#like sumeru 2.0 tbh

[wyvernne]

NATLAN TEASER IS OOOOUUUUTT!! THOUGHTS?? OPINIONS?? SO MANY GORGEOUS LADIESSS AAA ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

AKSJKSHDKSJD i’m excited for more tall adult women but absolutely flabbergasted at the skin tone choices. especially for a place based off of south america which has such an incredibly diverse range of skin tones?? they got so much flack after sumeru but continue to not listen to player feedback and concerns which is incredibly disappointing

on another hand i genuinely cannot emphasize how nice it is to hear female characters speak in normal tones and not high pitches omfg. i kept shutting my audio off for sumeru because it was agonizing to listen to. i just. cannot handle the childlike voices they have some of the VAs doing on grown characters

CAPTIANO LOOKS COOL!! i’m excited to see how his story plays out bc he seems chill af for a harbinger. and eagerly awaiting the appearance of varka

if red haired racer lady is the pyro archon it’s fun that she has such a unique look, but again disappointed by the skin tone choices for the person who is supposed to be representing the country. she’s like. slightly darker than nahida which is the easiest thing in the world to achieve so no points on that front

just in general, there’s not a ton of cohesion throughout the character designs. like at least in sumeru and inazuma it’s very clear when a character is from there. maybe i need to take another look but. just first impressions from a sleep deprived wyvernne lol

[kavehater]

Omg kazuha and neuv banner flops

[gold-rhine]

Oh hsr... so then why did we spend a WHOLE PATCH with aventurine and his sad tragic backstory where some of it could have been in a character quest so the main plot could be paced better 🫠 I didn't mind learning about aventurine but I was like man are they going to cram everything into 2.2? And it looks like they did. Also what do you think of the pov switching? I'm not sure how it is like necessary 🤔 idk I mean I guess you can play as boothill but not really do anything with him. Maybe some of the plotlines like with sparkle will pay off in 2.3 but that's me being optimistic. I still overall like penacony story better than luofu but hmmm the philosophical ramblings not really going anywhere and there's going to be another IPC character that'll be playable which is oh boy I have no faith in the story writing of her. And firefly was um. A character. I liked her convo with blade! But other than that she was okay. Idk are any of the playable characters other than Robin even from penacony??? I know there's Misha and Gallagher but they're well... you know not exactly with us. I wish they went the hey yeah capitalism sucks direction rather than aww poor Sunday 😔 he just needs a hug 🫂. They were so close in 2.1 with him what happened???

LITERALLY 80% of 2.1 should have been aventurine character quest. like he's fine as a character, tho im not loving how slavery used for his sad backstory, but ignored that hes now doing it to others, but like literally nothing payed off in main quest. why did i have to hear him argue with his ghosts of past and future

i dont mind POV switching as concept, i think not tying us to the MC's view can be good for storytelling, but like, when it actually contributes smth? like in sumeru heist going from different parts of the plan makes sense bc we get to see how plan unfolds. boothill and sparkle literally didnt do anything that mattered tho, so like... we got to hear boothill being hey pardner at dan heng for like 20 minutes and nothing came out of it. they need to get an editor for real....

i have no faith in how they handle IPC at all after this one tbh. can we fucking stop with woobyfied sexy slavers. is it too much to ask

firefly was. a character indeed. like tbh im not loving how they use this "elio script" to just have stellaron hunters do whatever shit is convinient for plot with no logic or inner motivation. like she had zero reason to be here, zero personal goals. like its just cheap. also did she like die?? there was dialogue with raiden where shes like we should do it bc firefly cant go back to real world without dying, so we should honor her. did they like kill her off screen???

but like yeah, 2.0-2.1 AND part of 2.2 was like "capitalism sucks", but then it just goes ACSHUALLY capitalism is just natural order, should poor\weak ppl even have right to decide for themselves???? like what even the fuck

[wri0thesley]

Have you seen the new Fontaine character Emilie? I think her design is…eh. Ppl keep saying she looks like an OC and honestly she does, in the way that her head/face looks like it doesn’t belong with the clothes, if that makes sense?

I’m pretty over the female characters having the same shoulders exposed/garter belt/skirt combo outfit 😐 like Mihoyo, you can still have your marketable sexy waifus if you put them in something different, just look at Arlecchino and her suit!!!

And speaking of character designs, while I’m excited for Natlan, I’m not so excited for the characters to be released and they’ll just be one shade darker than paper white…

i like her design but i also saw some of the concept designs and they were MUCH more exciting!!! i don't know why the high-necked shoulders exposed thing is so popular, though . . . give me a low neckline and some sleeves anyday fgbnkjgfjnkb.

i think i am slightly biased towards her bc she reminds me so much of haz though! haz has had that hair and the glasses and having a dendro vision . . . that's hazcore and i cannot dislike her!

i really loved fontaine and i'm really excited for snezhnaya, natlan doesn't hold too much of my interest right now BUT i think that's because we've heard so little about it! hopefully once we get to start exploring and hear and read some lore and it feels like More Of A Place i'll feel differently; i know there are story-reasons for natlan not having much presence but . . . still!

and. yeah. not looking forward to sumeru skintones 2.0 tbh. i will hope for better but i am hardly expecting it.

[rev-feaw]

The “Bittersweet” Betrayal of Genshin Impact’s Inazuma Arc (a Personal Reflection)

Inazuma arc, how it could have been my favorite arc...

Inazuma New Year 2022 from Genshin Impact Japan Twitter (by Pako)

This was a rather subjective and over exaggerated view of Inazuma arc, affected by so many personal experiences at that moment. I’ll do the more objective one later, that looking more from the game itself and less from myself.

WARNING! CONTAIN HEAVY SPOILERS OF INAZUMA AND SUMERU ARCHON QUESTS

Overview

Inazuma was one of the most anticipated update in Genshin Impact. It was the first major update after the game’s release in late 2020. The content drought was real as we approached the 2.0 update, and so many people saved up for Ayaka. You know how thirsty people for new content, new characters, new mechanics and new lore... of course, including myself.

In my personal rating that time, Genshin Impact was winning in so many aspects. I liked the combat, setting, exploration, story, even the gacha was forgiven! (What do you expect from a stockholm-syndrome FGO player), I only disliked the constant artifacts grinding. But Inazuma arc changed everything and destroyed my mighty view of Genshin entirely. This is just my love-hate letter about how this arc has everything that I could’ve loved, but I “hated” it. It’s a confusing feeling, the feeling of betrayal by something you love.

The Inazuma Build-up

To this day, I believe Inazuma still has the best build-up ever made in Genshin. At this point I’ve finished Sumeru archon quest and its interlude. I don’t feel like there’s anything exciting about Fontaine, meanwhile the Inazuma lockdown was already hinted since... THE RELEASE!

Some hints about Inazuma that’s already in the game long before 2.0:

The Inazuma girl in Liyue (Atsuko)

A letter in a bottle from Inazuma that landed in Dragonspine

Hints dropped by Zhongli by the end of Liyue Archon Quest

No new electro character until 2.1

Outside the game, Inazuma was hinted several times in the livestream, along with the islands’ concept art and Ayaka.

Some clearer hints later dropped in 1.6, a patch before Inazuma which was, one of my favorite patch ever. So many hints around the islands, the Maguu Kenki, and then the prologue ft. Kazuha in the second half of the patch!

Kaedehara Kazuha, the Inazuma Arc’s Beacon of Light and the Last Hope of Humanity

How Inazuma arc could’ve been my favorite...

Genshin Impact official artwork. I love you Kazuha

Yes, thanks to Kazuha. He’s the beginning and ending of Inazuma arc. You expect Ayaka as the MVP? No! It was all Kazuha!

I was so excited when I learned that there will be the first Inazuma character: Kaedehara Kazuha. To this day he’s still my favorite character so this is definitely heavily biased. This part will explain his influence as our first real introduction to Inazuma, but I’ll write more about his major impact to Inazuma arc later.

I think the way Mihoyo introduced Inazuma along with the release of new temporary region (Golden Apple Archipelago) and a new character is genius. Genshin Impact is a gacha game, meaning it’s very reliant to character collecting. And with the addition of Kazuha as our first “guide” to Inazuma let all players, not only the lore-aware ones, but even META/gameplay enthusiasts to notice how impactful is Inazuma! He also came along with EM reaction buff, granted turned him into the most broken character at that moment (and tbh even now lol).

As the players were trying to get better to know Kazuha in many aspects, let it be personality, gameplay, or his story, they would also learn more about Inazuma. His entire character is tied strongly to the main focus of Inazuma Archon Quest, he’s like the personification of Inazuma AQ itself. It can be seen from his character teaser and Inazuma AQ prologue. Not to mention he appeared with a character that already familiar to the players: Beidou. We’ll talk more about Kazuha later ;)

The 2.0 Version Livestream

This is one of build-up for Inazuma, other than the ones I stated before, but not in-game. I absolutely loved this livestream! Even now, after all the “betrayals”.

For the first time, Mihoyo introduced this “developer talks” format for a livestream. It gave us the sense of importance for the next patch, and personally I really love the content. They gave us short but insightful behind-the-scenes, from many aspects like the landscape designs (they explicitly said was inspired by Studio Ghibli) and the raw notes of Inazuma’s score medley played by the godly Yu-Peng Chen himself.

Personally to this day, this livestream is still the best and very dear to me.

2.0 is Another Build-up!

2.0 is still Inazuma build-up. It’s stopped right before the climax. I like 2.0′s story, and I think it’s still successfully held the might of Genshin in my eyes. There are some flaws in this patch--which aged terribly later on, but I’ll talk about it later.

I like the other aspects, such as explorations and new mechanics, pulled Ayaka first day and had a great time trying to ice bridge between the isles. Inazuma is so pretty! The OSTs are so enchanting! The world quests are awesome! Overall I love this update. It has strong feeling of we being a vigilant, and how people were locked out from other nation. It was living up the hype from release.

2.1 Version Trailer is Still the Best

Truly the peak of version trailer

The end of 2.0, and the 2.1 livestream is where all things started went downhill, but not with the version trailer. Just like Kazuha and 2.0 livestream, I still absolutely love 2.1 version trailer, even today. I think it’s still the best in every aspect, yes even as I wrote this, right after 3.7 dropped! Especially the OST. THE OST, MAN!! Also, there’s Scaramouche, the long awaited character since 1.1 appeared in the end of trailer!

The Birth of Disaster

2.1 livestream was a cancer. At least, the EN/global side is. I don’t want to go for details, you can see it yourself @ youtube. The newest 2.0 characters, Sayu and Yoimiya got many criticism, especially Yoimiya, after how recent *5 were bonkers and suddenly, there’s her. I never had any faith about character power balancing in any gacha game, so it didn’t affect me. Other thing is, Genshin 1st anniversary was in 2.1 as well, and they didn’t seem very rewarding for the players as seen in the livestream, but we’ll talk about it later.

The most bugging thing about 2.0 was Ayaka’s story quest for me. They seemed butcher her character very much to the point she’s just a “waifu longing for attention”. But the players also seemed enjoying her story as I read many comments and polls in Youtube so I thought Mihoyo did the right move. HOWEVER, apparently... this is cancerous, this is spreading to other aspects not only story quests. This is what ruined the Inazuma arc.

In the other hand, exploration-wise, their new Watatsumi and Seirai island were great, although not as exciting as the previously introduced Inazuma in 2.0

The Land of Waifus

“They said Honkai story was good!��� My friend seemed so... pissed by the end of archon quest. Well actually, we all. “What is this?! Why all the women just there as waifu? Where’s the characterization?! Isn’t Honkai also all girls and they said the story is good?!”

I was pissed as well. I pulled Raiden on the first day, right after work and eager to finish Inazuma AQ with my brand-new all archon + traveler team (I already have Venti and Zhongli). I finished it with full concentration and dedication, and I was pissed.

It was so hollow.

I played the Raiden story quest, and I got EVEN MORE PISSED!! Like the hell, this waifu just ruined a nation and you, traveler, succeeded on making her out of her hikikomori era, but nOW YOU HAVE A DATE WITH HER?! And worst thing is, people “only” remember her boobas. She’s a very popular character despite her horrible characterization... because of boobas and big pewpew damage.

I still cannot forgive this part. To this day. The end of Inazuma AQ and Raiden story quest is the menace for my being. I hate it, and not as simply hate, but I felt so betrayed. My expectation about story in Genshin was ruined in shreds. There’s no climax. There’s no conclusion. There’s no redemption. It’s all end. The Inazuma finale was just Kaedehara Kazuha blocked Musou no Hitotachi.

The Kokomi and Anniversary Catastrophe

I don’t like Kokomi’s kit. I admit that. At least until dendro + Nilou introduced.

People also didn’t like her kit, but some people were just ahole who likes to ditch any character. Her release sparked many controversies, and the anniversary wasn’t helping either... it just fueling the fire!

I played Kokomi’s story quest for the sake of “seeking redemption for that disastrous AQ ending” and tbh, I liked her story better than Raiden’s. It’s less dating sim, but still has strong dating sim. People finally realized that this dating sim trope started by Ayaka was getting out of hand, and all of those aspects merged into one, big, anger of the players from every server and they finally let it all out in the anniversary... remember the google classroom hate rate?

There’s this Moonchase event actually in that patch, and honestly, this story about a glutinous panda was 1000x better than a god waifu’s.

There are SO MANY more issues with this particular topic (2.1 story & anniversary disaster), but lots of people already discussed it (many in Youtube) so I don’t think I need to write further. One funny thing is the players’ wrath successfully made Mihoyo gave us all more free 10 rolls + an exclusive glider. So lame.

We Left Genshin Impact

The cherry on top of those disaster was none other than...

A freaking Childe rerun.

The least character anyone wanted to rerun.

The 2.2 was the most “boring” and barren patch for most players. However not me. I like Childe, I was actually happy with the event LOL.

Obligatory Childe’s Rizz moment

Many players left the game or community after all 2.1 disaster (not to mention all the new *4 are pretty meh). It’s like cultural reset which is funny on their own. They actually have a new area (Tsurumi Island) this patch along with some banger world quests, but the island itself is so sorrowful and scary that can be easily forgotten... sadge.

Back to Mondstadt and Liyue, the Reflection Arc

The 2.3 patch was a geo patch with an intriguing Albedo event. 2.4 was the grand Lantern Rite™. The two patches were quite a reflection for the past 3 Inazuma patches, and to me as a player. I played the events, I played Itto’s story quest. They were good, in the initial Genshin Impact standard. So why the Inazuma AQ was so disastrous? Was it just a fever dream?

In 2.4 an Inazuma area, Enkanomiya was released. I like this area, despite haven’t been there in like 3 months lol. Imo this place is the prettiest “man-built” area in Genshin.

This is How Inazuma Archon Quest Should Have Been

Genshin Impact official artwork

The 2.5 and 2.6 were heavy Inazuma patches. And strangely, I actually enjoyed them a lot better than the AQ. 2.5 focused a lot to Raiden, with some Yae Miko. Yae’s kit, once again sparked controversies, but not causing uproar like Kokomi’s although funnily enough, I think Kokomi’s kit is a lot better than hers. 

Raiden 2nd story was very good. It’s SO GOOD that the AQ and her 1st story quest was probably just a surreal projection. Yae’s was good, standard in Genshin lah.

2.6 was actually my favorite Inazuma patch. It’s like the real conclusion of the story of Inazuma, and how they managed to do it within a temporary event, with characters from diverse nations! This is the patch that redeemed Inazuma for me, simply remove the “hatred” from 2.1. Although my chest still ache when I remember it, but I forgave it now, thank you Ayato, Kazuha, and... Scaramouche LOLL. It’s the Irodori Festival. I love the story very much and I think the lore here should’ve stated in a permanent story quest, alas.

In 2.7 they started to hint Sumeru via the Chasm. This was a Liyue patch, but done in similar way of 2.6. It’s like they prepared for the ending of Inazuma Arc.

Irodori Festival, the true conclusion of Inazuma Archon Quest (pict from 2.1 mil followers celebration of Genshin Impact Japan Twitter)

Kaedehara Kazuha, the Beginning and Ending of Inazuma Arc

We finally reached this part. Why I was so attached to Kazuha, and why Inazuma arc should have done better. 2.8 patch was actually a summer event, but it’s like an epilogue for Inazuma for me, especially how once again, they use Kazuha’s life story here. And this is why he matters so much.

Kazuha was the one who introduced traveler to Inazuma (told in 1.6)

He has strong ties to a direct “victim” of Sakoku Decree (1.6)

In the prologue (1.6) it was stated that he wanted to make his late friend’s vision’s glow. In the finale he himself made it glow by blocking Musou no Hitotachi (2.1), he answered the question given in the very beginning.

Has long history in Inazuman swordsmaking, since he’s from samurai family just like Ayaka and Ayato (told in 2.6 event)

Descendant of someone close to the puppet of Electro Archon herself: Kabukimono (Scaramouche), who’s very plot relevant later (2.6 event & Sumeru AQ interlude)

His family decline was directly tied to Inazuma’s history, that was told in the last event of 2.x (2.8). Kazuha himself decided to keep moving on instead going back to his homeland, it’s like Mihoyo told us to say goodbye to Inazuma.

Considering his “accidental” involvement to people responsible to either Sakoku Decree & Vision Hunt Decree, Inazuma commissions, Fatui, etc that basically the plot driver of Inazuma AQ, it’s safe to say that he’s the major backbone. Without Kazuha, the Inazuma arc’s story would stray even more random. He connected all of it, the lore stated in either AQ or event stories. His first banner was in the last patch of 1.x, and his first rerun was in the last patch of 2.x, the beginning and ending of Inazuma.

This is why I love his promo MV very much. It really shows us a “journey”, a sweet ending for Inazuma. I may will never forget the disaster, but Kazuha ended it with a smile, so... it’s a bittersweet feeling.

So long, Inazuma.

End of Sumeru Arc and the New Beginning of Wanderer

Genshin Impact official artwork

I wish I could move on from Inazuma AQ’s disastrous writing, but sadly I can’t, because... it tied strongly with Sumeru’s story, and the rest of Teyvat journey.

Scaramouche, or later known as Wanderer (this is actually Kazuha’s name smh), has an integral involvement in Inazuma lore/history just like Kazuha, but in different side of coin (imo). He was there, always there in every major circumstances that happened in Inazuma after he was born. But he was the villain when Kazuha was the “victim” or “hero”. It’s like Kazuha’s story was under the light, when Scara’s under the shadow.

All of it were just slowly revealed through Sumeru AQ story. Sumeru AQ was good. 1000x better than previous AQs. Especially the interlude, it made many of Inazuman events sensible, and I’m glad of it. Like we finally able to attach the light and the shadows altogether. Funnily enough all of it happened after Sumeru arc ended.

Wanderer is like the personification of “Inazuma arc reset”. I still “hate” how 2.1 happened and ended, but as his “redemption” goes on (especially by Nahida), I think it’s time to move on and don’t mourn so much to the “betrayal”. Genshin is no longer that mighty in my eye and the anticlimatic Inazuma AQ will always haunt my Teyvat journey, but I’m still here, at least until Sheznaya.

Tl;dr, I really like all about Inazuma, except the AQ finale which is like, if you’re on a test, it’s a segment with 60% of overall value and the rest are just 40%. Wasted opportunity. Anticlimatic occurrences are always the worst.

How Inazuma arc could have been my favorite... if only 2.1 was done better

[atimefordragons]

I was lowkey expecting Nilou to turn out to be evil cause my aunt with the same name is a bitch. lol. 

[empyrangel]

I seem to be in the minority here, but I’m just… not really loving Sumeru tbh. I don’t care much for most of the characters, though my thoughts are the same for Inazuma. Mondstadt and Liyue have characters where I actually listen to their dialogue and lore, but with the other two I just can’t seem to care enough about the characters to do that- they just aren’t very interesting.

The map is also… not great. On top of the monsters and mercenaries they’ve also added hostile creatures in the form of the tigers, crocodiles, big furry mammal things, scorpions, and the buzzards. It just feels like everything that moves wants me dead, and that’s not the way I want to feel in a region. I should feel somewhat welcome, maybe not at first but at some point. Just like Inazuma, it feels hostile and nothing more. Mondstadt is very homely, and Liyue has grown on me to feel peaceful- at least I can exist there without feeling like I’m committing a crime against nature. Oh, and fuck the whole desert. It takes so long to travel across, it has all those stupid underground parts (and so does the rainforest honestly) and everything but the oasis are the same boring dull brown color.

Then there’s Nahida- I don’t dislike her, but I really don’t understand what all the fuss is about. She’s not the first “nice” archon, the first “smart” archon or the first archon who “actually cares for their people”. She exhibits those more than the other archons we’ve met, but she’s by no means the first when Venti is literally right there. And yeah I do pity her a bit, but I don’t understand what people are so passionate about. I’ve never really liked characters who are “good” and innocent with no mistakes (like Nahida) or characters who are “bad” with no redeeming qualities. Both are just bland and uninteresting.

The archon quest is pretty good though. It’s no Mondstadt archon quest, but it beats both Liyue and Inazuma. Liyue’s was paced too slowly, and spending so much time just fucking around planning Rex Lapis’s funeral was a bore. Inazuma was paced too quickly, the ending and solution hit like a truck and the Watatsumi arc (and characters) needed more screen time. Sumeru’s was paced well and it was entertaining- despite the overwhelming info dumps at every given opportunity.

All in all, I was hoping for something redeeming after Inazuma, but what I got what Inazuma 2.0 with a slightly better archon quest.

Edit: Just finished the 3.2 acts. I was wrong. Fuck the Sumeru archon quest and the horse it rode in on.

[sumerun]

[2.8 leaks by Ubatcha discussion warning]

- HEIZOU IS SO ADORABLEEEEE. ngl he totally looks like he could’ve been a brawler/fighter class. but I guess he’s beating your ass with a book LMAOO. I’m excited for his kit tbh. even if he has the worst kit ever he still can compete with sucrose! or maybe he’s just a niche support for xiao (which I don’t mind at all)

design wise he’s so adorable and his color is so SATISFYING that nice burgundy and gold 👩🏻‍🍳💋

also the tasteful sideboob and haori tied around his waist 😩 he has a jitte hanging from his left waist so I’m definitely curious to how they’re gonna handle that…

- CYNO’S A HWAAAAAAATTTTTT 😭❤️ OMG I did not expect him to be a hydro polearm??? I really thought he would be a pyro or dendro or geo tbh. BUT it’s CYNO SO I’M MORE THAN HAPPY TO HEAR ANY NEWS 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 (my pyro dps copium lives on tho)

- so much Sumeru crumbs I am actually excited. I can’t believe that we’re so so close to it HNGGGGG 2.8 BETA DON’T FAIL ME NOWWWWWW

- why is the archon categorized as a hikikomori 💀 ei 2.0

honestly I’m gonna try so hard to save as much as I can for Sumeru. they’re gonna throw new characters back go back. I’m debating whether I should go for C2 Kazuha but if Heizou is not on the same banner as him (which he likely won’t be knowing MHY), then plans might change. I really don’t wanna risk losing 50/50 when Sumeru is so close 😭

☝️ more sumeru husbando pls I beg

[ninas-gf]

for the fandom asks, 1, 5, 7?

1. which character do you relate to the most from your fandom?

hmmm... probably sucrose tbh. her line about how she grew apart from her friends really resonated with me, because that's exactly what happened to me when the pandemic hit. i'm also very awkward/socially anxious, and i also relate to how she can have weird/uncommon interests

5. who is your favorite character (and maybe why?)

i like a lot of them, but my absolute favorite characters are eula, sara, and collei. eula, i just was very intrigued by her complexities, and the more i looked into her backstory and all of her SYMBOLISM, the more my interest grew. sara was a character that i just instantly loved, i think she had a really strong introduction scene and is still one of her best moments imo. and i just really loved collei's arc in the webcomic, and i also think she still has a lot of potential if/when we see her in sumeru !!

7. when did you join the fandom?

i started playing the game in patch 2.0 but never actually "joined" the fandom until 2.3. i needed an outlet to express my brainrot, but i didn't want to redownload twt because i absolutely hated my experience on that app

[catcze]

So um. I guess I was right about Tomo and Kazuha HAHAHA. Fr though a lot of this archon quest felt so.... predictable and rushed. My very first thought after finishing the archon quest was not about how great the cutscenes were or about the storyline and all the reveals.... it was rlly just "That's all?".

I don't want to be a debby downer, but Mihoyo could have at least revealed more about Scaramouche through Baal instead of Yae. And the whole "twin gods" thing felt like they just shoved that in there for no other reason than shock value. Again, thats a reveal we get through Yae instead of Baal herself which is,,,,, Anyways, the cutscenes were phenomenal and I'm glad they sort of gave Kazuha closure. But, I still can't help but be disappointed about how fastpaced everything was, from La Signora down to the new Sumeru lore (lesser lord???? Tf is goin on in Sumeru why are they worshipping a lesser lord instead of the archon??)

On another note i am both ecstatic and anxious about how dark things are sure to get now that we finally saw an actual MURDER. The traveler is getting more and more invested in the world of Teyvat and its people, and i feel this will cause so much inner turmoil in them throughout their journey considering the fact that their end-goal is to leave with the twin. Just what will become of those two i wonder

Genshin Spoilers !!

I do agree that this quest felt more fast-paced than the previous one did. I,,, honestly, I wasn't expecting to go from merely showing Sara the Kujou clan's corruption, to fighting Signora then immediately going in to the boss fight with Baal. My phone was having a whole fit screen recording it HAHAHAKSJDN I kind of wish we had more interactions on Sangonomiya that prompted more exploration of the place, maybe ? Something that involved Kokomi + Gorou + Kazuha.

But yeah I think that the twin gods thing was... out of left field, to say the least. I mentioned in one of my asks before that I thought that it would be difficult to 'redeem' Baal after all she's done, and do it in a way that melds enough with the story. I think this is one such thing done to try and 'humanize' her by giving her loss in the form of her sister + friends, bc the twin gods seemed to lack any sort of exposé from the beginning, from the characters, the weapon + artifact lore + character voice lines + clues hidden in the landscape. Bc if you ask me, the 'twin gods' thing feels like an attempt to give Ei a reason behind why she's so desperate to hang onto eternity that kind of feels,,, cliche. I don't think I'd be as unsatisfied if more clues had been presented that hinted towards the twin gods thing, tbh.

And yeah imo the lore and cutscenes here were very centric on closing the Inazuma story quest, and not so much on building and giving hints or clues to the other sources for genshin lore. Although I do appreciate them giving some scara lore, I wish it was less,,, optional ? Because you only do learn about it if you choose a skippable piece of dialogue. And I,,, I don't know, I'm unsatisfied by how it was revealed that Scara took Baal / Ei's gnosis ? It felt really,,, underwhelming i guess.

But there were deffo some memorable scenes in this update ! I'm glad to see Kazuha gain closure like you said, and hopefully we'll get more info on why his friend's vision lit up (fingers crossed that it's more than just a 'power of friendship' thing.)

I'm also super excited bc of the traveller's personality shift! Like, this was really the first time we saw them angry enough to challenge Signora to a fight, knowing that it could end with Signora dead because of them. And their initial impatience to see the Raiden Shogun at the start of 2.0, too–– Idk, I just find it interesting how the traveller seems to get more,,, testy ? Snappy ? Impatient ? to finish everything and maybe reunite with their twin. It was also p cool to see genshin go a little darker, too. I just wonder how much the traveller is gonna change as the story progresses, tbh. If we'll see them become more and more ruthless (?) / goal driven like their sibling as time goes on.

[sk3tch404]

UMM SCARAMOUCHE’S DRIP MARKETING?? CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT?? AND THE NEW 4-STAR?? HATSUNE MIKU LOOKING AHH SHE LOOKS CUTE BUT LIKE I WAS REALLY EXPECTING A DARK SKINNED CHARACTER 😭 idk I didn’t hear much about her but was thinking she was gonna be dark skinned ☹️ tbh while I am on the neutral side of the whole sumeru drama I still want for there to be more dark skinned characters but if this is her design so be it, maybe leakers specified she was gonna be light skinned and I just didn’t hear them cause SCARAMOUCHE STANS WERE ALL OVER MY TWITTER FEED 😭😭 LIKE DAMN HE ACTUALLY GOT MAIDENS FR DIDNT THINK PEOPLE WOULD START ACCOUNTS JUST FOR HIS RELEASE 😀😀 LIKE DAMN SCARAMOUCHE STANS ARE DEDICATED his outfit tho I don’t really like but I don’t hate I wish they kept the same old colors I really liked all the purple and red but still he looks nice I just don’t know if I’ll like his outfit in game all that much anymore 🤷‍♀️ - ☁️

YES YES I LOVE IT SM

That girl... I'm just gonna pretend she don't exist. Her and Layla aren't relevant to me. Might do their story quests just for primos idk

I wish WISH Mihoyo could just LISTEN for once and do what the people they took inspo from tell them what to do. Idc if they're busy asf, YALL ARE ONE OF THE MOST SUCCSESSFUL GACHA GAMES TO EVER EXIST. Yall can do some skin tones and real research dayum 💀

YEAH SCARA WAS ALL OVER AND IS ALL OVER MY SOCIAL MEDIA. I THINK HE LOOK SCRUMP DIDDILY UMPCIOUS, BUT YEAH HE DOES LOOKS A TAD GOOFY.

He might just become Heizou 2.0 on my team idk

They're both short, have the power of anemo, and questionable haircuts.