I ’ve been playingZenless Zone Zerofor two week now — I downloaded it the day before the Fourth of July — and I ’m already enjoying it more thanGenshin Impact . Thecombat mechanicsare unlined , its cutscenes finger like they were pulled from a manga , and it ’s got more substantial penning than its Genshin counterpart ( its eccentric hurl of hero is stick together like glue ! ) . Deep into my playthrough , my beau of eight years inquired something about the game ’s aesthetics that I did n’t see until he asked : “ Have we reached the point where video games are catering to 2000s nostalgia ? ”
I ’ve seen Hot Topic and Walmart selling in writing T - shirt based onBratz , Invader Zim , Inuyasha , Lilo & Stitch , andThe Powerpuff Girls(the original , not its 2016 reboot ) to Millennials and Gen zee folk who grew up in the 2000s , such as myself . That nostalgia has permit me to publicly express my youthfulness through my wearing apparel well preceding eld 30 . A video game that give birth the aesthetics of that decade , though ? That ’s been a rarity .
Society has brought 2000s daddy culture out of the woodwork as of late , from style to medicine to even tech like theMotorola Razr Plus , a intercrossed touchscreen flip speech sound that Paris Hilton call up is hot . Zenless Zone Zerois filled to the rim with 2000s nostalgia , and that ’s part of what makes it one of this summertime ’s raging games .
Blast from the past
Zenless Zone Zerohas the flavour and finger of a futuristic postapocalyptic landscape thanks to its Ethereals emerging from the Hollows to eradicate most of world before the game ’s events . New Eridu , the metropolis build by subsister of the Ethereal purging where most of the game read place , adopts a retro artistic that necessitate player back to the 2000s ( despite some robot running a few businesses ) .
That noughties aesthetic is not without some holdovers from the 1990s . Random Play , the rental television computer memory run by the plot ’s protagonists Belle and Wise , is the HoYoverse version of Blockbuster . Belle or Wise , depending on who you pick at the beginning of the game , will persuade people who come in to the memory board to sign up for their rank program at either full price or rebate . If you ’re not sure how that work , think aboutMovie Pass , the monthly subscription broadcast Blockbuster launched in 2004 .
Inside the video storage , the cover prowess for the tapes and the posters cite popular medium from the nineties and 2000s . The two posters hanging in the back way that doubles as Belle and Wise ’s foot of Proxy mathematical process are recall toThe Fast and the FuriousandNeon Genesis Evangelion . Starlight Knight , Billy Kid ’s favorite television receiver show , is intemperately inspired byPower Rangers . The show is so popular in the game ’s population that Billy quote argumentation from it and consult to himself as one of the Starlight Knights — something a lot of us Millennials did after watchingMight Morphin ’ Power Rangersas kids . It ’s so pop that one of the A - Rank W - Engines ( weapon ) was designed after the scarlet Starlight Knight , with the gold maven on top of the helmet to equate .
The fibre inZenless Zone Zeronot only wear graphic tees have artwork of characters from their favored in - cosmos media but also fashion that reflects the finish of the other 2000s . Cargo pants , which made a major comeback in the substantial world , are the go - to piece of clothing for some fibre , like Anton , Grace , Piper , Billy , and Koleda . They also wear skater - style clothes , like short dame , tops with unique pattern , platform footwear , low - rise boxershorts and pants , and fit with a bright color palette — all of which were the envy of every adolescent whose school attire code did not allow for them .
Even the technology in the biz is a mix of old and new . Belle and Wise purpose smartphones , while other characters can be envision carrying flip sound . Some of them resemble the coveted Motorola Razr , while others reckon like Sanyo flip earphone with build up - in television camera . Computers have flat - screen monitors , but boob tube are mostly CRTs and box TVs with cassette players alternatively of videodisk instrumentalist , even though DVDs were in the first place used in the 2000s . On top of that , the colonnade has a game that resemblesSnakecalledSnake Duel , which allows you to play against other people .
The 2000s aesthetic is n’t just for show ; it ’s a reflexion of a cultural consequence . Some biz that amount out in the 2000s , likeTony Hawk ’s Pro Skater 3andDef Jam Vendetta , fit right into that X . The scene in those titles reflected existent - world culture at the time . Zenless Zone Zerotakes place sometime between this tenner and by and by this century . The environment is straddling two time full point : its present solar day and the turn of the new millennium .
The residents of New Eridu are living in an era where the populace is in a horrid state of matter because the Ethereals destroyed everything . the great unwashed are retain on to pop civilisation , wishing for well daytime . Part of what I ’m enjoying aboutZenless Zone Zeroso far is on a meta level . Those references are also bringingmecomfort right now . I have days where I care I could go 20 years into the past and relive my pre - teen days of toy outdoors with my friends , watching my favorite Cartoon internet and Nickelodeon shows , playing video games , and flipping through teen cartridge holder for the latest mode course without worrying about the tense political clime or environmental disasters that pose a threat to our hereafter .
To answer my boyfriend ’s question , we absolutely reach a point where video games are catering to people who grow up during the 2000s . Zenless Zone Zerois flush nostalgia for millennials ; maybe my generation needs that small comfort decently now .
