Hoyoverse / HGG via Brittany Alva
Author XP
Human Made
Penned by Brittany Alva
Brittany is our resident Palia and Honkai: Star Rail specialist.
Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
Zenless Zone Zero is just like every other Hoyoverse gacha game in terms of story – it’s long, there are a lot of characters, and there’s a lot of time spent grinding to get to different story parts. The story is pretty good, and the colorful cast of characters makes it stand out among other free-to-play games. However, it can be easy to forget the specifics between every story break.
Luckily, Zenless Zone Zero is broken up into Chapters for every kind of mission. So far, Chapters One to Three have been released, and as more updates come out, more Chapters will be released.
We’ve got a recap of all current Chapters in the game so you can remember everything you need to know. Each one is broken down by the characters and the story events that take place in each one based on the HDD Chapters.
Chapter One – Prologue
The first Chapter in Zenless Zone Zero is an introduction to New Eridu, its politics, and the elusive Hollows that exist.
Characters
Most of the characters in Chapter One are the Cunning Hares, a group that consists of Anby and Billy, who are led by Nicole. Nekomata is introduced halfway through the Chapter, and they eventually run into Corrin, as well. Corrin has a brief cameo here, but she’s not seen again until Chapter Three.
Story
At the very start, Nicole, Anby, and Billy are stealing a strongbox for a client. They’re being chased by the Public Security when Anby and Billy get stuck in a Hollow. While they evaded Public Security, they’re virtually lost in the confusing area without a Proxy.
That’s where the main character comes in. Wise and Belle, the male and female protagonist siblings, are a Proxy group that goes by Phaethon. Nicole has known the two for quite some time, and she enlists their help to find Anby and Billy.
Belle and Wise are able to find the rest of the Cunning Hares, saving the group. Next, Phaethon is tasked with saving a construction crew that got lost in the Hollow. Phaethon ends up being kicked out of their Inter-Knot account and forced to use a backup that they have. Their Inter-Knot account is how they take commissions, since being a Proxy isn’t legal in most cases, and they have to start from basically scratch.
In the midst of this, an AI takes over and forces the MC to sign a contract with them. The AI, Fairy, helps them as they dive into the Hollow.
Their next mission comes from Nekomata, who Belle and Wise haven’t met. However, she says that the Cunning Hares sent her after being trapped in the Hollow. A company called Vision Corporation (sound familiar, Genshin Impact fans?) is planning to blow up an abandoned area to save money.
However, a group of trapped people live in the Hollow right there. Vision Corporation knows this and doesn’t care, and they’ve sent a train full of explosives to take them all out. The people included here are the Red Fang Gang, a group that Nekomata used to be a part of. However, she defaulted after their leader went bloodthirsty.
Together, Belle and Wise work to reroute the train while the Cunning Hares protect the people in the Hollow. After a successful mission, Nicole and the others proudly walk out of the Hollow with everyone in tow. While this caused the Cunning Hares to be caught, it also caused the Vision Corporation to be exposed.
This ends with a trial that Nicole and the head of the Vision Corporation, Pearlman, have to attend, which is addressed in Chapter Three.
Chapter Two
Chapter Two of Zenless Zone Zero takes things in a bit of a different direction, introducing Belobog Heavy Industries (Honkai: Star Rail fans, this one’s for you). This Chapter gets a bit more emotional than political.
Characters
Belobog Heavy Industries includes Ben, Anton, and Grace, and Koleda is their leader. There are a few bots that are also included in the story, and Koleda’s father, Khors, makes an appearance as well.
Story
Anton commissions Phaethon to help Belobog Heavy Industries stop some rampaging machines. The company is in a bit of shambles, which is explored while the group goes through the Hollow to rescue three different bots.
Years prior, Khors fled and left the company to Koleda after being caught embezzling money. This story unfolds over a few different missions, and it culminates at the end of Chapter Two. The last Hollow area contains the secret to Khors disappearance, and Koleda finds out that Khors never actually ran with the money.
The inside of the last prototype machine was full of bullets and an invoice for the same amount that Khors “took.” Koleda ends up using the machine to fight, resulting in an epic battle scene. The group had run into a monster in a monument inside the Hollow that was outside of its league.
Public Security plans to look into the matter and recover the prototype, but Koleda doesn’t want them to know about the truth just yet. She gives the siblings the data chip with the last moments of her father on it. Unfortunately, he used some kind of encryption process that the gang didn’t know about.
Belle and Wise promise to decode the chip, and they enlist Fairy’s help. Unfortunately, Fairy can’t do it but it finds a hacker on Inter-Knot that can. The hacker is Rain, an acquaintance of Nicole’s.
Chapter 2 – Interlude
The Chapter 2 – Interlude takes a bit of a break from the main story, diving into the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team. It’s a fun introduction to more characters more than anything.
Characters (Zhu Yuan, Qingyi)
The Chapter Two – Interlude focuses on Zhu Yuan and Qingyi, two officials with the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team. They’re part of Public Security, meaning that Belle and Wise have to be careful around them to not get caught being an illegal Proxy.
Story
The siblings head to Lumina Square and run into a guy using an EMP emitter that almost causes Belle to get into an accident. Zhu Yuan and Qingyi are nearby and chase the perpetrator when he runs into the Hollow.
Belle and Wise don’t want to leave the Public Security team to fend for themselves, so they go home and help them through the Hollow as Proxies. There, they discover that the man is targeting the monster from Chapter Two that Koleda had defeated.
The duo are able to get out with Phaethon’s help, and Public Security goes to the Hollow to check out the monster. Qingyi thinks something is inside of the monster, but that gets forgotten as another officer appears. When Zhu Yuan starts talking about its unknown characteristics, the officer stops her and says that the election is around the corner, and it wouldn’t do to have such news get out to the public.
The forensics team ends up taking a sample of the monster with them.
Chapter Three
Characters
Chapter Three starts out with the Cunning Hares (Nicole, Anby, Billy, and Nekomata) before introducing Victoria Housekeeping Co., a group consisting of Lycaon, Ellen Joe, Rina, and Corrin. The new spirited group is quick to help Phaethon and the Cunning Hares.
Rain is a non-playable character (as of now) that’s important to this Chapter. Grace and Koleda also make an appearance.
Story
Chapter Three jumps back into the fray with Nicole about to head into court. However, right before she’s supposed to leave, messages from an old friend, Rain, come through blank. Nicole is nervous about this and gets Phatheon to help find Rain.
Because Nicole has to arrive in court, Anby, Billy, and Nekomata enter the Hollow where Rain’s phone number was tracked to. This specific area is at the Ballet Twins, an infamous supernatural terror.
There, the group runs into Lycaon, Corrin, Ellen Joe, and Rina. Lycaon tells them to explain themselves but turns friendly once Corrin remembers Nekomata.
At that moment, Nicole texts the MC that Billy, Anby, and Nekomata are being summoned to court as well. Rain is still missing though, so Lycaon, Corrin, and Rina decide to help. First, they have to solve some blackout problems in the Ballet Twins.
After restoring the power, the group finds Rain’s backpack with a music device in it. The music attracts Ethereals, which has the team thinking that they’re being set up. They’re attacked by several people from a rebel group, and it turns out that they caused the blackout.
Victoria Housekeeping finds out that Rain is being held at the top of Tower B in the Ballet Twins.
While Victoria Housekeeping goes to save Rain, Billy calls Phaethon with worrying news. Everyone on the airship on the way to court has passed out after a suitcase was opened and smoke poured out.
With the pilots passed out, Billy notices that the airship’s auto-pilot path has been rerouted to the Ballet Twins Hollow. Belle and Wise deduce that Rain probably changed the pathing. With everyone converging on the Ballet Twins, the Cunning Hares (i.e., the only one awake, Billy) and Victoria Housekeeping band together.
They arrive just in time to save Rain and the airship. Unfortunately, in the chaos of everything, Pearlman takes the airship to the Outer Ring, an area around New Eridu that’s not fit to live in.
Time skips a few days, and Rain cracks the code for Belobog Industries’ memory chip. They call Koleda and Grace to listen to the device and find out that the monster from Chapter Two is called a Sacrifice, a name that Rain had also mentioned when she dropped off the memory chip. Khors was ultimately killed over this, confirming that he didn’t take any of the money and disappear as everyone thought.
Rain thought that the Sacrifice was what the rebel group was after and that it all connected to Pearlman somehow.
Lycaon and Rina are listening into the group, and players are shown that they know about the Sacrifice and are investigating it as well. Their mysterious Master wants them to continue working with Phaethon and potentially be allies.
