#but the music in sumeru- the desert in specific

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

I was playing genshin, and listening to fontaine's battle music, which I really enjoy, and thought of this one.

Do you have a favorite track from the genshin soundtrack? Or favorite region for music?

flows of jade-like water

i hate how instantaneous that answer was in my brain. i adore all music in the game, so aside from that one, it'd be hard to pick a favorite musc. mondstadt would lag behind the others a bit, but the rest are all on roughly the same level. inazuma's music is really good, liyue's music is fantastic, sumeru's music is also very good AND has hustle and bustle of ormos in it as well as that one desert battle theme i forget the name of. dimming asterisms or something. and fontaine's music is just so grand, and i'm in love with the underwater tracks. so aside from like- flows of jade-like water, the dawn winery theme (carries mondstadt on its back tbh), hustle and bustle of ormos, the one dimming asterisms battle track, and like... this little light of mine? i think is the name? aside from those that stand out in my brain atm, all other tracks are too good to really compare,,

[euthymiya]

I change my vision depending on the selfship tbh

[riftwirecrystal]

Why I believe Natlan's technologies aren't "out-of-place."

Just because Natlan isn't considered "technologically advanced" doesn't mean they would not be able to create or possess technologies that just seem "too modern" for the previously seen nations.

Natlan's technologies may not be considered "advanced" because most of their creations are solely for recreational purposes. Xilonen's DJ board, rollerskates, and Mualani's surfboard are all mainly for ease of use to to influence of their environments. (Kinich is an exception as he isn't really powered by technology nor is Ajaw.)

Even when most of the technologies seem too advanced, like Kachina's drill, and Chasca's gun, they were both originally created to imitate the Saurian counterparts. If all a piece of technology does is just provide ease of access and combine simple regional solutions, its likely not worth too much note to outside nations. which would likely happen with inventors like Xilonen experimenting with phlogiston and forging.

Xilonen is an extremely important factor to note. She has proven herself to be one of the most intelligent inventors in Natlan. Her skill with harnessing Phlogiston energy is crucial to how all these technologies' existence. It makes sense that learning how to create traditional works with Phlogiston would overlap into accidental new discoveries that Xilonen uses to her advantage.

This is further explored in the new Flower-Feather Clan Tribal Chronicles quest chain. Phlogiston Wings are specifically created to supplant and replace their saurians. However, it's not too far off to think that it would be a rather common idea, especially since Elemental Manipulation exists in the world.

Phlogiston and Ochkanatlan relics are the main power sources used in Natlan tech. With an abundance of phlogiston and the (suggested) immense power of the relics, creating their technology isn't that far-fetched. They put their resources and time into the arts, music, and changing traditions more than orderly improvements to the nation, and it shows.

Other nations definitely will beat out Natlan in their technological advancements; the ones that don't beat Natlan have reasons. Mondstadt is a poor anarchist state with no emphasis on any actual governing organization. The nation isn't very wealthy so it makes sense they wouldn't have much innovation and trade occurring within the nation. Liyue harnesses a special material called Plaustrite in the Jade Chamber, which enables it to fly. Inazuma doesn't have an abundance of technology due to the Shogun's rule effectively trying to stop evolution and innovation within the nation, as a pursuit of eternity. However, a number of innovations still happened before the Shogun's rule, like the Tatarasuna accident and the creation of a puppet for Ei. Sumeru and Fontaine is where differences really start to show. All of the desert's tech as well as the Akademiya's research shows what happens if a nation pours their innovation into education, not the arts. The existence of Akasha terminals, dreamscapes, mind control, and digital storage all exist in the game, yet no one seems to call it out. Fontaine isn't much better. Literal androids roam the streets, motorized boats sail around the harbor, and guns are a popular weapon.

Guns are already known throughout Teyvat, just Xilonen imitated their function while adding a custom one from Chasca.

Then there comes the big issue. Mavuika's motorcycle. However this argument is instantly able to be countered. It's said that Xianyun/Cloud Retainer has created a similar vehicle, a powered two wheel vehicle. Mavuika's simply takes the idea (which is probably also not a very hard concept to think up,) and gives it a Natlan remodel. The aesthetics are just a Natlan revamp, with the power source just being Phlogiston. (I can't speak for her bike fighting animations. They just look kinda goofy, but I like them anyways lol.)

All in all, I think people complain too much and you shouldn't nitpick something you don't like simply because you don't like it. (Especially if your argument can be countered.) Even if it is a little off-putting, with a little thinking, mostly everything can be explained or proven possible to exist.

If anyone has any objections to reasonings or information I've missed please tell me!!

[samadhi-fire-forged]

i talked about this on another account (a non-genshin related account) but the way that culture in genshin is handled is absolutely awful in my opinion.

clearly, the devs for genshin/hoyo do not respect black, indigenous, and west asian cultures. we get this clearly demonstrated with both natlan and sumeru.

natlan has three different ethnic groups (broadly). african (specifically more northern, it seems), polynesian, and latin american. that means it's two completely different countries, as well as one region. technically, it could make sense with polynesia and latin america, but... for the most part... probably not africa included? unless you were interested in exploring like, the complex dynamic of afro-latino culture. which. likely not. (if you want more research on WHY it could make sense to have latin american - polynesian cross, check these sources: x x x x - all of these are relatively about the same content. dna crossing. if you want to ask me about how i, personally, would've wanted to execute natlan in this regard you can shoot me an ask).

sumeru is... well. we do see aspects of zoroastrianism iirc - west asia has a hodgepodge of religions, honestly, with having an incorporation of our very well-known abrahamic religions (judaism, islam, and christianity). but as i said, there's zoroastrianism. yet, most of sumeru's religious references tend towards vedicism, buddhism, so on so forth. which... is interesting. if it had clear influences from a lot of west asian culture (and north african, specifically egyptian), then why didn't it have much focus on zoroastrianism? why would we incorporate south asia for seemingly no reason outside of grouping so so many ethnic groupds together.

this might surprise you all, but inazuma is.. pretty interesting. i've had a few opinions on this, given the fact that i am japanese. inazuma is depicted as a pretty dictator-esque nation, as well as being isolationist. its ruler is horrible and the such - i genuinely believe that this might have been some bias on the devs' parts. given the fact that, well... china has historically had multiple dictatorships and was also isolationist, much like japan. i understand depictions of china given laws in china, so yeah, sure, but... throwing the japanese-based nation under the bus was pretty interesting. they didn't need to do that at all, and there could've been an interesting storyline without this at all.

mondstadt. god, no one thinks about mondstadt in this regard, but mondstadt is the only nation that pretty much has zero places named with the language its culture is based on, other than its own city name. even sumeru has this - albeit some names do come from sanskrit words (kinda... complicated? most of it derives from sanskrit, though, or egyptian in the desert). whispering woods, starfell lake, brightcrown mountains. all of that. even its characters - many of them don't have german names! (jean gunnhildr, diluc ragvindr) i understand that scandinavian and german do have incredibly similar roots, but... still.

like, no matter what hoyo does, it seems that the only culture that they really "respect" is their own. no matter how much research they do - and believe me, there is a lot they've done! listen to a lot of the music, you'll notice they incorporate a lot of traditional musical instruments.

and yet... when executing it? it comes out quite terribly?

and then, even with their liyue characters - there's plenty of characters where it'd make so much more sense if they were dark skin (ex: yaoyao). and yet.... they aren't? some of them are paper pale

i'm just saying. genshin is riddled with flaws.

and don't even get me started on just... their general character design.

[eerna]

THIRD SUMERU ACT?? WOAH what did you think of inazuma questline. sumeru questline. nahida as a character. I'm SO curious of your opinions on those -

Also, why did you hate them? Especially sumeru cause, it's not particularly a favorite of mine but it's hailed as an example of genshin's best writing before the fontaine region came along and blew it out of the water. so--

Inazuma questline had fantastic music, I lost my shit when the hype overworld theme started playing in the boss battle! It also had a cool animatic intro into one of the Archon battles, but I forgot which one, just that I was like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HYPEEEEEEEEE. Sumeru questline was where I gave up because it was simply boring, the timebending element should have been so cool but really wasn't. I never met Nahida (outside the mental convos; I stopped playing the moment I got to the desert) so the only thing I can properly say about her is WHY DID THEY MAKE HER A CHILD THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING WHY WHY WHY.

Now to answer the hate. FIRST OFF I AM ABOUT TO BE REALLY MEAN TO THE GAME so anyone who isn't here for that look away if you don't wanna see it

I feel like it would take me hours to properly rant about why I dislike the game, but this video comes pretty close to my opinions? In short, I think it is badly written and forces you to witness that bad writing through the absence of a skip conversation button, its main goal is to sell things and make people addicted to its toxic mechanics, and the fanservice makes me wanna stab my eyes out. I was playing it at the lowest points in my life because the game is specifically designed for short term dopamine hits. I'm fantastic at shutting out my emotions and not even knowing I am in a bad place, but if I got a Genshin craving it was a safe hint I'll be descending into sadness soon, and the craving left the moment I felt better. People laugh at my personal beef with the most famous gacha in the world but that's the truth lololol

[emee-ems]

Fontaine has to be my new favorite place. The scenery, the music, the clothing style. Love it all.

Seriously was tired of the desert (I like Sumeru and the forests...just hate specifically the desert).