Hoyoverse Embraced Their Adult Audience - Zenless Zone Zero

Zenless Zone Zero is finally out! Of course we had to... dive in.
Available on PS5, PC and mobile devices
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[@Synixerus]

Funfact: the cats have balls in this game

[@McChicker]

I noticed that when you have to take a picture of a cat for the first time, caught me off guard

[@nagasolaire8462]

@@Synixerus u mean lycaon? Yeah we saw that. Someone in mihoyo is very very into gay furry

[@Synixerus]

@@nagasolaire8462 no like the cat that sits on the pipes in 6th Street, if you angle your camera in the pipes, so they become transparent you can see the cats balls

[@wandahoi_.]

okay i did not consent to acquiring such information

[@traphimawari7760]

male cats do indeed have balls, seems pretty accurate I dont know why yall are making a fuss bout it, yall never seen a cat before?

[@scrollkeeper5272]

Necrit: "I am not a furry" That is what they all say

[@MoSoda]

denial is but a one step from enlightment good for hoyo to lean into the furry community tho, we can finally eat.

[@sneakretster]

​@@MoSodathe moment they make a banger female furry character playable is the moment the world changes forever 🤌

[@sinner5452]

Russian roulette. 1/6 to became a furry... o7 Necrit. You will be missed!

[@MayorOfEarth79]

How come he didn't spend any time on Ben Bigger?

[@scrollkeeper5272]

@@MoSoda Exactly, been waiting forever for full anthros in Hoyo titles..well I guess there are a few technically.

[@nevanV12]

I love that zzz is more inclined to slice of life theme as oppose to being on a grand adventure.

[@statixfear]

I don't mind it being grounded in reality, to an extent. But, considering we're still in 1.0, I wouldn't be surprised if they raise the stakes in the future. Even the most recent lore teaser video hinted at something bigger than just being hackers or running a video rental store

[@BNuts]

This is their stated intention. The dev team want _ZZZ_ to be more daily-life instead of save-the-world, as well as being much smaller-scale and more personal. Probably, since we deal with Hollows and the resources that can be mined from them, the highest the stakes are ever going to get is getting mixed up with the organizations and corporations that want control of the Hollows. Because as Proxies, Phaethon lack the resources to save the world from the Hollows. This is a direct contrast to the _Hyperion_ crew in _Honkai Impact 3rd_ and Astral Express crew in _Honkai: Star Rail_ , who do set out to save the world. Same with the Traveler, who ends up doing that despite only looking for their Lost Sibling. It's also important that the story is personal. Mihoyo hasn't really been able to make stories all that personal since _HI3_ , where we follow a group of three through their highest highs and lowest lows. Getting to know characters that closely allows us , as players, to experience an emotional connection, including fear, pride, and love for the characters. _Genshin_ has contrasted directly with this, since the Traveler and their Sibling are self-insert characters, and so don't have much personality at all. Not only that, but the characters we get to know in each region get left behind in those regions when we go to new places. The only constant characters are Paimon, who most people just find annoying, and Traveler, who again, pretty much lacks a personality. The Honkai team was a bit better at giving Trailblazer a personality, but they're still self-inserts. The only consistent characters in _HSR_ are the Astral Express crew, so we leave everyone else behind like in _Genshin_ . It's nice to see a game again where our protags have their own identities, personalities, and wants. We don't even name them, only their second account. And we follow Phaethon and the Hollow Raiders they contract with, making it, again, a personal story with personal stakes. Just like _HI3_ .

[@rajabuta]

So far. We know the siblings are investigating something

[@You-qt5dw]

I'm kinda done with the divine dragon plotlines, this sort of grounded approach is very welcome.

[@mielkavra]

Zzz? Zzzzzzzzz... Nighty nighty. Zzzzzzzz. Ahh, spaghetti.

[@TehGoldylockz]

“Jiggle physics actually enhance the animations” Necrit 2024

[@raikonzero]

He's not wrong about them enhancing something

[@JLogg444]

I definitely feel enhanced, that’s for sure

[@ItsShotoTodoroki]

21:11 is the timestamp thank me later

[@friendlyfire3412]

They are. Also makes you get more "THAT" animations which is free advertising.

[@chesspiece4257]

it just means all the female characters need better bras i’m wincing TT

[@kyllernotkiller]

Fun fact: the game is based from stuff in 1970's to 90's but the game happens in 2089, so they're technically in the 80's.

[@fatoldhikki4837]

it's like Fallout, they have robots of all shapes and sizes, but no normal monitors.....

[@jonglopez5400]

A more accurate way to present this is: a game based from a Parallel modern world where the technology evolved in a way that the people from IRL 1970-80's predicted how modern world would look like. plus the hollows I guess.

[@MaxxterDM]

​@@jonglopez5400soooo...retrofuturistic with extra steps?

[@BoostedMonkey05]

@@MaxxterDM 80s retro future with a mix of Streetpunk and Tech aesthetics to spicy things up with some urban fantasy thrown into the mix.

[@nemoribata9438]

Bro, you forgot to mention the crazy music in this game

[@sinner5452]

Maybe its a matter of preference, but i think genshin and even hsr beat it in terms of quality and diversity. Its good, decent, nothing wrong with that, but hoyoverse did better.

[@marielgalicha8548]

​@@sinner5452 I guess it's preference because for me ZZZ music for a release gacha game is probably the best one that comes out.

[@ObviOneKenobi]

@@sinner5452 In a matter of fitting into the style of the game Zenless clears the other 2 out the bat, but in overall sound yeh its not for everyone.

[@sinner5452]

@@ObviOneKenobi welp maybe its just coz style of the game itself is very defined. I agree the music fits well, but so it does in pretty much every genshin location. Hsr got beaten in that part indeed :)

[@MechaStorm7]

Mihoyo has this meme reputation of being a music company hidden as game developing. They always go above and beyond for their soundtracks. Penacony OST in Star Rail was something I never thought I would hear from them

[@acrylics.7]

"it really takes a while before you come across any meaningful threat" man its just like persona. i love this game

[@ES21007]

Nah, in 3, 4, 5, the threat of the Shadows come pretty quickly since you start out a normal person instead of being a badass Agent/Isolated Proxy in ZZZ. You have to face near death and lots of pain just for your MC to get their Persona powers. Aside from that, SMT games are way harder than ZZZ is by design.

[@UnusualEcho]

@@ES21007the first 20 hours of P5 is a tutorial what do you mean

[@frostfrost8907]

​@@ES21007 He... Means the game difficulty, which is non existent in P4 and 5 (haven't played 3), idk what you rambled about. Once you get the personas is basically when the combat starts too...

[@rattango9819]

@@frostfrost8907 yeah 4 and 5 is definitely non existant. original 3 is deadly as hell. P3 reload is kinda hard? but only in the beginning, but after that its back to 4 and 5.

[@suenkx8953]

​@@ES21007 I say thats mostly true at the beginning of P4 , P5 but once u get your personas going the difficulty is basically non-existant, more so if you decide to abuse those DLC personas (Im looking at you, Myraid Truths)

[@1Henrink]

I really prefer these unique animations to the ones in Genshin any day. When you notice your character doing the same poses as a random NPC, it takes you completely out of it.

[@zenzenitha]

... what random npc made rasengan every 1 minutes?

[@blaxzy6184]

@@zenzenitha They are talking about poses in dialogues, they are lame as hell.

[@zylou8643]

I love the FAT LITTLE CUTE BAMBOOS in this game lmao, they're just the perfect mascot

[@alexanderfisher6055]

i wonder if they will ever release a bamboo bangboo...

[@sein442]

The paper bag bangboo is a menace

[@rajabuta]

​@@sein442they all are

[@roccosmos1913]

this game has the most satisfying thing in a game ever which is perfectly swapping a character and then clank sound and camera goes black and white, position to make it more heavy and some enemies has multiple attacks its really good

[@pcdeltalink036]

That parry sound is soooo good. Happy brain chemicals every time I hear it.

[@zur1801]

Don't look at the moon guys, biggest mistake of my life...

[@Dandy4ask]

the moon is alive. look too long and you will disappear

[@anothertease8756]

oh

[@freddyfazbearscout1661]

Do you mean Billy's moon?

[@mossysnail6857]

Diana: Stop staring...!

[@Zaclol0223]

Woof woof woo

[@vahallen9876]

Necrit truly is my favorite gacha content creator Insane🎉

[@cunxu2697]

Actually true

[@Reizy_the_crazy]

Played HI3 before, then moved to Genshin but not very sticking to it, then experienced the story of HSR, ZZZ is definately my new favorite thing. The art style of the game is so unique compare to previous titles, the story doesnt press hard on the "role-playing power fantasy", making the main character being the "all-mighty hero saving the universe" but actually try to tell a normal story. ZZZ is a huge experiment by Hoyo, and so far i really enjoy it

[@SpectreChazer]

Sick music, sick gameplay, sick character design and tons of fan service.

[@whatthecat]

So far, I enjoy the chill pacing of this game, listening to the dialogues, watching cutscenes, reading the in-game encyclopedia, and Inter-Knot posts. Honestly, I treat this game like watching an episode of anime/series per day. Gameplay wise, I have no complaint. It's satisfying and fun. * I would also like to add that I've been a fan of Cytus 2 for a long time, and I love how Inter-Knot is similar to Cytus 2's iM-System. If you like this style of storytelling. I recommend you try it out. Cytus 2 story is really great and rich. Although it's a rhythm game.

[@statixfear]

Damn... Cytus 2? Now that's a game I never expected to get referenced or compared to ZZZ... but now that you did, I can actually see some similar themes

[@zenzenitha]

Interknot is really fun, Feeding you world building by smaller bites. I just read a whole post about good hair product for thiren and it felt very immersive

[@MelvaCross]

There aren't enough people out there who know Cytus II. Some of the best storytelling I've ever had the pleasure to experience. The iM system was so integral to the story, I don't think ZZZ can replicate that because the Inter-Knot isn't the primary form of delivering that story. People won't pay enough attention to it for this way of storytelling to work... Damn, I really wanna play Cutus now. Thank you!

[@Dat_Jonx]

Came in for setting, stayed for gameplay and story. Also, great replacement for League and Hoyo's anticheat doesn't try to force me TPM2.

[@Silv3rM4st3r]

Funfact the "Constellations" or as they are called in game "Cinemas" C4 to C6 makes the character go half-naked. I swear Hoyoverse is cooking with this game. I've never had so much fun.

[@DarthMizaru]

The only reason I'm pulling for 6 Grace.

[@RikosanP]

Im looking forward to C6 Lycaon and C6 Rina. I'm in love to their C6 Art...

[@xenoemblem7]

@@DarthMizaru Those dawgs are barking!

[@legacymse7095]

Even the lolis aren't spared. Piper has jiggle physics for some reasons

[@FreakGeSt]

That's why we pulling for Nicole even we already have her for free.

[@mystier3423]

2:14 ah yes "Eternals", the enemies of ZZZ is Marvel

[@TheReader09]

Necrit could jump into the Project Moon-verse and reluctantly tries to explain the lore

[@patchthefat]

Am I crazy or does this game have big original splatoon vibes with the presentation like text, menus, and some of the art style?

[@jennyojenny196]

The little Rabbit looking fellas at 0:55 made me think the same thing!

[@mvshroom6875]

Nah, you're right

[@sebson1477]

I've been saying to myself since I started playing that this game feels "splatoon coated" in a lot of design aspects. I see I'm not the only one that noticed lol.

[@ClearSpade]

ZZZ was everything i was hoping to get +MORE. I could go on an on about the presentation and how everything just fits together. The tiny snippets of lore here and there has me incredibly invested to wanting to know more about this small section of the remaining world.

[@kalinstonerna5525]

You should check out that video where someone did an analysis on Nicole’s milk.

[@Celestial-yq6hz]

I’m sorry…??? I think I know what video you’re talking about but I’m not gonna look into it 😂😅

[@Dummma]

that's horrible, where can i find it

[@draeinlineskating8893]

I fuckin know it, im still actively playing cyberpunk and when playing this game i got a similar vibe about it, we MC are the hacker/netrunner The Cunning hare are the merc, they got hire from a middle man AKA the fixer to klept a box which have a biochip inside which also have an AI in it. We have the NCPD, factions/gangs,... Feel like a high quality Cyberpunk shitpost to me and i love it

[@flarpo11]

I hear a lot of people talk about the story starting off slow, and I think there's a common misunderstanding about the actual _genre_ of the story. It's not a high-stakes thriller. It's a slice of life anime. We follow the cast going about their normal day jobs, which just happen to be day jobs that involve a lot of violence. The reason it feels like the stakes and threat aren't ramping up is because, well, they aren't. It's not that kind of story. You see the flashy combat and assume there has to be a grand overarching narrative of subterfuge and conspiracy, but it's really a monster of the week slice of life story with cool fights. Think less Ghost in the Shell and more "violent K-On!!". Through that lens the pacing makes a lot more sense. We're not following a hero's journey, we're following a (relatively) normal person's (relatively) normal day to day life. Sometimes interesting things happen because of the nature of their job, but there's not going to be a traditional three act narrative structure (I'm aware the game has three acts currently, but that's not what I mean; each act in the game is essentially an episode of a show, not an 'act' in the context of a hero's journey narrative structure). TL;DR: It's a slice of life story. We're not saving the world or fighting for freedom. We're doing our day job to keep the lights on. Sometimes things get more intense within an arc, but we shouldn't expect to build up to anything approaching the stakes of a Star Rail climax, because it wouldn't make sense for the tone this story is going for.

[@barny541]

I can't tell you enough how based this game is

[@xXNinjaBurritoXx]

Its ok. Still not going to give Mihoyo money because they're stingy

[@midknightcrisis8612]

​@@xXNinjaBurritoXx genshin players say they're stingy. Hsr players say they're benevolent. Who am I supposed to believe?

[@sinner5452]

You dont need to believe anyone since being stingy after delivering solid free games is a matter of personal mental issues, not hoyoverse ​@@midknightcrisis8612

[@itzpurple_queen9711]

@@midknightcrisis8612well we got 2 login events and 1600 polychrome so definitely more generous than Genshin 😂😂😂

[@frostfrost8907]

​​@@xXNinjaBurritoXx They give you a free open world game, how is that being stingy. They not give as much as other games... But have you seen those other games? Most are garbage. ... WUWA does, yeah, but it is game that has to compete with the biggest gacha game ever. Of course it has to. (Pd: I don't play nor like Genshin, but its player base really likes to bitch and whine about nothing)

[@Hua-kun]

I had trouble explaining the overview of the game to my friends and Necrit helped me lol

[@leonlinn7910]

I think people are hating on the game way too soon. It's barely out for a week, and it's a live service game. It can grow and get better

[@hyd3334]

My biggest problem is outside of missions its basicly a copy of persona 5, the combat isnt engaging enough to keep my attention aswell. It missed the mark with me.

[@julianbello8376]

They're hating on what's out. If the game wants people to judge it on something that's not out then release what's already out.

[@quangtuantran7181]

Most of the ppl hating on it r just disappointed because it wasnt what they expected. They built up a false expectation n when it wasnt met, they rant abt it online.

[@mimiyo3997]

@@quangtuantran7181 to top it off most people’s expectations was that of Genshin and WuWa which are nothing like this game nor was it ever marketed as such. It’s basically getting the HSR treatment when it first came out. It will take a month or two to filter between the people who like the game as it’s intended and filter out the people who just wanted genshin 2.0.

[@AB-jt4rs]

​@@hyd3334 how exactly is it a copy of persona 5 LMFAO??

[@thefirstflash1624]

Never forget about they show the characters fully naked in Mindscape Cinema

[@thefirstflash1624]

Grace’s feet 😩

[@cookiecreep9204]

Don't tempt me, it is VERY difficult to not whale to get Ellen c6...

[@milicabojic9434]

Favourite mihoyo game by far, fun combat, great vibes.

[@kskr8610]

here before the anti-fun people come

[@therealjome]

​@@kskr8610here before the gooners cu- aww I'm too late. (I am the one who gooned)

[@Dr_Mundo]

Fun combat? How? I just want to know your reason.

[@Jl994-f5u]

​@Dr_Mundo fluid, flashy, characters feel different (for now), and requires some skill (to doge and avoid damage). It's obvious not better than most games, but I'm not comparing to other games. Combat is played, and exciting enough to continue playing.

[@Dr_Mundo]

@@Jl994-f5u I personally didn't like the combat. It feels too monotonous and I barely have to think to play. I know mhy games where never very mechanically complex, but I still think they could have added more substance. For me it's just a left clicking simulator with ocasional dodging.

[@leftdreamer6881]

The jiggle physics aren’t annoying because it isn’t solely confined to female characters, the males jiggle too. The hair jiggles, THE BOXES JIGGLE EVERYTHING JIGGLES AND BOUNCES AND ITS GLORIOUS.

[@ThyFloorestFloor]

Lycaon main here, he moves.

[@amphiptered.5355]

Combat just reminds me of HI3. Only both more and less complicated. I mean I know some HI3 fans will say ZZZ is easier but it mostly depends on what valks you run some were just slap ult and win valks then you had Fu Hua who was the more technical of the roster, who was more a traditional fighting game character. Admittedly I was only in HI3 part one and dropped off during part 2. Dammit! Did everyone get Lycaon but me? He is all I need to completely my Victoria Housekeeping.

[@SoIfire]

Love the deep dive into the game! I've been playing it nonstop since release when I didn't expect to get into it. The only note I have is that proxies aren't hackers, they're guides that direct agents through the hollows. The main character duo, Phaethon, is the only proxy in existence that can link with a bangboo. Every other proxy is there in the hollow physically with the agents.

[@Nightfellslowly]

Welcome to Gacha Hell Komrade

[@GG-671]

Awesome and comprehensive review Necrit, ur style rly shines no matter the game and hope u continue ur reviews along with other variety content. Also funny how you mention ZZZ features mechanics and concepts from rougelike games with this other user in the comment section telling with me otherwise. Truly showed how that guy has no experience in such games as I've played plenty myself from my first best one being Enter the Gungeon, Slay the spire, Dead cells, etc. Which essentially helps me vibe with ZZZ more.

[@grenada9347]

One of the coolest things is the weapon cores. You can easily identify for which the core is meant to be used on (i.e. the Housekeeper core is meant to be used on Corin, and the design of it really shows)

[@HDDStrider]

and if the design doesnt tip you off, reading the description of the core can since it'll mention the character the core is meant for

[@-drey-202]

OMG necrit you forgot how banger the game's music are

[@LaNoir.]

Necrit talking 5 minutes about varieties in character movement when all he means is "bobs are jiggling"

[@dogglesnake]

ZZZ's Lore is pretty wild as it unfolds. The video of the legendary figures alone could lead to a lot of fun stuff in the future, plus the Lost Items from Hollow Zero are such a neat way to tell stories (and make it feel rewarding to hunt Lore stuff!)

[@BushidoXBrown]

I really want to know who they hired the due to character animations. All the character animations are super slick. Like I'm genuinely impressed by how good it actually is

[@Don_Akane89]

Not just the animation, but the cinematography too. Also, it's not just the animators, but also the producer/animation director himself, Zhenyu Li. Back then, they picked this guy who they saw topping the rankings in BiliBili in the category of MAD videos to do the animations for HI3. The famous HI3 cinematics thats gone around are his handiwork, and now, for the first time in the company's history theyre letting him, a relatively new guy over the OG producers to head a project too on top of (this one), and the freshness shows.

[@namlim47]

13:00 u can only do more chain attack if the daze meter is still full (usually boss/elite enemy) or u happen to hit an enemy that still have their daze meter full.

[@ShapeshifterOS]

A proxy is more like a guide or navigator rather than a hacker. They just collect data like a netrunner to find the best route, but we quickly get an AI to do that work for us.

[@zenzenitha]

Fairy is like a way more advance Gen AI. She suck the electricity like no tomorrow

[@myron_jd1272]

This video taught me the tv system better than the game itself…

[@Kayfliings]

Very in depth video and the meaning behind the TVs properly explained.

[@fatoldhikki4837]

This is a very sponsored video that shows you how to smooth corners in a bad product so you keep getting paid money

[@TEO14444]

Necrit: I'm not a fairy Also his live stream avatar 😺

[@AllenWestdowntheory]

First video I've seen of yours, you definitely earned a sub! Came here for ZZZ, but stayed for the Necrit! 🔥 Seriously, the preentation of your video and the layout of each topic was just so entertaining! I've been playing the game since launch but I learned a lot from this video.

[@izu1624]

Ok that bunny in the basket W-engine still shook me to this day lol

[@alpaca24ttv]

"Everything is interactive" Yup! Even the TV at the login screen!

[@Lunethia]

The animated movements during the cutscenes heavily reminds me of arcane.

[@keyman3131]

I've been LOVING Zenless. Determined to keep it F2P though, but I'll get Ellen one day!

[@ObviOneKenobi]

This is what videogames should strive for... not the gacha but the polish of Zenless

[@ratfren]

Let's not forget about Billy. Not only ladies, but his trailer has some fanservice-y, fun animations when the focus is on on his butt. Not to mention suggestive conversation between his guns!

[@ZakiAoi]

21:31 my bro i have a little game to introduce to you called Dead Or Alive.

[@gundamzeta3447]

1:06 it actually has a lot of similarities to HI3rd

[@tristanventer4274]

My response to that is 2:08

[@1Henrink]

Gatcha is not a game genre, it's a monetization tatic. Sorry to be blunt about it, but it is important.

[@Karaamjeet]

it’s actually a mechanic - but gacha is typically referred to as its genre or categorisation

[@1Henrink]

@@Karaamjeet but it only refers to how you get part of the content of the game. A FPS could have a Gatcha system, so does a Platformer . Isn't the name Gatcha implying you are rolling for character or weapons or whatever? And most likely, these roll will be sold separately.

[@noirerune3833]

womp womp

[@RolandLory]

​@@1Henrink​ yes and it's same in a way as let's say battle royale, or rougelike. It's a mechanic that can be put on top of any other genre. Gacha is not just monetisation tactic. When people say it's a Gatcha genre game, you already understand half of gameplay, that it's tied to getting currency through specific gameplay mechanics, and spending that currency to unlock either new powers through new units, or increase powers of those units through their weapon. It's also means that there will be a lot of grindy stuff, always energy system, always weekly things that you need to farm for upgrades, When people say and hear Gacha game, people undestand that it's about grind, pulls, luck of getting something. And there is people who find exactly this type of gameplay fun. They don't care on what you slap gacha. It can be tower defence, turn based game, shooter, action rpg, racing, or even date sim. When they hear that there's new Gacha game, they will try it.

[@Ookami9035]

you are right, but it's just easier to describe it as gacha games

[@zoviet240]

Well the jiggle physic is already in Hoyo's blood since Honkai Impact 3rd

[@threestars2164]

ZZZ is on the same level as Sesame Street.

[@Agix.]

Billy kid is super dopamine inducing, his dash + auto produces samira ult and I am getting high off it. His ult is Bullet storm

[@aKraT12]

you're tecnically wrong about the tvs part. From what the game explains the mc takes control of eous or whatever the main bangboo is called and you're going tru the hollows with your party. Id say the cameras is either fairy, or your brother/sister pov

[@Dat_Jonx]

This. Also, that makes Proxy rather illegal guide through (and out) Hollows, rather than "hacker". The only hacked thing is Paethon's Bangboo and their the only one who done that.

[@SetsunaCreats]

This game gives me massive persona old and new vibes with the music/ aesthetic and the Void zones where we fight monsters it’s fun! I like it so far

[@paulflemister4737]

Here the thing I don't listen to players reviews that spend 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or maybe 6 hours or over... Or hell even a day 1, 2, 3 days of their playthrough... For me I need more than that.... Don't get me wrong, I love your video Necrit!

[@vanexrexa9473]

Ngl same with you, but I also hate how to use, best sht , or something else for characters type videos. It just further cements the idea of players being dumb enough to not read their stuff in the game and needing someone else regurgitate sht out. Tho there are some CC's that do it all right mostly coz their presentation is kind of a review

[@marcus2259]

Imo If someone reach lvl 34 organically , without whaling then theyre likely addicted. The amount of exp you need between 30 - 34 and with only doing exploration & combat mission that involves tv will imo test you whether you really like the game or not. Whether you appreciate a lot of tv mechanic gameplay during that exp grind or not. After that the real grind slowly starts. Now that you've say it, I actually realize zzz actually trying to help by introducing grind modes way later, it helps us grind efficiently especially not waste energy through low lvl artifacts like you've said 😂. Also smoother way of storytelling, not just unlock a bunch of system after a single to a couple story telling scene.

[@russellpierce3987]

i just got to the end of chapter 3 with no more than 3 boosts per day just cuz i wanted to see the wolfman ofc but now I'm just gonna play casually and touch grass between spending stam cuz it seems like that's what they expect you to do

[@dquihuis3537]

I’m lvl 33 and barely getting into chapter 3. I work full time and I’m completely free to play (for now, might drop someone money) but I guess getting the god like pulls I have has kept me pretty hooked.

[@miyo2404]

true and im 38 rn lol

[@brandongamerdude5729]

im currently half way to 35 havent used polys on stamina so yeah guess i like the game lol

[@benjaminsanchez1480]

Bro i am 40 being free to play ☠️

[@Wraithling]

The comics, animations and TV parts all feel abit too disconnected from the Gameplay part of the Game

[@alex-8736]

The comics and animations??? No

[@patrickcox3146]

thank you Necripookie for making this making video

[@WarauTR]

You can't buy bangboo currency but you can use the currency to buy bangboo pulls.

[@jeffkoenig7402]

I *love* the monitor system and think it's a brilliant storytelling device. IMO what trips many players up is that it's an abstraction device rather than a literal story device, but if you pay attention to the lore of Hollows you can figure out why presenting them literally would be almost impossible. I think it's easy (especially if you're skipping the story stuff) to think of New Eridu as being like a zoo. You have the main pathways for visitors (the City areas) and then the Hollows are like the wild animal enclosures. Sometimes Proxies and Agents/Raiders or other people have to go into the lion pen to do something and hope they don't get mauled by the lions while they're in there. But that's not how it works. Zoos are fixed spaces, the lion pen is always the same size and same place and the gates in and out are always where they're supposed to be. Hollows are NOT a fixed spatial reality. They grow and shrink, something can be a solid wall one minute and a door the next, everything is constantly changing. Carrot data is basically a map that's by definition temporary because the space inside the Hollow will change and and a whole new survey will be needed. Besides the puzzles and story games Necrit mentioned, the monitor system gives a way to represent the constantly changing layout of a Hollow in an abstract way. That's the reason the groups available monitors keep changing. The lit up monitors are the various spaces within the Hollow that exist at that given moment, while the blacked out monitors are empty dead space where that part of the city *could* be, but isn't. When you use, say, the catapult thing or the vortexes to jump from one batch of monitors to another, inside the Hollow you are transported to a whole other part of the city. It could be 50 feet from where you started, or it could be four blocks away. One monitor could represent a single building or half a kilometer of train tracks. How do you show that literally? I mean, if you walked outside your front door and suddenly found yourself transported four blocks from your house, you'd know because you know the area you live in and those four blocks of streets. Players don't have the entire Hollow memorized, constantly shifting the characters' location in a more literal way would be difficult because the players don't know the relationship between where they were and where they ended up - it's all new territory to them. It's MUCH easier to portray an unstable landscape with the monitor system imo than it would be to have the game constantly generate new environments as the Hollow space shifts and changes. You just have to remember that they're not LITERALLY TVs, and the whole thing is an abstract representation of what's happening in the Hollow (until you get to the fights which always stay in one small area). I think the closest we get in the game to literally portraying what being in the Hollows is like (at least for me so far) is the animated cut scene with Zhu Yuan and Qingyi jumping through all the rifts to escape the thugs. They're bouncing around the whole city, starting in one place and ending up on a roof or in an alley or on a construction crane. Travelling through the Hollow is probably always like that. The monitor system is basically the other side of that dynamic from the Phaethon's perspective, representing how a Proxy can remotely guide the team. And speaking of Proxies, remember the Hollows habit of constantly changing is why you need them in the first place. Nicole says it right in the very first story mission - without a Proxy and Carrot data to guide you, you'll (usually) end up trapped in a Hollow forever and corrupted because the borders, entrances, and exist of the Hollow keep changing. The monitor system is, imo, a genius way of simplifying all that to keep the stories moving. They don't keep you from the fighting parts, they abstract the complex spatial dynamics involved to get you from fight to fight more quickly and smoothly.

[@Three60Mafia]

I think TV's are great as well. There are so many variety of things you'll be doing in TV mode that them building it any other way would be impossible. One could be a mini-pokemon battle and next one would be almost like a horror puzzle game etc. Variety of TV events is crazy good.

[@leonysprice1150]

currently im on that point where there's nothing to do

[@jonard3674]

I like how you can somewhat predict if get the character base on the song, if you get a female S character, you can hear a female sing the song and if you get a male S character you get the guy singing.

[@leblanc5452]

You forgot to mention how after getting the 4th to 6th copy of the same character and after you activate their cinema or something they get less clothes👀

[@alexanderfisher6055]

few errors i noticed. 1 the Weapons of this game are called W-engines not Cores, 2 the artifacts or gatcha items that you need to pull for are Drive disks and id say yeah they are given later because of that common knowledge, 3 the Bangboo Pulls are unique in all of their other games in the fact that there is no 50/50 AT ALL the one you select to get? is 100% guaranteed, if you pull ANY S rank bangboo in a 10 pull even if all 10 are S rank (lucky little ****) its all the same bangboo the only ones you cant guarantee are the B and A rank pulls. 4 ethereals are the Main enemy of this game with some human rebels and gang members and one fun fact i just found out. at Howls dog news stand. if you click the news articles on page 2 it actually gives more stuff to read on that article.

[@escadora2206]

Playing the story feels like playing an anime. Im very into it, im at chapter 3 since yesterday, cant wait to play it today :D

[@kirovreporting3573]

Regarding the thing for TV gameplay and Conversations with backgrounds, hoyo is trying to fix a huge issue with their games exponentially growing in size one update after the other, i believe Genshin is pretty deadlocked in this issue and will just keep growing forever, ZZZ will keep growing in size but it's really effective size because the updates will probably add a lot more content to the game proportional to the update size than the other 2 games, this is why the exploration is kept at minimum in ZZZ with attempts to add meaning of it in order to not look cheap, it is a creative approach imo because when other games reach 100 GB in size they will feel like having only 20GB worth of content but with ZZZ a 100 GB of size will sound like a 70 or 80 GBs of content, what i love about hoyo is their attempts to approach new problems and refine them rather than just creating cheap modified copies of systems from other games.

[@sz_b_zstechnix7523]

Honestly, the two characters you specifically showed for the "jiggle phisics/fanservice" segment: Grace and Nicole, there are honestly some pretty good reasons for their more fanservice-y animations. Nicole is the easy one to understand. She is both a stereotype, and a subversion of that stereotype. She's the "Meangirl" from all the schooll dramas, who is quite bossy, always being pushy, always trying to get her way,....but *also* is caring for not just her own circle, but most innocent around/adjecent to that circle. The fanservice-y movements add to the "i want to appear cute for the junior barrista so he gives me a discount" vibe, while every interaction where a character isn't ragging on her for how much she is trying to cut costs where she can, you see an actually intresting and (mostly) caring person under the persona. STORY SPOILERS FOR ANYONE NOT YET STARTING CHAPTER TWO Grace, as the tech Whizz at BeloBog industries is responsible for the machinery they use, which includes 3 autonomous construction craft that are pretty ether resistant, used for in hollow construction (you see what their basic chassy looks like in this video as well, she is sitting on top of one during the animation segment). Through some method i don't yet know, Grace used some leftover code from a misterious "him" (who at the point i am at the story, is not specified), which granted the construction rigs conchous thought and Critical thinking....useful when not always being able to work with cordinators or living beings, as ether corruption makes a constant staff kind of impossible. This all ended with the rigs sustaining ether damage, and gaining free will. When you go to start chapter two, you're being contracted by belobog to guide them to the machines within a hollow. The immidiate words used by Grace to discribe the bots are "kids", meaning she considers all sentient machinery designed by her, and used by belobog, to be her children. (Weird? A bit. Excentric? Yeah. Kind of understandable? Probably.) What i was getting at with all that, is she is a moderately motherly figure,....an overly controlling, but still caring one none the less. The mission focusing on the Boreing machine, Greta, shows this by Grace immidiately being confronted by the idea "what if the demo rig is just....going through a rebellious phase? Like a newly created, **teen aged** inteligence would.", and immidiately swapping into protective mother mode, then when it shows it is protecting a building it fell in love with, she is in awe of her devotion! (While everyone else braces for a fight against a chainsaw the size of a Truck). I know it's mostly for fanservice, but it can't just be me who sees her little hipsway/defesive positions when standing.....to me she screams "Currently adapting mother" energy to me. But those are just my two cents.

[@chocobojam8776]

I'll be honest, after playing this game for a while, i feel like im finally getting rid of star rail.

[@misan7690]

It did capture a little bit of an existing audience, by wich i mean: I personally got interested because i heard the gameplay is more like what i was used to from Honkai Impact 3rd

[@isaacbenjamin8462]

A cool and level analysis of the game - you have great oratory! This should be the standard for people wanting a clear impression of the game :)

[@liszst]

the tv being for a specific audience-- ME IT'S ME! definitely one of my fav parts of zenless. i was worried when i heard the complaints in beta but the way they get so creative with it in later side quests got me hooked. it wasn't necessary but i finished the 99 infinite abyss one at my own pace. that would've been a fun procedurally generated rouge-like mode. definitely not for everyone though. i just wish they advertised it as such and not a combat heavy game.

[@DraconixWingforged]

Necrit not beating the allegations with that S rank pull 🤣

[@Sub5_77]

well tbh, in his defence, Lycaon is SS tier atm. And dropping him early made my game easier.

[@deamon6681]

5 minutes in, and the way he talks about "artifacts" and farming them like I am supposed to be already totally familiar with the concept and how it works made me realize I'm not the target audience for this video at all.

[@mawillix2018]

This is targeted towards addicts trying to convice them that this new high is a lot better than whatever they've been doing.

[@Zarko.]

Necrit forgot about music... or maybe at this point it's not even worth mentioning since it's a hoyoverse game, duh it has amazing music

[@sofarsogood8680]

21:14 this line is one of a kind

[@HappyGick]

About the adult audience part: Did you see the "box art" back when the game hadn't released in HoyoPlay? It was a shot of Nicole where the camera was looking from beneath her, evidently highlighting her "assets".

[@dizzyheads]

I like how the MCs feels so natural in their positions while being different characters

[@dyproxus1806]

4:02 Actually I found that to be a strong point at first. Sure it took a while to find a proper threat all the way up until the Dead End Butcher, but given how epic the combat was in those early stages when I first soaked in the animations, it made me feel like a badass from the jump. That was something that hooked me early on, and it was a very encouraging feeling when I was still learning the flow of the game.

[@theyusane668]

20:26 no, the best example is when you unlock c6 grace. With every copy of a character you unlock you also unlock a bit of their art. And if you get 7 graces she is basically naked with her feet shoved to the camera

[@ImproperStandby]

She isn't fighting the feet allegations at all

[@Asatora]

Ehrm, akshually the monsters are called ethereals, not eternals ☝🤓

[@cistafizika4439]

Imagine Necrit discovering Project Moon

[@brandongamerdude5729]

you forgot to mention the music which is by far the best music hoyo has done in any game so far

[@Eviekaii]

waiting for him to breakdown wuthering waves

[@mguitar3931]

The rogue-like game genre is over-rated or maybe just outdated yet ZZZ's core gameplay is just that, the TVs. It will be interesting to see how well they can implantment those up-coming changes. It must be harder than making a brand new game.

[@619gh8]

With the amount of kids there I think it's a different kind of adult they're targeting

[@aoihitori]

Whenever I hear "Target new audience" The first thing I remember was "Modern Audiences." I mean this game looks modern as well.

[@qu3nt0r]

I’m not a furry… but if you made a character look that sick.

[@still_guns]

The jiggles have actually been nerfed since the first CBT. Nicole was even more bouncy and suggestive back then.

[@Law-of-EnTropy]

I call this game Retropunk because for how much it takes from Cyberpunk, it also holds back on a lot of the thematics of that genre. Instead this games opts for something futuristic but still retains 80s retro vibes

[@xolotltolox7626]

3 months until FGO let's GOOO

[@ykiikii]

I just love the variety in character designs. You have humans, furries, cats, cows, demons, robots, foxs, and many more I can't remember right now. I love it :) I'm happy that more and more anime/gaccha games give you more than just humans!

[@FreakGeSt]

Using the TVs as a bomberman game or a psedo pokemon game was fun.

[@mvshroom6875]

Also, the inter-knot thing is on *point* with the internet (in some places) I just started playing recently and there was a post about someone complaining about graffiti, and then the commentors literally just say "nah, fudge that we're going to find the street you live on" lmaoo

[@spearki]

they most be paying good he be glazeing it

[@DanaOtken]

Videotapes in particular seem a bit odd at first glance, but we still make record players today even though they're a more advanced and versatile model than forty years ago. We even still manufacture cassette tapes and players because in many parts of the world they last longer than CDs. In a city where you cannot rely on Internet or cell connections, I can easily see more households being into physical media, especially once the local repair shop becomes capable of actually manufacturing replacement parts for a VCR (which practically should happen long before the equivalent for disc players). We haven't seen this in real life partly because we're not at that tech distribution level yet and mostly because all the big money is going into Internet-based services which are more centrally controllable. If there was a good enough reason for anybody to pay for the development, I could imagine somebody developing a more modern recording medium which was backwards-compatible with a VCR: going to the trouble of faking moving magnetic tape is painful, but so was figuring out a way to broadcast analog colour TV that was backwards-compatible with black and white sets. (For those too new to be familiar with television broadcast standards, this was not RGB values: what they did was sneak a very tiny bit of added information in a harmonic of the base "luminosity" signal, too subtle for somebody watching on a monochrome monitor to really notice, that slightly deflects the cathode ray of a colour television so that it doesn't hit square in the center of the red, green, and blue phosphor dots intended to make that "pixel". This is also why unless the television signal was carefully preprocessed to minimize it you'll see "haloes" around highly saturated colour on a CRTV: adjacent pixels are now getting energy not intended for them.)

[@Yewrenegade]

This actually got me changing the perspective of ZZZ already, straight to the point with clear explanation of what we are and role in the story/game. Shame its not compatible on my phone, cant imagine the frame drops on my potato laptop. Honestly the slice of life aspect didnt hit me at all, plus he got a fact right: We are just hackers in the ZZZ world, head honchos trying to do some good work against the fantasy anomalies like unknown monsters in the post semi modern futuristic setting. In all honesty this 3rd game from hoyo leans in the grounded relatability of us interacting with characters as they made the animations shine. I guess people dont enjoy much of it because its niche, I too think it was mid but I know its alright and was not my cup of tea. Gameplay has some small issues, mostly the tv (for casuals and whale skippers) and progression pacing. Also I notice one problem that many people unintentionally forget: We got used to "Self inserting" ourselves in the character we play as we didnt appreciate the character of who they are. So in ZZZ this might be a cool change of pace for future gacha games because this feels more like playing a character like Makoto Yuuki in P3, Narukami Yu in P4 and Ren Amamiya in P5.