I’ve been playing Zenless Zone Zero for two weeks now — I downloaded it the day before the Fourth of July — and I’m already enjoying it more than Genshin Impact. The combat mechanics are seamless, its cutscenes feel like they were pulled from a manga, and it’s got more substantial writing than its Genshin counterpart (its eccentric cast of heroes is stuck together like glue!). Deep into my playthrough, my boyfriend of eight years inquired something about the game’s aesthetics that I didn’t consider until he asked: “Have we reached the point where video games are catering to 2000s nostalgia?”
I’ve seen Hot Topic and Walmart selling graphic T-shirts based on Bratz, Invader Zim, Inuyasha, Lilo & Stitch, and The Powerpuff Girls (the original, not its 2016 reboot) to Millennials and Gen Z folks who grew up in the 2000s, such as myself. That nostalgia has permitted me to publicly express my youthfulness through my clothes well past age 30. A video game that bears the aesthetics of that decade, though? That’s been a rarity.
Society has brought 2000s pop culture out of the woodwork as of late, from fashion to music to even tech like the Motorola Razr Plus, a hybrid touchscreen flip phone that Paris Hilton thinks is hot. Zenless Zone Zero is filled to the brim with 2000s nostalgia, and that’s part of what makes it one of this summer’s hottest games.
Blast from the past
Zenless Zone Zero has the look and feel of a futuristic postapocalyptic landscape thanks to its Ethereals emerging from the Hollows to decimate most of humanity before the game’s events. New Eridu, the city built by survivors of the Ethereal purge where most of the game takes place, adopts a retro aesthetic that takes players back to the 2000s (despite some robots running a few businesses).
That noughties aesthetic is not without some holdovers from the 1990s. Random Play, the rental video store run by the game’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 store to sign up for their membership program at either full price or discount. If you’re not sure how that works, think about Movie Pass, the monthly subscription program Blockbuster launched in 2004.
Inside the video store, the cover art for the tapes and the posters reference popular media from the 1990s and 2000s. The two posters hanging in the back room that doubles as Belle and Wise’s base of Proxy operations are callbacks to The Fast and the Furious and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Starlight Knight, Billy Kid’s favorite TV show, is heavily inspired by Power Rangers. The show is so popular in the game’s universe that Billy quotes lines from it and refers to himself as one of the Starlight Knights — something a lot of us Millennials did after watching Might Morphin’ Power Rangers as kids. It’s so popular that one of the A-Rank W-Engines (weapons) was designed after the red Starlight Knight, with the gold star on top of the helmet to match.
The characters in Zenless Zone Zero not only wear graphic tees featuring artwork of characters from their favorite in-universe media but also fashion that reflects the culture of the early 2000s. Cargo pants, which made a major comeback in the real world, are the go-to pieces of clothing for some characters, like Anton, Grace, Piper, Billy, and Koleda. They also wear skater-style clothes, like short skirts, tops with unique designs, platform footwear, low-rise shorts and pants, and outfits with a bright color palette — all of which were the envy of every teenager whose school dress codes did not allow for them.
Even the technology in the game is a mix of old and new. Belle and Wise use smartphones, while other characters can be seen carrying flip phones. Some of them resemble the coveted Motorola Razr, while others look like Sanyo flip phones with built-in cameras. Computers have flat-screen monitors, but TVs are mostly CRTs and box TVs with cassette players instead of DVD players, even though DVDs were primarily used in the 2000s. On top of that, the arcade has a game that resembles Snake called Snake Duel, which allows you to play against other people.
The 2000s aesthetic isn’t just for show; it’s a reflection of a cultural moment. Some games that came out in the 2000s, like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and Def Jam Vendetta, fit right into that decade. The setting in those titles reflected real-world culture at the time. Zenless Zone Zero takes place sometime between this decade and later this century. The environment is straddling two time periods: its present day and the turn of the new millennium.
The residents of New Eridu are living in an era where the world is in a horrid state because the Ethereals destroyed everything. People are holding on to pop culture, wishing for better days. Part of what I’m enjoying about Zenless Zone Zero so far is on a meta level. Those references are also bringing me comfort right now. I have days where I wish I could go 20 years into the past and relive my pre-adolescent days of playing outside with my friends, watching my favorite Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon shows, playing video games, and flipping through teen magazines for the latest fashion trends without worrying about the tense political climate or environmental disasters that pose a threat to our future.
To answer my boyfriend’s question, we absolutely reached a point where video games are catering to people who grew up during the 2000s. Zenless Zone Zero is peak nostalgia for millennials; maybe my generation needs that small comfort right now.
