Hoyoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero captures the perfect flow of action gameplay

The best action character games let me get into the combat flow state. I like to chain them to my target, hit them with attacks, deftly dodge them, launch them into the air, and manipulate their bodies until they finally surrender – or in the case of Zenless Zone Zero, explode into a neon kaleidoscope that evokes a 90s TV set. Hoyoverse’s latest free-to-play offering excels in frenetic, instantly gratifying combat. Either way, I sometimes wished I could jump back into the action faster while playing, but there’s a lot more to the rest of the game.

Zenless Zone Zero, OR ZZZ, it’s my first Hoyoverse title. I have not tried The influence of Genshin OR Honkai: Star Railbut this is mainly because the setting and style of the game ZZZ appealed to me much more. Since my gameplay was a beta version with everything unlocked, I can’t speak to how the free-to-play gacha mechanics will reflect on my live stream.

Image: Hoyoverse

ZZZ puts me in the shoes of Belle, a teenage girl living in a futuristic, tech-centric metropolis populated with regular people, augmented people, cat people, shark maids, espresso-making robots, and every other personality combination you can dream up sometimes on an anime poster. This is not a pejorative sentiment, by the way; everything and everyone inside ZZZ I feel part of the same chaotic, fashionable universe and I love it. There are robot rabbits called Bangboo that help with all kinds of tasks. Belle runs a video rental store by day with her brother, but her main gig is serving as a highly skilled guide through the interdimensional rifts (called Hollows) that keep popping up in her town. I never fight anyone but Belle; for action sequences, I’ll switch to a crew of battle-oriented characters. Belle is present, but observes and directs the party members through her Bangboo robot that she controls remotely.

Tall ZZZHis fights, I can switch up to three characters at will. While they all have different weapons and playstyles, all combat centers around linking light and heavy attacks, a dodge, and a meter-based super move. Billy, a cyborg, uses weapons and beam attacks, while Corin, a maid whose main personality trait is “always deeply anxious”, uses a staff that’s also a chainsaw to tear apart ethereal enemies without face I can quickly switch between my party members at will, but there are specific spots where I can tag an assist for more damage. No matter which character you choose, the overall combat system is intuitive and fluid. It offers the perfect video game feel by suddenly letting the player feel powerful without boring them through oversimplified mechanics.

Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon

The other aspect of exploring Hollow is a bit surprising: the puzzles. Instead of sending a squad down an endless maze of corridors that all look appropriately like technological wasteland, I navigate through a grid of TVs superimposed on a 2D plane. Sometimes I will slide the weights to open a door; Other times I’ll jump between floors to access different points on a map. It’s a unique mechanic that, like any good puzzle, becomes more complex after its tutorial stages. Solving these puzzles is tied to the story objectives, but they are also an important way to collect resources ZZZ. Their design is a fresh approach that I haven’t seen much of in any game, and they’re a good palate cleanser after the action sequences.

Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon

There’s also plenty to do when I’m not in the Hollow. As Belle, I can explore my neighborhood, manage the video store display to drive customers, play arcade games, take pictures of cats, text with friends, or get coffee or noodles to increase my stats for the future progress of the Hollow. (If you’ve ever wanted to see the fascinating pre-battle refueling scene for an express car, ZZZ got you covered.) I can even flip through the forum posts before I go to sleep.

Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon

There are plenty of in-game activities that round out the experience, along with a fully voiced story told through comic panels or conversations. I often just wanted to get back to combat, and at times the litany of things—and the endless amount of menus to upgrade my characters and weapons—felt like barriers to the meat of combat and puzzles. When Belle was assigned a daily to-do list for in-game loot, I realized how much ZZZits scope went beyond just the quick battles I had come to love.

Since I was playing on a beta account provided by Hoyoverse, all my progress will be deleted when ZZZ goes straight. But I’ll be curious to play the actual experience, including its gacha elements, to see how that affects the flow. I can’t wait to find zen e ZZZaction sequences again.

Zenless Zone Zero will be released on July 4 on Android, iOS, PlayStation 5 and Windows PC. The game was reviewed on PC using a pre-release beta download code provided by Hoyoverse. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.