|OT| Zenless Zone Zero | Welcome to New Eridu!
- Thread starter Ascheroth
- Start date
Okay fine I did it. Managed to get 4 characters to 50. All weapons still at 40 because no ascension materials. All skills still at around level 7 or 8 maybe because no materials. All passives at level 3 because no materials. If I struggle in the game from here on out I'm blaming you 
I want Seth, so I will probably throw a few 10 pulls at Jane. I like her animations, but her design is not for me so I'm hoping I don't get her.
I only finished the police quest today. I've just been doing dailies for the last week or 2 and a bit of event stuff, but I never finished any of them.
I only finished the police quest today. I've just been doing dailies for the last week or 2 and a bit of event stuff, but I never finished any of them.
So, It's been a while since anyone posted here, as for me, it's because I stopped playing it.
They did announced things to come:
Pretty much scrapping the TV part for story and hollow zero. I think it should have been done well over a year ago, the minority that enjoyed it was just that, a minority. It just makes the game slow, boring, chock full of loadings, and the UI itself looks terrible and completely uninteresting with absolutely zero variation, ever.
Even when they try to do something different like the Bomberman minigame, they end up with a shitty gimmick that is not even close to Genshin's Bomberman version with fish. And that's just a one week long throwaway event, it's not supposed to be an integral part of the game.
But this kind of do-or-die mentality that has stuck to the game since the first tests had done a ton of harm, between their awful rogue-lite that is the real reason why I stopped, it sucks, it's even more repetitive than HSR despite having been nerfed again and again in both difficulty and number of runs, the almost non existant mission types like the bank loans are just terrible, to the boss fights not even being fun because the game has no middle point between "complete waste of time in empty arena" for mats, and "complete waste of time on easy bosses that have too much HP but can't even hurt you".
The combat devolved quickly into an absolute chore because there's too little depth to teams, and DPS chars are incredibly shallow, while enemies have zero redeeming factor for an action game, it's all the most basic rotation shit they've produced and is plain worse than HI3rd or PGR. I just hate playing as Zhu Yuan with the extra cherry on top of the shit cake being the targeting, which they promise they will improve - it's been THREE FUCKING GAMES and it's still busted in all of them, so good bye, and clearly, I'm not the only one.
But hey, they can double down on thirst traps in every trailer, I'm sure that will help. They're not hiding their targeted public.
They did announced things to come:
Pretty much scrapping the TV part for story and hollow zero. I think it should have been done well over a year ago, the minority that enjoyed it was just that, a minority. It just makes the game slow, boring, chock full of loadings, and the UI itself looks terrible and completely uninteresting with absolutely zero variation, ever.
Even when they try to do something different like the Bomberman minigame, they end up with a shitty gimmick that is not even close to Genshin's Bomberman version with fish. And that's just a one week long throwaway event, it's not supposed to be an integral part of the game.
But this kind of do-or-die mentality that has stuck to the game since the first tests had done a ton of harm, between their awful rogue-lite that is the real reason why I stopped, it sucks, it's even more repetitive than HSR despite having been nerfed again and again in both difficulty and number of runs, the almost non existant mission types like the bank loans are just terrible, to the boss fights not even being fun because the game has no middle point between "complete waste of time in empty arena" for mats, and "complete waste of time on easy bosses that have too much HP but can't even hurt you".
The combat devolved quickly into an absolute chore because there's too little depth to teams, and DPS chars are incredibly shallow, while enemies have zero redeeming factor for an action game, it's all the most basic rotation shit they've produced and is plain worse than HI3rd or PGR. I just hate playing as Zhu Yuan with the extra cherry on top of the shit cake being the targeting, which they promise they will improve - it's been THREE FUCKING GAMES and it's still busted in all of them, so good bye, and clearly, I'm not the only one.
But hey, they can double down on thirst traps in every trailer, I'm sure that will help. They're not hiding their targeted public.
I've only stopped because IRL work is in it's busiest season and gacha-type habits aren't engrained enough into my routine for me to regularly remember or bother to login for dailies etc. It would be the same for any game, i think it's why i bounce off of MMOs too. It doesn't take long for me to lose momentum, get busy, get distracted and before i know realise it's been 6 months since i last logged in or checked anything.
I still like the game's lore, aesthetic, a lot of the team characters and interactions etc I'm one of the minority who wasn't bothered by the TV Minigames, they were a nice break in pace and something different. I agree they should be more streamlined with fewer interruptions so it flowed better but that's about it.
I still like the game's lore, aesthetic, a lot of the team characters and interactions etc I'm one of the minority who wasn't bothered by the TV Minigames, they were a nice break in pace and something different. I agree they should be more streamlined with fewer interruptions so it flowed better but that's about it.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #108
I guess I'm in the minority that liked the TV system and I'm really disappointed at the direction they are seemingly taking the game in.
Like sure the system had issues, but they were imo all fixable and it had some really cool and creative uses.
And more importantly, it was breaking up the repetitiveness of the rest of the game. Without it, it's just going to be combat combat combat combat all day everyday and frankly the combat system is not deep enough to support that for me, neither is the enemy variatey.
Daily grind -> combat, weekly Hollow Zero -> now combat only, Shiyu Defense -> combat, story -> combat, side comissions -> mostly combat (they did say they are not scrapping the system, but 1.1 had barely any exploration comissions and mainly a trillion copy paste combat ones, and 1.2 is seemingly continuing that trend).
Like sure the system had issues, but they were imo all fixable and it had some really cool and creative uses.
And more importantly, it was breaking up the repetitiveness of the rest of the game. Without it, it's just going to be combat combat combat combat all day everyday and frankly the combat system is not deep enough to support that for me, neither is the enemy variatey.
Daily grind -> combat, weekly Hollow Zero -> now combat only, Shiyu Defense -> combat, story -> combat, side comissions -> mostly combat (they did say they are not scrapping the system, but 1.1 had barely any exploration comissions and mainly a trillion copy paste combat ones, and 1.2 is seemingly continuing that trend).
I'm still playing the game but it's very very difficult to keep up with all 3 Hoyo games. I've missed events in ZZZ and I'm behind on the story as well. Likewise, I'm behind in Genshin and Star Rail too. Just too much to do and I've been sick for a few weeks now too.
I'm surprised they're deprecating the TV stuff so much. I think they could have made it better by just improving the animation speed and cutting back on the constant dialogue boxes that interrupt the flow of the game. And maybe make Hollow Zero faster by removing some of the static TV sections. I don't think they needed to gut it as much as they seem to be doing but then they have the telemetry and user feedback and it must be telling them that people absolutely hate it. I do wonder what the health of the game is like in general.
Sad to see no one talks about these games here anymore. Thought it might have been a temporary thing but when nobody said a word at the launch of Natlan it was clear it was not gonna happen anymore.
I'm surprised they're deprecating the TV stuff so much. I think they could have made it better by just improving the animation speed and cutting back on the constant dialogue boxes that interrupt the flow of the game. And maybe make Hollow Zero faster by removing some of the static TV sections. I don't think they needed to gut it as much as they seem to be doing but then they have the telemetry and user feedback and it must be telling them that people absolutely hate it. I do wonder what the health of the game is like in general.
Sad to see no one talks about these games here anymore. Thought it might have been a temporary thing but when nobody said a word at the launch of Natlan it was clear it was not gonna happen anymore.
Sadly yes, they could have done a lot better with it. And the game does suffer from being so repetitive... I think that outside of the TV stuff, everyone agreed that we wanted more levels and more... things to do than just endless flat arenas to fight in, but it doesn't really seem like they're trying much, even in the Jane Doe mission we can't really call that a success... to me, mixed with the very messy combat and the plain uninteresting encounters, it shows an inexperienced team at the head. And I'm not sure they'll have that much time to right the ship, because their stubbornness certainly cost them a lot of dev time that will be paid down the line...
spindoctor I think there never really was many people talking about the Hoyo games here. But beyond that, we know all of their games are way, way down and Natlan did not do very well, while ZZZ is definitely on the "not doing well straight up" - which is still relative for a Hoyo game, but still. They're just cannibalizing their own games and the same mistakes, game after game are holding them back (like the inane amount of pointless dialogue and filler content to try to get the waifu/husbando lovers).
We're already in an era where Love and Deepspace clears the competition for husbandos, and Infinity Nikki is coming soon, I can imagine those kind of big budget games might force Hoyo to turn inward and refocus on waifus, I mean it's very clear what the trailer of Jane Doe, Caesar and Burnice are tying to get as a market.
OP
Sorry I'm little late to reply to this. I know we didn't have that many people talking about these games but I've never thought of that as being a problem. When I first started these games you guys helped me out a lot with explaining the various game mechanics and gacha systems. Even after that we used to talk about the story, events, which characters to pull, builds and so on. I had figured the discussion would slow down a bit as the Fontaine year ended and Penacony got over and the games moved to filler content. What I didn't expect was that it would go to absolute zero. There's not a single post in the Genshin thread since Natlan came out! The Star Rail werewolf story wasn't bad as far as filler goes and I'm sure people got General Feixiao but again, nothing. And I guess ZZZ didn't stick for whatever reason either.
Not like there's anything that can be done about it. It's just a little sad honestly.
After almost two months of not playing at all, I think it's safe to say I'm done with ZZZ. I tried to like it and keep my interest up, despite having no characters I liked, but I didn't even finish the main story. It's a shame, because I though it was interesting storywise, and I like Belle and Wise and Fairy... But I find the combat very boring, the combat arenas are all the same(except for those Victoria Housekeeping ones), and the TV stuff was very hit or miss. Sometimes, it was fun. Sometimes it was an endless slog! There's stuff I love about the game(the music, the general aesthetic), but the focus on giant tits and construction sites isn't my jam.
Ultimately, I just don't think it's for me, at least not right now. This week I tried to login for the first time in ages, and after doing the dailies and the trials for the new characters I logged out. I do think I will pop in and use all of the pulls I've been saving(not that many - 130 or so?) for bow guy when he finally comes out though.
I'm still playing Genshin and HSR, which I think is also part of the problem. Keeping up with the dailies for both of those takes my pre-work freetime every morning, and I do the story/exploration stuff on my days off. There's no time for ZZZ in my schedule, even if I vibed with it more. I don't know what I'll do when Hoyo releases another game(or 5)!
Ultimately, I just don't think it's for me, at least not right now. This week I tried to login for the first time in ages, and after doing the dailies and the trials for the new characters I logged out. I do think I will pop in and use all of the pulls I've been saving(not that many - 130 or so?) for bow guy when he finally comes out though.
I'm still playing Genshin and HSR, which I think is also part of the problem. Keeping up with the dailies for both of those takes my pre-work freetime every morning, and I do the story/exploration stuff on my days off. There's no time for ZZZ in my schedule, even if I vibed with it more. I don't know what I'll do when Hoyo releases another game(or 5)!
Doing the ZZZ dailies is the easiest of them all though. Just open the video store for the day, go to the news stand and scratch the card and then go drink a coffee at the cafe. The game allows you to overcharge your energy to about 960/240 by drinking coffee so you can do this for roughly 2 weeks without ever having to spend any energy. It takes less than a minute to complete all this.
I'm not actually sure why I've not been playing the game. I enjoyed it well enough at the start while completing all the 1.0 content. I liked that the stories had somewhat lower stakes. I really enjoyed the city gameplay of running around and doing quests and trust events and all. If I think about it now, I'd say these factors are stopping me from playing it regularly;
a) The time commitment is too much. I'm not even talking about keeping up to date with all 3 games. I've barely been able to keep up with Star Rail and I'm still behind on that one with exploration and stuff. Genshin and ZZZ are just put on the backburner because I can't get myself to put the time into them. And it gets worse when you fall behind. I'm entire regions behind in Genshin which seriously demotivates you when new content comes that you can't even think about doing. Even in ZZZ I'm behind on the story and the thought of catching up on a whole patch worth of missions is daunting.
b) Not interested in the characters coming out... and that's partly because I'm skipping the story sections where they are introduced and you decide whether you want them or not. Like the current patch is about the Sons of Calydon and they were a non entity in the 1.0 release. I assume they've been given an introduction in the subsequent patches but if you haven't played that like me then they're still strangers. I've seen people comment that the character promos are becoming too lewd and to be honest I don't get that complaint. It's as if the game becomes less respectable because of those trailers? And I just wonder... what kind of game did you think you were playing when the very first 5-star was the shark girl wearing a French maid outfit?
c) The single biggest, and unsolvable, problem is that building characters sucks. In all these games. Getting a character you want isn't a problem, but then leveling them up is annoying (especially since we're at the start of the life of ZZZ and resources are scarce) and the true mother of all headaches is relic farming. It is soul crushing that you can go 3-4 weeks of continuous relic farming and not get a single piece that you deem good enough to use. I've avoided this problem in Genshin by staying locked at AR35 which is before you can even farm gold relics but that's a problem coming up soon when I reach Fontaine. In Star Rail I got about 5-6 new characters after Acheron (Firefly, Jade, Robin, Huohuo plus the freebies) and never used any of them because I just didn't want to do the relic farming. Fortunately I had so many leftover relics from all the time wasted farming for them earlier that I was able to kit out all the characters reasonably well. Not as good as I'd want but I lowered my standards to avoid doing the grind. ZZZ has no such luxury... everything is new, everyone needs to be built. I pulled Jane Doe but haven't been able to use her for this reason. Her assassin moveset is super cool and flashy but who knows when I'll actually be able to play it.
That's true, It probably takes longer to login to the game than it does to actually do the dailies. For about two weeks all I did was the dailies, and then a random mission every couple of days. I guess it must come down to me not being interested enough.
I do hope that Genshin and HSR take some lessons from ZZZ -- mainly brevity in story telling and a skip button. I've been working on clearing out all the quests I accepted and never did in Genshin(world quests, character quests, etc) and good god I would pay extra for a skip button. My poor space bar! I can handle the voiced content, for the most part, but most of these world quests are just trash.
There has absolutely been a huge change, and Zhu Yuan started it with the endless focus on her ass. Jane Doe took it a step further, everything ingame on top of the trailers is all about how sexy she is, and she got a lot extra jiggle upgrades, even. The Sons of Calydon is just more of the same.
I can tell you as much that if the release had been done with a trailer of Ellen molesting Corin in the shower while they moan, about her putting on her underwear sensually and showing how much she jiggles and exposes her panties when fighting, that would have been a much different start. And more honest, probably.
Now the character building part, that sure makes the games a chore when you play one, let alone three. Genshin added a band aid with the elixirs, but it's still not fun to gear up, which is an issue for RPG games.
And Dandy I think we all expected more with the skip in ZZZ... since you can only use it on story content, the one that we usually don't want to skip. The shitty side quests in the city, you can't skip. And they are even more rubbish than in the other two games... I'll add to that the playable character dialogue that repeats all the time and can't be skipped either.
Even if we accept the premise that everything changed with Zhu Yuan, she was the second banner in the game. Literally 3 weeks after the game went live. Not that far from the very beginning. The game is now 12 weeks old, and with how content pipelines work for these live services, I'm going to propose that everything we are seeing both in and out of game were ready to go before launch. This is the game they were always making. No illusion, no deception, no bait and switch. This is the genre. This is what the company makes. We know why Kafka is popular. I've not visited Natlan at all and I have no idea who the characters are but I can say with a high degree of confidence that I know exactly why many people are pulling for Xilonen right now. That's just how it is.
But again, the more relevant question is how does this affect the game materially? The game isn't clicking for you and most folks here. It's not like a different or better trailer would have fixed that. There are issues with the game that have nothing to do with how they present their characters. So it really comes back to is it a question of the game being not as respectable because of these trailers? Are you ok with the idea of playing a gacha game but not a lewd leaning gacha game? Surely you do not look down on people who play Nikke for example. It would be the same as people who are judgemental about you for playing Genshin or any gacha for that matter. Who cares what anyone else thinks about what you play right?
I'm trying to think of what the game can do to get me back to playing it diligently, and it's hard, because I don't really see that many faults with it to begin with. Being more generous with the premium currency won't do it because I'm already skipping events and missing out on them. More social/city based gameplay would help but I'm not sure what they could add there. Asking them to revamp the whole character building system is a pipe dream. More variety in environments and enemies will come with time. More combat options will open up with more characters. I'm not sure. What do you guys think they could do to get you back to the game or is it just a lost cause at this point?
But again, the more relevant question is how does this affect the game materially? The game isn't clicking for you and most folks here. It's not like a different or better trailer would have fixed that. There are issues with the game that have nothing to do with how they present their characters. So it really comes back to is it a question of the game being not as respectable because of these trailers? Are you ok with the idea of playing a gacha game but not a lewd leaning gacha game? Surely you do not look down on people who play Nikke for example. It would be the same as people who are judgemental about you for playing Genshin or any gacha for that matter. Who cares what anyone else thinks about what you play right?
I'm trying to think of what the game can do to get me back to playing it diligently, and it's hard, because I don't really see that many faults with it to begin with. Being more generous with the premium currency won't do it because I'm already skipping events and missing out on them. More social/city based gameplay would help but I'm not sure what they could add there. Asking them to revamp the whole character building system is a pipe dream. More variety in environments and enemies will come with time. More combat options will open up with more characters. I'm not sure. What do you guys think they could do to get you back to the game or is it just a lost cause at this point?
Took a break after the middle of July when I played for a week straight and completed most of the story content. Just recently picked it back up (Sadly missed Qingyi), and I finished the police side-story in two hours, and now I'm on the biker gang chapter.
Probably gonna save my 30 someodd reels for Burnice when she drops later this month.
Probably gonna save my 30 someodd reels for Burnice when she drops later this month.
It's not about the content pipeline, but it most definitely is a massive departure with the game's marketing pre-launch and during launch.
Compare the whacky youtube ads that are still running with Billy jumping around and Ellen at school with Jane Doe's "interrogation", which comes with a disclaimer that it should be watched with headphones for the full experience and then... all that
And it doesn't even include all the feet aspect.
I may misremember, but I don't remember Furina or Kafka needing animations like this, nor the pseudo ASMR that they went with. And I have nothing to complain about with that, I've played Snowbreak that does exactly that kind of ASMR in teasers!
Except they don't claim to be some amazing ARPG in a modern setting with a community that says it's totally normal and exactly like the rest if the company's output.
As for ingame? Of course it shows on her breasts, butt and thighs jiggle, but it's all a minor thing in the end, as you say. However when you add that it also comes with the lack of content, poor quality of what is there, and now scrapping what was supposed to be THE major element in the game? Of course it has an effect, and it's no wonder they push it hard, and that's because the rest is falling apart. I don't know what they can do the right the ship, but they are trying now. Years after they'd been made aware that they were making poor decisions...
I had forgotten about that! The thing I want to skip is side quests, not main/voiced quests!
I dunno either. For me, I don't think there is anything they could do. Even if they had released some characters I liked, I still think I'd have walked away, though maybe I'd have stayed longer and spent a bit of money.
I was skeptical of ZZZ before launch, beyond the characters they had shown at that point. I didn't think the hub based game with arenas would work for me, and as it turns out, it doesn't. Exploration really isn't a thing, the areas are tiny and have excessive loading screens even within the hubs, and all of the arenas look the same and lack interesting mechanics/features. Outside of the TV mode, I came across 1 puzzle type(fix the bangboo).
I just saw a tweet which said that ZZZ is bit more risque than Genshin and HSR because it is rated for players 16 and above in China while the other two are rated 12 and above. If this is correct then it's more evidence that this was always the game they were looking to make and it isn't some pivot because revenues are falling or anything like that. I also actually looked up the revenue for the game on r/gachagaming and it seemed to be doing fine with the August data.
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OP
- Thread Starter
- #122
The game has always been horny - the wipeout screens shove every characters ass in your face when you clear a stage, and everything bounces and jiggles.
It hasn't become more or less in-game, but I do think the marketing has gotten more horny. It always was, but usually the trailers told a story and they snuck in sexy shots and presented the characters in a sexy way, but with Caesars trailer especially it feels different because the shower scene feels to have been created the other way around - starting from "let's have a sexy scene" and retrofitting it into the trailer, if that makes sense.
Anyway the game's still alright to me, the world and story are still very up my alley and the current events are good. The Vampire Survivor-like also released today and it's cool!
1.4 seems like a very big patch, so I'll give them at least until then to see what they do with the TV system and other stuff.
It hasn't become more or less in-game, but I do think the marketing has gotten more horny. It always was, but usually the trailers told a story and they snuck in sexy shots and presented the characters in a sexy way, but with Caesars trailer especially it feels different because the shower scene feels to have been created the other way around - starting from "let's have a sexy scene" and retrofitting it into the trailer, if that makes sense.
Anyway the game's still alright to me, the world and story are still very up my alley and the current events are good. The Vampire Survivor-like also released today and it's cool!
1.4 seems like a very big patch, so I'll give them at least until then to see what they do with the TV system and other stuff.
I gave it every chance to succeed, but I just got tired of the gameplay loop in record time for a Hoyo game. The "content" just gets really samey after a while - yes, the combat is fun, but when you have to repeat it ad infinitum to grind for materials it really wears on you. It takes entirely too long to level up new characters, so when you're stuck in a rut and want to change things up, relief in the form of a new toon is usually far, far away. I like the characters and the story well enough, but the base gameplay is just so limited.
I came back to Genshin for Natlan and have been enjoying that quite a bit, and HSR (my main Hoyo game) is trucking along as always, but whenever its time to do the ZZZ dailies I always feel that familiar sense of dread (like, oh crap, here comes the unfun part of the schedule). My last ZZZ welkin thingo is expiring in 5 days, and I didnt buy the BP... so after that runs out I'm uninstalling.
At least I managed to get the Plat on PS5 first, lol!
OP
- Thread Starter
- #125
That's fair, the game almost lost me too during 1.1, when the repetitiveness starting getting too much. I ended up pulling Qingyi towards the end of her banner, and that "fixed" that for me since I find her engaging enough to play, for now.
I still don't really understand why all of Hoyo's mid-game progression design is dogshite in every game. The combat systems of these games are generally fun and can have a good amount of depth - but that is in team-building and with each individual character being fairly simple you need to constantly switch things up in order to not get bored (or find a character you find really engaging).
But then the progression acts completely counter to that, where after the beginning stretch you are completely resource-starved and have to play the same characters over and over and over again before eventually you can start branching out again, but that happens far too late and it's easy to get bored and drop off before that.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #126
Me yesterday: maybe I should skip Burnice, saving seems smarter
Me today after trailer: chuckles I'm in danger
Me today after trailer: chuckles I'm in danger
I haven't done the story missions for this patch yet but my quest log was overflowing with side quests from the last and this patch so I thought I'd clean it out a bit. It was fine (although rip TV quests) until I got to the combat challenges (those Obsidian quests). This is the first time in the game I've actually had to pay attention to the combat and the auto targeting made me want to bash my head against a wall. It's so bad that they keeping jumping your character around an enemy in attempt to look cool but in a confined space you might end up targeting and attacking another wrong enemy. I attempted a specific mission 4 times and this kept happening to me over and over and just messing it up for me. I just rage quit after that.
I also regret ascending to max account level. My characters are currently level 60,55 and 55 and I don't have the materials to get them up to 60. These missions are all level 54+ so it's already tight without the in combat targeting system screwing me over. I know resources are scarce at this stage of the game but it feels like the game is extra stingy with leveling materials. That's partly my fault because I've skipped a few events now by not playing the game regularly. I know I can farm that stuff with energy that I'm already not using for anything else but I just don't feel like doing that. And that also lowers the motivation to get any new characters.
I also regret ascending to max account level. My characters are currently level 60,55 and 55 and I don't have the materials to get them up to 60. These missions are all level 54+ so it's already tight without the in combat targeting system screwing me over. I know resources are scarce at this stage of the game but it feels like the game is extra stingy with leveling materials. That's partly my fault because I've skipped a few events now by not playing the game regularly. I know I can farm that stuff with energy that I'm already not using for anything else but I just don't feel like doing that. And that also lowers the motivation to get any new characters.
So after being bombarded with Burnice clips, art and cosplay for days by the algorithm and learning that she's quite good in a Jane/Rina team, I thought I'll try and pull for her. 70+ tickets used and I lost the 50-50 and got Nekomata
Now I have 50 tickets left and can't reach 75ish before her before the banner ends in 14 days (unless I pay for the monthly pass which I'm not inclined to). Also if I do try and get her anyway and use up all or most of my tickets it'll take months to get enough to try again for another character. Not a pleasant prospect. Especially given how I'm playing which is skipping almost every weekly source of currency and many events as well. And the best part is, even if I did get her, I do not have any resources to level her up anyway.
I'm actually thinking it might be time to take a break from all Hoyo games in general. There are a whole lot of other interesting games that just came out and are still due in the next few months. My push to continue Genshin has fizzled out completely and I'm not super interested in whatever filler is coming in Star Rail. ZZZ is strange because they're not really focusing on the main story (as far as I've played) so everything is sort of filler adjacent anyway. There's a bigger discussion I wanted to have about how mihoyo treats their main and side content for their yearly cycles but that's mostly focused on Genshin anyway so maybe some other time.
EDIT: Well, I figured if I'm walking away might as well just yolo the last tickets and see what happens. Five 10 pulls, got junk in the first four and then in the final 10 pull I got her.
Now I have 50 tickets left and can't reach 75ish before her before the banner ends in 14 days (unless I pay for the monthly pass which I'm not inclined to). Also if I do try and get her anyway and use up all or most of my tickets it'll take months to get enough to try again for another character. Not a pleasant prospect. Especially given how I'm playing which is skipping almost every weekly source of currency and many events as well. And the best part is, even if I did get her, I do not have any resources to level her up anyway.
I'm actually thinking it might be time to take a break from all Hoyo games in general. There are a whole lot of other interesting games that just came out and are still due in the next few months. My push to continue Genshin has fizzled out completely and I'm not super interested in whatever filler is coming in Star Rail. ZZZ is strange because they're not really focusing on the main story (as far as I've played) so everything is sort of filler adjacent anyway. There's a bigger discussion I wanted to have about how mihoyo treats their main and side content for their yearly cycles but that's mostly focused on Genshin anyway so maybe some other time.
EDIT: Well, I figured if I'm walking away might as well just yolo the last tickets and see what happens. Five 10 pulls, got junk in the first four and then in the final 10 pull I got her.
A win is nice of course. Literally down to zero tickets now and like I mentioned, I do not have the materials to even level her to 50, let alone 60. I guess the next 3 months are just getting my characters ready. This is the first time I'm going to have 2 teams in this game for that Forgotten Hall mode thing.
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OP
- Thread Starter
- #130
Congrats!
This game is probably my least favorite of the big 3 Hoyo games at the moment. I think it had a solid start with a strong identity, but they have since worked on weakening that identity every step of the way and I'm not super happy with that.
Combat has also turned out to be more janky and repetitive feeling then I expected. I do still like the story and world though, although characters are a bit flat. But even the small mini-game event right now has a surprisingly touching story attached with some lore teases and they get me again with that, lol.
I do wanna stick around until 1.4 cause that seems to be planned to be a big update and I wanna know what character are coming after that.
This game is probably my least favorite of the big 3 Hoyo games at the moment. I think it had a solid start with a strong identity, but they have since worked on weakening that identity every step of the way and I'm not super happy with that.
Combat has also turned out to be more janky and repetitive feeling then I expected. I do still like the story and world though, although characters are a bit flat. But even the small mini-game event right now has a surprisingly touching story attached with some lore teases and they get me again with that, lol.
I do wanna stick around until 1.4 cause that seems to be planned to be a big update and I wanna know what character are coming after that.
The flappy bird event was kind of stressful for me. I did S-rank all the stages but it was difficult for nil-skill people like me. They should make events easier for fools like me.
I don't like that they're locking most of the other events behind story progression. That's the reason I never managed to do a single event in 1.1 and now I'll miss the 1.2 events as well. Genshin requires completion of Mondstadt for their events which is fine... I understand it's meant to give easy primogems to people who are at least somewhat invested in the game. ZZZ is too new to be requiring full story completion for event access... I think they should just gate it at 1.0 story completion (around chapter 2).
Does anyone else feel like Burnice is going viral in a way that other characters haven't? I know her banner will probably make less money than the last which will have been less than the previous one and so on, but just in terms of how much fanart and video clips and all are surfacing I feel like she is far more popular than anyone except probably Ellen when the game was new.
I don't like that they're locking most of the other events behind story progression. That's the reason I never managed to do a single event in 1.1 and now I'll miss the 1.2 events as well. Genshin requires completion of Mondstadt for their events which is fine... I understand it's meant to give easy primogems to people who are at least somewhat invested in the game. ZZZ is too new to be requiring full story completion for event access... I think they should just gate it at 1.0 story completion (around chapter 2).
Does anyone else feel like Burnice is going viral in a way that other characters haven't? I know her banner will probably make less money than the last which will have been less than the previous one and so on, but just in terms of how much fanart and video clips and all are surfacing I feel like she is far more popular than anyone except probably Ellen when the game was new.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #133
They're probably gonna add a quick access to the events sooner or later, but for now the thinking is probably that the Critical Path is short enough (I don't think any of the 1.1 stuff is mandatory and Chapter 4 is like 3 hours or something like that).
Went into a bit of cleanup mode and finished Ambush 5 (that was hard) and even Shiyu 7 with all S-Ranks :O
I don't really pay attention to Social Media but Burnice popularity wouldn't surprise me, her Trailer was basically designed to be viral/memable.
Went into a bit of cleanup mode and finished Ambush 5 (that was hard) and even Shiyu 7 with all S-Ranks :O
I don't really pay attention to Social Media but Burnice popularity wouldn't surprise me, her Trailer was basically designed to be viral/memable.
The 1.1 story (Jane Doe) was required to do the 1.1 events. I know because I couldn't do them. And I doubt you can start the 1.2 story stuff without having done that. I know it's not too long to catch up but there's about a week left now and it's like pressure to do that before you do the events. And I'm playing other stuff as well.
As for Burnice, just today I saw these 2 tweets...
People are remaking Burnice's trailer in the other games. Maybe it isn't as rare as I think it is but I'm certainly surprised how much of her I'm seeing online.
As for Burnice, just today I saw these 2 tweets...
People are remaking Burnice's trailer in the other games. Maybe it isn't as rare as I think it is but I'm certainly surprised how much of her I'm seeing online.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #136
So with 1.2 coming to an end and the 1.3 Special Program over, I guess here are my thoughts on them.
1.2:
The Sons of Calydon overall are great. The story itself was alright. Biggest complaint I have is that the removal of the TV sections is very noticeable and the combat missions are completely unremarkable other than the final one with the bike and boss fight. I have a much stronger impression of the story missions of previous chapters.
If they want to keep going in that direction, they need to put a lot more work into level design.
This is also the same issue with the side content in this update. There are dozens of forgettable combat comissions. They are fun to just mindlessly chew through but almost none are memorable in any way.
The exploration commissions were good, but there were only 2 of them.
Burnice's Agent Story was meh.
Burnice gameplay is great fun.
Cheesetopia was good, but imo could have needed more variety in mission design (cough exploration comissions cough).
Blitz mode is alright. Weeklies feel faster now.
Bizarre Brigade is great fun.
Investigator Training Course was alright. Feels weird how they gated unlocking the courses with a separate recharging currency but you could still go through the entire thing in like 3 days anyway.
Ambush Node was sick.
I greatly enjoyed all of the mini events. Pretty varied and I enjoy how much fun worldbuilding they pack into these.
1.3:
I'm hyped for the Mystery of Arpeggio Fault TV stuff (I mistakenly thought this was Hollow Zero stuff, but it appears to be entirely unrelated to it?) and the Combat Tower, and am looking forward to San-Z opening up, the changes to the weeklies and all the other QoL changes.
I assume the story will be "alright", but hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.
1.2:
The Sons of Calydon overall are great. The story itself was alright. Biggest complaint I have is that the removal of the TV sections is very noticeable and the combat missions are completely unremarkable other than the final one with the bike and boss fight. I have a much stronger impression of the story missions of previous chapters.
If they want to keep going in that direction, they need to put a lot more work into level design.
This is also the same issue with the side content in this update. There are dozens of forgettable combat comissions. They are fun to just mindlessly chew through but almost none are memorable in any way.
The exploration commissions were good, but there were only 2 of them.
Burnice's Agent Story was meh.
Burnice gameplay is great fun.
Cheesetopia was good, but imo could have needed more variety in mission design (cough exploration comissions cough).
Blitz mode is alright. Weeklies feel faster now.
Bizarre Brigade is great fun.
Investigator Training Course was alright. Feels weird how they gated unlocking the courses with a separate recharging currency but you could still go through the entire thing in like 3 days anyway.
Ambush Node was sick.
I greatly enjoyed all of the mini events. Pretty varied and I enjoy how much fun worldbuilding they pack into these.
1.3:
I'm hyped for the Mystery of Arpeggio Fault TV stuff (I mistakenly thought this was Hollow Zero stuff, but it appears to be entirely unrelated to it?) and the Combat Tower, and am looking forward to San-Z opening up, the changes to the weeklies and all the other QoL changes.
I assume the story will be "alright", but hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.
Woah, I was tagged in messages here and never actually read them
I mean, yeah, I stopped ZZZ, the daily routine is just bad (although that's not too different from the other Hoyo games on that, but GI and HSR both simplified their dailies at least), and the regular content just got to me. The story is mediocre and doesn't really talk about much of importance, the side content is as bad as usual, and I don't even like most characters.
Like spindoctor said, the targeting is a nightmare (more for some characters than others, Zhu Yuan evolved to my most hated character out of any Hoyo game, great job), and indeed, character progression is just as terrible as usual in Hoyo games.
And since we talked about the coomer bait aspect... months ago already - well it still isn't great, but at least Yanagi is not ANOTHER white blonde girl like four of the Sons of Calydon. Completely baffling that everyone ended up the same for months on end while they can so much more diverse characters here.
But the game definitely has a different aura in social media.
And since we're in November now, we can see that it was yet another month where the game's numbers went down. And not in an "EOS soon!" kind of way, but more that they clearly bet on the wrong horse in the marketing department, the big changes obviously being part of that, but now? People don't come back even with changes in gachas...
I mean, yeah, I stopped ZZZ, the daily routine is just bad (although that's not too different from the other Hoyo games on that, but GI and HSR both simplified their dailies at least), and the regular content just got to me. The story is mediocre and doesn't really talk about much of importance, the side content is as bad as usual, and I don't even like most characters.
Like spindoctor said, the targeting is a nightmare (more for some characters than others, Zhu Yuan evolved to my most hated character out of any Hoyo game, great job), and indeed, character progression is just as terrible as usual in Hoyo games.
And since we talked about the coomer bait aspect... months ago already - well it still isn't great, but at least Yanagi is not ANOTHER white blonde girl like four of the Sons of Calydon. Completely baffling that everyone ended up the same for months on end while they can so much more diverse characters here.
But the game definitely has a different aura in social media.
And since we're in November now, we can see that it was yet another month where the game's numbers went down. And not in an "EOS soon!" kind of way, but more that they clearly bet on the wrong horse in the marketing department, the big changes obviously being part of that, but now? People don't come back even with changes in gachas...
OP
- Thread Starter
- #138
To be fair the drop looks a lot more steep than it actually is cause last month only had 1 new banner launch and it was a 2nd half of the patch banner which usually also do worse anyway. So dropping a bit over half isn't actually that much with that context.
It's clearly less popular then Hoyo's other big games though (in part definitely because theylimited their audience themselves), although we can't forget that it is also more popular on consoles than say Star Rail which has an advantage in these mobile-only charts.
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OP
- Thread Starter
- #140
Didn't expect that the Tower is actually what I like most about this update.
Beat Floor 20 (Demonized Shadow Jane)
This mode really pushes you (especially without a shielder) and honestly really shows off the best of the enemy moveset designs.
It took quite a few tries but kinda gave me the same rush as beating a Souls boss.
Beat Floor 20 (Demonized Shadow Jane)
This mode really pushes you (especially without a shielder) and honestly really shows off the best of the enemy moveset designs.
It took quite a few tries but kinda gave me the same rush as beating a Souls boss.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #142
Yeah, this is a soft relaunch.
Free Harumasa, extra trailers for the version, pre-registration for the version, quick level materials for one Agent up to level 50(!), Ultimate changes, redoing the early TV sections by actually making bespoke levels where you control Eos and get to do puzzles and shit (never been happier to be wrong, lol) and they're hyping up the end of the first Season story.
Speaking of that, I'm pumped for everyone coming together. Hopefully this is Zenless' "Wildfire" moment, in Star Rail terms.
And dang, this version seems really packed?
Free Harumasa, extra trailers for the version, pre-registration for the version, quick level materials for one Agent up to level 50(!), Ultimate changes, redoing the early TV sections by actually making bespoke levels where you control Eos and get to do puzzles and shit (never been happier to be wrong, lol) and they're hyping up the end of the first Season story.
Speaking of that, I'm pumped for everyone coming together. Hopefully this is Zenless' "Wildfire" moment, in Star Rail terms.
And dang, this version seems really packed?
- Main Story chapter + Agent story
- Two new areas.
- A new Hollow fully explorable in 3D
- A new Hollow Zero mode where some Agents get alternate EX Specials
- New Boss-Fight endgame mode alternating with Shiyu
- Tower Defense event
- A bunch of other smaller events
- New Quality Time events for every Agent
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The 3D Hollow and actual puzzles with Eous seemed like no brainers, same for using your fucking characters in the city... and I told them as much... years ago at this point.
Same thing for the ult system being character based now... although that will certainly turn the game into even more of a slow rotation of flashy skills while the enemy do nothing.
And that's the main issue that won't make me come back, the combat itself isn't even fun, it's all form over substance.... and the rest of the content is bad like any Hoyo game.
Same thing for the ult system being character based now... although that will certainly turn the game into even more of a slow rotation of flashy skills while the enemy do nothing.
And that's the main issue that won't make me come back, the combat itself isn't even fun, it's all form over substance.... and the rest of the content is bad like any Hoyo game.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #144
I kinda disagree after the latest permanent battle tower mode and the latest additions to the enemy roster. When you have to fight 5 stages against hard-hitting very aggressive enemies without health recovery culminating in a boss fight, everything comes together and it feels amazing. You have to clearly learn movesets, read tells to dodge or parry, decide on when to engage or play it safe and it all comes together really well. After floor 25 the visual attack indicators don't even exist anymore (already a thing with some modifiers in other modes), but I'm not that far yet.
Burnice/Piper/Lucy vs. the 1.2 Corrupted Overlord boss or 1.1 Shadow Jane were really tough and defeating them gave me the same rush as when defeating a From boss and it really made me appreciate how well designed especially the newer bosses are from a moveset perspective and how solid the combat actually is.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #145
Been super happy with how the 1.4 "soft-relaunch" has turned out. Miyabi rules, the "season 1" story finale was great, Harumasa's Agent Story was extremely good, I'm happy with the TV mode replacement and it looks like they changed the early missions way more than I expected (only did a little check, but kinda want to replay them all at some point).
New Hollow Zero mode is very fun, new endgame boss fight mode is fun, etc etc. Very satisfied all around tbh.
New Hollow Zero mode is very fun, new endgame boss fight mode is fun, etc etc. Very satisfied all around tbh.