Thats something i heard from a lot of people that bought the game. They saw all these beatiful zoos and thought they will do something like this just after the start. But they werent really into what this game is really about. Most of my friends that bought PZ in late 2019 didnt even know Planet Coaster.
Planet Zoo ist a game that offers you a lot of freedom. And thats what its all about. Its not just about building a zoo like in Zoo Tycoon 1 or 2. And its especially not like that disappointing Zoo Tycoon game a few years ago. When you just wanna place some preformed buildings, draw some fences and put your animals in those habitats, Planet Zoo is the wrong game for you.
This game offers an overwhelming lot of opportunities, but its also demanding a lot of hours just to learn the basics of the game. For beginners especially the building tool must be kinda frustrating. The Tutorial is just showing you the basics of the game, but is not really going into building, but in the end its up to you. If you like challenges and wanna enjoy this game, you have to spend your time in it. If youre just looking for a game that you can play once in a while for a few hours, planet zoo might not be the right game for you.
Its definitely designed for core gamers. And i like this. In my childhood games where much more difficult than they are today. You get a bonus and achievment for nearly everything you do and the games are created to give the player a good feeling by nearly everything they do - to make same buy the next game too. There aint really many games these days that are trying to challenge you. Like a dark souls f.e. But for people that wanna spend their time, theres nothing better than the feeling to built a zoo of your dreams - with opportunities no other zoo game offered before like this.
And like its said in this thread, even for people that dont wanna be that creative or spend so many time, theres the opportunity to get a lot of great buildings and habitats out of the steam workshop built and created by the community. Its great for players, that dont wanna get that deep into this game.
But tbh. for me thats not what planet zoo is about. Its great to have that possibility and to have so many awesome buildings etc., but for my planet zoo is about building my dream zoo - and thats just not something youll be able to do after a few hours of playing.
I can just admit to play this game, try things out, figure out how to solute some game mechanics, use online tutorials (paulsley, ladydesigner, rudi-rennkamel and so many more), place preformed buildings and try to change them, look how people made them to copy some of there techniques. When you give this game a chance and spend your time, it will reward you - but it might take a while.