Summary
Zenless Zone Zerois a lot like the other games from HoYoverse akaGenshin ImpactandHonkai: Star Rail. The anime influence is through the roof with the wild character designs, world, and story. It also has a lot of differences including team-based combat and a social aspect with other characters.
Zenless Zone Zerowon’t be for everyone, but HoYoverse fans certainly won’t be disappointed. And for those who do digZenless Zone Zeroand its daily operations, these other games are worth recommending too. From other anime games to gacha experiences to social experiments, there should be something here for all and across a wide range of consoles too.
Chrono Triggeris aclassic turn-based RPGthat was a trendsetter in many ways. It’s one of the first games to get rid of random encounters. Monsters encountered in dungeons instead had more dynamic setups. Also, the three party members could combine attacks for double or even triple strikes.
For example, one early one had Crono and Frog attack enemies in an “X” pattern while another saw Lucca add fire to Crono’s spin attack. WhileZenless Zone Zerodoesn’t have combo attacks like this, the assist system is similar. It’s a good idea for players interested to go back to 1995 withChrono Triggerso that they can see where the DNA for combo attacks largely began. Again, it’s also just a masterful RPG on many other levels.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthis the second part of the remake trilogy and it added some combat techniques thatFinal Fantasy 7 Remakelacked. LikeChrono Trigger, characters could combine attacks known asSynergies inFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth. One hilarious one had Cait Sith wield Cloud’s sword for a powerful strike.
Those cost charges on the Synergy meter but there were free combo attacks too. Cloud could throw Tifa into the air to start an air combo, for example. It was a battle system stuffed with ideas keeping combat feeling fresh even after 50+ hours of gameplay. UnlikeZenless Zone Zero’smore confined areas,Final Fantasy7 Rebirthis an open-world adventure that should give fans ofZenless Zone Zeroa nice change of pace.
Any ofthePersonagamesare worth recommending as that series helped define the social aspect of modern RPGs.Persona 4fits the best withZenless Zone Zerothough because the gimmick also revolves around TVs. The teens inPersona 4can put on special glasses and jump into TVs to explore pocket-dimensional dungeons.
The overall goal is to solve a murder mystery going around town. It’s one of the wildest turn-based RPGs ever made and a long one too. That’s why it was such a good companion for the PS Vita when the expanded edition came out. RPGs just feel better on portables.
Project X Zoneis another wild portable game because it crosses over characters between three major companies: Bandai Namco, Capcom, and Sega. If players ever wanted to seeStreet Fightercharacters match wits with characters fromtheTalesseriesor theSakura Warsseries, this is the game to get. Battles play out on large grid-based maps.
Characters are joined by partners and once combat is initiated, players can input combos and string assists together like in a fighting game. Adjacent heroes on the board can help out too. Similar to other tactical RPGs, there’s a lot to learn and it’s not an easy game to finish.Project X Zone, and its sequel also on the 3DS, are great fan letters and tactical RPGs to boot.
Zenless Zone Zerois on the verge of the end of the world whereas the apocalypse already happened inScarlet Nexus. Most citizens live in one major city and agents are sent out to stop anomalies and monsters from invading. Players can choose to play as Kasane or Yuito, similar to the choice players get to have betweenWise and Belle inZenless Zone Zero.
The big difference is that the storylines between Kasane and Yuito are different. They follow the same path more or less but with a different set of characters and goals. To get the full breadth of the story, players have to go through it twice. Thankfully, the slick anime visuals and hardcore action make it worth replaying.
The World Ends With Youis about Neku, a young teen who gets transported to another version of Shibuya in Japan. He somehow died and had to play a death game to break free as a ghost or the equivalent of a ghost. It followed a pattern of seven days and after every cycle, Neku would get a new partner for combat.
Neku started as an angsty teen but with every story beat, he grew as a character. His journey made the story impactful but so did theintense action RPGgameplay between the two DS screens and the J-Pop and hip hop-influenced soundtrack. The game made Shibuya a character just like the town inZenless Zone Zerofeels alive which is why fans would dig The World Ends With You.
