Zenless Zone Zero released in July 2024. It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with praise of its gameplay, soundtrack, animation and characters, but criticized the fan-service and its expensive add-on.
Gameplay
Screenshot of the Chain Attack with Ben Bigger, Robin (Bangboo), and Vivian Banshee in Zenless Zone Zero
The player assumes the role of a Proxy (the protagonist known as Belle or Wise), a character who helps others explore alternate dimensions called Hollows.[5][6] Over time, the Proxy will recruit new party members known as Agents to fight hostile entities called Ethereals and other enemies. In addition to the Proxy, players use rabbit-like robotic assistants known as Bangboos.[6]
The gameplay is split into two different modes: "TV Mode" and "Combat Mode". TV Mode gameplay resembles a 2Ddungeon crawler game, with the Proxy roaming on tiles that resemble televisions to find treasure, solve puzzles and fight enemies. If the Proxy steps on an enemy tile, the party is sent to "Combat Mode", where they fight in a 3Dhack and slash-like game mode.
By combining the abilities of different Agents and Bangboos, players can deal greater damage and combos (known as Chain Attack) onto enemies.[6][7][8] The game features an in-game clock system, with the days split into morning, afternoon, evening, and midnight.[6]
Zenless Zone Zero is an anime-styled urban fantasy that takes place in an post-apocalyptic universe that is a futuristic haven known as New Eridu. Large pocket dimensions called Hollows plague the world, engulfing the land and spawning hostile monsters called Ethereals, who have wreaked havoc on humanity. After the fall of Eridu, a group of survivors established a bastion against the invaders known as New Eridu. The group survived the oncoming onslaught by extracting a substance called Ether from the Hollows, which is used as a potent energy source for the entirety of New Eridu.[9]
The story follows Belle and Wise, two siblings who are proxies and are secretly the legendary Phaethon. The siblings possess a special technology known as the Hollow Deep Dive System, which allows them to remotely monitor and navigate Agents within Hollows through the use of their Bangboo, Eous. As the player progresses through the game, they meet new factions and their proxying capabilities are expanded with the addition of the A.I. Fairy, who can analyze Hollows.
Despite falling into the "futuristic" category, Zenless Zone Zero adopts a retro and analog aesthetic, which is explained by the notion that modern technology is susceptible to corruption from overexposure to Ether. Characters operate flip-phones or mobile phones reminiscent of models from the 2000s and 2010s. The two main protagonists reside in a video store (known as Random Play), where New Eridu citizens can rent VHS tapes.[10]CRT television sets reminiscent of those from the early 1980s to the 1990s are commonly seen throughout the game. There are also references to 1990s media as well as grunge or street-style designs present throughout New Eridu.
Plot
The player takes the role of the "Proxy", Belle or Wise (depending on the player's choice), one half of a sibling duo who are collectively known as the legendary "Phaethon". They operate a video rental shop called "Random Play" as a front for their undercover activities as Proxies; individuals who assist Hollow-raiding Agents in navigating the hazardous and ever-changing landscape of Hollows. To this end, Phaethon utilizes a Hollow Deep Dive System, or HDD, which allows them to project their consciousness in real-time into a small rabbit-like robot called a Bangboo, as opposed to other publicly-available Hollow observation systems which have a significant time delay on information going to and from a Hollow. As being a Proxy without authorization from New Eridu's Public Security is illegal, the siblings use Random Play as a legitimate cover while they carry out commissions in the various Hollows both within and outside of New Eridu, though their Proxy career is secondary to their investigation into "Hollow Zero", one of the oldest and largest Hollows, which is located on the site of the old Eridu city which was destroyed in a massive Hollow disaster 11 years before the events of the game.
Anby and Billy Kid, two Agents for the "Gentle House" human resources group (also known as the "Cunning Hares") fall into a Hollow during a commission to recover a strongbox stolen from the Hollow Institute by a local gang of thugs. Their leader, Nicole, reaches out to Phaethon to locate the two Agents and escort them out of the Hollow, though the strongbox is lost in the process due to an attack by a powerful Ethereal.
Nicole contracts Phaethon to assist them in recovering the strongbox. However, during the mission, Phaethon's Hollow Deep Dive (HDD) system is hacked by an unknown assailant, who holds it (and by extension the safety of the Cunning Hares, who are still trapped inside the Hollow) for ransom in exchange for information about the strongbox's contents. Phaethon dumps their primary account information to the local authorities to force the hacker out, but in doing so they lose their navigation data, leaving them without a way to lead the Cunning Hares out of the Hollow. In a desperate bid, the Proxy uploads the data contained in the strongbox to their avatar Bangboo, Eous, but the process knocks them unconscious.
While unconscious, an unknown entity forces them into accepting a "contract" with it; after awakening, the entity is revealed to be a powerful artificial intelligence called "Fairy", which has installed itself into Phaethon's HDD.
Phaethon is contacted by a cat Thiren named Nekomata, who informs them that the Cunning Hares are trapped in the blast zone of a demolition project headed by Vision Corporation as part of a larger effort to expand New Eridu. Their search leads them to the Dead End Hollow, which is overseen by a powerful Ethereal called the Dead End Butcher, and through which Vision Corporation intends to send an unmanned train packed with explosives as part of their demolition plans.
The Proxy temporarily stops the train, but it is revealed that the supposedly "unmanned" train is filled with gunmen disguised as Public Security officers. While searching the Dead End Hollow, the Cunning Hares stumble across a large community of survivors living in the metro ruins and realize that Vision intends to kill them to cover up their presence from the rest of the city. The Cunning Hares, with the Proxy's and Nekomata's assistance, successfully evacuate the civilians and capture Vision's CEO, Charles Perlman, intending to use him as a hostage to make Vision stand down their demolition plans. Perlman's secretary, Sarah, reveals herself as the mastermind behind the plan and orders her gunmen to kill the civilians and the Cunning Hares, but Public Security, following an anonymous tip from Phaethon, arrives on the scene. Although Sarah escapes, Perlman is arrested, and Vision Corporation is crippled by the scandal.
Afterwards, it is revealed that Nekomata had intended to lead the Cunning Hares to their deaths in revenge of them killing Miguel Silver, the leader of the Red Fang Gang, but changed her mind and joined them after learning the truth. Nicole also reveals that Miguel was contacted by an unknown party to steal the strongbox in the first place.
Phaethon receives a commission from Belobog Heavy Industries, a construction firm headed by Koleda Belobog. Despite taking over Vision Corporation's projects, Belobog is suffering from financial and reputation difficulties due to Koleda's father Kohrs Belobog disappearing after embezzling company funds. Koleda informs the proxy that their commission is to assist the company in locating three of their automated construction machines in the Dead End Hollow.
After subduing the machines, it is revealed that shortly before losing control, they received an encrypted transmission from deeper inside the Hollow, supposedly from Kohrs himself, and they were attempting to reach him. Belobog, with the Proxy, investigates and finds that the origin is a prototype construction machine designed by Kohrs, who used Belobog's money to complete it rather than embezzling it for himself, holding up the remains of a damaged monument. While trying to recover the prototype, the monument is dislodged, revealing an unknown creature that fuses with Belobog's machines and attacks the group. Belobog and the Proxy defeats the creature, and its remains are taken into custody by Public Security.
Sometime after, the Proxy anonymously allies with Zhu Yuan and Qingyi, two Public Security officers. The officers discover the recent EMP attacks in the city are part of a secret plot to steal the creature's remains before it arrives at HAND (Hollow Affairs & Neutralization Department) headquarters. The Proxy helps them escape after they fall into a trap.
Afterward, Koleda discovers a recording taken by the prototype, which reveals the name of the creature: Sacrifice.
Nicole and the Cunning Hares intend to represent the survivors in the upcoming trial against Charles Perlman. Perlman, knowing that Sarah intends to have him scapegoated for the affair, threatens to blackmail her with knowledge about her involvement in exchange for helping him escape.
Nicole approaches Phaethon to investigate the disappearance of Rain, a hacker friend who disappeared shortly before. Their investigation leads them to the Ballet Twins, a pair of massive skyscrapers that have been partially swallowed up by a Hollow, where they encounter Victoria Housekeeping. The Cunning Hares board the airship taking them and Perlman to the courthouse, and Victoria Housekeeping agrees to accompany the Proxy in their continued investigation into Rain's whereabouts.
The search leads the group towards the top of the skyscrapers which are exposed outside the Hollow. They receive a distress call from Billy Kid, who informs that sleeping gas had been released on the airship, knocking out everyone but himself, and that someone is remotely controlling the airship to steer it towards the Ballet Twins. The group discover armed mercenaries who are responsible for both Rain's kidnapping and the remote hijacking of the airship who intend to kill everyone aboard. The group rescues Rain, and Lycaon jumps aboard and lands the airship safely. Upon waking up, Perlman sneaks back aboard the airship and pilots it out of New Eridu.
After the incident is resolved, Victoria Housekeeping follows Phaethon back to Random Play and discovers their identities. Their employer claims Phaethon may be a potential ally in the future.
In the "Outer Ring", a desert-like wasteland surrounding New Eridu, the biker gang "Sons of Calydon" find Perlman unconscious and take him back to Blazewood, Calydon's base of operations. Billy Kid, a former associate of Calydon, informs the siblings of the discovery, but are ambushed en route and forced to crash into a Hollow by Lucius, second-in-command of the rival biker gang, the Vanquishers.
With the Proxy's help, Billy Kid is able to hold off the Ethereals in the Hollow long enough for the Sons of Calydon to mount a rescue mission, but the Proxy passes out due to overexposure to Hollow corruption. When they wake up, Caesar informs the Proxy that Perlman is still unconscious, but agrees to look after him in exchange for working for them as Proxies during the "Tour De Inferno", a large motorcycle rally race where the winner confirms their victory by tossing an explosive Sparkstone into the lake to clear Ether corruption; the victor is also declared the Overlord of the Outer Ring, the current of which is Pompey, the leader of the Vanquishers.
Despite many incidents of sabotage carried out by Lucius, the Sons of Calydon successfully prepare for the Tour De Inferno with Phaethon's assistance. However, during the race, Lucius uses explosives to delay Calydon, allowing him to reach Cinder Lake first. Lucius then betrays Pompey, using a sabotaged Sparkstone to increase the ambient Ether activity with the intention of overwhelming Cinder with corruption to force the Outer Ring to become dependent upon New Eridu corporations for fuel. The high Ether activity also mutates Pompey into an Ethereal, which Lucius leaves behind to deal with the arriving Sons of Calydon. Calydon defeats Pompey, and Caesar delivers an intact Sparkstone to the depths of Cinder to clear the corruption. The Sons of Calydon are declared the victors and Caesar becomes the new Overlord.
While returning to the city, the siblings detour to an old monument overlooking Old Eridu. They reveal themselves to be the students and adopted children of Carole Arna, a Hollow Institute professor who was blamed for the incident that destroyed Old Eridu. As the siblings believe her to be innocent, they reaffirm their intentions to uncover the true circumstances of the Old Eridu's destruction.
Nicole contacts Phaethon and informs them that Perlman has woken up. The Proxy travels to Blazewood to interrogate him, where he reveals that his secretary, Sarah, was the one truly running the company, and that Public Security's Deputy Commander Justin Bringer is complicit with her. Nicole contacts Section 6, an elite government special operations outfit, to take Perlman into custody, but Section 6 attempts to arrest the Proxy. The Cunning Hares intervene, forcing a standoff which is broken when an unknown third party attacks the group. During the chase, the Proxy's truck wrecks and falls into a Hollow, with Section 6's Miyabi in pursuit. The Proxy assists Miyabi in navigating the Hollow, but they pass out from Ether exposure. Miyabi rescues the Proxy from the Hollow and allows the Proxy to leave. However, Nicole tells them that the unknown third party has captured Perlman.
Returning to Random Play, the store is being subject to a random search that almost reveals their Proxy operations but is thwarted by Zhu Yuan and Qingyi arriving. Phaethon reveals their true identity, and, while Zhu Yuan is dismayed at first, agrees to help them in their search.
The search leads Phaethon to the Ballet Twins, but after recovering Perlman they are confronted by Bringer, who takes Miyabi into custody. Miyabi is brought to Sarah, who reveals she was the actual target of their plans; using Miyabi's stolen biometric data, Sarah unlocks Tailless from her sword and releases Miyabi at a public rally organized by Bringer, leaving her to be possessed by Tailless and potentially cause a massacre of civilians. The Proxy and Zhu Yuan catch up to Miyabi and push her into a Hollow to get her away from the civilians. Miyabi manages to regain control, and the group learns that Bringer is attempting to flee the city in the aftermath of the plan's failure.
Bringer is cornered within a Hollow, but he invokes an entity called "The Creator" and injects himself with a serum that mutates him into a massive Sacrifice. With the combined efforts of all the factions Phaethon met, Bringer is defeated, though Sarah once again disappears.
After a brief celebration, Phaethon secretly enters the Hollow in person to confront a dying Bringer, having recognized his Sacrifice form as the creature they witnessed capturing Carole Arna during the destruction of Old Eridu. Bringer attempts to kill them by self-destruction, but they are unscathed due to an unknown power. Later, Phaethon reencounters Miyabi, and as a gesture of trust, reveals their identity as Phaethon and their goal of clearing Carole Arna's name. In response, Miyabi declares the siblings to be under her family's protection.
Phaethon is contacted by Lycaon, who says that his employer, the current Mayor of New Eridu, wishes to speak with them. The Mayor reveals he is an old friend of Carole Arna and sympathizes with the siblings' goal to clear her name. He gives upgrades their ocular implants which increases their Ether resistance, and requests their assistance in obtaining a gem, containing the core of the Sacrifice subdued by Belobog. Fearful that the Exaltists, a religious cult embracing the Hollow disaster, may obtain the gem to unleash the Sacrifice upon the populace, the Mayor requests for Phaethon to attend the auction and bid for the item on his behalf.
The Proxy meets Hugo Vlad, leader of the phantom thief organization called Mockingbird, who provides them tickets to the auction. The siblings are outbid on the gem by Hartmann Ravenlock, the current head of the Ravenlock family. However, Hugo then appears and steals the gem, escaping into a Hollow. The Proxy, with Lycaon, pursue him, where it is revealed that Lycaon was a former member of Mockingbird, but left after Hugo broke their late master's promise of not killing people, though Hugo himself accuses Lycaon of betrayal by accepting the Mayor's employment. The two fight, though Hugo escapes.
The Proxy is then approached by Vivian, a girl who has the ability to foresee death and disasters, who offers assistance in investigating Bringer's belongings. They discover a hidden recording, in which Bringer witnesses "a miracle" in a Hollow which caused him to join the Exaltists, as well as Bringer's notebook, which contains locations of dormant Sacrifices. The group trace one of the locations to the Ballet Twins Hollow, where they locate a dormant Sacrifice. Hugo then betrays the group, having struck a deal with the Ravenlock family to turn over both the gem and the dormant Sacrifice to Hartmann, who is in league with the Exaltists.
Hugo then betrays Hartmann by revealing himself to be the illegitimate son of Ravenlock family, and attempts to kill Hartmann, though Lycaon intervenes. During the duel, Lycaon apparently kills him and tosses him into the Hollow below. Hartmann, the Sacrifice, and the gem vanish, though Lycaon vows to pursue Hartmann.
Vivian reveals the other locations of dormant Sacrifices, but the Sacrifices are gone when they investigate. They discover they destroyed by an Exaltist named Camille, and Vivian admits she and Camille used to be members of the Exaltists, along with Dina, the daughter of Janus Quarter leader Landon. Vivian left the organization after discovering Landon was using her precognition to choose members for his Ether serum experiments, and in the ensuing confrontation, Landon was killed by Camille, with Dina blaming Vivian for Landon's death. Vivian and the Proxy later intercept a meeting between Hartmann and Dina to hand over the stolen core gem, but Dina reveals the core gem to be a fake and says she intends to continue Landon's experiments, before leaving the pair to be ambushed by Ethereals. They are rescued by Yixuan, the High Preceptor of Yunkui Summit who is assisting the Mayor with the investigation.
Lycaon reveals that, Hartmann, in a desperate bid to regain his faltering influence with TOPS, is holding a banquet at his mansion, which they use to infiltrate the mansion to try to locate the real core. Hartmann catches them, but is stopped by the sudden appearance of Hugo, who reveals that he faked his death to investigate Ravenlock's ties with the Exaltists. He turns the evidence over to TOPS, who ejects them from the organization. Hugo then disowns his Ravenlock surname and assists the Proxy and Vivian with escaping the mansion.
The Proxy and Vivian discover the location of Dina's experiments, and rush to stop her. After getting cornered, Camille beseeches Dina to flee with Vivian and sacrifices herself to destroy the experiments. Dina instead injects herself with the serum and transforms into a powerful Ethereal, and Vivian also injects herself with the serum, using it to protect the Proxy and defeat Dina. As she succumbs to the Ether corruption, the Proxy's unwillingness to let her die unlocks an unknown power that cures Vivian's corruption, though the effort knocks them out.
Upon waking up back at Random Play, they are informed that both they and Vivian were found unconscious. Hugo reveals that the real core was hidden behind a trinket that Vivian had gifted Phaethon and turns it over to the mayor. Lycaon informs Phaethon that they have the power to manipulate Ethereal energies, explaining how they were able to reverse Vivian's corruption. The mayor directs Phaethon in the direction of Yixuan, who notes similarities between Phaethon's implants and Yunkui Summit's own procedures, and offers to assist their investigation.
Phaethon is contacted by the Mayor, who briefs them on Yunkui Summit's investigation of an incident that occurred the Lemnian Hollow in Waifei Peninsula. He also reveals a photograph that was recovered depicting Carole Arna. Yixuan declares Phaethon as her official disciples to avoid attention and escorts the Proxy to Suibian Temple via airship. While enroute, the airship is shot down by Sarah, though they are able to escape unscathed and make it to Failume Heights.
Yixuan and a local resident, Komano Manato, reveals that the incident started when several Hollow miners consumed defective Ether resistance medicine and became corrupted. Despite multiple sicknesses, the mining company Porcelumex is stalling the compensation payments, prompting the local mining union to ask the Mayor and Yunkui Summit to investigate. The union's efforts are being sponsored by Dr. Lohr, who provides the miners with a low-cost alternative to the Porcelumex's medicine.
During the investigation, it is discovered that Dr. Lohr is colluding with the Exaltists, who is providing the tainted medicine to corrupt the miners and citizens. Yunkui Summit manages to narrowly avert the resulting corruption outbreak, but Yixuan is severely injured by Ether corruption. She appoints the Proxy to temporarily lead the investigation while she recovers.
The Proxy and Yunkui Summit discovers that the Exaltists, commanded by Overseer Mevorakh, are gathering large amounts of concentrated Ether called Miasma, and luring members of the mining union, under the guise of a rally, into the Lemnian Hollow. Led by a recovered Yixuan, Phaethon, Manato, and the rest of Yunkui Summit provides evidence of Exaltist involvement to the miners to convince them to evacuate before confronting Mevorakh, whom Yixuan defeats. In the process, they recover an unknown device in the Exaltists' stronghold, which they take back to the temple to investigate.
Back in Failume Heights, Porcelumex has released the compensation to the miners, while Phaethon notes that they were unable to make progress on the origin of Carole's photograph; despite this, they resolve to continue investigating. Meanwhile, Mevorakh is revealed to have survived the battle and meets with Sarah, and the two of them discuss the next step of their plans.
Yunkui Summit is invited to a conference regarding the investigation into the Exaltists and the corruption outbreak in Failume Heights by Porcelumex. With Yixuan away, Phaethon volunteers to serve as Yunkui Summit's representatives. At the conference, they meet Porcelumex co-CEOs Ferox and Lucro, as well as Alice Thymefield, who is representing the influential Thymefield family.
Following the conference, Phaethon is approached by Alice, who seeks their help investigating an overnight "prank" that leads them to Ukinami Yuzuha, the leader of the paranormal investigation team Spook Shack and a friend of Manato. Yuzuha shows them a fragment of a machine called an "Obscura" which is used to remove Ether from a Hollow for observation. As Obscuras are heavily controlled by TOPS, the group suspects that someone within Porcelumex is illegally manufacturing the devices.
Their investigation leads them to an Obscura manufacturing facility in the Lemnian Hollow. Further investigation reveals a testing laboratory deeper in the facility, containing documents that indicate Porcelumex was using the facility to make Obscuras for the Exaltists, and to conduct Ether experiments on orphaned children. They are then attacked by a Sacrifice called the "Miasmic Fiend", created from Yixuan's memories of her sister, which they manage to escape from, but the sound of the battle attracts the attention of Porcelumex guards. With the group cornered, Yuzuha leads them to a secret escape route, revealing that she is the sole survivor from Porcelumex's child experiments. Alice's father discovered her and sacrificed himself to ensure her escape. Yuzuha stays behind to stall and turns herself over to Ferox, revealed to be the Exaltist collaborator.
Outside the Hollow, the group, unwilling to leave Yuzuha, secure the assistance of Obol Squad, Yunkui Summit, and Porcelumex general manager Damian Blackwood to re-enter and rescue Yuzuha before Ferox destroys the entire complex to cover up his involvement with the Exaltists. They are attacked again by the Miasmic Fiend, but are able to defeat it with Yixuan's assistance and subdue Ferox. Ferox and his surviving guards are arrested while Alice ensures Yuzuha gets medical treatment.
The Mayor informs Phaethon that General Lorenz and his subordinate Isolde have deployed to Waifei Peninsula, ostensibly to locate and destroy the Exaltists stronghold. Suspicious of Lorenz and his ties to Lucro, he assigns the Proxy as an envoy to the Defense Force operation on his behalf.
The Proxy meets up with Obol Squad, getting introduced to Orphie and Magus, the latter of which is a digital consciousness installed in a gun attached to Orphieboth Magus and Isolde are former members of "Agamemnon Squad", which was wiped out during the fall of Old Eridu while protecting a train of refugees. Later, after a successful reconnaissance mission, Obol Squad learns that the operation's cover was blown due to unauthorized attacks by Lorenz, who orders the Proxy detained at the outpost and their communications restricted. Fairy also notes an unusually large amount of Miasma is building inside the Hollow, which threatens to consume Waifei Peninsula.
In light of the Lemnian Hollow's growing instability, the Defense Force orders the evacuation of Failume Heights. During the evacuation, the Exaltists unleash Sacrifices from the Obscuras hidden around the city, killing Lucro and several high-ranking Porcelumex executives. Isolde calls Obol Squad, revealing that the supposed "refugees" that Agamemnon Squad had been wiped out protecting were actually Porcelumex assets, and that Lorenz had taken a bribe from Lucro for its extraction. Despite being enraged by the revelation, Magus refuses to kill Lorenz, so Isolde kills Lorenz before fleeing into the Lemnian Hollow.
Obol Squad and Yunkui Summit track down Isolde, who reveals that she is Overseer Mevorakh, as well as Sarah. Yunkui's Ye Shiyuan chases after Sarah while the rest confront Isolde in battle. After stripping her of her miasmic powers, Orphie and Magus duel with Isolde, ending with Isolde baiting Magus into killing her by shooting Orphie with a non-lethal coin gun. The Hollow restabilizes, and the Proxy witnesses a specter of Carole Arna speaking to an unknown party.
Following the crisis, evidence left behind by Isolde is used to expose Lorenz and Lucro's crimes to the public. Damian strikes a deal with Zhao, a member of TOPS' Krampus Compliance Authority, to fully investigate Porcelumex. Meanwhile, Ye Shiyuan corners Sarah, and she reveals that she has inherited the Isolde's powers and gives Shiyuan an offer to join the Exaltists in exchange for fulfilling his unspecified "wish".
The development team cited Persona 5, Digimon World, and Street Fighter as influences for Zenless Zone Zero, influences from Street Fighter can be seen within the animation of characters during combat while the influences of Digimon World can be seen in the implementation of the in-game clock system. The development team stressed that Zenless Zone Zero has a unique style.[20][21]
Characters in Zenless Zone Zero have different designs based on their faction; For instance, the design for Victoria Housekeeping characters is based on Victorian-era butlers and maids with tropes from horror movies.[10] There is an emphasis on quality over quantity regarding the development of characters.[20]
Unlike the character designs in MiHoYo's previous games such as Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero took a different direction with its variety of playable characters; There are non-human playable characters such as Ben Bigger, a grizzly bear, Soukaku, a blue-colored oni, and Billy Kid, a cyborg gunslinger.[22][23] During the planning stages, these non-human characters were not intended to be present in the game but the team did find them fun and later incorporated them into the game.[24]
Marketing and release
People playing Zenless Zone Zero and waiting at the main stage of the Welcome To New Eridu event in Jakarta
MiHoYo revealed the game in May 2022 and began holding closed beta tests, known as "Tuning Tests", for PC and iOS in August of the same year.[25] A second closed beta test, called an "Equalizing Test", was also held for PC and iOS in November 2023.[26] A third beta test, called an "Amplifying Test", was held for Android, PC, and iOS, in April 2024.[27] During Sony Interactive Entertainment's State of Play presentation in January 2024, a PlayStation 5 port of the game was announced as a timed console exclusive.[28] A technical test was held for the PS5 in April 2024. The release date was announced in late May of that same year.
The game was released on July 4. To promote the game, HoYoverse collaborated with several graffiti artists to create Zenless Zone Zero-themed graffiti in 19 cities in Indonesia.[29] An advertisement campaign on the Manila Light Rail Transit in the Philippines was held.[30] A series of launch events titled "New Eridu City Tour" is being held in 19 locations worldwide.[31] Another series of events titled "Zenless Dazzle Expo" is held within six comic conventions.[32]
In July 2024, HoYoverse, through a collaboration between them and Lofi Girl, released a Zenless Zone Zero-themed Lofi Girl video featuring the character Belle though its HoYoFair YouTube channel, which features lo-fi remixes of select Zenless Zone Zero soundtracks.[33][34][35][b]
Prior to the game's release, the Chinese video game news website 17173 noted that HoYoverse had significant experience with action games, considering Zenless Zone Zero as both a return to the genre and a potential breakthrough for the company. They believed that HoYoverse had yet to encounter significant rivals in the action game category and that Zenless Zone Zero could "stabilize and expand the user market." 17173 also emphasized the game's strong stylized design and trendy visual elements, noting that it inherited HoYoverse's expertise in the action category while presenting a distinct and unique work.[46]
Eurogamer called the combat and day-to-day exploration exciting, and the world setting unique and immersive.[41]Kotaku said its combat system is similar to miHoYo's previous game, Honkai Impact 3rd.[22]
Paste, in its more critical review, praised the character design and variety, while calling the starter playable characters' usage repetitive and the TV mode dull and uninspiring.[47]PC Gamer criticized the combat system by calling it "mindless mouse clicking".[45]
In Japan, four critics from Famitsu gave the game a total score of 34 out of 40.[42]
Zenless Zone Zero has surpassed 50 million downloads around the world just three days after launch.[48] The mobile version of the game grossed almost US$52million in its first 11 days and US$100million in its first month.[49][50][51] Chinese video game news website GameLook estimated the total revenue from all platforms of the game for July 2024 to exceed CN¥2.2billion (US$306million.)[52]
↑ Also abbreviated as ZZZ or sometimes shortened to "Triple Z". Chinese:绝区零; pinyin:Jué Qū Líng; lit.'Absolute Zone Zero'
↑ The HoYoFair program was created by HoYoverse to showcase fan art and animations that are made by creators inside/outside the Hoyoverse community based on games developed by miHoYo / HoYoverse. These submissions are often featured on HoYoFair's YouTube channel while some of these submissions have been used to advertise their games in the form of community-driven advertising.
See also
Honkai Impact 3rd, a similar game also created by miHoYo and part of the Honkai franchise
↑ 猛鲨男鱼王 (August 24, 2024). "2024年科隆展获奖名单公布：《怪物猎人：荒野》领跑". Gamersky (in Chinese). Archived from the original on December 19, 2024. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
