Zenless Zone Zero hands-on preview: Plenty of reasons to get excited

Feedback has been heard

HoYoverse

Discussions around Zenless Zone Zero, HoYoverse’s upcoming urban fantasy action RPG, have always been a little mixed in the run-up to launch due to one of the game’s defining features – the so-called TV gameplay. Many parts of the game, such as the main story and the roguelike mode Hollow Zero, require you to investigate dungeons, which are represented as a sort of gameboard with TV-shaped tiles. These are filled with abstract representations of enemies as well as events and, of course, the player’s party. 

For the developers, it’s a convenient way to present Hollow exploration without having to craft 3D environments for each dungeon, including costly animations for all the potential events that can happen. For players, it provides a change of pace from the rapid combat of the game as well as a thematic connection to the protagonists, who view the Hollows in pretty much the same way.

However, for many beta testers this TV gameplay was a little too different from the combat and took up too much time and space – and because everything on the internet is about hyperbole, Zenless Zone Zero was naturally regarded as being doomed on arrival due to this one aspect.

The TV exploration has been cut back due to test feedback. / HoYoverse

Overblown internet discourse aside, the feedback was serious enough for the developers to take drastic measures and substantially reduce the amount of TV gameplay, which was already very apparent in the third and final closed beta test a few weeks ago. Even more recently, I was able to get some additional hands-on experience with the game alongside interviewing its producer, Zhenyu Li, and this confirmed the trajectory away from the TV gameplay – in some parts.

The TV gameplay is still a core part of the game when it comes to Hollow Zero and the initial chapters of the main story – though critics of the system will be happy to know that you now accelerate animations and dialog in this mode, substantially improving the gameplay flow.

All side missions in the game have been split into Combat and Exploration Commissions, with the first category having been completely separated from any TV gameplay – you hop in, get to fight immediately, and are done. There are also Rally Commissions, which are longer Combat Commissions taking place in not a single stage, but a series of connected 3D stages. These may be a model for how the future of the game looks like, but for launch these will provide you with a series of timed combat challenges without much of a break.

It’s a solution that may not make everyone completely happy – as is the nature of a compromise – but should allow both critics and fans of the system to find more than enough satisfaction and enjoyment in the game. I count myself among those who actually like the TV gameplay and the way the feedback has been handled and implemented is pretty fair for everyone, I think – even I’m happy about the acceleration function and the fact that there is a choice to focus on battles when you’re in the mood for them. It’s a win-win all around.

What completely blindsided me compared to the final closed beta was the amount of additional content the developers held in reserve for launch – different types of combat challenges, more accessible areas of the city to explore in-between Commissions, the depth of interactions with the playable Agents, an overhaul of the ways in which to access different features, and more.

A lot of this was shown off during the latest livestream the developers did, so I suggest you take a look at that, if you’re interested.

In terms of pure gameplay, the build I got to play during the press tour wasn’t all too different from the latest beta build – it’s just that the game’s scope massively expanded all of a sudden.

One thing everyone who played the game at some point can agree on is that its rapid combat felt absolutely amazing and that the game’s presentation was immaculate in every sense. Since the preview build gave me access to some of the advanced enemies and areas, I can only confirm that things get better the deeper you get into it. Some of the later boss fights feel incredible.

There is this duo of ballet dancer Ethereals with synchronized moves that’ll make you feel like you’re Neo from the Matrix, repeatedly dodging lunges and shots in slow motion before getting closer for a counter. Both of them have separate health bars and you need to deplete both at the same time or in short succession to actually win the fight, otherwise they revive indefinitely.

This enemy also had some of the best soundtrack I’ve heard so far in the game – and everyone having played a HoYoverse game knows that their OSTs are of incredible quality.

In short: Days ahead of release, there are plenty more reasons to get excited about Zenless Zone Zero, because HoYoverse is on course to cement itself as one of the most consistently great developers in the industry with this one.

If you’re hyped for the game, check out the Zenless Zone Zero release time and 1.0 banners ahead of launch.