Zeno Clash II Review: Sharper Combat, Stronger Vision, and a Campaign That Drags

Zeno Clash II picks up after four years, and it wants you to know that time has changed everything about Zenozoik. The sequel brings back Ghat and adds Rimat as a playable partner, giving players a reason to fight side by side instead of alone. It also changes how fights work, adds new ways to level up your characters, and pushes the Unreal III engine to show a world that looks strange and full of life.

Trailer, via Official ATLUS West.

What Changed

The biggest change is in the combat itself. Zeno Clash II now lets you target specific body parts with your punches, which means every hit lands with more force than before. Blocking is sharper, and the hits land with a bone-crunching sound that makes the fighting feel heavier. The new “Lock-on” function gives players more control over who they are hitting and where their attacks land, which matters when the enemies keep coming fast.

RPG mechanics have been added too. Ghat and Rimat can now get stronger, defend better, and find more allies to help them through their quest. That system gives the game a reason to push players forward beyond just finishing a fight. It also gives returning players a way to see how the world around them has grown since the first adventure.

The World Around Them

The setting remains the same strange world of Zenozoik, full of odd creatures and places that look nothing like anywhere else. ACE Team’s imagination is still at work here, building a universe of surreal foes and fantastic locations that feels truly different from anything else you will play. The Unreal III engine is doing more work than before, bringing the bizarre and beautiful world of Zenozoik to life with greater detail and motion.

“ACE Team’s boundless imagination brings gamers into a universe of surreal foes, fantastic locations, and truly unique visuals that is unlike anything else you will ever play.”

Playing Together

Co-op play is new in Zeno Clash II, and it works well. Players can join or leave a game at any point without breaking the connection, which means friends can jump in mid-fight and still hold their ground. The game invites you and a friend to dive once more into the fray together, and the wider range of control from the Lock-on function makes that shared fighting easier to manage.

What Holds It Back

The game is not without problems. Some of the new systems feel unfinished, and the pace of the campaign drags in places. The enemy variety is strong, but the world around it sometimes feels thin, especially in the middle stretch of the game. The visual style remains striking, but the gameplay underneath it does not always match the ambition of the art.

Here is where the issues sit, in order of how often they bother the experience:

1. Campaign pacing — some stretches feel longer than they need to be.
2. Enemy variety — strong, but the world around it can feel thin.
3. Systems feel unfinished — some new mechanics do not quite come together.
4. Presentation — strong visuals, but the gameplay underneath sometimes falls short.

Final Word

Zeno Clash II is a sequel that delivers on the promise of a bigger, stranger Zenozoik. Its combat is sharper, its presentation is stronger, and its co-op mode gives it a reason to play with a friend. But the pacing issues and unfinished systems keep it from reaching the heights of the original. This is a game worth playing for its vision, even if its execution does not fully live up to it.

Zeno Clash II earns a score of 5.5 out of 10.

co-op · fighting games · RPG · Unreal Engine · Zeno Clash II