HoYoVerse spotlights Zenless Zone Zero, Honkai Star Rail, and Genshin Impact in Gamescom 2023 trailers
HoYoVerse was on hand at Gamescom 2023's Opening Night Live broadcast to promote games both released and upcoming, particularly Honkai Star Rail, Genshin Impact, and the still-in-development urban fantasy RPG Zenless Zone Zero. HoYoVerse had three trailers to show off during the presentation.
Zenless Zone Zero
The first new Zenless Zone Zero trailer in nearly a year focused on different characters' combat animations, as well as what looks to be an "assist" mechanic, where the active character can call in setup maneuvers from other, related characters.
Appearing on stage during the Gamescom 2023 Opening Night Live broadcast, Zenless Zone Zero producer Zhenyu Li said that ZZZ will highlight "immersive urban life" in the city of New Eridu, where players control "Proxies" to take on missions and explore the dangerous "Hollow" spaces that threaten the city. The mechanic shown off in the trailer can also work as a counter system, allowing active characters to unleash flashy counterstrikes when attacked by foes.
Li said that the development team was "close to the next stage of Zenless Zone Zero," though he didn't specify what that means. Seeing as the game has had closed beta test waves since the debut of its previous trailer at the 2022 Tokyo Game Show, it likely will enter an open beta or test phase before its final launch - whenever that is set for.
Honkai Star Rail
For Honkai Star Rail, HoYoVerse's Gamescom trailer focused on Fu Xuan and Lynx, two of the new characters planned for addition with the upcoming version 1.3 update.
In the trailer, Fu Xuan has taken over the role of general for the Xianzhou Luofu, and is spearheading recovery efforts following the recent tumult. An encounter with a mystic trash can teleports her and Qingque to Belobog, where they get assistance from Lynx, the third of the Landau siblings. Fu Xuan will be added to the game as a 5-Star Quantum-element Preservation unit, while Lynx will share her banner as the featured 4-Star unit. Lynx herself is a Quantum-element Abundance unit.
HoYoVerse also announced that as of August 23, 2023, signups are ongoing for a Technical Test of the PlayStation 5 version of Honkai Star Rail. Interested players can pre-register at this link.
Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact has just launched its latest major world and story update, and HoYoverse's trailer focused on briefly recapping the Traveler's journey prior to arriving in the new land of Fontaine.
Aside from the recap, the new trailer showed of Lyney and Lynette, one of Fontaine's world bosses, and the Traveler's powers when attuned to the Hydro element. HoYoVerse also announced its first international live concert series, "Genshin Concert Tour: Melodies of an Endless Journey." HoYoVerse plans for the concerts to take place in 12 cities across 8 countries worldwide between Q4 of 2023 and Q1 of 2024. Those interested will eventually be able to purchase tickets for the concerts at this special site.
Honkai Star Rail is available on PC and mobile devices, while Genshin Impact is available on PS4, PS5, PC, and mobile devices. Zenless Zone Zero is in development.