ZZZ 1.5 review:
-The story is 1 - 2 hours long, but it adds a new location to the city (the developers are slowly building up New Eridu to what they want it to be with each patch, though it often leads to lack of content, so it’s more or less players trusting them properly utilizing the full city in the future)
-New characters are fun to play, but will almost assuredly be powercrept by 2.X. Astra Yao is the obvious standout with her on-field support while constantly switching out additional characters, though expect to pull her body guard as well if you want meta synergy (please do not do this with cash money, the game gives enough currency for C0 pulls)
-The patch event is legally distinct Fall Guys (this is the third HoYoVerse game to have this style of event), set after the patch story, so it’s canon. Yes, it seems to be multiplayer as well! I don’t know why HoYoVerse keeps adding this game mode years after Fall Guys fell off!
So far it seems to be a filler patch, since the “first season” of the story ended in 1.4, and I anticipate the patches leading up to 2.0 being filler as well. It also has to contend with releasing in the shadow of Wuthering Waves 2.0, but that’s a review for when I go further into the new continent (I am still finding new things to do entirely outside the main story).
Hopefully the ZZZ team are pulling out all the stops for 2.0, because I don’t think I can recommend the game in this state. Personally, I think they should go full-on social sim in the vein of Persona; people like the characters and aesthetics, but they don’t like the gameplay, so play up to those strengths and reap the benefits.