The second Zenless Zone Zero beta test starts near the end of November 2023, and ahead of that, HoYoverse published a deep dive about one of the features players can expect to see in the free-to-play game: Hollow Exploration. These are one of Zenless Zone Zero’s roguelike elements, with randomized progression and even a splash of Darkest Dungeon thrown in the mix.
You start Hollow Explorations to complete a commission and choose the rooms you want to enter, each with a different set of challenges to face and, maybe, some ways to help you get even better rewards. Some items give you combat advantages in that particular Hollow, though if you’re lucky enough to find Observation Data sets, you’ll get top-notch rewards when you’re finished exploring.
Every room you enter in Hollow Exploration puts Pressure on your party, and at a certain point, that Pressure turns into a Corruption effect – a debuff that hampers your party in some way. You can end up with five Pressure effects before maxing out Pressure just starts reducing your HP.
There’s a lot to explore – 12 mechanisms, seven terrain types, eight resource rooms, and 10 formidable threats. Sticking it out is worth the trouble, though. Aside from the rewards you get at the end of your time in a Hollow, you can also find character ascension materials and other resources to use back in the city.
That’s just during the beta. Like Genshin Impact’s Domains and Honkai Star Rail’s Simulated Universe, HoYoverse will likely add more Hollow Exploration zones as the game grows after the RPG launches in 2024 – though HoYoverse hasn’t announced when yet.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
