- Primary Subject: Zenless Zone Zero [Version 2.6 / Year 3]
- Key Update: The developers are actively combating power creep by buffing older, free-to-play agents, ensuring that skill expression remains more important than "meta" damage numbers.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: January 20, 2026
- Quick Answer: Zenless Zone Zero is a skill-based urban fantasy gacha that prioritizes mechanical mastery and character depth over the predatory "meta-defining" power creep common in the genre.
Gacha games have always had a bad reputation in my eyes. In my opinion, these games have obvious predatory practices when it comes to monetizing, and everyone accepts it because they're free to play! After Genshin Impact soured my palette, I thought I would never pick up another gacha game in my life. That is, until I found Zenless Zone Zero. From the developers of the bane of my gacha experience comes this amazing action game that I just couldn’t get my eyes off. While I may not be a day 1 player, I now consider myself a forever fan of what is probably the only gacha game I will take seriously. Ever.
Aesthetics
One thing that immediately stood out to me about Zenless Zone Zero is its aesthetics. The design of other gacha games always threw me off with how heavily they lean into high fantasy or sci-fi. Mihoyo itself has multiple games in its lineup that follow this same aesthetic, and so do other developers. Instead of going for much of the same, Zenless Zone Zero leans heavily into the urban aesthetic. The game is set in urban cities with many modern-day organizations serving as the blueprint for many of the factions in-game. The fact that the game has a construction company faction that actually looks like they work in construction is enough to sell it to me.
One of the things that also drew me to the aesthetics of the game is how grounded most of the characters are. Void hunters with world-ending powers aside, the game is filled with characters that look like they’re just real people with good skills and tech. From the get-go, you’re introduced to the Cunning Hares, a rag-tag group of misfits whose powers can be reduced to gun, sword, and briefcase cannon. The main protagonists themselves aren’t any different, being simple hackers on the deep web who know how to navigate the hollows (or dungeons). Although that’s changed recently, I still appreciate that part of their story.
Skill-based Gameplay
One of the things I hate about gachas, card games, and fighting games in general is the concept that there’s some meta-defining super character. I’m someone who’d rather base their favorite character on whether I like their gamelpan or not, and not just because of how big their damage numbers can go. Zenless Zone Zero’s action-oriented gameplay suits this mentality for me perfectly by allowing players a degree of skill expression. Every fight in Zenless Zone Zero requires a bit of skill, whether it’s memorizing enemy attack patterns or simple reaction time checks. Having enough room for skill expression ensures that every character is valid, and your favorite character isn’t complete dogwater.
But then again, I’m not going to say Zenless Zone Zero is on par with Dark Souls or Devil May Cry. No matter how good the combat may be, it still consists of the usual button-mashing fun you’d expect from a Yakuza game. Aside from skill expression, the game is also quite the feast for the eyes. I’ve personally spent countless hours with each agent just so I can see how much love the dev team has put into their animations. If you ever have the time, I implore you to head into the agent trial room and just watch how your character recovers from their basic attack animations. That’s the type of love you want to see from your devs.
Persona-fied
While Zenless Zone Zero’s writing isn’t Shakespearean, it still serves its purpose - to give you the closest thing to a gacha dating simulator there is. One of the unique things I love about Zenless Zone Zero is how it allows you to interact and socialize with each agent you unlock. Think back to what it felt like when you took your confidants out on little playdates in Persona, and then triple the roster of options. Each character in Zenless Zone Zero, while obviously very beautiful and catering to a specific type of gaze, still has tons of depth to their character. Each agent has their own unique personality traits, all of which just keep me coming back for more.
I also want to take this time to applaud the game’s dev team communication for showing how much they care about every agent, no matter how long ago they were released. As the game goes longer and the power creep gets harder, it can be easy for any game dev to neglect some earlier releases. Fan-favorite characters that were once S-Tier have been reduced to B-Tier, which feels like a betrayal to fans. Surprisingly, the Zenless Zone Zero Dev Team addressed this in an earlier patch by going back and buffing some of the older free agents, making sure that everyone’s favorite agent is still playable.
I’ve never felt as enamored as I do right now with any other gacha game. It feels like Zenless Zone Zero has scratched every itch in my body, even the ones I had no idea existed in the first place. As the game moves forward into its 3rd year, I have high hopes that it’ll just keep getting better.
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