#this was fun! just got done with actually 3 story quests in genshin.

[endlesslytired]

[vees-genshin-blog]

Progress Check 3

How time flies, because we're finally at progress check 3!! "But, Vee," you might say, "it's only been 14 days?" Yeah, but if you see my first or second post, (which you probably haven't because why would you, why would anyone back read all the posts on this blog 🙃) I actually played for around a week before starting this blog so technically, this is week 3. I just started with day 1 because it's nicer to see day 1 instead of day 8 as the first "daily genshin" post.

Anyway moving on to the actual progress check!!

Character Builds

Since there wasn't much change for each character individually, I'm putting them all together this time!! As always, left is older build and right is current build.

Talent-wise, there was no changes because I still haven't farmed the right monster drops 😔. I'm too busy using the limited time I have to finish the story or use my resin to fulfill my dailies.

Weapon-wise, I gave Kazuha the fav sword and ascended it once. That's it.

Artifact-wise, oooh boy. It is both torturous and fun to farm artifacts because of the RNG. Though that might be because I was farming Emblem with a friend. If you guys have an IRL friend who plays Genshin, I definitely recommend calling and farming with them so you can have lamenting over your bad artifacts and celebrating when you get a decent (or godly) artifact 😊.

For Bennett, I leveled up his sands and replaced his goblet with another one I managed to get in the Emblem domain. My boy now has almost 300 ER which should hopefully be enough for his burst and being a battery for Xiangling's. Now I just need to get a better feather or goblet from the Noblesse domain!!

For Childe, I actually got a good Nymph feather for him!! I just haven't had a chance to level up to compare it with my current feather. Other than that, I finally got an ok 5-star hydro damage bonus goblet!! Hopefully it rolls into crit dmg for the rest of the rolls 🥹.

Xiangling basically got a complete makeover with a new flower, feather, sands, and goblet. I'm particularly proud of the flower because all the substats are good for Xiangling 🥹. Her ER is pretty good too and it'll get better once I level up the sands all the way. Now I just need an Emblem pryo damage goblet or crit rate headpiece (pls hoyo I'm not asking for much 🥹🥹🥹)

Kazuha..... I just leveled up his current artifacts. He's got nothing new because EM artifacts are rare as heck 😭😭😭😭. I just need an VV EM goblet and a 5 star EM sands (though the current one is ok because its better than nothing).

Oh yeah, I've decided that I'm gonna build an Aggravate Keqing team after this team is done!!

Game content

I'm almost done with the 5.1 Archon quest!! I think!!!

I unlocked a few waypoints in Natlan!!!

I didn't finish the Aphid event :(

I want to try the co-op event even though my characters are probably not as well built as I'd like them to be!!

Conclusion

We're slowly getting there with my Childe International team!! I need to finish 5.1!! I can't wait for Thanksgiving to be here so I can play more!!

That's all for this check, and I hope you all have a good day!!

PS: I'll try to write out day 15, but with all my studying, I'll either combine it with day 16 tomorrow or post it by itself tomorrow.

[narzissenkreuz-ordo]

1, 9, 12, 16, 17, 21?

1. the character everyone gets wrong

i've answered this one already but gonna double down on dan heng/dan feng (their relation cannot be defined as black and white as fandom wants it to be) & neuvillette (he's not a uwu cry baby who doesn't know what sex is)

9. worst part of canon

[puts on my clown shoes] the high cloud quintet......... and also the fact that jing yuan literally has no reason to be in the story as is. they did not utilize his character at ALL when they could have easier done some cool things with him, but it all fell flat in the end and it sucks since he was the character i got into hsr for (im a big fan of his eng VA and only started playing bc of him)

and for genshin. they nerfed dottore with sexy anime ass plague doctor aesthetic. its just so boring and predictable. RIP webttore you should have survived the dottore segment hunger games not omega :/

12. the unpopular character(s) that you actually like and why more people should like them

the entire narzissenkreuz cast.... like genuinely one of the coolest and most tragic group of characters from more recent in game history that is fully expanded on in world quests. it a great self contained story told over 3 patches and offers neat context to the events of the fontaine archon quests but more specifically.... rene de petrichor i love you and youre unhinged culty academic shenanigans

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

im sorry but fanon haikaveh (its annoying & reduces their characters down to just a tropey ship) and jingheng (its boring) and i understand why people like neuvifuri and its neat they can be read as so many different relationship dynamics but i very much dislike it in a romantic sense.

i hate the weird sexualization of wriothesley being a prison warden x prisoner! reader, canon character, oc etc

but as for general tropes i think friends to lovers is boring and a snooze fest on its own. wheres the drama....the conflict.... the compelling plot. and i think high school aus are cringe in general. especially from either adult writers or characters who are already adults in canon

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

like in general? im sick of seeing so much rendered/soft shaded 'anime-esque' fanart being the most appreciated in fandom spaces. not to say these folks aren't talented they ARE but it feels like their type of work is the only stuff being praised and lifted in communities i personally would REALLY love to see more graphic and exaggerated cartoon work because i feel like there can so much personality put into pieces like than rather than just pure skill and technique in more rendered/painted styles of work

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

i really don't have any interested in the traveler as a character. i understand Why they exist but id have just as much if not more fun if they didn't have a story arc of their own........ the abyss twin being connected to khaehnri'ah and the abyss order is more interesting than the traveler's entire journey

[mrpenguinpants]

YOU POSTED A THING! Ignore how long it took me to write this up, I've been,,, honestly? I've not been doing things, I've also not been doing this, but-

So the two plots stolen from Genshin is the Chenyu Vale story quest, and I've forgotten the second one, oops- I thiiiink it's kinda like the Mondstadt festival (the one where u have to pick that fuckin flower and it didn't matter abracafuckyou /lh)

LOOKING AT MY THINGS THERE WERE MORE okay hold on-

So the concept of the campaign is every character is a fallen god who's forgotten their divine life, and they regain a shred of their memory and now must find a way to ascend due to the fact that only Whole Mortals can reincarnate/be reborn, but if you die as a mortal-body divine-soul That's It (yadda yadda, non-dnd approved type shit; there are actually multiple ways they could go about it but I have no idea what they'll do beyond revive the sun) - One player didn't do that, but it's fine, he is instead POSESSED by a goddess, it's chill, and I adore his backstory and he's the only one with a backstory tightly interwoven with the world's lore and local area the campaign takes place in he is THE ONLY MAN WHO MATTERS T O M E (/j)

The Genshin Quests that I have plots for bc I stole them are as follows; Natzissenkreuz Ordo, Chenyu Vale, and the Windblume Festival. I won't get into it rn so you don't have to tag this ask as spoilers (unless... thinking emoji) BUT oooOOOOooOoOOo you wanna hear abt my dnd So Bad sdfsdfsdfg (I just wanna talk abt it SO BAD bc we're on a month hiatus bc one player's in the middle of bumfuck nowhere for a while)

I ALSO HAVE A ONESHOT PLANNED FOLLOWING/INSPIRED BY THIS YEAR'S SUMMER EVENT IN GENSHIN! I'm planning on running it at two tables (different groups) and potentially even a third when I get to sorting it out, ASK ME ABOUT IT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE asdfgh

DND ASIDE- I recently found out one of my irls plays Genshin and I've been talking to him about it and honestly??? very nice, very fun (very demure /j) asdfgh I got into genshin to play w/ some other irls but now I am the last,,, genshin player standing,,,, and we're gonna help eachother farm when Natlan comes out bc I love running domains >:3 I'm a lil domain fiend

-Lucky

Ignore the fact that I'm responding backwards. But the pressure did work 👀 now I just need it to happen again because I blinked, and a month rolled around. I thought it was at most a week but no, my sense of time is fucked.

I'm so bad at names, and I barely do the story in any game I play unless I'm forced to (I missed an event in ZZZ because I wasn't on the third chapter yet ;-;). So I don't remember if I've done, seen, or even heard of the Chenyu Vale story, but I do know Mondstadt, at least.

I love it when my friends actually get invested enough with my imagination/ideas that they actually tie things into the ever-working narrative ;u; sometimes I feel like people don't do it because (they don't fucking care lol) they don't want to overstep on something that's made up by you. I understand, but man, it feels so uplifting when it happens. Keep that man alive. Are you planning on revealing parts of their divine life as the campaign goes on? I remember watching this youtube short about DND where they basically say that each player is given a blank sheet, and as they progress through the story they learn more things about their characters based on outside reactions.

I only know Windblume Festival but if it's a required quest/event quest, then I've most likely played the others. But yess, feel absolutely free to dump all your DND lore since I know you can't say it to your players unless you reveal too much. I'll tag spoilers in case you want to get more specific with the genshin quests because I do not remember any of them.

Here is your spotlight Lucky, lay it on me. What is this summer event-inspired oneshot?

I was talking to an old anon on another blog and it kinda makes me sad how the genshin community died out. Not in the sense that there's no fandom there, but that old players have either quit or lost interest. It makes me wonder if I even like genshin or if I write it because it's what I've been doing for so long.

[mymarifae]

sorry about that :((((

https://www.tumblr.com/shiftythrifting/759635562114236416/big-metal-kiwi-though-i-think-still-smaller-than?source=share

here's a picture of a kiwi i found! also, could you give me a pitch for honkai star rail :0?

ohhh what an excellent fellow... i wish he could be in my house. weighing down my papers and such things

when you say Pitch do you mean like, a recommendation of sorts? okay!!!! so first off it's a gacha game, so it's bad-

😭 GDSJBHNKJFBNKF umm for all my criticisms of the game (which i'd be happy to go into another time, but not now, not while i'm still veryvery very very sad) i just find it... compelling! there are always moments in every update where i'm like "ok so i wouldn't have done it that way" but the overall direction and execution of the story is. it's just fun idk!!!! the penacony arc lost a bit of its momentum towards the end but i genuinely think that portion of the game especially was really well put together and it makes for a fun video game experience. even if you don't end up connecting with the story and characters as strongly as I did, the art, music, environments, boss fights, tension points, etc etc etc add up to a pretty good time. penacony's the shining star so far, but i think this sentiment applies to most parts of the game 🤔 most......

characters though!!!! that's the other thing that really got me stuck in the hsr hole. lots and lots of lovely characters. many of their designs may kill me, but i am soooooo drawn to the personalities and archetypes and development arcs and their interactions with each other and their world and THEMSELVES and and and and and . ough i love Character..

also, the game has a lot of surprisingly insightful commentary and philosophies interwoven in its narrative? not to mention penacony again but actually yes to mention penacony again because this game is still a baby game and we only have so many arcs to talk about and it's the best one thus far , PENACONY had a lot to say. especially about society/capitalism and the significance/INsignificance of life (especially when you consider the inevitability of death). very thoughtful, i found. many pieces of the story made me put everything down and just Think for a while. i always like when stories make me do that :)

ummm one last thing! gameplay. personally i adore the gameplay asdgkjngndjb i live for this kind of turn-based combat where you can think your way through it. sure there's the "meta" that's "better" and "easier" but you can very much just ignore it and develop your own understanding of each character's combat style and do whatever you want. <3 also like. all my character design gripes aside, the animations are a ton of fun imo... so even if the combat can get repetitive at times it's like "look at my guys go :)"

and there's a lot of maps and a lot of space to run around in, but exploration is kind of limited due to the fact that you cannot jump or climb in this game. they make up for this by hiding all sorts of easter eggs and random hidden side quests (?) everywhere and also the game design is just very pretty so i still have a lot of fun just Looking, but if you're expecting something more like genshin you're. not getting that 👍🏾

in conclusion it's not good except for when it decides to be the best thing ever and i'm having the time of my life and now i've gone and gotten myself extremely attached to 60% of the cast so even if i wasn't having the time of my life i'd be stuck here anyway

[mochiwrites]

Glad you're enjoying Genshin lol. Favorite character(s)? Not necessarily talking about playing because some of the ones I love are uh, less than great. They're lovely when they show up in the story though

GOD OKAY.

the only two region stories I’ve done for archon quests are mondstadt and liyue but I think between the two liyue is my favorite so far :3 I really love ningguang and I wasn’t expecting to like zhongli as much as I do but ???? he’s so endearing to me. very endeared by him. also beidou!!!!! I met her just today and I 🥺

no one will be shocked by this but lisa is also one of my favorite characters <33 she’s in my main party LMAO kaeya is also fun — I’m incredibly curious about him and whatever his past is 👀

and although I don’t know her story since I haven’t actually reached fontaine yet. I have lynette and 🥺 she’s so cuteeeee. as soon as I got her I started building her LMAO. it’s only right for cat girl to be one of my mains (and her attacks are super fun)

at the moment I’m on my way to inazuma :3 just gotta get there first dvfbfhthth

[kyogre-blue]

Why do you want to stop playing Genshin, if you don't mind me asking?

This is a really good question, and I was going to whine about it in detail closer to the end of 3.8, haha

I guess the simplest way to put it is that I'm not looking forward to a single aspect of Fontaine.

I don't like underwater exploration as a whole, and I definitely didn't like how they handled Sorush's three axis movement, so the thought of Fontaine's underwater portions only fills with me with dread and annoyance.

I don't like the sound of the Ousia/Pneuma mechanics that will be the new twist to combat and probably exploration. I didn't like Sumeru having so many forced and restrictive exploration mechanics, I think only maybe one third of Dendro was done well, and I am the opposite of excited that the new O/P thing is going to be directly baked into new character kits. I expect you're going to be forced to use Hydro Traveler and Lynette (who will be given out for free), which is something I sure did not enjoy in regard to Sumeru's extensive elemental restrictions for its exploration.

And, in general, Sumeru was pretty, sure. It was even sometimes fun to explore. But more than anything, it got tedious. It was too big, too repetitive, and too lacking in... just something memorable, I suppose. I don't really care to experience the same in another nation that looks also quite generic.

I certainly am not excited for the storyline. I know people say Sumeru was a huge improvement over Inazuma, but I don't agree. Inazuma at least had an interesting concept. Sumeru is just a bloated, tedious slog with no actual improvement in anything I value in a story: characterization, relationships, plot and setting, etc. I am somewhat open to doing Inazuma acts 2 and 3 on my alt, just to see how I feel about them after so long, but I am certainly not doing Sumeru again. It was awful and about three times longer than it had any right to be.

Nothing about Fontaine looks like it'll be improved, especially not after that trailer that was full of fake-deep nonsense.

And above all else, I keep thinking about the damn multilevel map.

They're gonna roll out an in-game multilevel map a year after launching Sumeru, the nation of endless multilevel caves. Why did I bother doing Sumeru when it came out? If I had waited a year, it would have been so much easier and less frustrating.

And then I think, if I wait a few more years, maybe we'll finally get that scene skip button. So why bother doing Fontaine now? Doesn't it make more sense to wait? And if I'm fine putting it off for years, then do I really care enough to do it at all?

Anyway, I've finished all I care to do on my main account. I've obtained all Mondstadt characters, I've max ascended every character, levelled their talents, geared them up. I have 100% exploration on all maps, I have all achievements except the RNG commission ones (and Kaveh hangout ones), I have all quests complete, I have teapot completely built, card game handbook finished, etc. It's all done.

And if I don't really want anything of the incoming content, then... well, I'm done.

[willnaib]

ok

potential spoilers, etc. “the game has been out for ages!” ok but i’m going in 99% blind despite it all so. anyway

RIGHT NOW: i just finished liyue + the dainslief quest that leads into inazuma. probably starting inazuma tomorrow. i started playing a little over a year ago during a really rough period, which makes it kind of funny that ive picked it up again now, but w/e. back then i played through mondstadt, which i admittedly don’t remember much about, but i do know it wasn’t quite interesting enough for me to keep up with it and the gameplay itself was incredibly hard to understand so i just . abandoned it LOL

I picked it up again semi recently because freminet intrigued me enough to return. i started up partway through liyue (rex lapis had just faked his death).

my main complaint is that i’ve only just started to get the hang of things and i’m 2/5 through the total story content the game has to offer. obviously there’s a ton of domain bullshit and exploration — i’m interested in the exploration, mostly, but not the domain bullshit. and that’s the second biggest thing, but i’ll get back to it in a minute. my main point is that i haven’t latched onto any of the characters until Just Now. yeah i find some of them interesting, but through mondstadt and liyue everyone felt… half baked. there were glimmers of potential: i find the archons really fun because they have a great balance of “i’m not human why would i be bound by human laws or morality” (i wish the fandom would.. understand that..) but there’s not quite enough of them in the story to really expand on it. the same applies to the politics — it pissed me OFF in liyue when the only options while talking to ningguang were to fully side with keqing when i’d met keqing for… five seconds? (obviously it’s part because lumine is her own character and not fully a player insert, but i was bothered that we only got glimpses of the full picture. it was elaborated on later and idm as much now but in the moment it was like ???)

which kind of leads into my next thing: that genshin works because it’s six games in one, but. i wish it was not six games in one. i’m playing and enjoying it for the story and for the zelda-esque play style. this means i understand dps and nothing else. this means the majority of the cast is a mystery to me in terms of how to utilize them, because i just hit things until they die. this means that sometimes i wont be able to kill something because i forgot to go out to a separate menu and level up the 3 different separate aspects for everyone in my party. it’s so much effort to just keep your units baseline viable ESPECIALLY when you’re f2p and then everyone gets on your case for not having fully built 5*s. i’m about to get into inazuma and i have no 5*s to my name! i barely understand the artifacts system! i barely understand the weapons system! it’s unnecessarily convoluted!!!

it’s funny though, because now that the story’s gotten interesting i’m actually really invested. dainslief introduction was genuinely the best thing they could have done for the plot (although. even then. the ending quest cutscene was undermined by paimon immediately recapping it as if i didn’t Just watch it happen.) i just wish it wasn’t trying to be a gambling addiction generator for small children 75% of the time

i should write out my genshin thoughts here instead of twitter because i have . a lot of thoughts lol. i’ll do that in a bit

[apompkwrites]

reader impact || first meetings: adventurer edition

series masterlist characters: amber, bennett genre: fluff summary: a game has been released entitled genshin impact, consisting of otherworldly abilities relying on the basic elements of nature. the game follows the story of an interdimensional traveling twin in search of their other half. along this journey, they meet different characters that live in this world. including you. notes: i decided to put these two together since i've already done one for diluc!

amber's playthrough -

amber's more of an outdoorsy type of person but that doesn't stop her from streaming!

she likes doing camping streams where she just camps out in her backyard and shows her chat what she would normally do. and the occasional cooking stream to show how you can make good foods healthy <33

she has a little bunny that she shows on stream sometimes :))

there'll be some days where she just sits at home talking to chat about her day while playing with her little baron bunny.

she plays games occasionally, but their mainly adventure type ones that mimic the lifestyle she holds.

like minecraft, rust, any survival game really.

she's still very energetic so any stream of hers is just bustling with excitement.

she'd probably host some streams where she teaches basic survival techniques?? idk man i don't go out much AIHSDASHLDKJ--

anyway anyway, she got a bunch of requests asking her to play genshin ofc.

i mean?? cute game, cute models, cute characters, and aDVENTURE.

i feel like she'd go with the male traveler solely because it isn't very practical to go exploring/adventuring in a dress?? like girl's over here genuinely thinking about real life scenarios.

anyway she's sitting there after finding dvalin's corrupted tear and the cutscene plays.

she's there vibing with chat and her little bunny by her side because of course they'll be sitting there while she plays.

"hey you! stop right there!"

"aCK!"

please she screeched when you yelled at her--

and then she squealed when jumped in front of her character.

pLEASE

the camera showing off your cute little headband mimicking animal ears makes her melt.

and then you jump from the little cliff and you have to stumble to regain your balance?!?!??!

PLEASE YOU'RE SO CUTE

"may the anemo god protect you, stranger! i am (name), outrider for the knights of favonius."

catch her copying your little salute.

"they're so cute!!!!"

she will point out the animal ears constantly.

and then your vision has a cute little ribbon at the end of it!!!!!!

"just! just! just look at them!!"

and then you join her party officially!!!

please she switches to you automatically--

she'll just jump around for a few minutes to watch all your accessories bounce around.

and she can just tell that your story would be a delight to read about.

when paimon mentions her mc's missing sibling, you sound so soft and caring and just aGH.

and then she gets to try out your elemental skill and it's the aNIMAL THAT YOUR CHARACTER'S HEADBAND IS BASED OFF OF!!!

if it's a bunny she would definitely find a matching headband she can wear when she plays :00

her chat's usually a really sweet place to vibe and hang out but of course, there's gonna be those kinda people.

she catches wind of some people badmouthing you and calling you the worst character in the game >:((

she's not too keen on banning people for their opinions so instead...

"hey, guys, can we just have fun with this game? if you don't like how i'm playing you can always just?? leave??"

please girl's fuming inside but she's trying her hardest to be nice about it >:((

back to you <3

she'd get another pet that matches yours and name it after you or your elemental skill.

she'd find ways to copy your outfit too ngl--

she'd definitely cook your signature dish!!

gotta make it all cute for you <3

bennett's playthrough -

ah yes, our unlucky baby boy bennett <3

like amber, he really loves adventures!!

he's still pretty unlucky for some reason???

idk man he's just vibing and his bad luck says too bad,,,

he's kind of a baby streamer if you catch my drift?

like he's new to everything so he's just trying to figure it out.

he used to be in a streamer house but... yeah.

we don't like them anyway, it's fine.

unlike in the game, bennett's bad luck didn't bring the other members harm, it was just... little inconveniences i guess.

but he left so now he's all on his own!

he's kinda inexperienced in all of this but he's trying his best!

for now he's sticking to gaming because that's a majority of what he knows.

lots of survival games!!!

and, sadly, luck-based games.

his chat just wants to see if his luck impacts games!!

and it does,,,

luckily they request genshin, which has the best of both worlds.

bennett's got all of the adventuring and his chat gets to see his misfortune in action.

sadly you don't appear in the main archon quests so bennett actually goes a long while not knowing who you are :((

veterans of the game, however, know exactly who you are >:))

first, they'd help show you off by posting links to your splash art in his chat.

bennett, being the baby he is, just clicks on the links without a second thought.

and he's in aWE!!!

LOOK AT YOU!!! LOOK AT HOW COOL YOU ARE!!

"woahh!! who are they? can i meet them soon?"

cri

they tell him he has to roll for you and he's sad, but only for a bit!

at least you're not an exclusive character because if he were, he thinks he'd have no chance at getting you :((

but he can get you whenever!

anyway, one stream he's rolling because he's stocked up a bunch of primogems (which took a long time) and he's like might as well use them up now.

he gets a lot of weapons :(((

he's basically dedicated his whole team to c6ing his characters he has now because he "knows" he won't get a good character.

luckily the pity systems exist so he gets the occasional four star <33

so he thinks it's another character he already has, so he's very prepared to get another constellation in.

he's looking through the trash weapons and then splash art appears!

"wait... i recognize that--"

IT'S YOU.

HE WASN'T EXPECTING IT BUT IT'S YOU!!!!

"THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE REALLY HERE!!"

his chats hyping him up as he's running around his room because they love him <33

please i love this boy with a passion.

he'll put you in his team automatically with all of his c5/6 characters asdhaklsf

he doesn't even care you get everything and anything he owns in the game <3

"this is your team! it's really cool! i'm (name), leader of (name)'s adventure team! is there... do you think we could team up? i-it could even be just once!"

"they're staying on my team forever."

he loves you so much.

not just because you're a cool character but because he can relate to you--

anyway, he goes to your voicelines because that's the only time he can actually hear you fully :((

he's genuinely excited to learn about your story.

and then he learns that you have extremely bad luck too???!?!?!?

please y'all can be unlucky together!!

would that cancel out or just make you more unlucky??

huh.

he gets all sad when he hears you talking bad about yourself so he's here to reassure you (even if you're a fictional character).

[thevivification]

3, 5, 8, 26, and 30 for the artists asks? :0

3. What ideas come from when you were little

SO MANY OF THEM!!! I had this idea where an entire class replaced themselves with robots and also I remember getting really upset that everyone kept on talking about Harry Potter (I was in like. g2 and I didn't know about the terf stuff yet but it was fucking everywhere) and also this one classmate I had kept making horror stories about the school so I just drew the monsters having fun together in a school a lot

(this is the classmate that said the hopskotch things were actually where people were buried?? I don wanna give anything more kasi that'd doxx me) OH and also I had this habit of adding like. antlers and shit to everything which still carries on to this day. I have never seen a deer or moose in person in my life yet but I plan on having that changed

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

uh. a good percent actually. I don't do math but I'd say 75%? maybe a little more maybe a little less?

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

Okay so there was this one time my friends and I wanted to do our own fanganronpa. We didn't finish that. And then there's literally every AU concept and fic I've ever done/am doing ever and. yeah. It's still there!!! It's just! brain things idk OH MYGOD AND ELDRITCH HORRORS WITH ETHO AND GRIAN!! I LOVE THE CONCEPT I JUST DON'T THINK THE BRAIN JUICES FEEL LIKE WORKING ON IT

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

okay so this isn't art per se but that one scene from the original lo3 where dxd calls etho 404 that was a ref to ep404 of the letsplay and. i don't remember where I was going with that one honestly

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

ohohoho

Two Canaries At Rest - It deserved so much better... I love the vibe I did for this one it's just aduisuusada

Genshin!Cub in the desert - I would like to thank Aether for this AU and also for giving me brainrot that has lasted for months. I think it'd be cool if he had a story/world quest that was like. related to that sandstorm. In my heart it's what happened

Court magician Cub in jjba esque artstyle - this one actually got robbed and I don't know how. It disappeared from the cubfan maintag and all my other posts seemed fine?

Grian Mycroft, Private Eye - I wish the wet chunk of fats in my skull let me work more on Polaroids >:/ I need to do more art for this au

DreamXD stained glass imitation - not that into dsmp anymore but damn. I just love this one. I love the effects I love the colors I love the lines I love love love it. If I suddenly learned how to do stained glass art this would be the first thing I make

[starswake--archived]

Top 5 genshin dudes

HAHA N I C E im down to talk about some bros lets go

1. its probably due to the event yes totally about the event unless you know me well then you know exactly- but albedo's probably my number one for best dude :) esp w the whole reveal that he was created by alchemy and he's existed for ~500 years now and then his general fear that like many other things created by his masters hands he might destroy the world that he loves sm I T - T that's my weak spot

2. will definitely have to put childe here! he wouldve been first because he is inevitably what dragged me to genshin in the first place with his amaaazing soundtrack. but not only that ! i just find it fun that he winds up enjoying his time in the fatui because it means more battles for him but he doesnt really listen to them otherwise :) hes just having a time lol plus his story quest about him trying to juggle between being mr bad guy and the best big brother got me sooooo good lol oh and gameplay wise? he's actually really fun to play as ! and there's so many different ways to build him and i've been experimenting w different builds for him for that reason and it just feels like a neverending project aslkdjfah

3. CAN I GO OFF ABOUT DILUC FOR A HOT SECOND? okay i mean he hasnt done much of anything beyond the prologue of the game but the manga was suuuuch an eye opener for me when it came to liking diluc ! that and...gender envy BUT THATS NOT THE POINT. his whole backstory is that he grew up with the dreams of being a knight in his father's stead but when he finally reached that dream, his father passes away and he winds up seeing the downsides of the knight the very same day. his dreams shatter in the same day and he disappears for a few years after. now, what gets me is the story of how he got his vision. he's a pyro user which centers around the idea of passion - doing something that you love. he first got it as a kid, being passionate to be a knight, but seeing as his dream got shattered, his passion too died and the light of his vision too dissipated. but in the few years he left, he found something else to love - to be passionate about and to live for: to protect the city to make up for what the knights fail to do. and i think that finding that peace, finding one's own path again and reconnecting w a dream is just so admirable !

4. kaeya !! this is sorta tied to albedo too with the whole "i carry the lore of the game in my backstory". it's also a really tragic one too, being the only human left ig of the lost kingdom of khaenri'ah and feeling stuck between his new home of mondstadt or siding with the mission he was put on for khaenri'ah's sake ; - ; i really hope we get more of him soon !

5. last but not least! venti ! honestly what i love about venti is that he's such a playful character (ofc being a bard and all) but he does have these wise moments and it makes him such a genuinely warm character to be around and i miss him deeply T - T i cried in my friends dm about his first story quest but the fact that he was once a wind sprite and adopted the look of a former friend who died in a rebellion war before he got to see the freedom he's long fought for??? it kills me sm... just the whole idea of turning into his friend so that in a way his friend could see the world too :')

[moni-harmonia]

How I came to love Genshin

This has a lot to do with Kaeya, and also Diluc, but it’s just me rambling about it and being a little nostalgic.

If you want, you can tell your own experience, everyone’s is different!

[Contains light spoilers of the story]

My friend is a Honkai fan so he came to know Genshin Impact when they announced it. He was excited and show me trailers and I thought that it looked pretty fun. I don’t usually play open worlds because they usually use realistic graphics and I’m more fan of anime-style graphics and characters, so it picked my interest, especially since it had male characters (I like the female characters too but I’m a big fangirl lol).

A few weeks before the launch he showed me the website and I took a look at the characters. I don’t get to like a character based on just a picture and description but some of them seemed like I would like them, and this included Kaeya and Diluc because I’m an ikemen fan if they’re well done (by this I mean that they’re handsome or pretty but they’re also interesting; appearance is not everything).

Then I started playing the game and I liked it. I wasn’t a FAN like I’m now, but the world was very fun to explore and, even if at the time I wasn’t invested in the story, it was still entertaining. So I played every day and reached Chapter 1 Act 2, which was everything at that moment. I also played the character and legendary quests too (Venti was the last one at the time). I had seen all the main story things basically.

That’s when I decided to read the webcomic since my friend said that it was pretty good and I should read it. I’m a big manga fan but since I wasn’t still invested it took me a while to want to check it out but decided to finally do it.

It was at Chapter 2 I believe that something caught my attention. It was when Kaeya said “Diluc and I are like brothers”. Now I know that’s a mistranslation that’s supposed to say “adoptive brothers” but nevertheless, that surprised me. Because as I said, I wasn’t invested, so I didn’t really read the characters’ profiles and stories. I had no idea about the past of these characters, I had only seen the cutscenes of the game. So in my mind, I thought that Kaeya and Diluc were old friends, maybe rivals (because you know, fire and ice) but... like brothers? That surprised me.

Because of that, I decided to actually take a look at their stories in the wiki since I was curious. So I went to check out Kaeya’s story and the first thing I read is that he and Diluc are adoptive brothers and I’m like WHAT. I didn’t expect that at all! And it was a very welcomed surprise because I love sibling dynamics so much and conflicting sibling stories. Already that gave lots of points for both characters, and put a lot of things into perspective. But then came the huge reveal that Kaeya was a spy for the mysterious region of Khaenri’ah and all the conflict that happened between Diluc and him.

And man, that was interesting as heck! I loved it! It’s such an interesting story for a character that seemed secondary at first glance. Until that point I liked both of them, they were my favourites overall. But after reading their stories and understanding them better, I went from “They’re neat” to “I can’t play the game without them!”. There was so much potential in their story, so many interesting things that could happen. 

Of course, I hope for a happy ending for them, a wholesome ending. And I think it will happen but it’s gonna take time and I hate that! But at the same time, it gave me lots of motivations to continue with the game, and to actually read other characters’ stories too and be more interested in the lore. I rewatched all the cutscenes and then Genshin wasn’t just a game that I played for fun, it became a constant investment because I wanted more and more!

It’s incredible how much I came to love the game just because of that one thing. In that period my friends thought that I liked Diluc more because I use him as my main (since I got used to claymores while using Razor). But no, it was Kaeya, who I also use a main, they’re both my mains never to leave the team. And I love him even more now. Because while I really like both of them, Kaeya has almost everything that I like: he’s handsome, smart, powerful, kind, funny, mischievous, has an interesting story and a conflict with a lot of potential.

So yeah, that’s the story of how I came to love the game in the period of like 3-4 weeks since I started playing. And now I’m so glad that my friend recommended the game and that I decided to read the webcomic and everything. Because I like Genshin a lot, it’s not perfect and I wish they will improve the game over time but it’s the one thing that makes me happy everyday whenever I play it.

[genshin-djinn]

Genshin Impact Chapter 1 Act 3: A Reaction.

Chapter 1 Act 3 is what took my experience with this game from “good game” to “masterpiece”.

THIS POST CONTAINS MANY, MANY SPOILERS FOR GENSHIN IMPACT CHAPTER 1: ACT 3

Genshin Impact has some problems— actually, it has a shit ton of problems. But during the fight against hordes of Fatui, with the Adepti channeling their abilities through my gang, flying through them as Oz, decimating them with Diluc— I just thought, this is the best time I’ve had in a mobile game in my life.

This game might not be perfect now— it’s only a quarter of the way done if we’re counting Karenri’ah. But it will be a fucking masterpiece once it’s all out. If this is the level of quality we’re getting for our archon quests, this game is going to be an amazing time on story alone.

KEQING

I love Keqing with all my heart. If she were alive today she would be a socialist here to topple the ruling 1%. When ningguang asked Aether who they trusted more, her or Keqing, I hit the Keqing button as fast as possible.

I think one of my favorite things about Keqing is that she’s so completely honest, which is unusual for a Liyue politician. If she doesn’t like something, she’ll speak out against it. If she thinks something else should be happening, she’ll make it happen. She can probably be deceitful at times, but in general she’s straightforwards in that she wants a government for the people and by the people.

I can’t wait for her story quest!

NINGGUANG

pretty.... voice pretty....

Ningguang is cool. Her JP voice is very pretty, like she could do ASMR videos online or smth. One thing I decidedly did not like about Ningguang is how her personality just ???? flips? In the middle of the quest, for no reason other than “because plot”.

It’s established that Ningguang cares about two things more than anything— the Jade palace and Mora. Why, then, would she destroy the Jade palace for the sake of Liyue? I get that she’s a good person at heart at all, but I want to see more of her indecision, her brain saying “mora” and her heart saying “Liyue”. The way she just flips on a dime isn’t really strange but it does contradict with her preexisting characterization.

Childe’s Boss Fight!

The section of this quest from Childe’s fight to the Adepti + Qixing battle is just nonstop adrenaline.

Childe is IMO a lot more fun than Dvalin (sorry Dvalin). I’m at WL5 and have a tendency to play fast and loose with important mechanics like.... dodging, for example.... and Childe’s Mask Electro form ended up destroying my team. I killed him with Guoba because everyone else besides Xiangling was dead. I

Another thing I really enjoy about Childe’s boss fight is that in the irrationalities of Childe as a character, it actually makes sense. Genshin is decent at making weekly bosses logical excursions— Andrius wants you to get stronger, Dvalin’s weekly fight is ~~all a dream~~; but tbh sometimes the weekly bosses don’t make sense. Andrius wants to train us, not murder us! How does dvalin, a dream slash memory that doesn’t exist, manage to knock someone out?

Childe as a weekly boss actually makes perfect sense. He’s an adrenaline junkie addicted to the thrill of fighting people— to put this in modern AU terms, he’s the guy who’s first in line to ride the rollercoaster that failed all of its health and safety checks. Childe wants to befriend the Traveler entirely because they’re stronger than him, so that he can fight them over and over again until he’s the strongest. Of course, this will never happen, because the Traveler is the MC and therefore is stronger than all others. However, in this way Childe being a repeatable boss makes 100% perfect sense— he actually wants to fight the Traveler again and again and again.

The one question I have about Childe is how in the living feck are the Fatui letting him join the Traveler and fight for them *against the Fatui*??? I think this might be touched on in Childe’s Story quest, which I’ll do in a bit, but like????? They let him keep his delusion and just walk over to Aether like “aight fam I’m on your team now”? How?

Jade Chamber/ Guizhong Ballista vs Sea Monster Fight!!

Basically, all my charged adrenaline from nearly dying to Childe just came to a head in this one huge fantastic fight.

And Xiao :)

I absolutely loved seeing the Adepti and the Qixing work together. This fight was probably my favorite fight in the whole game— the music was amazing (soundtrack where), the graphics were so nice, the adepti were so feckin cool, using everyone’s abilities was n I ce. My adrenaline was reaching its highest point at this fight and it was just perfect. It was just so fecking fun after days of WL5 pain, having to pop like five ultimates to kill one hillichurl, to be able to just demolish swathes of enemies with Fischl and Diluc, run around like a madman thanks to Xiao, have infinite health idr who did that for me but bless them, just absolutely destroy.

Ever since I hit WL5 I haven’t been able to really just go insane during a fight and stop caring about HP/ when to use skills/ dodging and this have me that opportunity.

Zhongli’s Deal

*punches Zhongli across the room with the power of being the player character* I love this man so much.

Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli Zhongli. I AM VERY ANGRY AT HOW THE PLOT RESOLVED HIS STORYLINE. But it also makes a lot of sense. And I think, for once, Zhongli should be allowed to be selfish.

Because choosing to leave Liyue was a bit selfish. He’s leaving the country that adores him, loves him, gives him shit for free; to its own devices and then to a completely unknown fate once the new Geo Archon becomes god and takes over. But he made a frankly fantastic plan and can now leave the country, for now, in peace.

I was absolutely delighted to see Zhongli in Morax form. Making deals with La Signora, being a complete and utter puppet master who set this entire situation up and played Childe like a kazoo; but just like his dear friend Venti, I think Zhongli is happier when he’s just Zhongli, the eccentric mortal. He seems so much happier and so much more relaxed when he’s forgetting about mora and eating dinner with Aether and Paimon. Rex Lapis might have just put Liyue through the wringer, but he can now put down his 3000- year long reign and just be the happy, eccentric Zhongli.

Zhongli’s little bit of insecurity over being a “bourgeois parasite” makes perfect sense now— he doesn’t want to be seen as Morax, a superfluous god who’s using his name to get whatever he wants from the humans he watches over.

But also the part of my brain that feeds off lore nEEDS to KNOW what Zhongli got from Tsaritsa. What could be worth a gnosis? His own happiness isn’t enough— Tsaritsa is likely going to use his gnosis to try and destroy Liyue. What could be worth that?

My main thought would be either “someone’s protection” or “another gnosis”, but I don’t think the latter is possible. The former could be possible but doesn’t really make sense either— a) whose protection is worth putting an entire country, much less the world, in danger and b) the Fatui are out to kill everyone who isn’t Fatui, so they won’t agree to spare a major player in the war to come like that. Brain go brrr.

I’m very hyped for Zhongli’s story quest, which I think is coming with his banner on Dec 1, when Childe’s banner ends. I really hope that Zhongli visits Mondstadt and chills with Venti for a while, but anything with this guy would be fine lol.

LORE

We got a lot of lore this update and I am delighted by it.

Firstly, we get a tiny hint of how Visions are bestowed— “if a person shows true strength of will at a desperate and fateful moment in their life, the gods will look upon them with favor.” Vague but more than we had before.

Next we got some neat lore about Inazuma— firstly, that it’s led by a god named Baal and secondly that it steals everyone’s visions. I’m very hyped to visit because guess what fam aether doesn’t have a vision.

Final Thoughts

In case you can’t tell from my insane ramblings, I loved Chapter 1 Act 3 and I absolutely cannot wait to play through Childe’s story quest and Chapter 2 and beyond.

The Prologue in Mondstadt set the stage for Genshin. We started out in a fantasy environment with a fantasy tale of an immortal bard and a dragon. Mondstadt was an excellent introduction to the world of Genshin.

And now? We’re starting to build on that. Chapter 1 brings us another story of another god and their relationship with the country they watch over. Liyue is much less of a traditional fantasy setting and takes the darkness we saw in Mondstadt— a friendship ruined by manipulation and suffering— and build on it. Now we don’t just see the Fatui more often but we also see more of the Treasure Hoarders and the way both groups kidnap and experiment on humans.

Mond started to introduce us to the Fatui, but Liyue is where they really start bringing continuous plot relevance. Inversely, we saw much more of the Abyss Order in Mondstadt than we did in Liyue. I’m extremely disappointed we didn’t see any more of the Princess this chapter, but it makes sense given that Chapter 1 was really more about the Fatui than the Abyss Order.

All I’m trying to say is the Liyue arc was an excellent continuation to the stage Mondstadt’s arc set. Now, we’re on to the world of the Eternal Shogun, Baal! I’m really excited to meet new characters and experience new stories of Inazuma, but I hope we’ll continue to see Mondstadt and Liyue in the future. Mondstadt is likely going to be the most “boring” of the countries we experience, cuz it’s just so classically fantasy- themed, but it will always be the first country we explored in this world.

After Inazuma (if I had to take a shot in the dark, inazuma’s arc will take from December 23 to maybe March or April) we’ll go to Sumeru, which I am really extremely hyped for because it sounds extremely different from Mond and Liyue and we’ll meet Cyno and possibly even Collei! (just me extrapolating lol). I can’t wait to see where Genshin Impact goes story- wise, because its first major update has brought so much to the table.

.

[iiasha-archived]

genshin anon! oops turns out i totally forgot to respond lol. yeah the sacrificial is nice. ive got the bow, claymore, and catalyst. almost have 2 r5 catalyts as well.... oo that's nice! yeah xiao has kind of turned into my not used character as well which is kind of sad. i love him so much. but hu tao doing 30k+ crit up to 50k is uh... going well for me one might say. and yeah i also think the rate theyre doing things is okay. people constantly are at the game for not having end game content

lmaoo don’t worry about responding!! feel free to absolutely ghost me i’ll totally understand hehe <3

(2/5) but like.. the game isnt a year old yet. like half the game isnt even out yet. i get theres not a whole lot to do ar 45+ but :/ its a gacha game so its not really supposed to be a play for 8 hours a day thing. although i am torn on that. it is a gacha game but plays and acts like a 'proper' game so i get where everyone is coming from in that aspect. i am so in love with venti. mostly wanted him to collect everyone and for spiral abyss but damn i use him CONSTANTLY and i dont think i could

(3/5) ever not use him now. sucrose is great though! def try to get here she is such a great support! zhongli is so useful though haha. he kind of just fits in wherever. i cant wait for childe i so hope i get him. im saving up all these windblume primos for him haha. and hoping to get rosaria in the process (my pole arm team will almost be complete). yeah the windblume has been great! the STORY THOUGH. it made me so happy? haha. loved seeing all the characters again. and it was just a sweet

(4/5) story :'( the games are pretty cool too! im not a big fan off the freefall one though. the other two are great. and peculiar wonderland! that one is a lot of fun in coop! i kind of really want them to keep the dandelions floating around in mondstadt? they look so nice. oh nice! yeah polearms are fun haha. i used to use a lot of claymores but idk, im just not overly fond of how slow they are? plus none of them really -vibe- with me. xinyan is my fave out of them though. i just walk around

(5/5) with my faves and hope for the best :') chongyun and xingqiu bestest friends <3 that sounds funny ill have to be xingqui when i do chongyuns story quest lol. still havent done any of those but yeah its nice that they do let you skip what youve already done lol. yeah rosaria did show up in the windblume festival which i figured she would. got to remind everyone about her before she is released. did make me like her a bit more honestly. cant wait to (hopefully) get her! she seems like fun!

R5 DAMN.... i think my highest is like R2 lmao again weapons are like the last thing i invest in ajdfklaj i have like. two good swords and 2 good claymores and that’s it. my poor catalysts and bows.......

30-50k crit omg..... i only JUST got the achievement for like i think 20k+ damage with xiao the other day and it was during peculiar wonderland with the plunging/crit buffs LMAOOOO i am not a numbers type of gal </3 

yeah i’ve honestly seen a lot of gacha games that like fucked around before discontinuing and not making a dent in the story... not saying that i want that to happen to genshin of course (knock on wood) but just the rate they’re doing things is definitely fine lmao. and yeah sometimes i don’t even bother playing every day if i just don’t feel like it adfjklajd sure i’m losing primogems but also like. i’m tired bro lmao idk how people can spend hours every single day without just spending a copious amount of money on it. 

but it does definitely feel like more than a gacha game for sure. botw was popular for a reason and i must say genshin ripped it off well LMAO. ughhhh despite what i said i keep pulling for venti and I’VE GOTTEN NOELLE IN EVERY SINGLE 10 WISH THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS FJADKLFJSA i did get keqing for my pity though who i did also really want though so!!!! i guess i can be happy with that lmao although i wish at least 1 of my noelles was a sucrose or something...

and yes! even if it was just brief cameos i’m glad they brought a lot of characters in; really helps build the world especially seeing the friendships between certain characters! i know we got a spoiler in the trailer but i was so excited to just see like. diluc/kayea/rosaria together hahaha. and razor and bennet are so cute!! i think people already knew they were friends from their voicelines? but actually seeing them hang out together/interact really solidifies it. 

oh nice i’m not the only one who isn’t a fan of the freefalling one LMAO the others were a lot of fun tho <3 and yeah the dandelions are definitely really pretty!!!

ahh yeah i think with claymore users i tend to really focus more on their elemental skills/burst than them actually fighting lmao. like with chongyun at least he has a pretty fast cooldown compared to how long his skill lasts and just switch out with another character meanwhile. polearms are fun as well and xiao has been GREAT but i think i was also off put by how little damage my xiangling was doing when i first tried out polearms lmaooo

chongyun and xingqiu are really the best i love them so much... people keep comparing them to buzzfeed unsolved which i honestly haven’t really seen much of but it makes SO much sense especially since their whole thing is like. chongyun looking for evil spirits and xingqiu giving him shitty leads jasdkflsa. 

also idk if you’ve seen this but apparently the tassels they wear on their visions are friendship tassels they gifted each other and JDAFKLAJSKLFDSJ THAT’S SO CUTE GODDD

and yeah!!! again with the diluc/kayea/rosaria group i really want a storyline surrounding those 3 specifically lmao they seem so fun. i actually didn’t realize the similarities between kaeya and rosaria are until they were put together but aside from kaeya being more. idk flirty/extroverted lmao they actually have sort of similar like. idk. vibes? roles? jobs? way about doing things? and cryo users ofc

[asklyra]

2020 AskLyra Something Something Video Game Talk-about

I haven’t done this in like 3 years. I usually don’t play very many different vidjas (instead playing only a few for months at a time). This year I did play many different vidjas. I’ma talk into the void about ‘em. Maybe you’ll hear me and comment (also another thank you to all the people that have gifted me games)!

Dauntless

Fun game for a good while. It’s like a F2P version of Monster Hunter. The end-game threw me off, but I had a good time getting there.

Earth Defense Force 5

Not as good as EDF 4.1. I don’t think that’s a fair to say, but I said it. EDF 5 is the superior title, but it lacks the progression and sense of dread that would slowly come over you in EDF 4.1′s campaign as you played this silly, campy game. EDF 5 is good, and if you played 4.1 you should play 5. But once it’s over, it won’t hold you for as long as 4.1 did.

Portal Knights

It received (what is presumably) it’s final update this year. And it’s good! I had got kind of tired of it by the time the final update released (I’ve played it for over 600 hours), but it’s good! Just make sure you get it on Steam. Other versions of the game are missing features.

Risk of Rain 2

Very fun game. Wholly different than the original RoR; the third dimension completely changes things. Gameplay is much more frantic and the game is overall much harder. The environments are cool. The characters all play different. AND! AND! They brought back my favorite, Acrid! That was awesome!

XCOM: Chimera Squad

This was an interesting one. What if XCOM played and progressed more like a typical SRPG, with designated characters that have unique abilities (with room for customization, of course). The answer was... pretty good! I was disappointed that in my playthrough I didn’t get snek (it’s RNG which characters you get), but I had a great time and I’d like to play through it again!

Phantasy Star Online 2

Decent game. Varied gameplay per class. Fun boss fights. What you actually do in the game is extremely repetitive. The story (and its pacing), was the worst I’ve ever seen in any video game ever, and it treats you like you’re an absolute moron. As bad as FF14′s story was up until like level 40, this is so much worse. And it somehow gets worse.

Genshin Impact

Okay, follow me here. Nier: Automata’s gameplay meets Breath of the Wild’s environments, with a heavier focus on story and world building than either of those games. There are lots of characters to play, lots of environments and puzzles. There is more content in this game now (which is still updating, they just released a new sub-area days ago) than there was in BotW period. And it’s free. I have over a dozen different characters and I’ve never paid anything.

I need to make sure this is understood. This game... should not exist. Have you seen the gaming landscape in the last decade? It’s dire. But the environments here are gorgeous. The characters are charming. Even NPCs have identity. It’s got humor. It’s got drama. It’s got mystic. And it’s free? This is insane. Forget what you may have heard, this is the game of the year.

Satellite Reign

While a little buggy (and not well optimized), I was surprised to find a very enjoyable game here. Which is especially impressive since I went in thinking this was an SRPG- but no. This is Stealth-Action RTS. So yeah. Cool game, but absolutely vital that you seek and read as many data caches as possible or the ending won’t make any sense.

2064 Read Only Memories

Mmm... This is why I tell people I don’t like adventure games. I loved the setting. I loved the characters. I loved the music. I loved the voice acting (at least for all the main characters). I really loved the humor. I hated playing this game. Oh my God, it’s so boring. This game is between 10-20 hours long, but it’s gameplay is not varied enough for that. And it’s not like there weren’t mini-games or puzzles, but they’re so few and spread out.

D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die

On the other end of the spectrum, this is an incomplete game that was overall, a much more enjoyable experience. There’s less work involved to find the funny stuff and while I don’t like QUEs, at least those made the experience engaging. And that’s the difference between games like D4 and Night in the Woods, and games like ROM. You are a video game. Engage your player!

Fallout Tactics

I was gonna play this. After Satellite Reign turned out to not be an SRPG, I was in the mindset and everything. But it wouldn’t start. Found out the Steam version is garbage, and even if you use a workaround to get it to boot, it can corrupt your save data! So...

Yakuza 0

Wow. I haven’t played a game polished like this since Automata. When I started the game I thought it was just the one combat style. Then I got another. And another. And then I switched characters. And they had 3 fighting styles too. Plus there’s weapons. Plus the second character has alternate weapon styles. There’s so many side quests and activities. It’s like Shunmue meets GTA, but with heart.

I haven’t finished it yet, but with how the story’s been so far, I can’t imagine them dropping the ball. And that scene with Kiryu and Nishiki after the car ride? That was powerful. I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a scene like that in cinematography.

This is a track in a menu for a system you can completely ignore.

This game is amazing!

[kyogre-blue]

Are you talking about the 'call for fountaine adventurers' event? I'm fairly sure you only count as a 'returning traveler' if you stopped playing for 14 days prior to the start of the event... if you want to take a break regardless good for you though

I'm curious though, have you done (or plan to do before you quit for a bit) Lyney's story quest? I got a weak spot for siblings and he looked fun so I ten-pulled a couple of times to see if I could get him w low pity... and I did! Got him in 34. Used up guarantee though, so if I lose the 50/50 for venti in 4.1 I WILL cry lmao. I've already got the 90 wishes, but I'll light up sumeru for farming primos just in case

(I don't hold any illusions over hoyo actually doing anything interesting w his story quest — or w the sibs' roles in the archon quest, actually — so feel free to be brutally honest about your opinion lol. At least w lynette and freminet existing, the quest might be a *little* less likely to suffer of npc cancer)

No, I mean Stellar Reunion lol

Congrats on getting Lyney! He seems to, at minimum, have a consistent presence in the archon quest. I know leaks have him speaking in both acts 3 and 4 (unlike Childe lol). As for his quest, I would expect it's gated to the Fontaine archon quest, which I have no intention of doing.

With Sumeru, I still had some hopes for the writing. Inazuma was supposed to have been rushed through rewrites and maybe they were still figuring things out. There was potential there, there was something to work with. They had a cool concept. They tried to do character arcs. It could still get better.

But after playing through the awful slog that is Sumeru, I am fully clear that Genshin writing will not improve in any meaningful way.

I already posted this hottake, but I think Sumeru is worse than Inazuma. It's a simple, boring story with absolutely no proper buildup to anything except its heavy handed Nahida emotional manipulation, and no character, not even Nahida, gets any real character development. The story quests are some of the worst in the game. The Scaramouche stuff nails in that anything that looks like character building will be quickly deflated because it's just there to facilitate Lore(tm). It also made the runtime absolutely insane for no reason.

In the last few patches, I realized that I simply do not care to sit through this shitshow for yet another nation. This isn't going anywhere, and even if it eventually has one good scene, I'm not going to care about it because I do not care about these characters or this nation or this story. So I'm just not doing Fontaine.

...Unless we get a skip button, but lmao we all know that's not happening.