For many, the rise of miHoYo throughout the years has been intriguing to witness. While its reliance on the gacha model remains an issue, the studio’s titles have earned accolades for their story-telling, presentation and combat, setting a new standard for free-to-play games. Of course, earning billions in revenue doesn’t hurt either. However, after working on combat systems well before Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail rocketed to popularity, innovation can be a challenge.

Honkai Impact 3rd took inspiration from contemporary hack-and-slash classics and is one of the company’s premier titles. Is another title even necessary? How can it stand out? Zenless Zone Zero, recently launched for PS5, mobiles and PC, answers both questions with a sense of style and panache that sets itself apart from the crowd and miHoYo’s library.

"The urban setting distinguishes Zenless from miHoYo’s previous works quite significantly. Despite their skills, Belle and Wise run a video rental store, Random Play, as a side job and have to worry about expenses as much as anyone else."

While it doesn’t completely revamp some of the systems seen to date, it iterates on them to incredible effect while delivering a compelling story, addictive combat, and much more.

Zenless Zone Zero is set in New Eridu, the last bastion of humanity after mysterious Hollows appeared worldwide and wiped almost everything out. The Hollows are home to strange hostile monsters called Ethereals, and the atmosphere can corrupt humans. There are those with some measure of resistance, venturing into them for personal profit and gain by harvesting the Ether and are known as Hollow Raiders. However, due to the ever-shifting nature of the Hollows, it’s almost impossible to get one’s bearings.

This is where Proxies come in. Siblings Belle and Wise form the duo Phaethon, a Legendary Proxy that usually stays anonymous to avoid attention from the Hollow Investigative Association. Commissions from other Hollow Raiders are only one part of the equation. After getting involved with the Cunning Hares and the pursuit of a mysterious Strongbox, Phaethon is on a new path thanks to Fairy, a powerful AI. Fairy’s purpose remains to be seen, but that’s only the tip of what’s brewing on the surface of New Eridu.

The urban setting distinguishes Zenless from miHoYo’s previous works quite significantly. Despite their skills, Belle and Wise run a video rental store, Random Play, as a side job and have to worry about expenses as much as anyone else. Their street has a ramen stall, coffee shop, arcade, newsstand and more, while high-tech Bangboos (mechanical beings that serve as helpers of all kinds) and smartphones dominate the streets. It parallels today’s world yet fits well with the post-apocalyptic nature of New Eridu.

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"However, its serious story beats are also on point, delivering some emotional highs backed by some incredible cutscenes (between the comic book-like inserts). "

Though it starts in media res, with the Cunning Hares falling into a Hollow, the story takes some time to get going. It does a great job of introducing the various factions, though, from Section 6 and their chief Miyabi to Belobog Industries led by Koleda. Wise and Belle are also refreshing as protagonists because neither feels like the male or female option – they’re both essential characters and partners, in making Phaethon successful with unique personalities. Fairy is an excellent wildcard in this mix, starting as subservient to whichever sibling you control but slowly taking on more snarky characteristics.

The narrative in Zenless takes a lighter tone more often than not, especially with the various slice-of-life happenings, whether it’s searching for cats, meeting characters like Officer Mewmew or dealing with the Cunning Hares. However, its serious story beats are also on point, delivering some emotional highs backed by some incredible cutscenes (between the comic book-like inserts).

The art direction and attention to detail are astounding, from NPCs scrolling through their phones to character models, combat animations and that satisfying wipeout screen. Oddly enough, some performance issues seemingly occur at random, like walking down the street or when rain occurs in a specific section. They’re few and far between but still jarring.

Of course, the music also deserves a shout-out. Whether you’re wandering through the streets during the day or night or involved in an intense combat encounter, it’s a compelling mix of laid-back tunes and hype-inducing electronic beats. Perhaps the only downside is that the pacing can feel a bit sluggish in some cases, especially in the early going when it’s throwing slightly overlong conversations at you. This becomes less of a problem later, thankfully.

"It can feel a little repetitive at the start, but as more combat options open up, your Agents develop further and stronger enemies emerge, the combat really shines."

How does Hollow raiding work exactly? Players essentially choose three characters and, as the story progresses, an accompanying Bangboo. Commissions range from story-focused to Combat and Exploration. Navigation through a massive arrangement of CRT screens, some possessing bonuses like Gear Coins for opening locked-off sections, healing and Dennies.

When entering combat, control switches to your team as you progress through ruined construction sites and subway stations, eliminating Ethereals along the way. It can feel a little repetitive at the start, but as more combat options open up, your Agents develop further and stronger enemies emerge, the combat really shines.

Each playable character has their own Fighting Style. Some are good at dealing damage straight up, while others can inflict exceptional amounts of Daze, which can eventually stun enemies. Supports will provide buffs and debuffs for the squad, Anomalies excel at debuffs, Defense improves survivability and so on. They also have different elements influencing the types of elemental debuffs that opponents suffer.

Ice will inflict Freeze, stopping an enemy in their tracks and triggering Shatter at the end for additional damage. You can also combine two elemental effects and generate a Distortion for inflicting extra Daze. It may seem counter-intuitive, but enemies will build up a resistance to elemental debuffs over time, so it’s a compelling alternative to switch to in combat.

"Each character has unique nuances, and as more passives are unlocked and gear discovered, I feel like the combat is only getting better and more impactful."

Like Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd, character switching is essential for different reasons. While you can switch characters any time during an encounter, there are also Assists. If you activate one before a glowing yellow attack lands, a teammate tags in to parry or evade the blow, allowing for a follow-up attack. Build up enough Daze to stun an opponent, and you can initiate Chain Attacks, where each member of the team hops in to deal damage in a stunning combo, building up the amount of damage that an enemy can take. You also have an Ultimate shared across the party for even more pain.

Of course, there are even more nuances to exploit. You can switch between characters mid-animation of some attacks, initiating Lycaon’s charged kicks, then shifting to Soukaku to plant her flag and generate an ice tornado before shifting to Lucy for an assist. You can parry multiple hits of an enemy’s attack with the right timing. Each character has unique nuances, and as more passives are unlocked and gear discovered, I feel like the combat is only getting better and more impactful.

Thankfully, there are plenty of challenges for the combat-minded. Progress in Chapter 2 and Challenge Mode eventually unlocks previously completed missions, pushing you to complete them under a time limit and new conditions. There’s also Shiyu Defense, a series of challenging stages with waves of enemies that offer unique buffs for different elemental properties like Honkai: Star Rail’s Memory of Chaos.

Hollow Zero is the rogue-lite mode, where players equip buffs via random cards and clear encounters en route to the boss. However, you start with only one party member (thus influencing which cards to start with) and recruit others randomly while exploring. Corruption also accumulates, saddling you with debuffs a la Darkest Dungeon, like off-field characters losing energy (affecting EX Special Attacks) or bosses being able to deal critical damage.

"Its combat fundamentals, story-telling, presentation, gameplay loop and sheer array of content make for a fun experience. Necessary or not, there’s no denying the sheer sense of style and heart that New Eridu has to offer."

There are other events in between, from the random rooms with mechanics like scoring 7s for massive rewards or one that pushes you to take on corruption in favor of cards. It’s a fun mode and offers some twists on miHoYo’s previous systems, though I’m curious to see how it evolves in the future.

Those who don’t delve too deeply into the end game will find plenty of other content to look forward to. You can play Snake in the arcade and complete requests for random NPCs to side Commissions (some with unique mechanics that bring the likes of Bomberman to mind) and Agent Stories that offer more background on each playable character.

It’s hard to truly judge Zenless Zone Zero out of the gate because, as with miHoYo’s other titles, it can change drastically within months. Nevertheless, its combat fundamentals, story-telling, presentation, gameplay loop and sheer array of content make for a fun experience. Necessary or not, there’s no denying the sheer sense of style and heart that New Eridu has to offer.

This game was reviewed on PC.