6 Ways Zenless Zone Zero Differs From Other HoYoverse Games

Summary

Genshin Impact led to Hoyoverse's rise in 2020 due to its similarity to Breath of the Wild and accessibility on multiple platforms.
Zenless Zone Zero combines action combat with dungeon exploration in a unique way, focusing on party combos and TV board gameplay.
Players must master dodging and crafting healing items in Zenless Zone Zero, along with traditional gacha-based character leveling up.

The HoYoverse took off in 2020 with the release of Genshin Impact. It was not their first published game but it is the one that exploded in popularity. Two things can contribute to that factor. One, it was 2020 and everyone had time on their hands because of the lockdown.

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By Elara Leclair

Two, it was a lot like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which was huge in 2017, and now it wasn’t beholden to a Nintendo console. Genshin Impact’s popularity paved the way for Honkai: Star Rail and now Zenless Zone Zero. What does Zenless Zone Zero have that the others don’t from its various mechanics, stats, and character systems? Let’s find out.

6 The Battle System

Building Combos With A Party

Genshin Impact was set in an open-world and it had action gameplay without many limits. Honkai: Star Rail was a turn-based RPG. Zenless Zone Zero is like a hybrid of the two because it does not take place in an open-world environment. It has dungeons similar to Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero has the action combat of Genshin Impact with a twist.

Players can go into a mission with up to three characters in Zenless Zone Zero and some unlock through the story like in the case of Anby, Billy, and Nicole. Characters have a basic attack, a special that can be used once a meter is charged, and there are assists too. Switching to the next character at a certain peak will cause something interesting to happen like Billy will spin around the battlefield blasting his twin guns. It’s both simple and dynamic thanks to the party system.

5 The TV Board

A Simplified Dungeon Crawler

Traversing the TV board in Zenless Zone Zero

Combat is a small part of the game though as players will spend a majority on a board highlighted by TVs. Players assume the role of either Wise or Belle in Zenless Zone Zero who enter dungeons with the three playable heroes passively. They use a rabbit-like avatar called a Bangboo to hack into certain feeds.

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Players will guide the Bangboo in Zenless Zone Zero through a maze of TVs with surprises around every corner. They will pick up coins, materials, and other valuables. Plus they will solve puzzles like cracking through bricked walls or sliding a trolley onto a button to wedge a door open. Hero characters can explore a bit in-between fights but it won’t amount to much.

4 Restoring Health

Dodging Is More Important Than Ever

Crafting a health item in Zenless Zone Zero

Finding out how to heal in an RPG can be one of the first things players look up in guides. Unlike past HoYoverse games, Zenless Zone Zero does not have healing items. Most hero characters don’t have healing magic either. Some W-Engines in Zenless Zone Zero, which are like armor and accessories combined into one, can have passive health boosts.

They are rare though. Instead, players can get lucky and find ways to craft healing items to be spent right away in the TV portion of dungeons. Players have to master dodging in Zenless Zone Zero quickly more so than in other RPGs if they want to survive.

3 The Leveling Up System

Traditional Gacha More Or Less

Leveling up a character in Zenless Zone Zero

Leveling up in Zenless Zone Zero is not that far removed from the other two recent HoYoverse games. In typical gacha-based fashion, players can use materials to level up characters individually. Using Trainee Investigator Logs on Billy in Zenless Zone Zero, for example, can increase his level anywhere between two and ten.

There are level gates that must be broken via Seals to move a hero like Billy past ten. There are other ways to upgrade a player’s profile too including the Inter-Knot Level. Like many gacha-based games, there is a lot to learn in Zenless Zone Zero which can be quite taxing for players without patience.

2 New Ways Of Storytelling

From Comic Panels To In-Game Solutions

Zenless Zone Zero has more ways it presents players with its story than the other two major HoYoverse games. The most common way is through side-by-side characters talking in panels. It’s a common practice in RPGs just as it is common to use in-game cutscenes for big moments.

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From cutting robots in half to jumping out of a building, the cutscenes are masterfully directed. Then there are the manga-like panels with interesting drawings. Every example mentioned is fully voiced with only about 20% of the dialogue overall, if that, being text only. Zenless Zone Zero feels like it got a big boost in presentation, so it’s always great to see how a developer can evolve.

Persona-Light

The main menu system in Zenless Zone Zero

Players could bond with heroes and NPCs slightly in the other two major HoYoverse games. Zenless Zone Zero takes the social aspects to a whole new level. Players can bond with heroes outside of battle similar in ways to the Persona series but on a smaller scale.

They can also manage a video store which is a major side quest. The town players reside in is smaller, even with the extra districts unlocked later. This makes it easier for players to bond with the world of Zenless Zone Zero itself more besides the characters that reside in it.

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