Zenless Zone Zero

HoYoverse is currently the gravity well of the gacha industry. After the sprawling, pastoral landscapes of Genshin Impact and the turn-based space opera of Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero (ZZZ) represents a sharp, intentional pivot toward the intimate and the urban. Developed and published by COGNOSPHERE PTE. LTD., ZZZ trades the infinite horizon for the dense, neon-soaked alleys of New Eridu, the last bastion of humanity in a world ravaged by extra-dimensional disasters known as Hollows.

You don’t play as a god or a galactic trailblazer here. You are a Proxy, a digital sherpa operating out of a retro-tech video store. Your job is to guide “Agents”—the colorful mercenaries and specialists who do the dirty work—through the shifting, labyrinthine corridors of the Hollows. The market positioning is clear: this is HoYoverse’s “cool younger sibling.” It’s an urban fantasy action RPG that draws more inspiration from Jet Set Radio, Street Fighter, and Persona than it does from traditional high-fantasy tropes.

By shrinking the scale, the design cranks the fidelity and personality to a fever pitch. Every interaction, from ordering ramen to upgrading your Bangboo (the game’s mascot-esque robotic helpers), is dripping with a specific “cassette futurism” aesthetic. It isn’t trying to be everything to everyone; it’s a focused, high-speed brawler built for players who find open-world exploration tedious and crave the mechanical satisfaction of a perfectly timed parry.

• Dynamic Chain Attack System: A combat mechanic that triggers cinematic, high-impact character swaps whenever a heavy attack hits a “Stunned” enemy, maintaining an unbroken flow of aggression.
• The Hollow Deep Dive (TV Mode): A stylized, grid-based exploration system where players navigate a series of monitors to solve puzzles, trigger events, and reach combat encounters.
• Sixth Street Hub: A dense, interactive social zone where players manage their “Proxy” business, interact with quirky NPCs, and engage in daily life-sim activities that provide combat buffs.

The Kinetic Loop

The heart of Zenless Zone Zero is its combat. If Genshin is about elemental math and Star Rail is about tactical patience, ZZZ is about pure, unadulterated rhythm. The game utilizes a three-character squad, and the interplay between these units goes beyond simple swapping. The Defensive Assist mechanic is a standout in the genre; switching characters just as an enemy attack lands triggers a parry or dodge that flows immediately into a counter-attack. It’s built to turn every encounter into a choreographed dance of sparks and smear frames.

The animation design is among the strongest in the mobile-cross-platform space. Characters don’t just move; they “squash and stretch” with a weight and personality evocative of a high-budget 90s OVA. Whether it’s Billy Kid’s dual-pistol acrobatics or Ben Bigger’s lumbering, brutal pillar strikes, every Agent is built to feel distinct. Combat here goes beyond “hit the button until the health bar disappears.” The design asks players to manage a Daze meter, building up impact to trigger those devastating Chain Attacks that make the screen explode in a calculated riot of color.

The Friction of the Grid

While the combat is the game’s strength, the TV Mode exploration—the grid-based navigation through the Hollows—is where the pacing encounters significant turbulence. To some, it’s a clever, rogue-lite inspired abstraction that prevents “open world fatigue.” To others, it’s a momentum killer. Navigating a sea of television screens to solve sliding puzzles can feel like a chore when the visceral thrill of the combat is waiting on the other side.

However, there is a real charm to the abstraction. It allows for creative storytelling beats that would be impossible in a standard 3D environment, such as escaping a collapsing building represented by disappearing tiles. The problem isn’t the concept; it’s the onboarding friction. The early game spends far too much time on hand-holding through simple grid movements, delaying the “flow state” the game is otherwise built to deliver.

The Proxy Life

Outside the Hollows, New Eridu is a strong exercise in atmospheric world-building. The home base on Sixth Street avoids being a menu masquerading as a city. It’s a lived-in space. The loop of grabbing a coffee at “Coff Cafe” for a stamina boost, eating ramen for combat buffs, and checking the news at the local kiosk creates a compelling daily cadence. It grounds the high-stakes action in a relatable, mundane reality. The writing is snappy, favoring character-driven banter over the dry, lore-heavy monologues that plague other RPGs.

ZZZ is a visual standout. The “cassette futurism” art direction—blending 80s analog tech with futuristic urban decay—is cohesive and confidently executed. The UI is particularly noteworthy; it’s bold, “loud,” and surprisingly functional, using graffiti-inspired motifs and CRT scanline effects to reinforce the theme.

As a 2D-and-beyond presentation of this scope, the game is light on hardware by desktop standards, and its frame-rate-dependent parry system is clearly designed with high, stable frame rates in mind. On iOS, the game is demanding: it pushes mobile silicon hard, and maxed-out settings are the kind of load that invites thermal throttling on phones during long stretches. The touch controls, by design, aim for viability, with a layout that mimics a controller’s ergonomics without cluttering the screen.

• Steam/PC: The natural home for this game. Mouse and keyboard support is fine, but the design is built for a controller, and the tactility of a gamepad during Chain Attacks is something the mobile version can’t replicate.
• iOS: Suited to daily missions and “Proxy” chores. The visual noise of the more intense encounters is a lot to track on a smaller phone screen. This is an “iPad first” mobile experience by design.

Zenless Zone Zero is a bold statement. It shows HoYoverse isn’t content to just iterate on their previous successes; they are willing to experiment with style and structure. While the TV Mode exploration won’t be for everyone, and the early game hand-holding is a genuine hurdle, the core combat is a real achievement of kinetic design. It is loud, proud, and stylish. We rate it a Good: solid but unremarkable in places, and flawed in ways that matter. For players willing to push through the initial tutorials, it’s a worthwhile pick — but it’s a recommendation for the right audience, not a blanket one.