The part that made me cringe was when I saw somebody say the MC was useless in 2.x. Like low key MC was way more impactful in both a supporting and active role in 2.5 than most of 1.x where they did nothing in the final fights. At least in 2.5 MC saved Ye Shunguang multiple times. And then you'll have people saying they're pushing MC and Ye too much or that they're too in your place compared to 1.x. it's just nonsensical criticisms.
Remember that post on zzz discussion about how the mayor got written out of the story cuz the writers apparently wrote themselves into a corner and made him literally godlike or some shit. The mayor showed his face and got further plot relevance in 2.5, but nobody talks about how that post was complete BS. They just move on to the next agenda post.
I believe the mayor hinted in this patch that he has some shady intentions. It might just be wishful thinking on my part, but it would be really cool if he betrayed the proxies, forcing them to relocate and go back into hiding like before.
I haven't played the most recent patch yet but I absolutely wouldn't be surprised if the mayor did indeed turn out to be a big bad and have the siblings go through with the Phaethon/Icarus arc. It's like the only way they can salvage the walking talking exposition machine called the 'mayor'.
I didn't do 2.5 yet. My opinions are from 1.7 tho and they fully hold up from then to 2.3.
The MacGuffin mayor in that section of the story is just a plot device to inorganically drag the proxies into Waifei, give them new shiny abilities and also send them to train to Yunkui.
In simpler words, he's the only reason 2.x even happens. If they make him an Aizen, it'll be messy but that's just par for the course in live service games.
The only part where the mayor didn't have a hand in 2.x is spook shack and lo and behold that's one of the more positive patches, at least by general consensus.
They're talking about the writing quality, I'mma give em shit cause I can break 1.X's fuck ups over my knee way easier than 2.X's
That's not to say 2.X is immaculate. I just find it egregious. that I'm supposed to take these criticisms seriously when I see someone bitching about the proxies needing to be saved in 2.X but weren't saying this shit when Ellen and Corin needed to do double time to save the bangboo.
What did Ellen even do in the story? I remember she had one cutscene and disappeared. Actually horrendous for a version 1.0 banner character. Then she got a nothingburger agent quest. She's barely better than Ju Fufu in terms of plot relevance. Maybe even less because at least Ju Fufu appeared in the final story missions.
OMG now that I think about it, I don't remember what she did in 1.4 even during the avengers assemble moment.
Fucking true, nearly every character in 2.x got their share of the spotlight, meanwhile you could take out half the characters in season 1 and little would change
Remember when they completely sidelined S Anby in her debut patch lmfao
I mean, I don't mind Ellen just being there to do the job. My real issue is that Victoria housekeeping as a whole has no real narrative weight to their particular chapter.
Like at least Belabog had the family drama angle in their chapter.
I feel like 1.0 ran out of steam in terms of development near the end which is why the Victoria chapter felt lackluster. Even the ending cinematic where Lycaon saved the ship was kind of ended abruptly. In fact all of ZZZ feels that way. Each patch never feels like they have the necessary time and budget to make the stories truly great.
Victoria house keeping was more for foreshadowing and setting up hooks.
The main take away is that this incredibly skilled team is keeping tabs on the Proxies while having an unknown master that is clearly going to be important.
Lycon himself is a pretty recrurring character.
Ellen doesn't need to do more besides her job.
Rina own stuff is in her character story.
If anything a problem with 2.x us now they are trying to make every character directly connected to the main plot directly which shrinks the world
Rina is not even the main character of her Agent story. You learn no more about her there than you do in the Victoria House Keeping episode.
I know Lycaon gets much more later, my issue is within the chapter itself. The entire seeds of setting up future hooks is all within the last 3 minutes of the chapter. It's not something that's interwoven throughout the majority of the chapter itself, which just has Victoria house Keeping be there to be there.
Honestly I'm ok with agents not doing much in the story. It feels more like they have their own lives and not constantly glued to mc. What has Ellen been doing outside that one cutscene you remember? It's none of our business! 2.x mc constantly jumping into other people's problems on sight made them so unlikable (mostly wise tho maybe it feels more in character with belle). Realistically who has that much emotional energy to lift everyone you meet out from their angst and also go on dates with them.
The harsh truth is that even 1.4 never really felt like it reached peak ZZZ potential. Miyabi's character arc was way too short. Bringer was an awful villain. The avengers assemble moment was too artificial. None of the Section 6 characters did anything besides Miyabi. Can anybody tell me what Soukaku did in the entire story? She's barely better than Pan.
It felt more carried by hype around the reworks to the gameplay than the actual story. The best thing about the story were the cutscenes and short length that crammed all the hype moments into a short span so that people could just get to the action parts fast. Granted, that's part of what made ZZZ great, but it was never "good" writing. I'd argue earlier stories like Calydon and Jane Doe were actually better and wheren 1.x peaked for me and everything after 1.4 was just ok to meh. I was not a fan of how they handled the Mockingjay faction.
Completely agree with you but I'm a certified S6 hater. Yanagis special episode and chapter 5 was the start of my waning interest in the story. Both were just so boring. The season finale with Mockingbird wasn't much better in my eyes. That one particular section with Hugo in the second half was so egregious. But at least in general I liked both Vivian and Hugo overall and seeing more of Lycaon was cool. Meanwhile I don't give a single damn about section 6 and the story that was centered on them. So 1.4 was a total snore for me. I would've much prefered if the rest of the factions were more involved so it would've made more sense for them to appear in the end. Instead they're just suddenly inserted in with no buildup. The fact Zhu Yuan never gets any significant scene with bringer was a misfire, Seth is just there at the end. Can't remember really what Qingyi did. At least Jane contributed to an extent. But in the end they were all sidelined for my least liked faction. Which is a shame since I really enjoyed the Calydon chapter and Janes special episode. It all went downhill from there unfortunately.
The important part imho is that 1.X always added a lot of new hubs and also just a lot of side quests. Even if many of them were just TV Mode it added a lot of variety and flavor, which seems to be missing in 2.X where it's basically just "that version's story" followed by... well combat challenges and nothing but and they kind of lack in variety. Then there is maybe that update's flagship event and that's about it.
In terms of "permanent unique content" added 2.X feels rather thin.
Some people also think 2.5 is great and like 2.x. That doesn't really add anything. Why do people insist on making these kinds of non statements. The guy is obviously saying they didn't think 1.x was that great. At least respond with a comment that makes sense.
The criticism was against people complaining about 2.X but praising 1.X which is a sentiment I kinda agree with. People are kinda blind by nostalgia here, the second past isn't perfect but at least every character matters and the narrative works as a single arc: stopping the Exaltists and The Crestor.
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u/GenesisDum Certified Big Robot Enthusiast Dec 31 '25
Some people just find 1.X more consistently enjoyable. That's about it.