[quote name='DarkSageRK']So are these games good or not? Fans, sell me on this.[/QUOTE]
The thing that really stands out to me is the fluidity of motion. ZoE's control scheme is fantastic, it's very easy to pull off crazy Super Robot dashes, bursts, massive laser attacks, etc etc. It's a game where the controls just melt away and you don't think about "Okay, I need to hit this combo then move to this then", you just do it.
The combat is smooth and a lot of fun. Movement is handled in full 3D space, with the left control stick handling X/Y axis movement and Triangle/X handling Z axis movement. Dashes are done simply by hitting R2 and the direction you want to dash in. You can easily slip around opponents, dodge lasers, smash them a couple times with your sword, dash out, drop a huge energy bomb, kill them, dash away from their friends, lock on with tons of lasers, fill the sky with death, grab a dude, etc.
That's for both games. ZoE2 changed things up with a subweapon system (don't remember if it's in ZoE1 or not) that let you do tons of different stuff, from homing missiles, the aforementioned grab, and machine guns to GIANT LASERS OF DEATH.
Here's a decent gameplay video, in japanese unfortunately.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQOT0AU9MaQ