ZZZ’s photo event is a rare chance to appreciate the stories its slick combat animations tell

HoYoverse games are known for their fantastic soundtracks, but aren’t often mentioned when it comes to their visuals. Having to work on a wide range of devices, the anime-style graphics are naturally unable to compete with games that only have to consider high-spec platforms. Where Zenless Zone Zero is very much on par with high-profile productions, though, is animation. The action RPG’s combat animations are smooth, fluid, and full of impact, impressively combining a sense for aesthetics and gameplay practicability.

Now, the game’s action-packed and fast-paced battles don’t let you appreciate that very often, because things are moving fast, but the current photography event in the game really lets this element shine, as you can pause mid-combat to take pictures and admire the visuals without fearing to be devoured by an Ethereal.

The combat stills really drive home how on point ZZZ’s aesthetics are: The rugged, rundown Hollows with their alien flora and minerals, the strange physicality of the Ethereals with their unnerving resemblance to humans and animals, and the sheer absurdity of having to battle intelligent and out-of-control construction machinery mesh well with the wonderful character designs and detailed animations.

There is so much personality in everyone’s combat flow and poses. We know Alice as a kind young woman who gets scared easily and is pretty much OCD personified, but in combat her aristocratic heritage is on full display in the sheer disdain she regards her enemies with after slicing them up, as if they never mattered at all.

Burnice’s enthusiasm for fire and spirits extend to her combat animations, which show her with the brightest smile as she douses enemies in flames — an almost sadistic stroke that does not even clash with her usual airhead personality.

Aristocratic teenage rebel Lucy plays tough, swinging a baseball bat to fire her comrades into the enemy as expendable ammunition, but then relying on them to keep standing upright after parrying an attack, the noble elegance with which she doles out hits being forgotten.

Being a blind sniper, Trigger is already a walking contradiction, but this gets amplified with all of her animations being the epitome of military precision — not a single movement is wasted when she brings her prey into her sight.

And, sure, the developers like to indulge themselves a little from time to time, but what’s the harm? Yidhari whirling around the grip of her massive warhammer like a poledancer may be obvious as a means to sell her, but is also a great way to show how dreamy and floaty she is after the ordeal she went through.

At the end of the day, a certain sex appeal has always been a core part of the game’s identity alongside the urban and post-apocalypse vibes and it would simply not be the same otherwise. 

That’s a lot of words for saying that I still really love how ZZZ looks and feels, how much passion the developers are pouring into even small details, and that a permanent photo mode would be an excellent addition to its features — please let us fully appreciate those models and effects in all their glory all the time, developers.