Zhenyu Li, producer of Zenless Zone Zero, spoke with Japanese news site Denfaminicogamer about topics including character creation in the game, how designs and visual aspects come to be, and how the team decides which characters to bring to the playable roster - or not, as the case may be for some.
We recommend reading the full interview as it's an interesting piece, but one specific question stood out to us. Denfaminicogamer asks about the implementation of characters, and Li responds, saying that the team "first needs to ensure that it is 'rational.'"
He goes on to say that "Pulchra, who initially appeared as an NPC, was finally implemented as a pullable character after a lengthy process and discussion". It did take a few months after her in-game debut before she appeared as a playable character. Interestingly, her two teammates, as part of a rival biker gang, Bellum and Mors, have yet to get a release.
"Even if an NPC is popular with users, there are cases where the character does not fit the worldview or story", Li continues. Now, I don't know about you, but it certainly feels like Big Daddy - head of Sons of Calydon - could have released during the 1.x patches. I also think Mors and/or Bellum could have been A-ranks at the least. They already have combat animations, after all.
Zenless Zone Zero's NPCs often look a lot more detailed than Hoyoverse's other games, and it's been like this since the start. It almost feels like none of Pulchra, Mors, and Bellum, especially, were ever meant to be playable, even if they have details and similar model sizes like the usable characters we do have. Pulchra's enemy form, for instance, has different attacks and uses a different element than her A-rank character, whereas Zenless Zone Zero's Jane Doe and Zenless Zone Zero's Hugo bosses are much the same as what you can use in your teams.
More recently, Spook Shack's Komano Manato is the character we're all pining for. There are some leaks around his alleged rarity and playable status, but he could - unfortunately - just be another fancy NPC, especially as the next ZZZ update focuses on the OBOL squad again.
Which ZZZ character would you want to be playable? My votes are for Manato and Mors, so I can have a team of three wolfy guys. Whoever you want to pull, don't forget to grab the new Zenless Zone Zero codes here for more polychromes.