I was wrong about Zenless Zone Zero…
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- I went into ZZZ with a pretty negative bias towards it due to it being another gacha game, but f*** me I guess because it blew my expectations out of the park.
I will be occasionally streaming non-genshin stuffs on my Twitch! (maybe, my internet kinda garbo rn) / soruruna
#zzz #zenlesszonezero #waitaminuteisitjustsoldier11thatilike #genshinimpact #hoyocreators
EDIT for updated 1 month later takeaways:
True grindiness happened at level 40 for me (as of 8/4 I am level 44), which is in part because this is when I started to want to level a second team. But the one month in progression experience still feels much better in ZZZ than it did WuWa for me, at least. Im not gonna get into the weeds of my feelings about WuWa vs ZZZ, but rn all I can say is that the more I played WuWa, the less I liked the parts of the game I HAD originally liked about it. For Zenless Ive not felt that. I still like all the aspects I liked about it that I mentioned this video. But I have finished almost all of the non-long term progression (Shiyu Defense) content the game has to offer at this point. The combat focus of this game means that imo they need to do a good job adding more combat variety to the game in the future for it to hold my attention, I imagine. That includes characters that feel worthwhile to pull/build, new enemies, and new combat modes. This game cannot go the route of Genshin/HSR for me to feel its worthwhile to continue logging into.
The friendship system (which I had only just unlocked when recording this video) is okay. It has some really good moments, but an overly high repetition of the same two variations of mini quests for building up character trust. Overall, a very good idea for a motivator to login daily, get some character interaction with the characters you like, but its only okay in execution to the degree that it feels not worth the time after a while (for anyone other than the characters you like). Certainly much more enjoyable than Genshin's friendship system at least.
I've learned a bit more about the actual games mechanics since this video, and overall I am slightly disappointed with the rigidity in stats you can get from characters equipment in the game, as the most interesting mechanic to me (anomaly buildup and its effects) is basically inherently limited by the fact that you cannot get substats relevant to increasing the damage or buildup rate of elemental effects, and can only get those stats from the main stat of two of the 6 drive slots, and they are two separate stats (mastery for buildup rate and proficiency for more dmg). This is just one example that tells me that characters kits in this game are going to be more self contained and restrictive as far as getting them to function to be usable, and I suspect there will NOT be a ton of creative freedom in how to build/use characters--at least not in the way I enjoy Genshin long term. But it doesnt have to have the same creative appeal as Genshin does to me, I like that ZZZ feels like its own game after all. It just means it may not have as much long term value to me. Genshin is a game I like learning and thinking about how to use characters, and right now ZZZ has not really gotten me to care enough to purposefully learn in depth information about the game, because I just like playing it. I do think that is purposeful, design wise, as the game is clearly intended to be played in a way that pushes you to learn how to play better by playing more vs Genshins design pushing you to outside sources to learn more. Ultimately, time will tell how well ZZZ continues to avoid heavily feeling like its just another gacha game to me, but at least one month in it still very much feels like its own thing. And from what I heard from their dev discussion, they will be making positive changes to the game, so I am optimistic for ZZZ's future.
Events are meh. As they always are in gachas. The first event with story content was the first time I used the skip dialogue button in the game, for what its worth. I also do not like their structure of "heres a time wasty tutorial level, then the actual puzzle for the event"--at least with the "Watch your step" event. Overall, events are fine, and I dislike events unlocking over a period of multiple days. Typical gacha annoyances. Nothing egregious, but also nothing special stands out about them at all right now. They are part of the game that definitely feels the most like "this only exists in this game because it IS a gacha game" and in that regard, the events are pretty garbage. Id like to see them just put any event rewards into permanent reward structures for completing content on a patch by patch basis, rather than the time wasty BS they usually are.
Oh one last thing, five star weapon banners still shouldnt exist--I maintain the only good weapon banner is the nonexistant one, but at least in ZZZ it seems like most five star weapons are just meh compared to the more generically useful 4 star weapons. As far as cost to acquire goes, at least. Like Zhu Yuans weapon, despite giving a ton of crit, is only 5% better than R5 of the craftable weapon! (for her highest dmg playstyle at least, from my understanding). Unless you are as lucky as my friend getting it at literally 1 pity (no Im not joking), thats not really worthwhile lol, but that's a good thing imo! We shall see how this continues in the future. I am also not sure how I feel about them making signature weapons for 4 star units yet, either.
(ORIGINAL pinned comment below)
I did not expect this whiplash of having a quite pessimistic mindset around gacha games in the last little while to suddenly be twisted into a positive experience. I still don't like gachas at a baseline or anything, it is still a really big turn off. But if a game is a good enough game underneath the gacha BS and meets my personal quality standards (quite high since Hoyo kinda sets the bar here imo), then I think it is fine for games to be monetized this way. I think. Checkout my livestream where I talked about how "I'm conflicted" if you want more of my thoughts on that. But all that's really important right now is that I like ZZZ as its own game/
Oh, and when I make future ZZZ content it will likely be on a separate channel. For now, Genshin is a better creative platform for me because of the crazy nuance of character interactions that makes the endgame loop of pulling for and building new units very engaging to me, even if Genshin lacks in sufficient gameplay options to enjoy it to the extend that I desire. ZZZ is a better game to me, but Genshin is a better creative outlet still, likely at least in part due to the knowledge & current investment I have in the game. We shall see if my feelings change in as time goes on, though.
Last minor thing quick that I forgot to talk about regarding equipment in Zenless is that I hope the anomaly stats in particular have enough relevance to make for interesting build paths in Zenless in the same vein as EM builds do in Genshin. I don't know enough details to properly judge how much player freedom is allowed in build paths for units at this time, but the freedom of being able to do all kinds of weird things in Genshin is a huge part of what has made it so engaging for me long term, despite its flaws. So if ZZZ doesn't have that it is less likely to hold my attention in the same way Genshin has, even if it is a better game as far as the whole package goes.
I feel like that's a very fair approach to gacha. If they're gonna use questionable practices to earn more money, at least they can make a high quality game to justify that choice 😅
For anomaly builds. If you trigger a diffrent anomaly while the enemy already has one, (like the enemy has shock and you apply burning) it will deal the entire D.O.T damage of the last anomaly immediately before putting the new one on. Although I haven't done a lot of testing with it, but it seems really strong currently, Will need to wait and see how it performs more in endgame tho
If only all of the other guys who played the game for 1 hour and deleted it would be the same
On a side note, i feel like this game is connected to the other hoyo games. I see a movie in the video store called, "nihility"
the reason mihoyo change the AREA interaction like standard RPG cause they want to focus on animation story and add more character. there are lots of chracter story and lots of funny animation all of them are showing expression unlike genshin and HSR where character just stand talk, if there is animation it will be around 40 sec or 50.. while zzz animation have 2 mind or 3 mins and goofy expression.. too.
I think I understand the concept of TV system and why they included it. Its shows that we are hacker nerds, not some combat veteran who can take on monsters in a fist fight. MC is not a self insert, and they don't fight in cutscenes(unlike Traveler from Genshin), they are just there in their little Bangboo form to assist the Contracted Agents(the team we use) who have actual combat experience and resistance to corruption that exists in the Hollows(the battlegrounds). We do the non-combat stuff like finding a route out,solving puzzles,hacking codes or getting buffs so that the Agents(and in turn,us,the player) can have easy time in combat. Without the TV it would have played out like this: you log into the computer,say bunch of things,fight the monsters with the team and get out. This last sentence unironically feels like the current gameplay loop of Genshin(I love Genshin btw). Do I like the TV system? It depends, some aspects gives depth to the story, other feels like unnecessary stuff to pad gametime. Thank god they did not tie it into the Combat missions.
Idk if you had done the quest but there is like detective mystery solving side quest that is mainly done through TV, and I loved how many different situations and different types of mini-games can be portrayed through TV system.
@@TaigaZzzI really enjoy the bomb one
@@Plsrateeight yeah that was cool, almost like Bombeman game on a Dendy. props of being old xD
If they took the tvs away it would lack this flare, so i hope they keep it, bc I think it fits the style very well and its fun
There's a type of combat commission called [Rally] commissions that simulate the game where you are purely in the hollow without zooming out to the TV scenes and there's someone telling you where to go and what to look for, etc. but you don't get the overview of the whole zone like you would in the TV scenes. They kinda showed and reinforced to me the importance of why we look at our teams from the TV view most of the time.
I love this game HSR wasn't the game for me so having ZZZ as a secondary game after Genshin made me appreciate both games even more, I really love Genshin and I think ZZZ gonna be my second favorite game
Same for me on everything you said
Playing all four 🙂(genshin wuwa hsr zzz)
heck yea, definitely don't feel like sinking even more time in a second open world game, and this scratches the parry/dodge itch PGR was building up for early on
I couldn't get into Genshin at all and HSR just doesn't fit my idea of a turn-based rpg, but ZZZ is just perfect for me
same tbh, couldn't get into hsr cause of turn based gameplay but I'm enjoying this game alongside genshin so much
This game isn't for everyone, but for every person that it hits, it's just amazing. Also i noticed that most CC's end up playing it by skipping through as much as possible for their audience or to get footage, losing out on many of the things that this game does so well, while the CC's that play on the side while chilling seem to have the best time with the game.
I feel you.
The characters are adorable, instantly hooked me with their silly shenanigans.
totally not me freaking out when I played the game and fell in love with the damn slow mo when doing chain attacks and if that wasnt enough, the map looks polished af, even the npcs lol
also, Lucy my beloved boar queen
Smack them boars!
@@Solunerra Hello I was wondering if you can help me with my genshin account if it isn’t too much to ask if you can’t do it I totally understand but I see so much on your videos I was wondering if you can help me I’m not really the best and would like better stuff so I can lvl up and stop asking help with fighting bosses please and thank you. Reply when you can have a nice day!
@Alygamer07 I can help or my friends can if you need, which server? If he doesn't end up helping you that is.
@@zack37343 oh thank you well I’m not gonna be home for a week and I don’t have anything to play Genshin on rn cus I can’t play on my phone but when I get back I’ll let u know
@@Alygamer07 sure reach out if you still want help by then
im gald to see someone finally have a positive video on this game! I started playing a few days after release, and fell in love with it, but everytime i tried to look up videos and other stuff it was just a ton of why this game is gonna fail or why it is boring, im glad to see an unbiased review towards this game!
A lot of it was people only listening to top content creators who just thought it was another lame gotcha that was boring and they hadn't actually gotten to true end game, people still claim that they're at end game when they actually aren't
I know right because of all the negative sentiment for the game it made me feel terrible for actually loving it.
Absolutely, I feel like they dont even try to look into it but do some negative video for content bc everyone does it. Then they just pinpoint what they dislike (like the tvs, which I really like but others seem not to like) and they compare zzz to other games, like they dont see zzz as zzz, they see it as another genshin/hsr/wuwa. Also, most content creators seem to speed run this game and then obviously there isnt that much to do anymore.
Everyone has a positive video on this game now, no one made any constructive criticism
@@Loyalt390 this is completely wrong, as someone who's been following a lot of these channels several had constructive criticism to begin with.
This game has soul.
Then you haven't played a real game yet
@@Loyalt390 Says the guy with a Diablo 4 pfp. Cope and seethe.
@@meguca201 chill brokie, you playing a gacha mobile game. Life isn't going that good for you.
@@Loyalt390I understand gacha games isn't really everyone's cup of tea, but c'mon man you play Diablo 4. you don't get to put down other games if you enjoy playing that garbage lmao
@@horyouuken2410 i don't play Diablo 4 cuck I just like Lilith, I'm a path of exile enjoyer
Small thing about Drive Discs that is worth noting: there are no substat variances like Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail's Artifact/Relic systems have. For example, if you roll a crit rate substat on an A rank disc, it will always start at 1.6% and increase by +1.6% whenever the substat is upgraded.The drive disc stats overall are also noticeably lower than both of the aforementioned games; main stats numbers are lower but still effective and useful, while substats are lower and feel less important to building your characters. I feel like these design choices remove a few layers of RNG involved with gearing characters and also make getting a character to a "usable" state much more streamlined and less stressful, which for me is quite appreciated.
I watched some content creators who played the game on stream, and I hated how some of them skipped half of the dialogue and tutorial and then complained when they didn't know what was going on.
That's when you know they're CC's just because that's the only thing they're good at, playing video games. And they can't even do that properly xD
I had mixed feelings day 0 and day 1. But the world and characters have grown on me. The streets feels alive, even when I log off. The day cycle/random encounters help with that.
Yep, the narrative hasn't had time to kick into gear just yet but it's setting up some big things which is exciting but I honestly care more about the chemistry between all the characters. They feel so much more genuine than Hoyo's previous games with the exception of maybe Kiana, Mei and Bronya. I can watch them goof around all day long.
I didn’t really like the game at all bc it just felt like a mobile game that all you had to do was mash through, but once I got to more challenging content and I actually had to try it immediately grew on me. The graphics are also pretty impressive compared to other gatcha games.
it's funny that you're the first creator I've seen that's had a nearly identical opinion on zzz to my take. I don't mind the TV section as much as everyone else seems to but the biggest thing i notice is when I switch back to genshin I find myself missing the perfect dodges and perfect switches. its also noteworthy for me as a 3D artist that ZZZ matches my own style and designs a lot better, to the point that Soukaku is a pretty much like a teenage version of a character I've made from her design to her weapon. I dunno if I'll stick with it long term but for the first month or so, while we seem to be getting 1 free 10 pull every week, its defiantly going to be a big time sink for me. also coincidentally I'm just a bit ahead of you in the story (so probably the same place now)
That TRAINING MODE. 😍I would absolutely love that in genshin.
In my initial impression of ZZZ, I was afraid the combat was too simple and button-mashy, but the longer the community has to experience the game, the more I'm hearing there is a lot of opportunity under the hood for skill expression and going into deep dives on your favorite characters. So glad for that.
As you get to 40, button mashing becomes non viable. People misunderstood them easing in the combat system as it being too simple.
Nailed it. The polish of this game is off the charts and it really does contrast sharply with Wuthering Waves in my opinion. Obviously if you are looking for "gacha Elden Ring" WuWa is probably the closest you can get and that is definitely a valid reason to prefer it over ZZZ. Personally I really value polish, graphical fidelity, immersion, story and style so dropping WuWa for ZZZ was a no brainer. Again I don't mean to disparage WuWa, even if it's not for me I think it's great that Hoyo has some real competition!
That's crazy, I feel almost the polar opposite, not just with ZZZ but with most hoyo games, that it feels like everything is super polished but the gameplay always gets boring and theres always WAY too much talking and Zenless felt no different and was almost an immediate turn off for me, it feels like im sitting through a college lecture sometimes in hoyo games😅...just crazy the difference in tastes lol
@@gameplayer-_-227 oh yeah the yapping can go wild in Hoyo games I’ll give you that. Personally I’m not bothered by that or even enjoy it most of the time as long as it’s voiced. Those who need to get straight to the action being bored is totally understandable though. Well at least ZZZ has the skip button, though I personally think it cheapens the experience. Maybe I should add that story skippers preferring WuWa makes total sense too.
@@gameplayer-_-227as someone who's played Genshin, HSR, and ZZZ now, surprisingly I feel like ZZZ's dialogue is shorter compared to the other two. not to mention that the skip button is there
@@zahwan1197 Not only is the skip button there, but as an advancement on skip buttons, it comes with a super-helpful super-summarized version of the scene you are skipping. I don't know why nobody, not even Yoshida thought of this and the ZZZ team needs to be commended for this innovation. Perhaps with promotions up payscales and even salacious favours (I dare say).
I really try to like wuwa, I really do. But for me, first impression is everything. While the combat it nice, the story is awful. They try make it better in the later half, but the bad start already leaving a bad taste in my experience. For this kind of game, I'll always put story first and gameplay second, because story is what drive me to pull and build certain character, and if the story is bad then i don't think i can relate/grow attachment to the world or the character itself.
Im not saying ZZZ story is masterpiece, far from it, it's alright as of now. But same as hsr, they make the foundation first, one by one, and that's what important for me.
The combat just feels so good. Hitting the dodge or swap counter at the right time is just instant dopamine and the time freeze is just sick.
I agree with pretty much everything you said! ZZZ is honestly a really good game so far!
The vibes and charm of this game is just so good, it's almost meditative
There is some form of elemental reaction called Disorder when you build up 2 separate elemental anomaly. But it's not as intricate as Genshin.
Yeah I believe I showed it once. I also know there is anomoly/proficiency & mastery that affects dmg and builduo rate for elemental effects (like shock or burn in this video with Grace + Soldier 11), so Im very interested in how viable it will be to spec into those forms of damge long term or if I feel forced to build crit on everyone
@@Solunerra As far as I can tell, the most forgiving way to trigger disorder from my own experience is by having Rina extend your shock duration and using Piper to trigger assault by spinning. As for damage output, I pushed Piper's Anomaly proficiency to 253 and on rounds where I can safely spin her for multiple energy bars, she's always the top damage dealer according to end screens. Most content creators put Piper down as "niche" but I'd say that she's only niche until you built her sturdy enough to tank through boss slams and you yell "DEMACIA!!!" while spinning, as you should.
@@SolunerraI feel like anomaly will be more prominent in the meta as the game ages. All Hoyo games focused on critical based characters when they first came out and leaned into more niche and unique play styles. We already know Jane doe is gonna be a physical anomaly dedicated damage dealer so it's not so far off into the future either. It's just that there are not so many good anomaly chars rn
I uncontrollably subscribed when i heard you recognizing the fact that elements are such a cool conceptnin genshin and that they should be doing something.. I don't know why people undermine this concept alot jsut bc they can see cool animations,like it really does add up when the combat is multi layered
This is a great ad for ZZZ, I'd probably try it out if I had the storage for it 😂
Real💀😭
I love the writing too. The scene at the childrens talk show had me dying.
this game is insanely better than all previous hoyo titles, it's INSANE the backlash that the community is giving this game. Honestly I think this game is fucking amazing and I'm so glad it finally exists, I love everything about it and would honestly recommend it over any other gacha.
ngl tho i like that they are restricted by factions, because i like that they come in a set because it only emphasizes the reminder that the player remembers what they do in the story
I love this game so much. The town feels so lively, you can always find something or someone yapping, especially that random Bangboo yelling DUEL! 🤣🤣
I love this game so much ! The 2000s vibe is really hit home. Also, for the characters, I think the standard one that we got (the Cunning Hares) are pretty good on their own and a lot of A tiers are fine too. I only have 1 S tier but rarely use in the combat, most of my team are A tier so I think ZZZ won't have the problem of "p2w".
happy to hear from someone who's enjoying the game! I'm liking it roughly one billion times more than I expected, and it's all in the details: the insane amount of polish and optimisation makes it such a joy just to INTERFACE with the game - it's a nice experience just to be in it, even if you're not doing anything. It's absolutely insane how playable the combat is on a mobile device, though the two arcade minigames are a lost cause. They really, really put a lot of thought into making the experience good on multiple different platforms, including relatively more neglected ones like mobile. Plus, the animations are just so juicy and fresh, and the character writing is so strong, that even character designs that I found boring in static shots become incredibly appealing once you get to "know" them through story and gameplay. Like, I didn't have any interest in Rina at ALL before starting and frankly found the egregious amounts of jiggle a bit off-putting, but she has since become one of my favourites because of her unique and fun animations.
The quality is really fantastic if you actually review it from a game dev perspective - the overall polish is amazing - I've seen another cc highlight the fact that there is no shared body frames between the pullable characters and they are all individually modelled. Multiply that by each character having way more movement animations per character (compared to the other gacha titles mentioned) There is simply a shit ton of work and polish behind the scenes that contributes to the vibe that it looks 'clean af'. The initial knee jerk reactions against this game is because we're in 2024 with so many emotional baggage of playing gacha games. If this released a year earlier, heck, even a few months earlier it would have blown the scene out of the water. No one is giving this game a fair shake out the gate and it is what it is
With regards to the TV feedback, an even-keeled way I would put it is that it is both too seizure inducing AND too dark to work as an in-between medium (but this is a tunable mistake). The effect is that it somehow is able to both break the game flow (especially in early story missions where you want to experience it in 1 go) and also not really feel like a relaxing break. However I do think the knee-jerk reaction is over-stated and it has potential to incorporate different gameplay loops in the future
With regards to the monetization; I would say it is same 'predatory system' with same overall pricing levels, but if you are a vet player you should by now also be more familiar with overall mechanics and immune to the 'dark design', especially with so many alternative gacha titles you are playing you are less likely to fall victim to FOMO. So it feels more palatable vs. a year or a few months ago, and we're able to focus on game itself
Hi,can you tell me which cc highlight the fact that there is no shared body frames
reminds me of persona and i absolutely love that! Regarding the TVs, while I was skipping through the story on my first account, I didn't understand the reason for their existence, or how it even worked with the story. After reaching level 30, I started again (on an alt) and have been watching the whole story. Lore wise, it wouldn't make sense for them NOT to be there. The whole tv thing works perfectly with the lore and story.
I just finished chapter 3 and everything just clicked man.
Spoilers:
I love corporate conspiracy stories and almost half of the playable cast being in on the sacrifice creature plot was such an out of left field reveal that it hooked me on the story.
Hopefully we leave the city and find Pearlman soon but he's definitely going to get killed before he gets to snitch on anyone.
I can't wait to find out more about Miss secretary
i honest to god want to thank you bc you’re whole the reason i got into this game 😭😭 i think you played a little bit in one of your streams and initially i was like ehh another gacha by hoyo, i think i’ll skip but seeing your gameplay i was like dammit i gotta try it for myself and hacjshdjnshdhw its been so much fun
I didn’t expect to love this either, but after playing it on my iPad for a day it convinced me to finally get a ps5 so I can play it in better quality
They did such a good job at giving the game actual life, its refreshing to say the least... I want to see where Mihoyo take this game.
Chapter 3 was the only story I didnt partly skipped, just because of Lycaon, like I love that man so much...
The new boss on that chapter was really fun to fight, personally speaking.
I honestly thought this game was a dud and almost uninstalled it after a couple days of casually playing, but something “clicked” around the third or fourth day…like, “ok I get this game now”…and I’m completely hooked!
Soluna: Here's Wise, my brother!
Wise: Who are you and what have you done to my sister?
For the "artifact" system a couple of notes since I have gotten to endgame recently.
1. You unlock the S tier discs at Inter-knot lvl 35 and the S tier reroll at IK 40
2. The reroll system actually lets you focus a specific slot once you get to IK 35 for a decent material cost increase.
3. They have a currency you can get from shiyu defense and the battlepass that lets you select the main stat of the discs. Meaning you can force a crit damage disc 4 on a specific set if you want.
4. You can dismantle bad discs to get some XP and the reroll material at that same level.
5. The rerolls are actually really cool since some of them will actually roll a tier above. Meaning your A and B rank discs can be converted to golds if you use enough.
6. Disc 4 is your genshin circlet equivalent with the added roll chance of anomaly proficiency, Disc 5 is goblet equivalent, and Disc 6 is timepiece equivalent along with impact and anomaly mastery(yes it is different)
7. Anomaly has 2 relevant stats: Mastery which changes the damage value, and proficiency which affects the build up rate. An anomaly DPS will want both since you they are on mutually exclusive disc slots along with likely a dmg% disc 5.
lastly a side note. the crown equivalent is locked in the battlepass along with a second one if you get the premium BP... I am unsure how I feel about that.
Editing for one more side note: I am REALLY appreciating that you can not only craft up to the higher tier parts but also dismantle those higher tier parts down to lower tiers with no lost material other than like 1100 dennies.
@@wolfexxvii yes crafting up and down is so helpful thank god please backport this I beg you hoyo
The tv minigame is fun in the later stages, including the hollow verse, even some of the puzzle stages. But in the story stages, it feels like a waste of time. You aren't making any meaningful decisions like in the other modes.
Yeah I agree. Its definitely a bit too simple in story and earlier on. I still think its fine their because of dialogue happening there (more variety than just staring at the screen and clicking through the dialogue). In general I really wish Hoyo made the entire experience of their story more difficult in some form (especially when I chose the challenge mode)
I think it's fine. For the most part the tv mode carries the puzzles and the exploration aspect of the game. They have to put chests and collectables somewhere and it's gonna be either tv mode or you have to run around in the dungeons.
There is a 9 stage mini auto battler mission in TV mode where you fight with Bangboos, and that was pretty fun. Would be cool for them to expand on that with some events.
16:51 this attack is actually parry-able, though I only got to do it once by pure luck on the special version of this enemy lol. Switch-parried from Nekomiya to Anby and she blocked 3 attacks, didn't block the 4th since Anby used her EX special. I don't remember if I was holding a button though, if I was I don't remember which.
A game for everybody is a game for nobody. I personally love this game. To those of you that are not aware. You do not have to like the game. If you don't, just find something you do enjoy. The world is not made for you to like everything in it. There is something called target audience. If this doesn't work for you it means you're not part of that audience. Keep it moving.
I really hope they lean even more into the factions of this game, one of my biggest gripes with Genshin and HSR is that more often than not, characters that work with each other in the story cannot at all compliment each other in gameplay (like if I wanna use a Stellaron Hunter team comprised of Kafka, Blade, Silver Wolf and Firefly I am gonna be doing absolutely horrible damage), I really hope we get more of what we have with Koleda and Ben.
I play ZZZ because the combat and i meet the Maid girl with a Freaking Sawblade, love Corin in first signt.
Haha yeah Corin is great
Best possible character they could have created out of a Huohuo expy, 10 out of 10.
So many judged this game too early, while the sane of us, continued loving our perfect game 😂
Finally! The video that I completely agree with !! I tried the game just cause why not and I absolutely fell in love with it!!! Also, finally someone who doesn't complain about the TVs - honestly I do not see what's the issue with them.
I usually play something like witcher 3 or kcd and then a friend introduced me to this game, for some reason I love the simplicity of the game and the tv mini games (or actually as MC perspective) plus it has cool animation, combat moves, and the graphics are pretty decent
The switch up with these people is funny
i play Genshin and HSR and like you said, this game still has his own voice while being an Hoyo game. Is only 1.0 and it can only improve therefore i am really excited about it. At least Star Rail grew a lot in a year.
Glad to see more peoples who really like this game after all the hate.
I decided to try it as full F2P as second gacha (quitted genshin a long time ago and currently low spending on Wuwa) when it released and i expected nothing but now i'm addicted, also for the first time on the release of a new gacha game i'm really lucky, so it's even better.
I have every S rank + neko S rank W engine except for the 3 S rank from Victoria Housekeeping, I lost the 50-50 on Ellen banner to Koleda and got everything else on permanent banner (130 / 300 atm, can't wait to select Rina if can't get her before 300 and even if it will take time).
I'm glad i lost my 50-50 because Koleda is a stagger machine (+ i like her interactions with Grace in combat, also got the belobog S rank bangboo) and after i did the main story part with the N.E.P.S + looked at all 1.1 S rank gameplay, i decide to wait for Qingyi (i really liked her personality and her gameplay look really fun). I stopped searching the best / meta characters after quitting genshin, now i will save my pull and just pull for the character i like the most in term of gameplay / personality (and maybe design), Gacha games are way more fun to play this way.
Edit : Now at 140 / 300 and got Lycaon... wtf is wrong with my luck, i have almost every char of the 1.0 as F2P. I don't have Rina and Ellen but i can guarantee an Ellen. It's like the game is telling me : You have every S char for a Phys team and a Fire team and now you just need to keep pulling on Ellen banner to have the perfect Ice Team (don't know what to do, also just reached proxy lvl 40, to many char to build ^^').
I like how they give you two whole teams to start with so you're not forced to pull as a barrier to entry for some modes. It might not be best, but you could use Anby, Nicole, Billy on one side and Corin, Soukaku, Ben on the other. Complete F2p
Just because a game has gacha elements doesn't automatically make it bad, it depends on how it incorporates those gacha elements as well as the game itself. I can understand people who don't like gacha games since they are predatory by design and are a form of gambling but there is no denying that there is a demand for them with how much money Hoyoverse and other gacha games continue to make.
Being a gacha game means it has a live service model where players can expect content to be added for years to come, and as long as you prioritise saving for the characters you want it is viable to play entirely for free. My main gripe with gacha games aside from the gacha itself is how many rely on FOMO which can make it easy to experience burnout from dailies, but it seems like ZZZ is setting up to be more of a side game given how easy and quick dailies are.
The last two months have been a revelation to me. I burned out on HSR very fast last year because the characters I’d paid $$$ weren’t doing the damage I expected. On Genshin I just couldn’t get into the simplistic lock and key form of combat.
Everything changed when I started playing Wuthering Waves. Everyone, including me, shat on Genshin for the simplistic combat and the lack of freedom in movement.
I decided to give HSR another shot and I finally understood how to do damage and finally my E2 Dan Heng actually does damage
Then ZZZ came out and it helped realize what I like about WuWa’s combat “dance” and what I like about ZZZ’s combat like the relentless aggression
The point I guess I’m making is that playing a variety of games helped appreciate how each game is different and has its own strengths. This has all brought me back to Genshin and I gotta say I really love the chill music and exploration. The 4 games have kinda become this overall “meta” game for me
I used to a Day 1 AAA game guy but that industry has completely lost me. I’d rather spend my $300/m video game budget on waifus and as Todo would say “my brazas”
The tv thing was actually the reason I chose to main this game. It’s not the tv meta game itself just more that I enjoy the more condensed experience over a boring ass open world
they have a tv screen quest where you battle bangboos. i am the bangboo master. there are hidden attack mechanics the game doesnt tell you about that you just have to figure out on your own. people are making videos of them so you can watch those. also ive heard that at the higher levels enemies will punish you for being good at certain mechanics like countering.
i thought about it and the missions that are timed make sense because you are only supposed to be in a hollow for so long before you start getting corruption done to you. so that makes sense lore wise.
Fellow ZZZ enjoyer found, subscribed
I appreciated you going for the finer details, I know that stuff like being able to see trough glass and look at the interiors is something that really doesn’t matter that much and doesn’t need to be there
But them putting so much care on something people might not even notice is just so charming, it gives you perspective on how carefully they designed this whole universe their most minute details and you really do feel this game style
ZZZ really hozes style and care, I absolutely love it
6th street is pretty cool its just like yakuza like a dragon
One of the most unique aspects of ZZZ is how charming and fun the story is. A lot of post-apocalyptic games go for the overly dark and gritty setting, tone and plots, but ZZZ's New Eridu (so far) is a really enticing world to lose yourself in. If anyone has played Eastward, it really gives me the similar vibe of people coming together and living their lives, finding their personal joys and pleasures even in the post-apocalypse.
Im loving the game too. The combat is super satisfying with parries, chain attacks, and sometimes dodging.
My main issues with the TVs is that they over explain things and each level feels like a tutorial explaining a new mechanic or a puzzle where they explain how to solve it while locking me in place with dialogue or animations. Ive been liking them better in the commissions more than the main story.
There actually is a reaction system called disorder, but im still trying to figure out how anomaly even works to begin with lol
ah yea. I feel it might have been better to use simple popup text tutorials instead of the current integrated (and draggy) ones
but then I know a lot of people don't read, so they'll skip over those text tutorials and get frustrated at something they cannot solve because they completely ignore an introduced mechanic.
I had play ZZZ for nearly 2 week and I still not touch the gacha. That's imply that this game doesn't force you to follow Meta.
ZZZ has simple enhancement procedure than HSR. (every HSR character has their own unique material that has to be get from their own World)
ZZZ teleport feature is also making the game doesn't force you to walk much.
ZZZ Hollow Zero has faster run than Simulated Universe since TV system map is just repeating the same event.
It's possible to battle using keyboard only (For me I just set attack and evade button on K & J) (mouse button still work at the same time)
This game gives me the same vibes when I played Sekiro, when you did a perfect assists, the sounds of metal clashing is chefs kiss.
21:00 Oh actually, on the character stats screen, you can see highlighted stats, which is their recommendation for the stat to build for that character. So you can skip reading all the skill desc if you don't want to. Playing the trial for the character in the VR is gives a short but excellent summary of how to use the character, without having to read the entire skill desc
i think the most important thing for me is that this game is so polished that i could think it was a game costed 60$ dollars from a AAA company. but its free. they have predatory mechanics sure but if youre not FOMO addicted then you should be fine. i think they found the spot that casuals like the most, i like genshin but goddamn am i tired of the open world structure in genshin.
i love tvs. first gacha where i want all starting 5 stars(not the shark). zzz my favorite gacha on a citadel
As someone who loves world exploration. I actually didn't expect to really like this game. It's really good that Hoyo continues to create different games and add new experiences. And to be fair, the company isn't greedy in their gacha games as you still have the access to everything while playing the game for free
it's so nice seeing someone have fun in zzz! my experience with it is really similar to yours, i love it just as much. thanks for posting this. made me think positively after all the negativity from the hoyo community :)
Im level 37 but i still feel behind somehow. The game seems pretty f2p friendly so far tho. High hopes.
this is the first true gacha game I've really invested some time into and I'm really loving it. the vibes are great, the gameplay and story are satisfying so far, and I straight up forgot I could spend money on it until today. in terms of gameplay it reminds me of Xenoblade 2 if it was freed from the MMO gameplay style (not that I dislike that, it has its own merits but since I played that I wanted gameplay like this where it's actually active) and I'm loving it. it also feels like even your bad pulls still have a good amount of merit to them, I dunno this is just ticking all the boxes for me.
JOIN ME
Wait join you with what lol
@@Solunerra in enjoying ZZZ, probably.
@@Solunerra in enjoying ZZZ 😎
Oh durr that makes sense lol
Things like about this game compared to Star Rail is you don't actually need the banner character to able to clear content. Played Star Rail for 2 weeks and because I didn't get blessed with my free rolls to get the banner character, I just struggled to clear any content all the time every time. I never had right element to apply stagger states and do combos, my dmg was horrid, I'd die in two hits, and because I couldn't clear content, I couldn't get more free rolls to attempt more tried to get the OP banner character. Sure, maybe they changed that in Star Rail sense I played it last, but last time I played Star Rail it was horrible cause I was F***ed by RNG. In ZZZ been just using three starting characters and clearing all the content fine with no issues simple from learning how they play and how game works, sometimes I have issues when the enemies are resistance to my main dmg type but not like how was it was in Star Rail. Remember being stuck on chapter 2 story boss in Star rail for a whole week until I just over leveled the thing by 15 levels.
Only thing I am mixed on is the TV mini game as well. I mean some of them are fun, some of them are just annoying. Like Golden town mission was annoying.
From my observation, the people that complain about the tv are tho who don't care about the story and only care about the combat.
Actually, I think the exploration commissions only really got good after finishing chapter 1. Before that, it was indeed too.. trivial and handholdy, like a very extended tutorial
I think people who complain generally do not see the potential of the TV exploration, and ZZZ doesn't really do a good job of showing it off either.
I'm big on the style. The freeze frame on finishing the last enemy hooked me, and I love the character designs. My couple critiques is the elastic/rubber animation, which is good 70% of the time, but makes cutscenes hard to follow (pose to pose) personally. And, I wished there was more travel in the Hollow. I get the HDD TV system because the scale would be huge, but I feel like there could have been some interesting environmental play with the distortion they keep mentioning in the world. It sounds like an anime backrooms where you can just "fall" into different parts of it.
for someone who doesn't have the time to play bloated open world games this totally fits the bill.
It's quite refreshing to see someone that's not constantly bashing the game go for your mind great Video I love the game to Just need a little bit of TLC
25:32 I think most or any playable characters are just there in the world. I saw one of the unreleased Sons of Calydon characters, Lighter, at the front of the Gadget Store on Sixth Street. Thought that was a pretty nice easter egg
Because I quickly get bored of games I didn't want to get into zzz, thinking it's another gacha rpg. But after this video I got hooked, I might download it now. It looks WAY different from what I imagined.
Enemy variety thing goes out the window later game because I know all individual enemy mobs attacks by heart but throw two or even three aggressive types at once and it's a frantic stuggle to keep up even with the strong defensive mechanics the game has.
I think that avoiding the money suck aspect of Hoyo gachas kinda just comes down to making a plan and sticking to it.
I played and enjoyed Genshin for over a year playing for $15 a month (the two passes) and I'm doing the exact same thing here with ZZZ.
I could play for free, and I could play and spend a lot (a lot) more, but I found a level that works for me, which makes it easier to stick to.
I think when people are more sporadic and impulsive with their spending is when they get into trouble.
I've played my fair share of gacha games, and as someone who enjoys gacha games, I'll say this: Don't let the FOMO get to you. Be it from limited banners or doing your dailies, do it at your own pace, otherwise, you'll burn out. Like you've been doing so far, just enjoy the game the way you want to! ^^
I love this game fr and I truly never thought I would because the promotional videos make it seem like a reskinned version of HI3 but the gameplay is so fresh and the combat is so snappy and the story telling is unique it really make me like the game more he more I played it. But now with the addition of ZZZ I have 4 gacha games to handle and I am definitely at my limit I don’t think I am able to add anymore gacha games to my collection after this hahaha
Thats why I only play one. Quit genshin all those years ago and tried this so now this is my side game.
Im suprise im enjoying the game especially the tv section i though im gonna diislike it but end up enjoying it. Especially the hollow zero hoping they add lore in that mode since the professor is in there some where. I think my only complain is that the story is tied on your level hoping they remove it or increase the xp we gain from quest or other activites for easier levelling up our interknot level.
27:33 I've heard several people mention the closed betas had co op but the developers decided to nix it. I suspect that their reasoning might be because this game is like HI3 and they just recently discontinued co op and raids in that game because 1. It was buggy in this format 2. no one actually did it except newbies trying to get their first time clear rewards 3. it was easier to get rid of it rather than come up with a better solution. So I wouldn't bet money on co op outside of special events like the current "fall guys" special event going on in HI3 right now. On a another note I am pleased with this game It reminds me a lot of HI3 and that is my second fav hoyo game after Genshin .
The biggest thing is: The combat is reactive like an Elden Ring or Dark Souls kind of Souls Like where you have dodging, parries, assists, counters...all sorts of agency based skill based gameplay in combat. It feels fluid and fast, and the weapons being literal spheres means they can design characters with whatever concept or weapon they want. Total freedom. Like Ben Bigger using a literal slab of concrete, Ellen's glaive, and so forth...also the MC being VOICED FOR FKS SAKE gives SO much personality to the MCs. The fact that the MC is not COMBAT BASED means they can SHINE in OTHER areas and STILL be cool and badass unlike Traveler that is constantly dunked on and made a joke of. I sincerely feel like you could make ANY team work in this game as long as it had some kind of logic behind it where meta will matter less, and it will be more about building and investing in your characters and having good skill knowledge of how they work as a team versus some shiny new character that just blasts everything like Arlecchino or Yelan.
I'm loving this IP individuality and vibe. It's a breath of fresh air and I love it. Also idk why everyone has a stick up their butt about the tvs. I think it's pretty creative honestly
ZZZ is unironically a banger of a game.
And the combat is literally the best part.
There’s a lot of depth to the combat system. You can get very, very fancy in it if you so wish, with enemy juggling, the different character kits, the parries, the dodges, the ults, and we keep finding out more stuff we can do every day. I love this game haha
Of the "big 3" Hoyo games, ZZZ feels the most streamlined and accessible to people outside the anime/gacha sphere. I haven't felt any need to use the limited banner yet, but the game is barely a week old, and with how combat-centered it is, the powercreep could be even worse than HSR... so that remains to be seen.
The TV minigame is better than I expected, and not too overused or repetitive, though it's still a bit bizarre and feels like a tool to save dev time. Parrying isn't my favorite mechanic--the timing never quite makes sense--but for the most part it's manageable, other than certain enemies that seemingly have no attack indicators. The story is told in an entertaining way, though mostly feels like it just exists to move you from battle to battle; it's very cartoony and lacks Hoyo's trademark cosmic-scale plot and overly-complicated lore (for better or for worse).
I feel powercreep is more apparent when the playable combat design is simple - this is a general statement for all games with continuing released characters.
For games like ToF, powercreep is fast because there's no horizontal possibility for the character kits. All characters that do dmg does dmg in the same way. So the only way to create new character kits is vertically, by creating a better version of the current kit.
HSR is not that bad by comparison. Break dmg is different from DoT, and is different from normal attacks that can crit. And also, there is a need for different roles in the game because turn-based games means you will definitely get hit. So no one who properly understands the mechanics will say that Acheron powercreeps Black Swan, or that Aventurine powercreeps Huohuo. The powercreep is still there, but there are still enough niches and roles for characters to fill.. for now.
So for ZZZ, I notice that the characters do play slightly differently, and there's SOME meaning to the element type and Anomaly they cause. And enemies do have weaknesses to elements - enemies weak to Shock get interrupted whenever a Shock damage is triggered. Conclusion: I think there's enough depth in the foundation mechanics for the powercreep to be slow enough.
Im loving it. The visuals, they put ao much into the VHS covers, TV ads, the NPCs, the street. Yes there's the dight and the gacha yeah yeah but what hooked me, personally, was the colors, the fact that the brothers interact with each other, we can meet people in the street. Feels like the game is alive idk. I LOVE THE PETS.
I really like the game, one point I HATE with passion is the “reach interknott level (depends on where you are)”. I need to get to 36 and don’t have any side quests are available.
Yeah I kinda figured Id be hitting the point to be locked behind daily logins for quest progression very soon. It seems to be an inherent gacha problem, wherein the quicker you play through the early story progression the quicker you run into the level blocking quest progress. I really dont get why they have the level requirement for quest progression at all in these games when theres plenty of other daily login incentivization strcutures already. It almost feels like punishing the players who are enjoying your game the most, which is crazy to me.
It's ironic because level gates are only EVER a problem on release patch. By 1.1 everyone and I mean everyone will already be at IKL40+, you will always be overcapped on levels.
this happened to me too (finally hit 32 story oop- get to 34! ok story- NOPE JK get to 36!!) and even doing ALL of the side quests, character stories, daily xp+energy (plus a few batteries even) was absolutely miserable. it took me literally 2-3 full days just to get back to the story *every time* and by then i forgot what the hell was even happening. :/
they sent a survey after i finished and i wrote a novel about it, the lack of xp in those levels is just egregious T_T
I walk around places and talk no NPC's and somehow there's always some quests and activities to do. At Interknot lvl 33 now and there's like _a lot_
Thats just gacha release month stuff. Genshin had it too but by now its got so many quests that you can just always do something.
The game dialogue made me laugh which my sad soul haven’t experienced that for years from video game so it is good. Comfy game.
It feel more like a legit game and not gacha like, it’s the first gacha game where I don’t feel the urgency to play I just play when I feel like it
This game is so fun lol it's a lot more fun than I expected. And I had pretty good expectations from the start.
i can hear the pain in his voice when sol admits he loves this game
i came into not particularly caring. i just liked the character designs (just wise, billy, and lycaon). i didn't know any of the plot, barely half the cast, definitely didn't know ANY gameplay elements, and i didn't even really know what the world in the game ACTUALLY looked like 💀 i pre-registered for free wishes bc i already do play genshin and hsr. And I actually really like zzz.
I like the three games from hoyo in very different ways. I like genshin for the character driven stories and the lore, i spent money on this game because i LOVE these characters. I like hsr because i like the events and the turn-based element (i grew up playing pokemon and still play pokemon). i like zzz because of the animation and that we run an illegal business in a video store, even more I actually really like the combat.
i also just really like how zzz looked more complete to me because every space, even small, were completely designed just as unique as the characters themselves. The npcs look like npcs, but still look unique, like how they are in most games lmao. and i LOVE how our rooms look. I picked Wise first, and i love how his room looks and is decorated top to bottom.
I wish more people could give this game a chance. It’s amazing!
Yeah the gacha formula really is something I feel the same here
I came for the hot wolf but stayed for the genuinely great gams.
The only problem I have qith the MC is that even if I chose Belle, majority of the speaking is still for Wise.
One of the most refreshing and fun game on the market.
I'm also surprised how I easily got hook at zzz, I thought I wouldnt like it. This is a perfect 2nd game for aside from genshin. My only issue is, I dont have any characters I like to pull rn (bring out the husbandos)
I love this game so much and seeing you talk about your experience with it made me enjoy it even more. I understand how some people might not like the TV system and while it may be boring in some parts (like story commisions), There's also fun things you do with it (like the league of bangboos commision xD) so I feel they could improve it later down the line. Also the game just has a really charming vibe. I wish I could live in Sixth Street haha.
I love this game so much, alot of people dont like the urban setting but to me it gives me scarlet nexus, astral chain and splatoon vibes. Iv noticed alot of the hate comes from genshin players and or non gacha players
I love it too and I play all hoyo games, except Tears of Themsis.
Here are some reasons I don't like the TV mode.
The screen transition is too aggressive, the duration is fine but the easing function they use is jarring.
I play on a really big curved monitor and sit very close to it so the transition made me sick.
If they have an option to reduce this effect it would be great.
The dialogue also hard to read, it's in the top right corner but your gameplay is in the center, often time I find myself miss the dialogue with no way to revisit them apart from starting the mission all over.
I find this weird that they use a real-time dialogue here when all other dialogue is a click based one that you can pause at anytime.
Ahhh that's a good point I think that they designer it for mobile screen first and didn't consider this. Please put that in feedback bc I think it's something they can address especially dialog text size to be a configurable option
Maybe they can make screen transitions optional (call it a "performance optimization" or an accessibility feature)
Edit: you can review that dialog by hitting pause while in that mode and selecting "battle log", it shows all the conversation and choices you made in menus up to that point
@@pr0ntab I already did the feedback.
Ty for the info! Id definitely like to see more options for visual settings in the game in general lol. I think I mostly listen to the dialogue so didnt really have a concern with the location jn the top right, but they should probably allow for some option to read the dialogue history at least.
@@Solunerra the dialog history is in the pause/hamburger menu, not obvious I know but it is there thank God. It's too bad there's no audio for it though.
as a hi3 veteran, i love ZZZ the dailies dont take long, you can actually skip dialogues (yes im a story skipper but i get more lore on youtube).
this game feels like what hi3 would have been if they had less i frames
ive heard people say "its a left click spam game", meanwhile i left click spam more on the dialouges of jenshin bruh