Zenless Zone Zero, the urban action game in the works at Genshin Impact and now Honkai Star Rail developer Hoyoverse, turned up at Gamescom 2023's Opening Night Live show with the first new trailer we've seen in almost a year.
Producer Zhenyu Li offered a brief summary of the game ahead of the trailer debut, acknowledging the gap in updates since the game's first closed beta test and affirming that this is indeed an "urban fantasy ARPG."
"I know it's been a while since we've given you an update on what we've been working on, and that's why I'm particularly happy to be here today to give you an update on the progress that we've made with this game," he adds. "We've brought a trailer with us and it shows you some of the urban environments that we've been working on and also some of the dynamics of the game. I hope you like it."
- Phantom Blade Zero is a "kung fu punk" action RPG that wants to follow in the footsteps of Black Myth Wukong: "there's a lot of pressure on us, but I think in a good way"
- Zenless Zone Zero is still aggressively horny, but basically everything else has changed and now it's a much better action RPG with some legit roguelike sauce
As Li implied, the trailer spends a lot of time on the environments of New Eridu, which you'll defend against attacks from abyssal monsters known as Hollows. Some familiar faces also make an appearance, but rather than the characters themselves, there's an emphasis on their role in combat, namely Zenless Zone Zero's assist system. You can swap into allies for defensive, evasive, or offensive assist moves, and this trailer certainly makes combat look flashy and punchy.
There's still no word on the next Zenless Zone Zero closed beta, let alone a final release date. Given Hoyoverse's track record, at least two more beta periods are expected before full release, so odds are good we won't see this game until next year.
At least Honkai Star Rail is coming to PS5 at the end of 2023.
