Okay so Update post Natlan Quest -
(spoilers for that ahead! I'll try to keep it to a minimum but be aware!)
I have since thought a LOT about this game and what it does and doesn't do great. And I say this with all the love in my heart! Because I really do love this game and the story. So I'll just reiterate my points and add things.
I have nothing bad to say about the music score except that I wish some titles were longer because they're all so delightful, and especially in special areas with a very notable score where you spend a lot of time (like Neuvillette's office, The fortress of meropide, Nathan's stadium) it can and does get a little repetitive. In the overworld and while exploring they do this really well though.
Nothing at all to add about the scenery. It's grand, it's breathtaking, it's beautiful, I wanna roll in it, please and thank you.
The story is ramping up, and it's clear with Natlan's quest. Now that you're properly involved in the world themes are getting heavier and more emotionally charged, situations more fraught and grand with every main quest. Then again, all of them feel like the world is about to fall apart when you come in, but Natlan did add a cherry on top I feel. The visual effects and story beats were absolutely delightful and the combination of effects mostly used in manga, with the usually great animation in high stakes moments really added to it. Buuuut on the flip side, as for the lore itself, genshin keeps sort of half-committing to things. There are suddenly angels (why? where is biblical lore coming from? Having Seelöwe also be lost souls but like, idk, ascended ones or some shit would have been fine) and - maybe I missed something but Xilonen saying she will die forging our ancient name - suddenly doesn't die. Which I don't mind but listen, I was stressing out about this since the moment it was revealed and then nothing happened about it. It's a bit the thing I've said before where they will commit to a plot or some piece of lore but then don't have the courage to leave the player guessing long enough so it really pays off, and instead reveals a plot twist too early to be really satisfying. It's not bad! But it sometimes is a little anticlimactic when it could have been very satisfying.
Once you figure out how to actually play and especially figure out how to fight in this game, it is incredibly fun and rewarding. Which leads me exactly to my point. Boss fights are epic and rewarding in a way I've seen very few games accomplish. I don't think there's ever been a game where I was so excited for boss fights. And a new boss fight on top of that. I usually hate figuring out how to get through a hard boss but genshin makes it so fun. There will be new gameplay mechanics introduced for each boss, which is great at not making them feel repetitive and really helps make every battle feel like it's a unique experience. Buuuut that does give me great frustration sometimes - and that ties into my next point - genshin is horrible at tutorials. Really just abysmal. I am an avid tutorial-reader and -player. I spent as much time in botw in the tutorial area as others spend on the whole game (no I'm not kidding, yes I spent a full 60 hours on the plateau, shh we don't have to talk about it). But! I cannot and will not read tutorials the game gives me, mostly because they're useless in helping me figure out how anything works. They sometimes leave out important explanations, they try to be short and concise but still end up confusing, and even the pictures they are really don't help most of the time. I've started fully disregarding them and it has honestly been easier that way. Which is not how tutorials are supposed to work. So to my earlier point. There will be new mechanics introduced during boss battles, I will be incredibly confused on what the hell I'm supposed to do and in the middle of a big battle with heightened emotions this has brought me great frustration. To be fair, the mechanics are usually not extremely complicated or complex and do add to the gameplay in a positive way, and I do figure them out in a timely matter, but not after swearing at my screen and asking it what the fuck it wants of me. Now I'm no expert, but my suggestion? There is usually smaller fights leading up to the big battle, just add the same mechanics (with a differnt look so it still is a surprise later on) to let the player test it out in a slightly more chill environment. Then make it bigger and grander for the finale with more effects, etc., and let the player go wild with something they're at least a little familiar with already.
I'll only make a quick point to the voice acting since I don't have much to say about that, besides that I changed my mind about Paimon. I like her voice much better, and especially during a big battle, her voice acting was really good, and really added to the story for me. The only sad thing was some of my more favourite characters in natlan not having a voice at all (which I think is due to the strikes with the parent company of where the VA's work, so all blame to whatever company that is lol). But the voicelines that were there were fun and really added to the story, especially with the minimal expression changes in the characters. Which brings me to my next and last point.
Character design! Now this one's... a personal interest of mine and let's say, a double edged sword. The character design in genshin is both very good and very bad - I'll start with the bad. The characters models for playable characters are very boring and ignoring some minor changes almost all almost the same. The base models have little to no variations with three basic sizes and some height differences here and there, some small changes the torso but considering this is animated and these are sculpted models the changed are virtually none. There is no shape language, characters' base models are in no way visually distinct of each other, their flat stomachs, long legs and skinny arms always the same. And there's I think over 90 of them now. With (if we're generous) 5 base models. The thing of course, of this double edged sword, is that this is also the reason genshin's character design is so good. Because in order to have over 90 unique characters, and in order to have over 90 characters people want to spend money on, you have to make them visually distinct somehow. Which is done with their clothes, accessories, capes, hoods, hair, hats- you get the point. The game does an amazing job creating unique silhouettes. And by amazing I so good, that if I look at a blank silhouette of a character, I will know who it is. Out of every one of the 90 characters. That is shape language!! That is exactly what I was harping on about earlier. And that is a truly impressive feat with about 5 base models. The game does also show in various side characters that it is very well within their capabilities to create differnt models, granted not a ton of them, but there are more differnt models and body types than just the playable characters. And as a small side note, the even show in side characters that they are able to have coily hair textures and protective styles. This also does not translate to playable characters, not even from Natlan. This is all I will say about that. On a more lighter note, the colour palettes for the outfits and accessories are also incredibly well done. Somehow each character is unique, and they have still not run out of colour combinations that in combination with their outfits are new and fun and exciting. Also! Details. My god. Having drawn a few genshin characters, I really hesitate to do more because I cannot handle this level of detail with every single drawing. Making a model and puppeting it is slightly easier than drawing it by hand every time, but still, it is no easy feat and base models and body types aside I am truly impressed with their character design each and every time.
