Zenless Zone Zero is out!! Here's my thoughts and predictions before I play.

Zenless Zone Zero has probably been my most anticipated game to play this year. As an avid lover of all of the Hoyoverse games and putting ludicrous hours in both Genshin and Honkai, neither of them compare to the amount of interest Zenless Zone Zero gave me. I watched the teaser trailer back when it first released, and the animation and character design was insane, even for a company like Hoyoverse renowned for those things. I still am not sure exactly what the gameplay was like, but based on the style I somewhat wanted to guess it would be a Street Fighter/Guilty Gear type fighting game? Not too sure yet, but I'm intrigued nonetheless. Another thing that interest me was specifically two of the characters. One of which looked like a nekomata type character, similar in a way to Kirara from Genshin, but instead her tails were made out of metal? I want to guess she's part cyborg, which would be really neat to say the least. The other character that interested me was a fully cyborg character with white hair, often portrayed as clumsy and reckless in the trailers, but even his animation style was so lively, considering he was made entirely of metal. I'm very fascinated to see the lore between these characters, but if I know anything about Hoyoverse, we're going to definitely see some sad moments, potentially even deaths in-game, and betrayal amongst someone in the cast, whether its to the surprise of the player or not.\\

Regardless, this game has been something I've been looking forward to since the trailer dropped, and I have a big feeling that despite this being my first blog, it certainly won't be my last on the game. I'm very interested in what Hoyoverse is going to throw at us with this one, because just the animations in the trailer are beyond anything that Honkai Star Rail and Genshin Impact have done besides cinematics, and that REALLY says something considering Hoyoverse is well known specifically for their graphics ethics. Yet, they're also known for their good plots, characters, and story. So, if the animation on Zenless Zone Zero is really this good already, before the game was even released, I wonder how much the story is going to impress me.

I will say that my only worry is the fact that the style of the characters is very streetwear/techwear-esque. This is the same style of clothing and vibe that Honkai Star Rail has put out in a few places, so I am just a bit fearful that the storyline is going to tie into that. Yet, from what I've seen, the plot takes place on one world. I really hope that is the case, because I will be absolutely devastated if the plot somehow lines up to be a blend of Honkai and Genshin. I have high hopes though! Hoyoverse, despite how much of a greedy chinese company it is, DOES pay their workers decenty (At least in Honkai, I know the work environment on Genshin is a lot worse, sadly), but considering the quality, I think the team behind it is in loving and carefully planned hands. I have no doubt that this game is going to be extremely fun, at LEAST. As an art nerd, seeing animation graphics like this in a 3D game is really fun to see, everything from how expressive the faces are to how fluid the motion is, I can't wait to hop in and play it for myself.

-7/4/2024

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