I adore Zenless Zone Zero’s combat, characters, and world, but the exploration feature leaves a lot to be desired. It was a major pain point during the ZZZ closed beta tests (CBTs), and while the full launch had some great improvements, it’s still incredibly slow, clunky, and lethargic. Lucky for us, developer HoYoverse is planning even more changes to the system, among a whole host of big improvements coming to Honkai Star Rail and Genshin Impact’s urban sci-fi sibling.
For the avoidance of doubt, I’m talking about Zenless Zone Zero’s Monitor Array feature, the parts of missions where you bounce between TV screens to find combat and exploration scenarios, collect loot, and advance the story. My problem, and what makes the Monitor Array so divisive, is just how slow it is. As Zenless is also a mobile game, played on smaller screens and in shorter bursts, I understand how the system works to support that, but doing absolutely anything takes an age.
The gacha game constantly throws you into pop-ups, text chats, and stops any sense of forward momentum during Monitor Array segments, and it brings the otherwise brisk combat experience to a grinding halt.
HoYoverse did add the accelerated playback feature to Monitor Arrays after complaints during the CBTs, which vastly sped up how they’re played, but it’s still not quite enough. This is why, as a part of ZZZ patch 1.2, that’s going to change.
“While exploring the ‘Monitor Array’ the automatic accelerated playback, when enabled, will not be interrupted by other events,” HoYoverse says. “Additionally, the animation playback speed for some events will be increased, providing a smoother gaming experience.”
The Monitor Array was already part of the big Zenless Zone Zero Hollow rework ahead of launch, and when we asked HoYoverse producer Zhenyu Li about it, they said the team had identified problems with “the pace and flow of general missions in the Hollows.” It’s an ongoing issue, and HoYo’s open communication and upcoming fixes are a great sign of things to come.
HoYoverse’s full update can be found right here, and it dives into a plethora of combat and customization changes heading our way in patches 1.1, 1.2, and beyond.
As you explore New Eridu we’ve got your back with all the free Zenless Zone Zero codes, the details of each upcoming Zenless Zone Zero banner, and even what to expect from the big Zenless Zone Zero events.
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