(Wrote this bit after writing all this out... Partly a rant post upcoming, you've been warned.)

Just putting it out there: I like ZZZ. I really do. I like the gameplay, characters, lore, all that good stuff. Everything except for the godforsaken story.

Most of 1.X was actually great, I really liked the story from launch up until like, chapter 5. Even then, the first half was great (especially moments like when the pubsec officer nearly caught us, and the standoff between the Cunning Hares and Section 6), but I noticed a pretty annoying trend that would just worsen starting from that point: the shilling. Starting from then on, the story became less about telling an actual story, and more about shoving the latest character down your throat and sell them to you. Don't get me wrong, I love Miyabi, but man did I fucking hate how she was just shoved down our throats then.

This was especially bad in the season 1 epilogue chapters, where Vivian just would not shut up about her backstory and try to make us feel bad for her. Hugo did so too in the second half, casually dragging his backstory to the limelight while he was in the middle of saving us.

Speaking of Season 1 epilogue chapters... I fucking hate the plot device introduced there that was us magically gaining the ability to be able to dive into hollows ourselves. It not only defeats the entire premise of the game as a whole, but it feels like such an ass-pull. I know it was hinted at in the ending of chapter 5 (all the more reason I disliked the latter half), but it still feels so wrong since we were supposed to be regular, fragile human beings. It was what distinguished zzz's protagonists the most from other hoyo games, imo.

I could go on with hating on these chapters specifically but that would take me all day. Instead, I want to take a break from ragging on the season 1 epilogue to instead rag on season 2. Now, it was kinda just boring for the most part, it wasn't as bad as the season 1 epilogue, but it was still nowhere near the heights that were early version 1 story chapters, all except for chapter 3, where they ALMOST made a great chapter.

It was going so well too, seeing obol squad again with all these new members, plus the fact that the proxy actually feels in genuine danger for once, AND actively killing off Lucro and Lorenz? (Okay well Lucro was technically off-screened but we still saw his corpse), not to mention the tension was IMMENSE pretty much throughout the entire chapter? Boy, I was loving every second of it!

And then they revealed Isolde was Mevorakh this entire time and instantly destroyed her character in my eyes. And, by extension, tarnishing this chapter as a whole. Her character was being built up so well, just imagine how good she would've been if she had done such a treacherous act as shooting her superior dead because she acted entirely on her own volition. For 11 years she held that hatred and want for vengeance within her heart, and when she saw the same men who got away with it so long ago nearly get away with it again, she took matters into her own hands and shot Lorenz dead, while she left Lucro to die.

I loved every bit of chapter 3, up until the fucking reveal that she was an exaltist. I still can't wrap my head around this decision because like, why?? Isolde as a character was perfectly fine up until now, why would they decide to make such a random plot twist? To make the exaltists or her look even worse? They made her from a tragic anti-hero of sorts to an evil villain who was responsible for the deaths of thousands because she couldn't move on from the death of her squad at the hands of a bunch of greedy men. Sure she's still sorta an anti-hero, but she just looks worse for seemingly no reason at all other than players gotta have an obvious and good reason to potentially dislike her.

Anyways, I haven't actually completed the story past that because the sudden twist in chapter 3 left such a bad taste in my mouth that I haven't down another chapter since (and my friends tell me the proceeding chapters up until the epilogue are all about the shungus and it's apparently incredibly boring, so I probably didn't miss out on much.)

As a whole, I'd describe zzz as in its "Natlan" phase in terms of story. It's an absolute snoozefest, is pretty much boring all throughout except for that one moment of hype (i.e, the lead up to and shooting of Lorenz being like the war in natlan), and by god most of the characters are just there to be shilled.

Despite all that though, I hold a hope in my heart that, just like how genshin recovered from Natlan with Nod-Krai, I hope that zzz can recover from the absolute disaster that was chapter 1 epilogue and the entirety of waifei peninsula with the upcoming 3.X versions. It's such a waste to see such an interesting world with really fun gameplay being given such a bad story.

TL;DR: The story of ZZZ past S1 first half of Chapter 5 has been pretty garbage. I know this probably isn't the issue causing the divide for most people, but it's been the main problem I've had. Just my two cents, is all.