Zenless Zone Zero was released on Windows, iOS, Android and PlayStation 5 on July 4, 2024.[3] A port for Xbox Series X/S was released on June 6, 2025.[4] It received mixed reviews from critics, with praise of its gameplay, soundtrack, animation and characters.
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.
The game begins with Phaethon, an online alias for siblings Wise and Belle, being contacted by Nicole, the leader of the Cunning Hares, to assist them in recovering a strongbox they lost in the Hollow. During the mission, a powerful artificial intelligence called "Fairy" installs itself into Phaethon's Hollow Deep Dive (HDD) system when they're knocked unconscious trying to force out an external hacker. Throughout the story, Phaethon uses their Proxy abilities, along with Fairy, to resolve many crises.
Phaethon rescues the Cunning Hares from a Vision Corporation demolition cover-up with the help of a cat Thiren named Nekomata, capturing Vision CEO Charles Perlman, though his secretary Sarah escapes. Afterward, Phaethon helps Belobog Heavy Industries, headed by Koleda Belobog, to investigate rogue machines and learns of a powerful Ethereal called a Sacrifice. They also secretly ally with Public Security officers Zhu Yuan and Qingyi when EMP attacks target the Sacrifice remains.
During the Cunning Hares' preparations for Perlman’s trial, mercenaries attempt to crash the airship carrying Perlman and the Cunning Hares into the Ballet Twins, two tall skyscrapers, but Phaethon, allying with Victoria Housekeeping and their leader Von Lycaon, avert disaster. Perlman later flees with the airship but is found unconscious in the Outer Ring by the Sons of Calydon, a biker gang. Phaethon becomes involved in their conflict with the Vanquishers, a rival biker gang, helping Calydon win the Tour De Inferno, a major race which determines the next Overlord of the Outer Ring. Returning to New Eridu, the siblings reveal that they are adopted children of Carole Arna, a scientist blamed for Old Eridu’s fall, and reaffirm their resolve to clear her name.
Perlman awakens with information implicating Sarah and Deputy Commander Justin Bringer as the true culprits. When Nicole tries to hand over Perlman to Section 6, they instead try to arrest the Proxy, leading to a tense standoff interrupted by an attack from an unknown faction, in which Perlman is abducted. They rescue Perlman again and discover that Bringer and Sarah plan to weaponize Hoshimi Miyabi, the leader of Section 6, using stolen biometrics by released Tailless, a spirit in Miyabi's sword. Miyabi loses control temporarily but regains herself after being pushed into a Hollow. The group chases Bringer into a Hollow, and Bringer mutates into a Sacrifice with Sarah’s help, invoking "The Creator", but is defeated by all the factions Phaethon has met. Phaethon secretly confronts the dying Bringer about Carole Arna, survives his self-destruction, and later reveals their identity to Miyabi, who grants them protection.
Phaethon meets the Mayor, who tasks them with acquiring a Sacrifice core at an upcoming auction. At the auction, they lose the bid to Hartmann Ravenlock, but Hugo Vlad, the leader of the phantom thief organization Mockingbird, steals the core and flees into a Hollow. Pursuing him with Lycaon, Phaethon meets Vivian, who can foresee death. Together they discover a list of dormant Sacrifice sites. They find a dormant Sacrifice before Hugo betrays them, revealing his Ravenlock ties and apparently dying at Lycaon’s hand. The remaining sites have already been destroyed by Camille, an Exaltist and Vivian’s former friend. Dina, daughter of Janus Quarter’s leader, attempts to continue illegal human experiments with a fake core, nearly killing Phaethon and Vivian until Yixuan rescues them.
When Hartmann hosts a banquet to regain TOPS’ favor, the group infiltrates his mansion for the real core but is caught by Hartmann. Hugo, alive and revealed as an illegitimate Ravenlock, intervenes and exposes the family’s crimes. After tracking Dina to her lab, Camille sacrifices herself, but Dina mutates into an Ethereal after injecting herself with serum. Vivian also takes the serum to stop her but begins corrupting, and Phaethon unknowingly uses a mysterious power to purge it. In the aftermath, the Mayor sends Phaethon to Yixuan for the next stage of the investigation.
Phaethon and Yixuan travel to Yunkui Summit via airship to investigate an incident in Waifei Peninsula, but their airship is shot down by Sarah. Surviving the crash, they learn from Yixuan and a local named Komano Manato that miners were corrupted after taking defective Ether-resistance medicine. Porcelumex stalled the miners' compensation, pushing the union to seek outside help. The investigation uncovers that Dr. Lohr, a secret Exaltist collaborator, is backing the union’s actions and that Overseer Mevorakh is gathering Ether and luring miners into the Lemnian Hollow. Yixuan defeats Mevorakh, and Porcelumex issues compensation to the miners. Mevorakh secretly survives and meets with Sarah to discuss further plans.
Phaethon attends a Porcelumex conference as Yunkui Summit's representatives. Phaethon meets Porcelumex co-CEOs Ferox and Lucro, as well as Alice Thymefield, a member of the influential Thymefield family. When Alice asks for help with a strange incident, Phaethon teams up with Ukinami Yuzuha of Spook Shack, who reveals an Obscura fragment, something highly controlled by TOPS. Their investigation uncovers an illegal Obscura factory in the Hollow and a Sacrifice born from Yixuan’s memories. The group exposes Ferox as an Exaltist collaborator, and he is later arrested.
The Mayor sends Phaethon to monitor General Lorenz of the New Eridu Defense Force and his subordinate Isolde. Phaethon meets with Obol Squad's Orphie, the squad's gunner, and Magus, a digital consciousness inhabiting Orphie's tail. Both 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. Isolde later reveals that the train was actually full of Porcelumex assets, but Magus refuses to kill Lorenz, prompting Isolde to kill Lorenz herself before fleeing into the Hollow. Isolde reveals herself to be Overseer Mevorakh, and after a battle, Isolde is killed in a duel with Orphie and Magus. The Hollow restabilizes, and the Proxy witnesses a specter of Carole Arna.
The Proxy meets Ye Shunguang, the sister of Yunkui Summit member Ye Shiyuan and wielder of the Qingming Sword, a powerful weapon capable of destroying Miasma at the cost of taking the wielder's memories and personality. Unbeknownst to them, Ye Shiyuan has been working with Sarah to summon the Creator, in exchange for the Creator supposedly being able to free Shunguang from the Qingming Sword's curse. After realizing Sarah lured Shunguang to the ritual location even after she promised not to let his sister be a factor, Shiyuan attempts to interrupt the summoning ritual, injuring Sarah in the process. However, Sarah merges with the Creator, and the Creator possesses Ye Shiyuan, attempting to take the Qingming Sword for itself. Ye Shunguang, using the Qingming Sword, defeats the Creator and frees her brother.
Development
Zenless Zone Zero was produced by Zhenyu Li.[21] 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.[22][23]
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.[22]
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, an android[24] gunslinger.[25][26] 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.[27]
The developer has adjusted gameplay elements after player feedback. Late in 2024, the TV Mode was largely truncated due to generally negative reception of the puzzle-based design.[28] The version 2.0 update in July 2025 optimized the hub world design and user interface to improve player's experience.[29]
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.[30] A second closed beta test, called an "Equalizing Test", was also held for PC and iOS in November 2023.[31] A third beta test, called an "Amplifying Test", was held for Android, PC, and iOS, in April 2024.[32] 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.[33] 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.[34] An advertisement campaign on the Manila Light Rail Transit in the Philippines was held.[35] A series of launch events titled "New Eridu City Tour" is being held in 19 locations worldwide.[36] Another series of events titled "Zenless Dazzle Expo" is held within six comic conventions.[37]
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.[38][39][40][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.[51]
Eurogamer called the combat and day-to-day exploration exciting, and the world setting unique and immersive.[46]Kotaku said its combat system is similar to miHoYo's previous game, Honkai Impact 3rd.[25]
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.[52]PC Gamer criticized the combat system by calling it "mindless mouse clicking".[50]
In Japan, four critics from Famitsu gave the game a total score of 34 out of 40.[47]
Zenless Zone Zero has surpassed 50 million downloads around the world just three days after launch.[53] The mobile version of the game grossed almost US$52million in its first 11 days and US$100million in its first month.[54][55][56] 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.)[57]
↑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.
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