A new trailer has unveiled Zenless Zone Zero, or ZZZ, an upcoming free-to-play action RPG from the studio behind Genshin Impact. While the trailer already teases a number of characters and an urban sci-fi setting, Zenless Zone Zero will need to be more than Genshin Impact in a science-fiction skin if it truly wants to step out of the shadow of its predecessor. Here’s everything the new game from HoYoverse (previously miHoYo) will need to do in order to stand out.
It all began days ago, when a cryptic tease for Zenless Zone Zero showed up online. From the trailer, it looks like players will have a dystopian, urban world to explore – something like Cyberpunk 2077 meets Scarlet Nexus. Familiar HoYoverse tropes – like a roster of playable characters, themes of duality, and action-RPG combat – are all present as well. It should be enough to get just about any Genshin Impact fan excited – but it could also appeal to those who prefer sci-fi games to high fantasy.
While the trailer for ZZZ looks pretty cool, it also illustrates a trend HoYoverse’s games have had. From Genshin Impact to Honkai Impact 3rd, there’s often an overreliance on new playable characters and an ever-growing roster of recruitable party members. Getting new characters regularly is a fun part of those games, but trying to keep track of teams in multiple games – many of which play in a similar way – could get tedious. It could mean players have to decide between committing to Zenless Zone Zero or sticking with Genshin Impact instead.
ZZZ Can Set Itself Apart From Genshin Impact & Other HoYoverse Games
From the combat shown off in the trailer, it also looks as if Zenless Zone Zero will have many features in common with Genshin Impact. However, there seems to be a notable change – players will live dual lives, as characters called Proxies operate around the city of New Eridu after a natural disaster called the Hollows has wiped out most of society. From what’s been shown so far, it looks as if this Proxy is essentially the same as Genshin Impact‘s Traveler, even though gameplay and related lore will surely be somewhat different. As with Genshin Impact, players can control a number of characters in the same party to maximize damage output against Ethereals, the in-game foes of Zenless Zone Zero. A trailer can be viewed below:
A “roguelike” gameplay system has been teased, which indicates the gameplay loop of ZZZ will be different from Genshin Impact (although this may be similar to the way Domains work). Still, if HoYoverse’s new game wants to get out of Genshin Impact‘s shadow, it can’t rely too heavily on what made Genshin such a hit in the first place. Instead, Zenless Zone Zero will need to forge ahead and offer users something completely different – beyond just being a sci-fi version of HoYoverse’s most popular RPG.
