Summary
- Zenless Zone Zero features a diverse cast with bold designs not seen in Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail.
- Characters like Von Lycaon, Ellen Joe, and Ben Bigger showcase a new rule of non-human designs in the game.
- The game's character designs, like Billy Kidd, could inspire a change in character design philosophies for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail.
Zenless Zone Zero is the latest game by HoYoverse, the creators behind both Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. Genshin and Star Rail are ambitious enough projects in their own right. However, Zenless Zone Zero is already outdoing both games on a pretty major front. Zenless Zone Zero brings a level of diversity with its character designs not previously seen in either game.
Genshin Impact is an open world game that focuses heavily on the theme of an international journey. Honkai: Star Rail adopts a sci-fi setting where players travel between various planets. Meanwhile, Zenless Zone Zero takes place on a smaller scale, but manages a more diverse cast despite this. Hopefully, this trend in character design will signal a change in the future characters in Genshin Impact.
6 Ways Zenless Zone Zero Differs From Other HoYoverse Games
It may look like another HoYoverse experience, but Zenless Zone Zero has something new awaiting fans.
Zenless Zone Zero Outdoes Genshin Impact in the Design Department
Genshin Impact Struggles with Uniform Character Designs
Zenless Zone Zero only launched recently, so it still features a pretty small roster. Despite this, the characters already break multiple design trends from HoYoverse's other games. Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail both obey design rules that have remained consistent for the entirety of the respective games' lifespans. Though some of these rules are necessary, others should be subverted more often to prevent designs from feeling stagnant.
Despite its international focus, Genshin Impact features a roster that has limited options for both body types and skin tones. Characters are organized in a limited number of model types for their designs to be constructed from, so the issue with body types is an understandable hardware issue. The lack of diversity in other departments is much more puzzling, given that characters are meant to represent a vast variety of cultures across the world.
Notably, there are also no characters in Genshin Impact that don't resemble humans. Despite the presence of some NPCs that can assume animal forms, the furthest any playable character strays from the game's base are the occasional horns or animal ears. While this is also likely to be a matter of engine limitations and character modeling, it becomes a much more glaring issue when applied to Honkai: Star Rail.
Honkai: Star Rail's Characters Lack Crucial Diversity
Honkai: Star Rail takes place in a sci-fi setting, following the player as they journey across several planets in space. However, the most alien designs have gotten is a handful of characters sporting fox ears. This is made particularly noticeable in contrast to some of the game's enemy designs, which are all distinct from one another, and often robotic in nature.
Other aspects of the game's lore allow for diversity among its roster. For example, Honkai: Star Rail's Aeons are essentially eldritch gods, and each of them is appropriately unique to account for this. However, despite the diversity among enemy designs, these characteristics rarely carry over to the game's playable characters. Of course, this is not to say that none of the characters obey the game's sci-fi setting.
Although design traits such as mechanical limbs abound, there are still exceedingly few characters who appear as anything but human. Firefly pilots a mech during combat, and Screwllum is an automaton who will soon become playable, meaning Star Rail may soon be taking its designs in a slightly bolder direction. Until that happens more concretely, though, they are simply pleasant exceptions to an otherwise firmly established rule.
Zenless Zone Zero Leaks Tease Several Upcoming Characters
A series of Zenless Zone Zero leaks reveal a sizable number of characters rumored to be coming out in future version updates.
Zenless Zone Zero's Diverse Characters Break the Mold
Zenless Zone Zero is Full of Bold Character Designs
Meanwhile, Zenless Zone Zero's characters have already disrupted this rule significantly. One of the characters in the starting roster is named Von Lycaon, and he is a cyborg wolf-man. This concept alone is already a bolder design than the archetypes of any characters HoYoverse's other titles. The most important factor is that Von Lycaon is by no means an outlier, designs like his are the new rule.
Von Lycaon is just one of the many breakout characters in Zenless Zone Zero. Ellen Joe is from the same faction as Von Lycaon, and sports a shark's tail. While she is otherwise humanoid, her shark tail is certainly a larger standout in her design than animal ears often are. It's definitely more complex to animate as well, showing the game's dedication to chasing bold character designs.
Ben Bigger is perhaps the boldest take yet. Completely breaking Genshin Impact's uniform body types, Ben is quite literally a giant bear. He doesn't closely resemble any other character in the game, let alone fit the molds of their bodies or faces. Likewise, it's difficult to even imagine how future characters would borrow from his design.
Zenless Zone Zero's Characters Show a Clear Priority
One of the most important characters in this discussion is Billy Kidd, one of the characters most prominently featured throughout nearly the entirety of the game's marketing since its reveal. Billy Kid features metallic body that already surpasses many of Honkai: Star Rail's most recent characters. More importantly, his face is entirely robotic in nature. This serves as a major statement, and is hopefully a sign of things to come.
In character design, there is often an instinct to make characters as human as possible in order to give them a more relatable appearance. This is likely a major reason that Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail have not embraced their non-human designs. Genshin Impact rarely goes bold with its animal characters, and Honkai: Star Rail has yet to take full advantage of its robotic characters. However, Zenless Zone Zero is making a strong effort to do both, and this already permeates throughout its entire cast.
Zenless Zone Zero Could Inspire Change in Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail
Billy Kidd serves as an important statement because some players view him as a main protagonist of sorts, and many cues in his design certainly paint him as such. Furthermore, he is boisterous and optimistic, traits which serve to enhance his humanity despite his appearance. If HoYoverse is willing to try such an approach with one of the game's most prominent characters, then it will surely do the same with Zenless Zone Zero's future additions.
More importantly, this could be great news for fans of Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail who have been clamoring for a change in design philosophy. Genshin Impact still features limited options for its designs, and while Honkai: Star Rail has been attempting to step out of its comfort zone, Zenless Zone Zero shows that much more is possible. Although the games are certainly built with different techniques and technology, this doesn't mean it's too late to change course.
Zenless Zone Zero has already shattered expectations regarding many important aspects of character design. Zenless Zone Zero likely couldn't have made it this far without the success of Genshin Impact. Thankfully, it has plenty to give back. Zenless Zone Zero is bound to continue its bold approach to character design, and this approach could hopefully improve its predecessors as well.
Zenless Zone Zero
- Released
- July 4, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Don't go into the Hollows.
I know, I know, there's Ether in the Hollows, bizarre creations, even heritage of the old civilization, all precious treasures. But don't forget, there's also spatial disorder, monsters and mutants running rampant, and ultimately, a disaster that could swallow the world. They are not a place where ordinary people should go.
So don't go into Hollows.
Or at least, don't go in alone.
If you insist on getting into danger, go to New Eridu first.
This city where the good and the bad mix has many people who need the Hollows: Powerful wealthy tycoons, gangs that stalk the streets, conspiracy nuts, and ruthless officials.
Make your preparations there, find strong allies, and most importantly—
Find a "Proxy".
Only they can guide people out of the maze-like Hollows.
Good luck!
- ESRB
- T (Teen) - Suggestive Themes & Violence
- Developer(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Publisher(s)
- HoYoverse
- Engine
- Unity
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PC, Android, iOS
