feint by triggering their parry telegraphs far earlier than the attack itself, or ones that don't have them at all for some of their moves and ask you to actually watch their animations. The controls and flow are made to be clear and accessible, but this is merely going to be a framework for better encounters in the future.