Summary
- Zenless Zone Zero features two siblings, Belle and Wise, as t Proxies in New Eridu, a city threatened by Hollows.
- Choosing between Belle and Wise affects cutscenes and overworld exploration, but both options are viable and offer similar experiences.
- Wise's character model offers slightly faster movement, providing a minor advantage for speedrunning, but ultimately, player preference should guide the choice.
As is the case in most popular gacha games, Zenless Zone Zero features an important choice in the beginning of its story: Belle or Wise? HoYoverse's new action-RPG follows the journey of two siblings, Belle and Wise, who operate as one t Proxy in the city of New Eridu. The world is plagued by Hollows that spawn nightmarish monsters, and New Eridu is the last bastion of humanity's hope and survival. Proxies use technology to explore these dangerous Hollows safely from afar, and Belle and Wise operate as two of the best in the business.
The Zenless Zone Zero story features the siblings heavily, and they're a major presence in many cutscenes and conversations. With that much screentime, it's actually a fairly important question to answer: should a player choose Belle or Wise? While the answer requires some explanation, players need not worry - both options are completely viable, even though they do have more impact than, say, choosing between Aether and Lumine in Genshin Impact.
Zenless Zone Zero: Every Playable Character Available At Launch, Ranked
Zenless Zone Zero wants every character be relevant, but there are still some ZZZ agents who are a cut above the rest. Here's our ranked list.
Should You Choose Belle or Wise in ZZZ
A Choice That Actually Matters (Somewhat)
Choosing between the two siblings in Zenless Zone Zero largely amounts to a change in aesthetic. Overworld exploration and quest cutscenes will be affected by this choice - if a player chooses Belle, for instance, she will appear in New Eridu sidequest cutscenes as the primary point of more often than her brother, though many stories are told with both siblings involved. Exploring New Eridu, which will be a much bigger part of ZZZ as an urban lifestyle game, is also done entirely with the sibling a player chooses as their avatar at the beginning of the game. That means people will be seeing a lot of Belle and Wise, and should choose the character they enjoy the most as a result.
That said, it could also come down to voice acting for some. Whichever sibling isn't chosen often ends up providing more narrative exposition, since their lines are locked in and the main characters are often chosen from among a few different options. There's an argument to select the character whose voice acting you don't want to hear as often, then, since you'll get more speaking lines out of the other. The difference seems pretty negligible in practice, though, so there's not exactly a pressing need to have this as a consideration.
Ultimately, the question of whether you should choose Belle or Wise in Zenless Zone Zero comes down to player preference, as it always seems to with HoYoverse dual protagonist systems. Those agonizing over the choice will also be relieved to discover that there are multiple moments in the story of ZZZ where the main character becomes preoccupied with something, and their sibling counterpart takes over. This includes getting to navigate the overworld as that character, so if someone chooses Belle but misses Wise, they'll ultimately get to play as both in certain spots.
Zenless Zone Zero Preview: Ambitious, Chill Gameplay With Immaculate Vibes
Zenless Zone Zero is both the most ambitious and chill effort from HoYoverse yet, a delightful blend of urban fantasy and high octane combat.
Choosing Wise in Zenless Zone Zero Offers One Hidden Benefit
It's Incredibly Minor, But Something To Note
There is one other thing to consider when choosing between Belle and Wise in Zenless Zone Zero — Wise's character model. As a taller sibling, his movement is actually minutely quicker than Belle's while traversing the overworld. While speedrunning ZZZ isn't exactly something in the interest of many players, it does amount to saving seconds — and, eventually, minutes — of a player's time while traversing the overworld map of New Eridu. It's at least something to differentiate between the two siblings beyond just aesthetics and voiceovers and could be a tiebreaker, especially for those who simply like both character models, to begin with.
Finally, it's also worth noting that Belle and Wise's names are locked. Zenless Zone Zero's story heavily involves its protagonists in it, establishing personalities for both of them beyond the sort of blank slate that many action-RPGs use to help bolster player immersion. Identity differences are housed in the siblings' shared proxy , which, very early on, will need to be switch to a new name for narrative purposes, allowing players to input whatever name they choose to help solve the problems of the citizens of New Eridu.
Zenless Zone Zero: All Weapon & Character Pull Rates Explained
Like other HoYoverse-developed gacha games, Zenless Zone Zero features relatively low pull rates, with a few ways to get guaranteed rewards.
Deciding if you should choose Belle or Wise in ZZZ won't impact the way the game is played, but it will change how certain cutscenes are depicted by way of which sibling is taking point. Either way, stylish character designs and a city that feels like it's as much a member of the cast as it is an environmental playground should mean that this choice won't dramatically impact enjoyment of the game, and players should proceed through Zenless Zone Zero accordingly.
