Talks Behind the Scenes of "Zenless Zone Zero"

As the global beta test of "Zenless Zone Zero" (ZZZ) approaches on July 4th, the game's producer, Zhenyu Li, recently gave interviews to several media outlets.

From the information provided by the media, it appears that Zhenyu Li discussed ZZZ's development process extensively, from its initial proposal to its future prospects. He recalled the motivation behind proposing ZZZ, aiming to make action games enjoyable for a broader audience. He explained that the design inspiration for ZZZ largely came from games like "Street Fighter", "Digimon World", and works by Vanillaware. He also touched on the aspects of ZZZ that needed adjustments and improvements, such as the somewhat controversial Hollow exploration gameplay from previous tests.

Beyongd discussing the game's proposal and development ideas, Zhenyu Li also talked about the pressure he faces. Following the huge success of "Genshin Impact" and "Honkai: Star Rail", ZZZ, being quite different from previous MiHoYo products, naturally brings pressure. Some media noted that the current market already has a large number of Gacha Games, suggesting ZZZ might face tougher market competition upon release.

However, the producer stated that he hasn't given much thought to genre competition or market saturation. To him, as long as the game is fun and interesting, the genre or the number of competitors within that genre doesn't matter.

Additionally, the success of "Genshin Impact" and "Honkai: Star Rail" serves as a motivation for him to "do even better".

Here are the cconsolidated interview highlights:

01 Complexity ≠ Fun: Action Games Should Be Enjoyed by A Wide Audience

Zhenyu Li mentioned that his love for action games was the reason he proposed ZZZ. He is very fond of games like the "Dark Souls" trilogy, the "Devil May Cry" seires, and the "Monster Hunter" series. According to the media, the producer showed great enthusiasm when talking about "Devil May Cry", "Bayonetta", "Hades", "Counter-Strike", "Overwatch", "Street Fighter", "Monster Hunter", and Hidetaka Miyazaki's works, to the point of being almost able to talk for days.

However, when proposing ZZZ, Zhenyu Li did not continue with the hardcore features of these games. He realized that many action games are quite challenging, and he wanted his product to allow a broader audience to experience the fun of action games:

"Complexity doesn't always equate to an engaging combat system. For instance, just because 'Super Mario' only has simple running or jumping operations doesn't mean it's not fun," he added, "I remember a saying from Nintendo that resonates with me: 'Use fewer [buttons/controls] to provide more joy'. So even if a game isn't very complex, it can still offer players an exciting experience."

To achieve this goal, merely reducing the game's difficulty is not enough.

On one hand, the team needs to ensure the strike experience expected from an action game. Zhenyu Li mentioned the influece of "Street Fighter" on his aspect to multiple media outlets-he has played "Street Fighter" for over 2,000 hours, and the game's design in combos, duels, and fram animations provided some inspiration for ZZZ.

For example, combos are a core operation in fighting games, and in ZZZ, players need to combine different characters' abilities to deal maximum damage through combos and QTEs.

Additionally, the ZZZ team learned from "Street Fighter" to optimize action feedback design, making each punch feel like it hits flesh, and even meticulously fine-tuning character animation actions frame by frame, especially for ultimate skills, to ensure the solid strike experience. Zhenyu Li explained, "the feelings can be measured in a frame."

On the other hand, the ZZZ team aimed to make the learning curve of action games smoother.

Zhenyu Li said that "Street Fighter" taught him the difference between "hardcore action games" and "action games designed for beginners": "Some players don't often play or are unfamiliar with action games not because they don't like the genre but because learning these games usually takes more time and effort. From 'Street Fighter', I learned that providing the right instruction guidance at the right time is crucial. So in ZZZ, we didn't throw everything at the players from the beginning, but rather provided different tutorials and action commands at different points."

In ZZZ's process, the game first lets players learn how to attack, then gradually introduces defense mechanisms, like dodging and parrying. Zhenyu Li explained that the principle behind ZZZ's learning curve design is not to present overly difficult content until players are familiar with and have mastered the current action mechanics.

For seasoned action game veterans, ZZZ might feel less challenging in the early stages. However, for general users and new players, ZZZ is more accessible.

Of course, this doesn't mean ZZZ completely disregards the needs of experienced action players-currently, the game offers both easy and hard modes. Veterans can directly choose the hard mode, and beginners can also try it, because "if you fail in hard mode, there is no penalty".

To creat an action game that is easy for wide users to pick up, Zhenyu Li carefully selected his team members, ensuring they not only had the necessary skills but also recognized and loved ZZZ's direction:

"During interviews, I need to determine whether the candidates genuinely love and are willing to promote this game, not just looking for a job," because "you can only produce something that the players will like if you like it too".

He recalled that in 2020, when the ZZZ project started, the team had only 12 members, which grew to 60, and now exceeds 400.

02 A Product Unlike Previous MiHoYo Games

When discussing the inception of ZZZ, some media asked Zhenyu Li about the genre competition: with so many Gacha (card-drawing) games on the market, why decide to make another one?

The producer explained that at the beginning of the ZZZ project, they didn't consider much about the genre or vertical market competition:

"When we started developing ZZZ early on, we didn't know if the market would be saturated. My focus was on making a fun and interesting game, then letting players choose to try it. I believe that's enough; the game's genre isn't important. As long as the product I made is interesting, it doesn't matter what genre it is-as long as it's a fun game."

He also emphasized, "When designing ZZZ, I didn't intend for it to become an inspiration for other developers-I was just trying to creat a product with unique designs."

Compared to previous Gacha games of MiHoYo, ZZZ does offer a unique play experience.

First, ZZZ's combat system emphasizes team cooperation.

Zhenyu Li explained the character-switching feature: "In 'Genshin Impact', when you switch characters, the new character appears where the previous one disappeared; but in ZZZ, to emphasize collaboration between characters, the new character may appear in a more advantageous position for attack, continuing the fight. We focused on creating this team cooperation feeling in the combat system."

Secondly, ZZZ focuses more on presenting the urban life of ordinary people, rather than rushing players to save the world.

In many games, players play the role of a great savior, destined to change everything. However, in ZZZ, even though most areas of the main city New Eridu are invaded by supernatural disasters, many NPCs living there still live relatively peaceful lives, coexisting with the Hollows.

They often ask the player (the protagonist) for help with their everyday problems, like retrieving lost packages or playing the latest arcade games together...

Unlike in "Genshin Impact", many NPCs the protagonist encounters in ZZZ are not famous heroes or warriors; they are just ordinary people. Zhenyu Li said, "In creating ZZZ, we deliberately avoided emphasizzing any core values, instead choosing to show a group of 'ordinary' people struggling in a post-apocalyptic era. It's not like other post-apocalyptic worlds filled with heavy themes and questions of right and wrong. Here, no one needs to try to save the world. Simply put, we wanted to explore the value of 'ordinary people' through these urban stories."

"It's closer to our ordinary lives," he added, "if ZZZ only had players constantly entering Hollows and fighting, with no other activities, players would also get bored. So outside of the boids, in New Eridu, we want players to experience different aspects of urban life."

"This difference sets ZZZ apart from previous MiHoYo products. As you can see, a large part of ZZZ's content resolves around urban life. In 'Honkai: Star Rail', players must fight to complete tasks; in ZZZ, your daily tasks might include having a cup of coffee in the morning or participating in city events."

Finally, regarding city design, ZZZ not only aims to make the city feel realistic but also vibrant and full of life.

In fact, when designing New Eridu, Zhenyu Li incorporated many nostalgic scenes from his childhood, which explains why many aspects of ZZZ easily evoke reality: "The nostalgic, retro elements of New Eridu are closely related to my own childhood memories. For example, I used to play in arcade halls with friends, discuss movies at VHS stores, or share music at CD shops. Nowadays, these places might be hard to find, so I wanted to include arcade machines, old radios, and other retro elements in the game to share these joyful, formative experiences with current players."

Aside from reflecting reality and enhancing the city's authenticity, the ZZZ team also pays great attention to the city's vibrancy: "Rather than calling it a real city, it's more like a lived-in city."

To achieve this, they didn't just want to creat familiar things for players but hoped to introduce new elements, integrating different cultures and areas to showcase the city's changes and developments. For example, they plan to open a new area in the game calledd "Lumina Square", a busting district with many unique shops, inlcuding a hot pot restaurant.

Additionally, in terms of making the city feel alive, Zhenyu Li drew inspiration from other games:

He mentioned that the time mechanism in ZZZ (where specific events occur at specific times) was inspired by the "Digimon World" he played during his childhood.

Furthermore, games from Vanillaware, especially "Muramasa: The Demon Blade" and "Odin Sphere", made Zhenyu Li realize the importancee of meticulous details: "Some players noticed the little touches we included in the game, such as the artistic details of New Eridu or other regions, and the detailed feedback in the action animations."

03 Considerations and Developments

ZZZ has gone through several considerations and compromises during its development.

Zhenyu Li said the team had considered making the combat squad 4-person or 2-person, but due to the complexity of the combat actions, a 4-person squad would make the battle field too chaotic; as for a 2-person squad, it might be added as a new mode in the future.

Moreover, when initially designing characters, aesthetics were the primary consideration. However, as development progressed, the collaboration between the gameplay design team and the art team became closer, making joint efforts to create new characters.

Li demanded that all characters must align with his vision of fast-paced, stylized combat-finding joy in simplicity. Therefore, characters must not only be visually appealing but also have a set of mechanisms and abilities that match the design concept.

For example, the current lack of healer characters in ZZZ is because the team needs more time to integrate the visual effects and combat mechanics of healer characters into the game's fast-paced combat rhythm.

"We are not intentionally avoiding healer characters," Zhenyu Li explained, "we just haven't found the right visual and combat style yet."

It's evident that the ZZZ team is committed to action design. The producer mentioned that unlike the epic visual effects in "Genshin Impact" and "Honkai: Star Rail"-ZZZ currently showcases 15 characters, while the other games had over 20 at launch.

Zhenyu Li emphasized, "We pursue quality over quantity." The team continuously adjusts combat and animations to refine character movements. They are also working to improve and expand the character roster to eventually match the number of character in "Genshin Impact".

Can AI help improve efficiency? Zhenyu Li stated that AI hasn't played a significant role in ZZZ, only being used to assist programming and streamline production processes to enhance development efficiency.

The game's distinctive art style, which sets it apart from other MiHoYo products like "Genshin Impact" and "Honkai: Star Rail", is key to its identity, so AI-generated content is not used. Li believes the human touch is more meaningful, which is a sentiment shared by the entire team.

ZZZ is not without its flaws, of course. Previous tests revealed several issues.

For instance, many players were dissatisfied with the hollow exploration (roguelike mode) in earlier tests, finding it lengthy and tedious, as it required constant movement, choices, battles, puzzles, and ability upgrades. Many players just wanted to fight.

Zhenyu Li also agreed with it, "The first or second time I played hollow exploration, it was fun and meaningfu; but after a few times, I felt fatigued and realized the experience wasn't ideal. Then, after a break, it became interesting again. So, the mode isn't unfun; the team just didn't arrange the pacing correctly."

Meanwhile, some players consider this mode very enjoyable, leaving the team conflicted. "Who should we satisfy? If we cater to one group, the other will lose out, and this mode is one of the game's core selling points."

Ultimately, the team found a solution: let the players themselves to choose. Those who want to fight can fight, while those who enjoy exploration can be satisfied too. In the latest third test, the hollow exploration mode was split into two tasks: pure combat and pure exploration based on grid movement.

This is why no new content was added in the third test. The team focused on fine-tuning existing content, smoothing the experience curve.

Regarding the future, Zhenyu Li mentioned that ZZZ's multiplayer mode is in development, but it won't be a major part of the game, mostly consisting of mini-games.

As for auto-combat, the team is considering it but hasn't decided yet. Zhenyu Li said, "We don't want to move in that direction until we can understand players' real needs. We want to do something genuinely interesting for players, not just make it easier for them to leave the keyboard."

04 Surviving and Thriving

After the success of "Genshin Impact" and "Honkai: Star Rail", ZZZ faces significant pressure.

Firstly, the gameplay, character progression, and monetization models might lead to player fatigue. Players still need to log in daily, complete tasks, and collect gacha resources within limited timeframes to get desired characters. Secondly, with two highly successful predecessors, what level of success does ZZZ need to meet expectations?

Zhenyu Li acknowwledged, "The pressure is real, but it's also the team's motivation." He turned the pressure into a simple guiding principle: "Be better".

ZZZ aims to cater to action game fans, offering fast-paced real-time combat and a unique urban visual style, setting it apart from previous MiHoYo works.

In today's world, where players have many choices and developers compete for attention, Zhenyu Li believes it's crucial not to demand too much time from players.

"I don't want players to feel they must achieve an ultimate goal. We're trying to creat something where players can leave and return to find joy again an enjoy the game, rather than focusing solely on reaching an ultimate goal or completing the story quests."

For example, similar to "Genshin Impact" and "Honkai: Star Rail", players can quickly start events and jump to bosses without needing to complete certain preconditions and story quests.

ZZZ faces many challenges, including player expectations, market expectations, and company expectations. But Zhenyu Li said, "The only way to survive is to do content correctly and make it the best."