#just vaguely mad at hoyo

[m-says-hi]

i'm gonna cry i just saw the newest natlan trailer thing

why is everyone so frickin pale ;-;

[fictionfixations]

if i had a nickels for every brown-haired fem-presenting protagonist in a mobile game, id have two nickels. also i cant think of any other rn so there might be more (that ive played). also can i just say the visuals are very unique (the surroundings i mean)? like like its. i dont know how to explain it idk this stuff

(this is other protag im referring to. this is mystic messenger. i dont have a better img unlocked so uh. also hi if youve seen my recent mysme posts, i got the good ending :D)

clearly it wants you to explore so i was like 'haha what if ii dont want to'

but like oh

'gosh its just a branch' why did that actually make me jump im crying i just saw something while we were walking and was like 'huh?' and then it cracked when we stepped on it and it startled me i

voiced jumpscare (they(bc idk who tf this is) say 'do not worry' but i pressed past it so ermm oops)

are these guys dateable i know literally nothing about this game im going in blind (which is a first for hoyo games lOl. with the exception of honkai impact since that was my first hoyo game actually.)

his voice is hot. also im playing in jp. idk if theres like some voiced language that is a league above the others, or if youre meant to listen to it in like idk the og language, im just more familiar with hearing jp cause im an anime person

why do i feel like the white doctor person is a villain it honestly reminded me a lot of kafka in hsr's intro (just vibes though..? also vague stuff that probably refers to the future)

also maybe because its the latest actual like 2d sort of visual novel i saw was ddlc, but our protag reminds me a lot of monika. visually i mean. even the facial expressions

oh fuck it kicked me out of the game nOO PLEASE I WANT TO GET INTO IT SEEMS INTERESTING AND I LIKE DETECTIVE LAW SHIT

the pulling animation is pretty but uh. the going through the cards are very bright like the entire screen goes white oh my god this is a bad game to play at 4 am o w oh 💀

i mean like. i dont mind. i play way too many games that arent english voiced to be mad about actually reading

Oh shit it quit me out again WHYYY PLEASEEE

happy that the investigating the surroundings part has like a hint button that highlights what it wants you to find

i dont think anything like that is in danganronpa. or at least v3? i played through it and remember getting stuck on i think it was the 5th trial? dont wanna spoil so ill keep it vague. i got stuck in the investigation portion because i missed that you could click on the sleeve of the jacket (i had to google because my dumbass didnt even think about looking at it 😭)

anyway uhhhhhh

i might make more posts on this? idk. i dont know anything about the story except what ive gone through so far and im starting to get a headache cause words so er im gonna stop here

[umbrabilis-orchis]

Head in my hands rn. Head in my hands.

There are a lot of issues here that I'm sure have been talked to death but I'm going to lay out my two cents anyway.

1. People are right, why tf is Sumeru a conglomeration of cultures rather than taking inspiration from one country or group specifically, like the rest of the regions we have so far? Grouping the entire Middle East with the entirety of Southeast Asia for some... mishmash aesthetic looks dumb and is just really doing a disservice to every culture you're trying to take inspiration from. It would've been much better to pick a specific area and stick with that.

2. I'd ask why Genshin designers are afraid of making characters with dark skin, but I know the answer is because dark skinned characters don't make money in their view. Genshin Impact is first and foremost a waifu/husbando simulator and unfortunately, colorism is rampant not only across the main CN and JP markets, but the rest of the world too. Pale skin is seen as a very desirable trait while anything darker than a light tan is not. Hence, it is safer for Hoyoverse to make light skinned characters because they know that's what the beauty standard is. Obviously this sucks major ass and is not right at all, but since when have companies really cared about anything other than profit? Especially gacha games, who are designed to suck the most money out of you as possible?

3. Everyone doing redesigns of the current Sumeru characters are doing the Lord's work. It is clear to me and hopefully anyone else with eyes that a lot of these characters would look much better if they had darker skin and outfits that weren't just... vague amalgamations of... some kind of culture. Looking at the leaked designs, it is really hard to tell what real world cultural designs and motifs most of them are supposed to be referencing. (Again, see point 1). And for some, like Dori, they're just straight up stereotypes, which is arguably worse.

4. AFAIK, there are more dark skinned characters in the works, and hopefully that balances the Sumeru cast out more, but that still doesn't excuse all of this nonsense. I'm really worried about the trend this is setting... Natlan is supposed to be based off of Mesoamerica, but with the way things are going with Sumeru, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with even more light skinned people instead of dark skinned ones. I also don't really trust Hoyo to handle Natlan with any kind of tact; having a region based on Central America be themed after violence and war is already playing pretty dangerously into stereotype territory. My expectations are already 6 feet under and I'm sure I'll still be disappointed.

5. I'll be honest, I have no idea what to do about any of this. Obviously the players are right to be mad and should voice their concerns to the rest of the playerbase and Hoyoverse themselves, but I think we're all aware at this point that Hoyo doesn't give a damn about the surveys and replies to emails with just bot answers. It seems highly unlikely to me that they will do anything about this, unless they feel like they're going to lose a significant amount of money because of it. I mean, they caved when everyone got on them about the anniversary rewards, and arguably this is much more important than that! But really, who knows. I guess just make your opinion known to Hoyoverse and if push comes to shove be ready to pack up and leave unless the criticism is acknowledged. You have to be serious about not giving them any money, or else they won't listen. They have to know it is more profitable to listen and respond to criticism than it is to ignore it and be ignorant.

I think that about covers my opinion on all of this. Remember to think critically about what you see and hear, and to do your own research before coming up with answers to your questions. I, and no one else in the tag, or on Twitter or Reddit or anywhere else, is a 100% expert on any of these issues, and it behooves you as a consumer to gather information from all sides of an issue before coming to a conclusion.