Hoyoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero captures the perfect action game flow

The most effective character motion video games let me enter the fight stream state. I like zipping to my goal, pummeling them with assaults, nimbly dodging, launching them into the air, and juggling their physique till they ultimately give out — or within the case of Zenless Zone Zero, explode right into a kaleidoscope of neons evocative of a ’90s tv set. Hoyoverse’s newest free-to-play providing excels at frenetic combating that’s immediately gratifying. If something, I generally wished I might get again to the motion extra rapidly whereas I used to be enjoying, however there’s much more to the remainder of the sport too.

Zenless Zone Zero, or ZZZ, is my first Hoyoverse title. I haven’t tried Genshin Affect or Honkai: Star Rail, however that’s principally as a result of the setting and sport fashion of ZZZ appealed to me rather more. Since my playthrough was a beta with all the things unlocked, I can’t communicate to how the free-to-play gacha mechanics might be mirrored upon my reside playthrough.

ZZZ places me within the sneakers of Belle, a teen lady dwelling in a future technology-centered metropolis populated with common people, augmented people, cat individuals, shark maids, robotic espresso makers, and some other mixture of personhood ever dreamed up on an anime poster. That’s not a derogatory sentiment, by the way in which; all the things and everybody in ZZZ appears like a part of the identical chaotic, trendy universe, and I adore it. There are robotic rabbits referred to as Bangboo that assist with each type of activity. Belle runs a video rental retailer by day together with her brother, however her most important gig is serving as a extremely expert information via interdimensional rifts (referred to as Hollows) that maintain spawning in her metropolis. I by no means combat anybody as simply Belle; for motion sequences, I’ll change to the battle-oriented crew of playable characters. Belle is current, however observes and directs the get together members via her personal Bangboo robotic that she controls remotely.

Throughout ZZZ’s fights, I can toggle at will between as much as three characters. Whereas all of them have totally different weapons and play kinds, all fight is concentrated round chaining mild and heavy assaults, a dodge, and a meter-based tremendous transfer. Billy, a cyborg, makes use of weapons and ranged assaults, whereas Corin, a maid whose most important character trait is “deeply anxious at all times,” makes use of a employees that’s additionally a chainsaw to tear into the faceless Ethereal foes. I can rapidly swap between my get together members at will, however there are particular factors the place I can tag in an help for extra injury. Irrespective of which character I decide, the general fight system is intuitive and fluid. It presents up the right video game-y sensation of instantly letting the participant really feel highly effective with out boring them via overly simplistic mechanics.

The opposite side of Hole exploration is a bit shocking: puzzles. As an alternative of sending a squad down an infinite maze of hallways that every one look appropriately tech-wasteland-y, I navigate throughout a grid of televisions superimposed on a 2D airplane. Generally I’ll slide weights to open a door; different instances I’ll soar between flooring to entry totally different factors on a map. It’s a singular mechanic that, like several good puzzle, will get extra complicated after its tutorial phases. Fixing these puzzles is tied into story goals, however they’re additionally an necessary solution to acquire assets all through ZZZ. Their design is a novel method that I haven’t seen a lot in any sport, and they’re a pleasant palate cleanser after the motion sequences.

There’s additionally a complete lot to do after I’m not within the Hole. As Belle, I can discover my neighborhood, handle the video retailer’s show to spice up prospects, play arcade video games, take photos of cats, textual content with associates, or get espresso or noodles to spice up my stats for the subsequent Hole run. (When you’ve ever needed to see the tantalizing fuel-up pre-battle scene for an espresso machine, ZZZ has you lined.) I may even doomscroll on my cellphone on discussion board posts earlier than mattress.

There are a whole lot of in-game actions that pad out the expertise, together with a completely voiced story advised via comedian nonetheless panels or conversations. I typically needed to get again to simply combating, and generally the litany of issues — and the infinite quantity of menus to improve my characters and weapons — felt like obstacles to the meat of combating and puzzles. When Belle acquired assigned a day by day checklist of chores to finish for in-game loot, I spotted how a lot of ZZZ’s scope went past simply the speedy battles that I’d grown to like.

Since I used to be enjoying on a beta account supplied by Hoyoverse, all my progress might be wiped when ZZZ goes reside. However I’ll be curious to play the true expertise, together with with its gacha components, to see how that impacts the stream. I’m wanting ahead to discovering the zen of ZZZ’s motion sequences once more.

Zenless Zone Zero might be launched July 4 on Android, iOS, PlayStation 5, and Home windows PC. The sport was reviewed on PC utilizing a pre-release beta obtain code supplied by Hoyoverse. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media could earn commissions for merchandise bought through affiliate hyperlinks. You will discover extra details about Polygon’s ethics coverage right here.