leaving aside my being sad about white!pyro archon (and most chaacters) dude this trailer was so latino where do i even fucking begin.
just... the architecture and the music?? dude. brother.
the tournament theyre playing is very VERY likely inspired by tlachtli, which was a pre columbian mexican ritualistic game
edit: hey seeing as ur liking this, you should TOTALLY see my natlan theory regarding samsaras.....from one mexican to another...help a guy out https://youtu.be/33VlC3xNKU0?si=uJNH6g5Nw0VQ_JSd
more genshin ranting when it comes to latino/mexican rep but.
while I love kinich's animations I'm sad they chose to make him 8bits themed when "alebrije" is literally in his constellation. if they stuck to alebrijes for his main inspiration he wouldve SOLD
thoughts on Genshin's Mexican representation from a Mexican person hours!!! 🇲🇽🫡✨
Natlan is out, it's my time to be annoying.
In this post I'm not gonna go into game lore, I just wanna talk about the rep!!!
All thoughts under cut (:
First things first, I was very pleasantly surprised with how well they talked about each tribe cultures, beliefs, skills and how they intertwined with each other. Really reminded me of Latino culture in general and how everyone can learn from each other??? it was really good, I didn't think they'd pull it that well. !!
There's so much Aztec or aztec-esque symbology littered all over the game, to small details in bracelets, clothing, to full buildings? AAAAA
Wayobs are mayan animal spirit guides OR Nahuales (shapeshifters) While I love the concept in-game, I would've loved that they linked the saurians with nahuales or something, making a Wayob just a giant obsidian blade instead of a fucked up animal makes me sad
THOUGH, obsidian has a lot of cultural value in Mexico bc, aztec. It's also my favorite gemstone. If u were wondering.
So many, so so many names in Nahuatl. Obviously Citlali, Kinich and Xilonen, but NPCs too
Speaking of NPCs, there's Tenoch - Tenoch in Genshin is so funny to me bc IRL Tenoch is the namesake of Tenochtitlán, aka Mexico's City, it's sooo weird hearing him be in a silly gacha game
Some places in Natlan are named after actual existing Mexican cities AND ITS SO FUNNY TO ME. Coatepec Mountain....Ameyalco Waters....this is the equivalent of a place in Genshin being called "London Meadow" or some shit
Finally, there's tacos and luchador belts, which is also funny to me
THOUGHTS OVER ALL:
it was really fun to look and pinpoint things that represent my culture, I grew up with all of this stuff so seeing it in a game I like it's fun!!!
HOWEVER. let us remember hoyoverse decided to fucking mix Mexican, Incan, Native American, Maori and African cultures into one, it frustrates me because you can't really focus in one thing or the other, and mixing everything together somehow makes it loose it's impact, it's sad!!! I don't like it!!! AAAAAAA
also obviously the colorism, keep talking about it, spam hoyoverse, bite them.
