I used to find Y'shtola tolerable but she's becoming about as much as an insufferable know-it-all as Hermione Granger at this point. It'd be pretty refreshing to see one of her theories be shown to be utterly wrong to humble her a little. I think if the intention is to make a cast of protagonists to be likeable and relatable then ensuring that they stumble and fall from time to time is a necessity. I'm also not sure why Y'shtola was insisting on being the one to share her aether with Zero when she's supposedly weakened already by her inability to see through regular means.

I suppose I just miss the days where the game's worldbuilding and story accounted for such things more prominently.

At any rate, Zero is a refreshing breath of fresh air by virtue of having a more mercenary personality to the other characters. How long that lasts, exactly, remains to be seen - but it showcases how the dynamic of a scene can become a lot more interesting when new faces and personalities are mixed in with the old.