(PLEASE READ THIS & REPLIES BEFORE COMMENTING) [ ! ] Take with a grain of salt. This video is mainly to experiment with a new style, not to be the most accurate, correct, or objective piece of media. This is my opinion, and more of a matter of expression than something I believe to be undeniably factual.
Another thing is, due to the comments, I should probably say I've WATCHED story quests, interlude quests, played events, and researched characters for prior content. I didn't make that clear in the video clearly 💀
Alright. Here's another thing. The CHARACTERS AREN'T THE SAME. They're similar to a fault, but not IDENTICAL. They're like equivalents of each other for various different arcs/nations. Please.
"A silly Japanese demon guy who loves his bugs and his bros, and no not just male friends he also considers his female friends bros, he probs has ADHD idk just me i guess" -me when explaining The one and oni to a friend who knows nothing about Genshin
I don't understand why people call Zhongli serious or even cold. It's a complete fanon. He's not serious at all, rather calm and awkward (and even silly). He smiles and laughs a lot (okay, not a lot, but according to his mood). His hobby is to chat for a long time about useless facts that seem funny to him. And this is clear even without additional lore, it is literally in AQ. I think he's a character like Uncle Iroh - That is, a wise elder who has already made his mistakes and successes, and now he's just a chill. A Alhaitham and Neuvillete also have their own nuances, but I think it's about the way of presentation from hoyo. Fans of the character will find out everything about the character by finding them in detail, which is not good, not bad I do not know.
@@mihaila6777 i sort of get what you mean, but I still personally believe Zhongli is at the very least stoic, much like the other two. They of course have differences, but enough similarities to be seen as unnaturally similar, with similar roles in the stories aswell - being guides from beginning to end of their respective archon quests, whether because they're integral to the story, or because they're mentor-like
@@ItsJustT Okay, but I still don't understand. Superficially, I would call characters like Yoimiya and Mualani similar in spirit. Or Nilou and Ayaka. Or Hu Tao and Furina (max superficially). For example, if I imagine these characters in the same room, I see their dynamics as similar characters. But Neuvillette, Alhaitham and Zhong Li are quite different in spirit (considering that I don't care about the first two and I only know them by AQ.) Except Neuvillette and Zhong are both old. I would not say that tall men have problems with same personality, unlike female characters. What about Kaveh, Kaeya, Itto, Ayato, Tartaglia
@@mihaila6777 i agree with Yoimiya & Mualani aswell as Ayaka and things like that. However, I dunno, I just personally view those three as very similar? 😭😭😭 The generalist tall men comment was more of a bit, as I definitely don't view all tall men as the same. At the very least, Kaeya, Kaveh, Childe and Itto are all different to a justifiable extent
I think one thing that gets often overlooked is characters' relationships with each other. Sure, they can (and should) be interesting on their own, but having dynamic and reoccurring interactions with other characters goes a long way in crafting their personalities. Like Kaeya/Diluc, Scara/Nahida, Raiden/Yae Miko, Alhaitham/Kaveh... They all compliment each other, show other sides of their personalities and make the audience more invested. That's why imo Sumeru cast as a whole worked a lot better than Fontaine. In Sumeru I felt like I was watching a group of people getting together to solve a crisis, while by the end of Fontaine's AQ I didn't feel like there was an actual link between the characters other than the Traveller.
@@caprichaos that's sweet. But, it's worth mentioning that Fontaine did still do good AT connecting them to the traveler, while I feel like Sumeru was better at connecting eachother rather than to the traveler. However, the dynamics and relationships help significantly for world building especially
@@ItsJustT that's something I didn't think about but it's absolutely true. I suppose it gets down to personal preference, I don't care much about the Traveller but I see how someone else might put more value into Aether/Lumine relationship with the other characters
I agree! though Fontaine’s characters were literally at each other’s throats, and it can pretty easily explain the absence of friendly connection between them. but the whole Fontaine theme was about loneliness and fighting alone and not being able to trust even those who really want to help you, so it makes sense. I love how bitter are the relationships between the main Fontaine cast
@@monshine444I kinda get it, but I feel like that would only work if we had like a twist villain with a playable character. Like a character who was originally presented as friendly with the traveler and other characters only for them to turn out truly and utterly evil. (Not like Childe) Maybe I’m just asking for more drama between playable characters. Everyone is too friendly imo. I guess that’s why I like Itto and Paimon together.
7:10 this is where I tell you to do hangouts, Layla is sleepy because she’s hard on herself and extremely burnt out from studying and having to meet people’s expectations while also being criticised by her classmates for saying she can’t complete her work (which she thinks is true because she’s unaware of the other personality) while having most of them done by said other personality in my opinion she’s one of the realistic characters. Meanwhile sayu is because of her insecurities, she sleeps in hope she grows taller to fit into a proper ninja so she does it on purpose while Layla accidentally does it because of pressure (by it I mean sleeping and taking a lot of breaks) Layla shows a different side of the academiya, most characters we saw who studied there were just smart ass bookworms who could probably handle pressure, she’s a realistic character and good representation for how pressure and high expectations can lead to poor mental state especially in younger people. Sayu shows how insecurities can cause someone to unintentionally harm themselves and trying their hardest to become better instead of not being insecure and it also shows in her hangout that just because someone has a good position (in this case the shrine maiden) doesn’t mean they’re good people because in her hangout we can see how the maiden yells, hits and humiliated sayu.
@@weirdo_called_F sorry for what I'm about to say, since it's gonna be a small response, but I've said it alot, just know I DID read. That's where their trait comes from, and I get that. However, I'm saying the trait itself just doesn't do much for the character from a point solely of how unique they are or positively theyre depicted as
@@ItsJustT no need to apologise not everyone yaps about characters and I understand your point but as a person with a writing hobby myself, when writing characters you can either have simple traits with meanings, reasons and motivations behind them or just have these aspects straight up and genshin mostly takes the first option, most characters don’t have unique traits but unique meanings behind them which separates them from other characters, it might not seem like it does much but when you consider how the character would’ve been without this simple trait you start to understand how deep rotted these traits go and how it effects the character. For example: you can say ayaka and nilou adore the traveler but why? Ayaka adores them because they’re the first person to actually become her friend and see her as “ayaka” and not “the princess of kamisato.” Meanwhile nilou adores them because they’re a genuinely good person who helped sumeru, her home nation that could’ve been destroyed to ashes. And still not everyone is interested in lore or characters that much for them to think of these scenarios.
I think that’s about it , it’s just my personal opinion and analysis of genshin character writing as someone who takes the same approach and anyone is free to agree or disagree.
You should probably play those story quests, point proven by how you 180'd on alrecchino. They address a lot of the points you brought up, including character flaws and moral ambiguity
@@sassyquatch1185 the Arlecchino thing was honestly a really good point there. Besides that, with people I've spoken to about alot of my general opinions on this topic (not always the specific examples included) that have done the majority of the story quests usually agreed with what I was saying I've also watched through a chunk of them for other videos I've made in the past. My main problem with characters (ignoring Xiao and Mika) is not that I outright dislike them, but rather that they're disinteresting. Arlecchino was more offensive than disinteresting in my first playthrough of the archon quests
@@ItsJustT If you are making a point through proof and critical thinking is simply not good to not take into consideration all the materials at your disposition. Story quests are literally the most significant source you have about character lore and characterization, so it should be the main point of discussion to make a serious video. Now, while I agree with a lot of characters having similarities, I really don't agree with what you say on them being "same flavour with different toppings". I will not defend Layla because I deeply despise her and every piece of lore related to her, but other characters are very lore dependent. Kaveh is one of the most loved characters of the story and he is only relevant in events and his Hangout, but he's great cause he has a lot of negatives together with his good personalities and a lot of people understand and like his struggles. Wrio has a chilling lore and an even more chilling story quest that really says a lot about his redemption arc. In the tall female category we have both Beidou and Ganyu that are complete opposites in term of behaviour. Ayato has a story quest that everybody loves to hate because of how much text there is, but it really tells how both nice and scary he can be. Thoma is literally a Fixer, which is one of the most dangerous and morally grey jobs you can do, regardless of his sunshine attitude. In short girls we have Nilou, that is one of the best carachters in the game, in terms of characterization, she is a symbol of the arabic culture and has a very specific cultural reference to Iranian women, and therefore she is strong through kindness, and we also have Xinyan that (even if she's disregarded in a lot of events) it's very different from Ayaka and Barbara. I'm not saying there are no problems with the characters, but in my opinion, the real problem here is that they like to focus too much on popular characters in events instead of developing some more underdeveloped characters that had less chances of being relevant in the game. If they made an effort on that, we'd really reach a new level of quality here. You know, instead of seeing the same fucking event with Ayaka, Yae Miko and Layla over and over again.
@@reddinareddika3624 i think you and I agree in a bit of a mixed way. For example, the section about nuance is dedicated to your second paragraph, as well as the good section. The popular characters are the primarily "interesting" ones. However, I know a lot of what you told me example wise. Discounting Ganyu & Beidou as I didn't know that, I mentioned how Kaveh works due to (in my opinion) his good interactions with the other Sumeruian characters as it allows his negatives to be highlighted, especially with Alhaitham. I didn't run through every negative character, but I did dedicate a paragraph to the well-deserved Sumeru cast in the final section. As somebody who did the whole Simulanka quest and majority of Nilou's story quests (solely so I could finish Act V) I too like Nilou, at least more than the other characters I lumped in with her, though I'd still lump them regardless. Development IS the problem, because Characterisation IS the problem. They're based on stereotypes that could be developed into more unique things, but they aren't, and instead all being decent human beings with their only differences being a few quirks, their lore, design, and occupation without much thought beyond that ignoring their voicelines
@@ItsJustT I'd like to say sorry in advance if I sounded angry or defensive, just in case someone may read it wrongly. I'm not a native english speaker so the nuance of writing is a bit off sometimes. I meant to be respectful towards your video which I appreciated a lot. First of all, thank you for answering! As I said, we agree on some things, it's just that I'd put more emphasis on the chances we get at character development in this game, because they are very few, with one "lore" event every six weeks that should aim at making the characters that didn't make it into the main quest shine more, imo. Thing is, tthis doesn't happen and they keep on insisting with the same 3 characters, hence why we don't get to actually differentiate a lot of the characters. One thing that got me really angry, for example, is the two musketeers event that doesn't make any sense. So basically Ayaka, Ayato and Yoimiya went to Fontaine and met Chiori and Chavreuse for some reason, only for Ayato to get completely excluded from the event, and for Yoimiya and Chiori to serve no purpose whatsoever? What was the point??? You needed two musketeers, why not using Chavreuse and Chiori which were BRAND NEW characters and instead using Ayaka that has been in 193453857 events so far? What was the purpose of Ayato and Yoimiya travelling all the way to Fontaine for this? It was just pointless. For comparison, the Interdarshan event for example was so much better, because it really allowed us to understand what would every character in a competitive situation behave like and they all had their time to shine and develop a bit better. So the point that I'm trying to make here is that they keep reusing characters that are mostly concluded, because after three years there really is no point in using Ayaka, as she isn't a "growing character" and her conflict is essentially resolved. I don't inherently have anything against Ayaka in particular, but imo is a striking example of how bad some piece of the writing is. The same goes for Layla, she is very annoyingly stereotypical. A character with DID that seems like she came out of a tumblr post of the 00's, that has no particular conflict and yet she's been in 3 or even 4 events at this point and didn't bring anything "interesting" at the table. There are more points of development, even in older characters that would be so much more interesting, for example "what happened to Thoma's father?", "What is the POV of Venti in the Decarabian war?", "What is like to rule Watatsumi, and how Kokomi deals with the problems of her land?". Those could be good starting points opened by the game and just... left there. Another example is that Neuvillette says in his teaser that he doesn't understand why he's born and it's like he has forgotten some important memories of the past and just doesn't know what to do now. He feels alienated and uses humanity as a mirror to understand himself. This is such an interesting thing that is NEVER addressed again, and it doesn't even say if getting back the Sovereign Authority ever even partly solved this. So really, the problem is they DO make an attempt at writing good characters for the most part, but they then choose to develop things that are just a waste of time when they write the events. Another point that in my opinion is important in terms of "why some characters are bad" is that the plot is so big that some characters are bound to be secondary and Mihoyo just refuses to let them be just that, secondary characters. Which is fine, but at least tell me something more about them, instead of just leaving them there. What is the point of Mika in the story? To tell us that Varka met Capitano? Okay, but why is he a character? Why is Sayu a Character? Why is Heizou a Character???
@@fayitsa622 i like alot of the characters. I think something that's hard to communicate is every character is GOOD, but they're all good in the same way. A good cast has a variety of characters that are all good in their own way, which isn't what genshin really does
@@ItsJustT oh dw i get it,most of characters seem like a huge pool of just "good" characters,i get it at some point i hated the flirt trope or other ones but through time (and endless rage) some shined more than others(mad respect as an NUMERO ITTO lover). I will talk ab a character i disliked,Ayato,i dont hate him but there is nothing i remember from him and that from luck of screentime and luck of characterization.He did step to his families issues and fixed his clans reputation...but then i know he plays games and he is more mischievous than Yae?And then..?All of em including Ayato are gpod characters but story quests Should highlight a characters... character really because players dont have time to read or listen to the character profile AND do the quests,they want to see them interact with the traveller (But yes as a uni student i love Layla we suffer from 0 sleep ;-;)
im not even into Collage... Im in 8th grade ffs and yet i randomly fall asleep on my desk during recess and lunch break. (i repeated a grade don't shame me pls :'l)
The biggest example of this is Signora. Extremely fleshed out backstory only told through convoluted rng item descriptions, a fricking mondstadt now, but no actual development or characterization in the story other than to drive the plot for the other fatui, even acting as a scapegoat for Scaramouche in 3.3 to pity bait the player base. She’s the biggest writing flaw of the game aside from raiden’s horrible writing
lynette doesn't even simp for the traveller she's just a deadpan, probably autistic girl, who looks out for her family. she's one of the most refreshing characters, nowhere similar to ayaka
4:19, ???, but if you haven't done the story quest, and the hangouts probably, where sometimes the bread and butter of a certain is located, how do you expect to learn about some of these guys. On the exaple of Layla and Lynette, one is anti-social because of lack of self-esteem and sleep depravity, while the other genuinely doesn't like to interact with people. Same with Yelan and Yae, one is flirty as a way to gain information about someone, and the other as a way to entertain oneself. Your argument for lack of exposure and characterization doesn't really work when: 1. There are only so many places in the archon quests for characters to be given a major role without making the experience overcrowded. 2. If you wanted more of them, yet you decided to avoid the very obvious and given way to do so, what did you expect to happen here, honestly. 7:15 1. Layla is sleepy cause of her constant struggle to keep up with her academics and cause of her other personality taking over during her sleep. She really wants to succeed and she is competent actually, I mean she was the first scholar in Teyvat to solve a THREE BODY PROBLEM, the astronomy geeks will know what I mean. 2. Sayu on the other is sleepy because she is a 20year old woman trapped in the body of an 8 year old, she wants so desperately to grow up the she doesn't realize what toxic lifestyle she has imposed on herself.
Sorry, I think you sorta missed my point. Firstly, I have watched and researched story quests/characters, as well as doing some hangout events in the past. I've had to research characters bc I've been doing Genshin content for around just over a year now. I wasn't only referring to archon quests, but events as well, also taking the few mandatory story quests and interlude quests into consideration. I feel like there's more than enough content to atleast take the sample of characters who HAVE been included and see how effective their previous attempts were. While majority of characters are quite likeable in one way or another, it becomes repetitive how they're all good at similar levels for similar reasons, following a formula for each character's writing that works everytime instead of coming up with something new for each new character. Also, the thing with Sayu and Layla is simply: I know. 😭 I'm saying there's more emphasis on it which takes away from the rest of the character, because it is an anime stereotype undeniably for the sleepy girl. Every character has reasons for their traits, I just like when it allows for more of an equilibrium in the triad, like Furina, instead of unintentionally simplifying how they're depicted in Genshin media
@@ItsJustT So rather than play the game you instead watched someone else play it and looked up the cutscenes. So why are you playing at all if you cant even bother to experience it yourself?
@@TaylorTheCreativeOkOkOkLaLaLa i grouped them together for multiple similarities, not necessarily because they're all fully the same. I just personally see similarities with ATLEAST Nilou, Barbara and Ayaka. Lynette and Layla just share a little bit of what lumps the first three together, so I mentioned them, similar to honorable mentions. Apologies for not making that fully clear 🙏
Something about xiao; while i can not speak from my own expierience, from what i heard is that his charachter comes off completly diffrently in chinesse. They did him dirty in the english dub a bit, at least from what i heard. Also, i think charachters as heizou, kayea, and a few others also are well written with flaws and intresting gimmicks, but since they are four stars, they do not have much screentime ( and by that i mean heizou mostly, others appear in events a bit more often)
I've seen Kaeya and I agree. His history with Diluc also helps with his more mixed characterisation. Just wish there was more of him in the main story. I haven't seen much of Heizou, but I know he's a pretty interesting fellow
aghghhhanah what bothers me about kaeya not getting barley any screen time is the fact hes khaneri’an, and that he has the alberich name too. i mean yeah there isnt much for him to do now though, since hes not a spy for the falken nation anymore and has accepted mondstat as his technically, so theres that. but then theres him and dilucs relationship. i always wish everyday hoyo decides to make a dedicated event for them, or a quest, where they finally make up and be best bros again.
This is true. Every dub except English depicts Xiao as a calmer character and doesn't come off as edgy at all. Xiao is more so shy and awkward due to purposefully isolating himself to protect others (and himself) from further pain. He's not edgy at all, rather he's just someone who has gone through a lot and doesn't wish to hurt any more people than he already has. He was enslaved, forced to kill against his will and consume their dreams. Then once he was freed, he had a found family in the form of the other yaksha generals which lost themselves to karmic debt. He doesn't hate himself because omg edgy, he hates himself because he's actually hurt others many times (against his will), he doesn't think his actions were bad, they were ACTUALLY bad and that's why he hates himself, for the atrocities he's committed. In the beta lore which never came to the game it was implied that his Master also SAd him but I guess that was too dark for a game like genshin. Xiao's story is not one about death and redemption, but rather one of Xiao accepting that he isn't a weapon and has a place amongst society. In the Chasm quest we see that he doesn't want to die, he just values his life less than that of others', which is something that he needs to overcome. He has one of the best pieces of lore in the game with one of the worst executions imo, because he's such a complex character yet if you don't purposefully go out digging his lore and birthday mails, all you see is an edgy/emo/simp for traveler type of character, when in reality, he's a really kind person who wants to be around people but believes that will just cause them further pain (which IS a valid concern, as his karmic debt actually hurts those around him, so it's not the classic "I'm a monster, I'll hurt them") kind of deal. I also like his implied "crush" on the traveler, wanting to put crystalflies in their hair, to hear their voice, canonically dreaming of going on what are basically dates with them?? All of that is mail fanservice, I know, but it still feels so... genuine? He hasn't let anyone in his proximity in a really long time, so having let that happen with the traveler, he sort of develops a child-like crush on them because his own innocence was taken away when he was enslaved at a young age so he never got the chance to experience this. I think it adds depth to his character. Anyways I'll stop yapping now, can you guess who my favourite character is lol 😭
@@7Sins7Dreams7 holy yap, i read all that. thanks for taking your time to write all that because WOW i never knew all that. Hehe also i can tell. This is now convincing me to use my xiao cuz i never really use him sadly
this is a bit of strange video to make not having played many story quests (that's your perogative though - i haven't done all of mine either). for example, after playing childe's story quest i wouldn't really call him ruthless and it explains exactly why he does what he does and that he cares quite a bit about people. obviously, genshin should do a better job at displaying good characterisation in the main story but it can't fully flesh out a character. if it did the main story would be long and drawn out and it could focus on characters people aren't interested in. for example, star rail's penancony main story was largely critiqued for having an excessive amount of time dedicated to one character's background. it was good content, and related, but the amount of time spent on it felt misplaced in the main narrative.
The earlier archon quests took the route of shoving story quests down your throat. I said I haven't played any, but I have watched a chunk, and from the ones I have watched, my appreciation for the characters grew but my opinion never changed. Due to Fontaine now, Childe could even be characterised as not ruthless just by playing the main quests for example
as someone who loves hsr, i need to emphasize how much i LOVE moze. Throughout the story i was amazed, usually a bunch the "quiet" characters in gacha games talk like normal pople, but moze at the least talks the least, hes actually quiet! and its also shown how he isnt really the type of person to connect, he literally says that he would let him friend die for the sake of someone else and abandon him!
... unfortunately you can blame the CCP for that. All playable characters must be morally good (HOYO always messes with the CCP's laws, but still important to note)
? there’s three characters who are quite literally murderers and horrible people with their only redeeming qualities being that they’re nice to some individuals
@LjCast-b6q they're morally ambiguous. Arlecchino owns an orphanage and cares for her children killing Crucabena to save them, Childe cares deeply for his family and has very a very strict moral code, and Scara gets a redemption arc (assuming they're the characters you're talking about.)
(LONG essay ahead) I do agree with you, for the most part. I at least think characters like Nilou, Ayaka, and- for a male version- Kazuha are big examples of what you're criticizing (though I am biased- these are my least favorite in all of Genshin because I find them insufferably boring.) While there may be an attemp to round out a character with conflicts and goals, they can still be poorly handled if they're not presented right OR if you complete their goals too soon. I personally don't find these 3 as impactful because after they all played their role in the Archon Quests, they've just been left with...Being nice. They don't have conflict among the playable characters or NPCS that needs to be resolved, they're always treated positively, the people who do oppose them are painted as wrong for doing so, and the flaws they do have are overshadowed/told but not shown/conquered too easily. I specify "Archon Quest" because it's these quests where these 3 have the most action and involvement. I actually used to like Nilou during the AQ. And Kazuha's moment against Ei was cool to see. I still think Ayaka was one of the worst parts abour Inazuma's AQ. BUT at least it was clear Hoyo was trying to make her a character. But afterward, their subsequent appearances in other quests have been so...Boring. All their conflict was resolved in the AQ, and Hoyo refuses to give them more than that. So instead we have stuff like Ayaka making friends and being told she's soooo good at things like acting, Kazuha getting complimented left and right for the sword block, and nonstop shoving in our face how amazing Nilou is at dancing. And what's worse is that the 3 of them CAN have conflicts and flaws worth exploring in future content. I think Ayaka is a big case of having flaws that are "told" and not "shown." Plus, the presentation of her struggles don't match the supposed impact, in my opinion. So why not have quests that lean more toward her political position? She was put into a position of power without much of a choice, so why not explore (with way more depth) why this position is such a burden to her. Let's see this supposed contrast between Politican Ayaka VS "Normal" Ayaka in an actual conflict. Let's see this supposed "mask" she wears. And Kazuha can potentially have conflict with Wanderer (I BEG people to not make this point about shipping.) I want Wanderer to make amends for what he did to Kazuha's family. And honestly- I want Kazuha to not forgive him. I want to see Kazuha be flawed and irrational- I want him ANGRY or RESENTFUL. Wanderer ruined his family. This may be the most likely, but I really want Hoyo to show an uglier side to Kazuha somehow. Finally, Nilou could have more conflict with the Akademiya. Not another "crusty old Akademita nerd wants to shut down the theater" plot. God no. But Nilou clashing with the other characters who are strongly affiliated with the Akademiya like Cyno or Alhaithem. I want to see that "ART vs STEM" Character dynamic happen where they learn to understand one another. That way we can see Nilou's shortcomings like how she may not be gifted as the Akademiya students and how she may not completely understand how they think. And no matter how hard she tries, she may never understand them. The "Art VS Akademiya" theme of Nilou was the most interesting thing about her and it was dumped after the AQ- I want to see it brought back and done better. Of course this is all subjective. And the fandom will surely have my head for insinuiting some of the most popular charcters in Genshin aren't Hoyo's best. For the record, my #1 is Mona because I think she's very well rounded. She's prideful and she has the intelligence and skill to back up the pride. But she is not infallible and she's not always right. She's mature enough to take care of herself, but will let her ego go for those she cares about (eg. Fischl). And her relationship with B is so all over the place that it's both hilarious and kind of concerning. And there's so many mysteries about her that are unresolved and leave room for further growth. Best of all, everything I said about her can be found in actual game and event content. Not behind her profile. Anyway- apologize for the long essay. Thank you if you actually read it. I love Genshin but I am extremely critical of how it handles characters. But Lord knows that the fandom will not allow you to have negative opinions about the 3 I mentioned.
@@pinkraven7043 everything here is me fr I even agree with the parts you DO like about Nilou and Kazuha. However, im not a mona person and personally hate her BC she's the one I get whenever I lose 50/50 😭
I think you can compare Genshins character writing to Naruto's handling of side characters. Its so obvious how some characters have so much more work and effort put behind them. The "main" characters like the archons and fatui harbingers are so apparently better written than other characters. The "side" characters like tignahri, wrio etc. are good characters but not nearly as good as the main characters. The same thing can be seen in Naruto. One big complain about the series is that side characters are often neglected. The main characters like Itachi, naruto etc are way more liked because they have so much more work put behind them.
Childe is not a flirt… please… he’s not a flirt… he’s just so heavily mischaracterised by the community and his English VA because he said “girly” that people think he’s a flirt…
@@takendruid idk i remember viewing him as a flirt even when I first saw him in the Liyue archon quests, and I had no exposure to the fanon besides a Scaramouche comic strip lol So it's to each their own
I think it is a pruduct of having too many charcters and that is the problem all gatcha games deal with. If you take out alot of the lesser important characters and put more focus on the main cast the story could have been better but they have to sell as many characters as possible to earn money. This results in alot of characters seem forced or bad written and they try to fill the gaps with story quests and hidden lore in the characrer info.
Agreed. It also just has an affect of, if characters WERE all good, being inevitably repetitive anyway. The gacha structure will make writing formulaic if not bad, and that's what it is
@@ItsJustT True. They also like using character development as fomo to get people to log in and play the events that has been done multiple times tex Albedo/Fishl. Characters that if you played events is good characters an if you did not they are nobodys.
As someone who absolutely loves Evil characters (like Koyanskaya from FGO, and it's not only me being down bad for her) I strongly agree that Hoyo is afraid of showing good characters negatively. There is more portraying negative characters in a good light (Arlecchino, Childe and Scaramouche being nice examples) I still want more. I want Evil characters that have some positive traits to hold onto, and Good characters having visible flaws that make them more like people.
That's cause I haven't done them. 😭 I've watched a load of them and researched alot of characters in the past, but my opinions never really changed on the ones I looked into, I just learned to appreciate them more. Every character is good, but it's always in the same formulaic way that it eventually gets repetitive and, to me, becomes a problem to an extent
@@ItsJustT fair. There are notorious ones that do not develop at all. Also consider that Visions are given to people who have been acknowledged by gods. They have already experienced a life changing event.
You lost me the moment you said Yae Miko and Yelan have the same personality lol Two characters can fall to the same archetype but still be different characters. Amber and Yoimiya, two energetic girls who befriend the player very quick. One is a responsible law-abiding knight who nonetheless has that impulsive nature, while Yoimiya is more carefree and works well with kids because she has that childish side to her, and you see her more responsible side when things get serious. Another example, Xiao and Scaramouche, two angsty short kings who avoid making meaningful connections in fear of losing someone close again, but one is a tsundere who tries to protect his nation and has a soft spot for the traveler, one of the only people who even remotely understand what he's been through and the other doesn't know who he is and his experiences turned him to evil instead. Tropes and archetypes are a good way to give someone a base idea of a character, a first impression that can then be expanded upon. Given that not every character is in the main story, Genshin does a really good job of making the characters varied in personality, even within the same archetype. It's a necessary literary shortcut when you have like a gajillion characters and not all of them will be featured in the main storyline
@@toohopeful160 I... Didn't say they're the same. I said they're incredibly similar due to multiple shared traits and a similar or same archetype. I quite literally said they're the same with multiple differences afterwards, like how I put Layla with the other 4 but then said she's sleepy, and that's something that still differentiates her. When I was describing the characters I like in this problem, I too drew connections to other characters, but explained how their difference was larger than the ones I think fall short due to this writing proboem
Honestly, using "lazy" as a reason for characters, or mostly anything within games, being bad is just lazy and reductive. It's almost never the case. I also think you should use your eyes more and not just glance at characters. Because then you might actually see how they're different. There are also over 90 characters in the game. Of course some of them are going to be similarish.
@@Runegrem you shouldn't tell me I'm wrong but then say "of course you're going to be right". I wasn't focusing at all on why BESDIES that single comment that serves solely as a conjunctional sentence to continue the video. The characters I have researched on a deeper level haven't satisfied me in the slightest, and if you disagree, that is completely fine. Shouldn't be a bad thing to share different sentiments
@@ItsJustT True, opinions will always differ. In this case I think you oversold how samey the characters are. But I stand by not calling creators lazy for not making what you think is good content. You didn't focus on it, but you said it nonetheless.
@@Runegrem i dunno, I still think they are. There's a clear difference in which characters are more important and how unique they are. If I made a scatter plot for the two things, I'm sure it would be a linear graph
@@ItsJustT Characters with more screen time tends to be deeper and more multifaceted. That's just how things work everywhere really. And the more facets a character have, the easier it is to be unique. But uniqueness is not a linear graph if compared with importance. For some examples you have Faruzan, Fischl, Xinyan, Chongyun, Noelle, and Dori. I could also say Hu Tao, but she's been a major actor in a few events. I could also mention Mauvie for a counter example, but I haven't played through the current Archon quest yet, and there's more to be released, so I'm withholding my judgment of her until later.
Characters with overtly bad traits likely tend to have way less sales appeal so gacha games avoid it because they only have a 3 week window to earn that gacha money from customers so anything that makes the customer uncomfortable is a no-go. Because the characters are treated like products in a gacha game this is their sad reality as they have to be "marketable". Even in cases like scaramouche who's a villain, he's bent into a tragic victim and no longer does anymore atrocities by the time he becomes playable. He's even kind of comedic now almost being more like a tsundere type.
@@XieRH1988 Scara still maintains a sharp tongue and irritating attitude. That's enough for me, but I do agree, and it's unfortunate. I cared more about identifying the problem rather than explaining why bc it's pretty hopeless overall
Layla is always sleepy because of her DID which makes her split personality wakes up and does things whenerver she tries to sleep or has nervous breakdowns. Sayu is always trying to sleep because somebody told her that she's shorter than her friends because she doesn't sleep enough. And she's pretty insecure about her height.
@@inthenameofcontractlendmem983 I'm aware of why and they're perfectly understandable reasons. However, I just wanted to mention that the two were similar because of how much these traits depict their character. Alot of their characterisation, from what I've seen, is spent on showing off their sleepiness.
@@ItsJustT I think you should play their hangout quests. Their differences are very clear at least to me. But it's up to a person opinion whether they're bad written or not.
the last time genshin try to add a morally grey, instead of plainly 'good' character in the game, it had destroyed its cn community full of incels yes it's no other than scara
My issue is that we got to the point where "character design" is a code for "fetish". What some innocent person might find adorable or interesting is a sexual trigger to another, and the later is the reason the character is designed that way, cause that is why that character sells. And due to every chracter having to be endearing in some way, only those who explicitly do not do so are standing out.
@@Salbeira you're kinda spitting facts ngl. I think it's the same with their quirks. Typically, people will either find it arousing or adorable, hence why it's added. Traits aren't added for the lore, but the lore is added for the traits 😞
I don't agree with basically anything after the intro, starting with the reasons why someone completes the story quests. Your understanding of the game is incredibly incomplete if you not only aren't doing those quests, but take the stance that those stated in the video are the only reasons to do them, because it reflects on what you do and do not see about the game. To draw an analogy, it would be like saying that the lore and worldbuilding of Genshin feels incredibly incomplete, random, and like the writers just pull things out of thin air because you not only skip the books and item descriptions, but mash the button to skip the quests as fast as possible *when that is where the lore and worldbuilding occurs*. People who aren't interested have the prerogative to skip it, but then they can't turn around and say it isn't there.
@@azuarc while I appreciate the analogy, I have watched a multitude of story quests, played events, played hangouts, and researched various characters, with my opinion remaining there. The point on positivity is one that has nothing to do with story quests especially considering the ones I've seen have characters helping out NPCs or doing good for the world, which only establishes my point further From alot of what you said, it sounds like you disagree with me, considering you said my reasoning for doing them is wrong. However, that's just my opinion. It says it in the pinned comment. Don't take what I'm saying for fact, but rather what I believe
@@ItsJustT I do...or at least I remember disagreeing. I put the video out of mind, so I can't recall what exactly I disagreed on, but of course it is your opinion and you are entitled to it. I was just trying to get at the root of perhaps why we had a divergence of opinion.
I think you are the ine who oversimplifies the characters, at least to some degree. Yeah in a huge roster of characters, tropes and personality traits are there to draw attention ti the character and give you a first idea of who they are, but if you think they lack character depth and individuality, i think you are not listening to them enough. And no i don't mean that they are diffrent just because of the reasons why they are like they are. Two examples would be sethos and itto and yelan and yae miko. Just like in reality people with many overlapping personality traits can still have very different personalities. That's something you can't easily explain because it's more complex than just naming tropes and traits. I love yae miko but can't stand yelan and thats not because of their design because I liked before she opened her mouth. I think sethos and itto can be better put into words. Both are "the funny extrovert in class" but while ittos character plays a lot around his poser ego combined with childishness, sethos is more gossipy. And while itto stays this way even in serious moments to an extent, sethos can be far more serious if needed. Yes some characters serve very similar tropes and especially in the times of mondstadt to inazuma the overworked girl was really getting tiring and is worth getting criticised. I just think there are many very interesting, fun and distinguishable characters in the game and breaking them done to tropes and a few traits and then criticising there are not more than that besides from lore, doesn't do them justice
@@dessdev8404 I think you could be completely correct, because yeah, they do have differing traits, and yes, I did oversimplify them, because that's how I view them, and this video is an expression of my opinion as stated in the pinned comment. There's a reason people can so easily enjoy the characters - I probably wouldn't be making a video on it if it was common thought in the community
Going off the music, I am also waiting for the next episode of Delta Rune. Anyways, I feel like it's nearly impossible and might actually be a negative to give every character truly unique traits/personalities or time to develop. Particularly because the Devs have to keep making new characters. You gotta sell us an Ayaka/Nilou type every region for example. And if you go more in depth with those types like say with how FF is fleshed out in HSR, you run the risk of splitting the playerbase, 'cuz people who like those characters will appreciate the screentime and people who hate those characters just feel alienated when it's shoved into the main story like Ayaka and Yoimiya's Story Quests being forced into the Inazuma AQ. I think that's also part of the reason why you get almost nothing for most characters in the main story, and even in their goddamn story quests, the characters are often second fiddles to some NPCs. The Devs seem less inclined to go too far with any given character because they're trying to appeal to as many people as possible without doing too much to cause a division. On paper, that's lazy, when you expect a character design and tropey personality to hard carry. In reality, that's just being efficient with these kind of games and it's proven time and again to work. Kinich is another Xiao that similarly doesn't have much going on besides personal suffering, but most people already love him anyways for his aesthetic, VA, whatever have you. The bottom line is, most people are fine with shallow character writing and can make do with other aspects. You don't really need to make everyone 10/10s in the character development and character progression departments. God knows most FGO players didn't actually care about how well written Zenobia was when she spiked sales on her only rate up to date during a Halloween event banner, despite being a 4* that was going to be added to the general pool. I think Genshin's more or less fine as it is for character writing, including keeping character lore or development in Story Quests, Hangouts, or even Events in some cases. The issue instead is the accessibility of those Events. You can touch character stories and hangouts whenever they unlock and you feel like it. But your only option for Event content is like. UA-cam. That shit sucks.
@@unboundking9742 you seem like a real chill guy. I like you, but yeah, I fully get that. This was more expressing my dissatisfaction with the characters, but ignoring the obviously dramatized title, Genshin could easily continue as is lmao
@@ItsJustT To be clear, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your take at all. I think it's actually an interesting topic that could be up for another video at some point honestly, since what any given person thinks the right balance should be for characters is always gonna be different. Like with FF and Aventurine in HSR, we even have cases in Genshin where people feel like someone got too much screentime. Like I recall a lot of people not being very big fans of essentially two main events in a row recounting Kazuha's backstory to us, or some people complaining about Itto getting a lot of the Events based around his plans, while others complain about Raiden showing up for two seconds in any given Events. Genshin may be fine as it is to me personally, but it isn't without it's faults on the characters as you've said. Even putting aside old Events having no way to view/play them now, you also run into the character story issue. Most people call it NPC Impact since the person you're playing the quest for is rarely at the center for it. So in that vein, you not playing any Character Story Quests ultimately won't change your opinion much since the quests themselves rarely have any new things about a character besides sharing some tidbits about their backstory, and rather often just reinforce the role they take in the story at present. Like I remember liking how Ayato and Yae are always keikaku dori-ing every Event. And their character story quests, for better or worse, are just more of them doing that in the background with NPCs taking front and center instead of the other playable characters in Events. Since they were already mostly background heroes, I didn't mind for those two. But when other characters who you know are more in the forefront of situations like Hu Tao and Yoimiya end up having to deal with NPC problems instead of their own, you kinda feel how almost scared the Devs are to establish anything new for these characters.
When they take the base lore they created themselves seriously we get gems like Tartaglia, when they don't we get someone like Nilou and when they havd conflicting moments we get the weird cases like Dori, who at the exposition level is awful but has such heavy backstories tht one can only wonder, why not show that instead of the obnoxious here and now?
i havent meet sethos but from his intro in yt.... wtf. like they went he is x, y, z like to explore like we dont want a enumeration, we want an experience. and the way they make furina is soo good, they always goo like THE ONE, AND ONLY FURINAAAA but clearly hint she is off.
Going a bit off topic from most comments, i do think one of the biggest flaws on character writting in genshin, is that so many characters have so much to them and is never told in the main quest line, makes us miss a lot of details, kaveh has such a sad backstory and he appears in the end of the archon quest and thats it for him, also event locked story, I dont agree with a lot to what you said but I wanted to add my view and also you are not wrong in a lot of points
You should do some character quests. No I don't believe every character is a gold mine in a gacha game there are gonna be specific golden child's which is a VERY salient point you brought up. I think that's why despite myself I still catch myself liking Albedo. Problem is a good chunk of his build up is done through events so any new comer to genshin would glance at him for a second at most. I dont blame them for that though they have no access to one of the other parts of this theoretical character design pyramid you proposed in the video characterization, lore. A character story quest list in order of quality is definitely needed to filter through the junk. Even my favorite characters get done dirty so there are going to be characters I dont even like that did better in this field. In a game with so many characters/ backgrounds it is SO hard to filter through and makes the golden child's position more highlighted. Its so odd in a game that is very colorful with exaggerated colors popping out on screen, in the outfits that a large majority of it doesn't matter as they get overshadowed (some more gracefully than others). For example the overworked wives of genshin impact will struggle to hold attention in the presence of other characters.
@@mirror2922 I've watched a fair few, aswell as doing plenty of events over the years. I will say, it hasn't really helped me much ngl. The only one that benefitted was Albedo like you proposed when I did the dragonspine event quest in late 2021
Well, I think that's still a pretty good amount of well written characters. They can't just create that many awesome characters, that would be really hard. Also, compared to wuthering waves, It's way better. Wuthering waves characters are EXTREMELY shallow, boring and dry. They are too straight forward, simplistic stereotyped characters. Although their character 3d model is good because of which many characters look good, the designs are actually not that great. Same goes for the story in that game. It's horrible. Simple, predictable, too dramatic for normal things (sometimes feels cringe) and not much depth to the stories other than what they show you. Also, too centered around the mc etc.
@@hindifictionsworld8032 that's my problem. There's too many good characters, and they're usually good for similar reasons that, to me, make them blend together
This is a really interesting perspective from someone who hasn’t done the character story quests. It is definitely a valid criticism that the majority of the cast are portrayed too positively. In fact, a lot of the story quests involve them helping out some NPC’s problem, reinforcing their heroism to contrast a villainous NPC. Those NPC centered quests get repetitive after a while, so I don’t blame you for skipping the quests entirely. Unfortunately, while the fixes you proposed would certainly be effective in building character, this is a gacha game first and foremost. There are undoubtedly character tropes that are more marketable than most, and the sad truth is that this is why we have more of the soft-spoken, overworked waifus and tall husbandos; they sell like hotcakes with the Asian playerbase, i.e. their main audience. By contrast, characters like Scaramouche are not looked upon favorably because of his personality is too much like a bully, hence why there aren’t as many characters like him in the playable cast.
@@ItsJustT Glad to see we agree on something. I do hope that you can eventually give the character story quests and hangouts a chance, since those tend to be where most of the characters get their time to shine. There’s only so much screentime you can allot a character in the main story, after all. Remember that Itto never shows up in the main story and probably wouldn’t have become nearly as popular if his character quest didn’t make a damn good first impression.
I know you may not be very interested, but I highly recommend doing Fontaine’s character quests. They’re extremely good, and way better than the ones we had recently. Lyney and Wrio’s are okay compared to the rest of the Fontaine cast, but they’re still pretty good
You need a reason to play a story quest? Its content, gameplay. You play games to play them. I should not need to explain this. I doubt i need to explain primos either. I can never understand the mindset of someone that plays a game, ignores content, then complains about it. WHY DID YOU INSTALL THE GAME?
@@michaelr3077 yeah so Genshin is sorta big and there's a group of players called casual players that usually pick certain content they'd like to engage in, especially because of how time consuming the game is, and my limited ability to play for extended amounts of time. Not everybody has the time to finish all the content in the game, and when Genshin draws out your playtime and it's runtime just to give you all the content, I see it as a problem. They're able to make characters more engaging and interesting in the main quests without needing to delve deep into them all the time, because that's good writing. The archon quests are especially important, and to have the characters be lacking in them is a problem, is it not? Half the game is exploring and gameplay bro I don't have time I'm already doing that
This video is just oh boy… I mean I thought I understood your point but ummm it seems to me you view “serious/brudy” as bad a quirky and funny ass good which realistically makes zero sense
I don't see anybody as bad. I may not have said this clearly, but every character is great by themselves. However, as a CAST, they fall far weaker due to the sheer amount of them aswell as the usage of their character formula that they've been doing since Inazuma came out makes them weaker amongst their peers, and strong by themselves. The similarity thing was my first point but I eventually figured out my thoughts further about it during and after the videos production
I disagree a bit with the reasons why you do a story quest. Of course, many people don't have time to do story quests, but Genshin has always been pushing you to do story quests as a part of the story experience. Back during Inazuma, with the compulsary Yoi and Aya quests, as well as all the quests that unlock a boss (Zhongli 2, Raiden 2, Nahida 2, Arle), we've always been incentivised to complete it ASAP. Now with Natlan's release its grown even more clear, with extra primogem rewards for completing story quests during the character's banner period. As well as this new version trailers also include dialogues and scenes from Story Quests for the patch, which shows that the story quest is a highlight for the new patch. Genshin as a game treats these quests as 'highly important' (for people who care about the full story it's as much as you can get to a must-do) and so will the players, regardless if the character is interesting or not. Of course, since they're permanent, its easier to just ignore it since you can do it at any time as opposed to limited events. Doing only the archon quests is only the outline, there's a lot of relevant plot points inside story quests as well, so not doing them will not give you the full scope. Hangouts and extra lore from Character Stories are the true 'extras'. Its kind of like the Archon quests are the key episodes of a show, story quests are the other episodes and the 'extras' are the wiki page with more info. However, I definitely agree that the characters are glazed way too much. Characters such as Raiden (worst case) suffer especially from this. This is why the Fatui Hamburgers are often my favourite characters.
@@helen6736 story quests have been very important for a long time. Even in 4.6, Cyno's Act 2 was highlighted for half the trailer because of the shared themes of leadership between Arlecchino & Cyno, and then Sethos released the following update. However, I don't like the quests when I do experience them too. Well, I like them, but they're not much more than the character helping someone, with a few definitely surpassing that and giving alot more character (more recent ones for sure) though I feel like if you can only find the character being good in their own quest, then there just isn't much to be desired from the character interacting with other characters or being in other forms of media. For quests to be optional, it means other quests will suffer from not being able to just go under the assumption that you've done it before
Since you haven’t played many story quests I’d like to highlight a few that I think are the best and worth playing: Deyha’s: I really had no interest in her originally, but after the AQ and especially her story quest, it made me like her a lot. Neuvillette’s: Another character I didn’t care much for at first. His story quest is less about him specifically but more about his relationship with the melusines and how things have changed over time. After all he’s really old. Navia’s: Honestly it’s more of the same as the AQ with her quest. But that’s not a bad thing, because I think she’s the single best written character in the game. Lyney’s: Now funnily enough I still don’t like him. But his story quest really made me appreciate him as a character. I understand why he’s the way he is now. Yoimiya part 2: This quest made me love her, but I might just be a simp. Okay but for real, it just hammers down all the things that make Yoimiya who she is. Honestly nothing special, but was special for me.
Navia’s and Dehya quests were great primarily because they were actually about them as characters, even with Navia’s where they bring in some random NPC it still ties back to her as a character.
Yes yes please I want more characters who suck! But for real I want to see these overly positive perfect characters go through hardships and even traumatic events. However harsh this may sound, I want to see Klee be put into a serious life or death situation. Who knows how that would play out? I want to see Hu Tao in a story with big stakes. Maybe someone close to her ends up dying? I want to see Sucrose have to deal with the consequences of everything Albedo has going on. Like how would she react to Albedo going out of control and destroying Mondstadt?! I want to see Noelle fight to almost her dying breath trying to help everyone but can no longer and finally receives help herself. (This one in particular gosh I really want to see that happen, it would be so heartbreaking but then happy, man I’d cry)
Layla slander 😔 I think she’s quite interesting actually. she’s not a split personality (cos that’s a superrrr dated term for people like them) she’s plural (more than one person in one body) and I think that’s actually really cool of them to add into a gacha game AND there’s no cliche of Other Layla being evil or trying to bring down Layla. She’s not, she’s a helpful and kind person who wants what’s best for Layla cos she cares. Also she’s a struggling college student. Real. Like I get that she’s not particularly special to the world in comparison to other characters but I think what she represents as a positive depiction of dissociative disorders makes her existence a positive rather than a negative for not being as fleshed out as an archon or a harbinger ykwim?
@@xXGloomuraiXx she is good for representation, and it helps to cover a variety of different concepts within the characters in the story. I do think that's good I think every character is good. It's just that that's it. They're all good, and when everyone is good, they could all be bad, too. Same with everyone having superpowers meant nobody's powers were super anymore That's my problem, the characters aren't good for different reasons but rather the same reason with the same formula, just using different traits, representing different things and altering their lore/designs
You're quite naive with this story quest take. You basically tell others to judge a book by its cover. Any expansion on a character is just that, more substance - and IMO you've missed out
@@SignOne i haven't done any story quests, but I've watched a dozen and researched characters holistically for previous content I've made, and from what I've seen, while it helps me appreciate characters more, it does not change my opinion on them. It's a little naive to tell me I'm missing out but then tell me it's just more substance, which I assume is just more of what I've already gotten for the characters I've seen, and that substance itself is what isn't enough, not just the book's cover. Each character in the cast is perfectly fine individually but fall short when put up as a group due to the repetitive formula used for each character released. It's pretty much been redone since Inazuma, with a few different things such as their lore, design, quirks and voicelines. However, that's it, and the repetitive, heavily gacha-esc style of character writing is the problem I have.
@@ItsJustT I can clearly tell from what you said in the video and how it doesn't reflect my experience of these story quest whatsoever that you for sure did not do these quests and/or didn't take in any nuance within them if you researched them. Obviously you're not in a position to even entertain that I'm naive for saying you missed out when I'm the only one who has done them. Unless you really go with intellectual dishonesty to say me saying these quests providing more substance is substance you're already familiar with. I hope you're not going that route
His defense is basically, I may not have done it, I watched it. It's like saying I didn't watch the movie but I sure read the plot. Watching something and playing it are two different experience. @@SignOne
@Phantom_Zone dawg a chunk of quests are the dialogues and cutscenes 😭 if I'm discussing characterisation, then isn't that what matters? I'm not making some in depth commentary on the quest's pacing or something
@@ItsJustT I totally understand where you are coming from mate. But I personally think that you're lacking that personal touch for that matter. For many (me included) the knee jerk reaction is to doubt your opinion when you say 'I watched it'; even if your takes are valid in some senses.
As someone who shares the same sentiments, this is most likely why I only like a few characters in Genshin. My absolute favorites are Childe and Furina, who (surprise surprise) are some of the game's well-written characters. I agree with everything on this video except for Childe being a flirt. He's just a really friendly guy. Being friendly =/= being a flirt in my opinion lmao
@@Evgenia00 Story quests 🤓 but no I've watched them and they make for amazing stories sometimes but in my equation they won't do much bc you can never use any material from them in other quests since they're only optional. This in turn ruins it for me bc, like I said, I'm not gonna get any more out of the character than I did already, just learn more
@@lululumpia agree to disagree 🙏🙏🙏 id throw Lisa in there aswell. Yelan is one of the better characters considering her lore in the chasm, with capitano and overall her role in the perilous trail quest, but from what I've seen, I see her similarly to the other two even things like her ult imply that flirtatious attitude that you see with the other two just compare yelan and Lisa's ults 😭
About this point you made for Xiao at 10:26 how would you portray it? Like Xiao hating himself actually causes harm to both himself and others? I'm curious.
ngl on one hand I feel like some of this video suffers because you don't know enough about a character, like the reason for layla's sleepiness (which, she already has a bare minimum excuse for being a student let's be real) on the other hand... yeah I don't like doing hangouts either
@@hedgehugs people keep misunderstanding 😭 I actually know alot about where characters' traits come from, because Layla's is pretty well known I'd like to assume, but I'm saying the trait itself, regardless of where it comes from, lends itself to bring similar to Sayu's due to how often the sleepiness comes up for the both of them
There are no real problems with stereotypes. It’s just that the way it implemented is bad. We have seen potential succeeded with having stereotypes like danganronpa and total drama. The problem is Genshin is dog shit at writing.
@@unpopularopinion3539 LMAO yeah, the stereotypes in genshin are undeveloped due to the lack of negative outlooks on characters, showing more variety in the somewhat basic stereotyping in genshin
@@ItsJustT If Hoyoverse/Mihoyo step up their game and actually provide good writing just like they did in some of the storylines in Hi3 then I Don't think we would have a problem.
There are more characters that have percievable flaws though. For example, Dori is obsessed with mora and is too greedy (poor Kaveh), Faruzan is a bit obnoxious sometimes, Eula will swear revenge on you for sneezing wrong, Yae Miko will actively fuck with people to make them uncomfortable for her own amusement etc Also i dont disagree with you at all but the fact that there is a majority of fully 'good' characters makes the morally ambiguous ones stand out way more. If you want to know the characters better you should really do the story quests! They reveal a lot about the character although sadly, the plot often focuses on some npc. They need to stop doing that. Hoyo also needs to make more! I need a story quest for Sara especially! Like what to we actually know about her aside from being a simp?
Almost every character has a negative trait or mannerism. However, beyond that quirk, I don't see characters being portrayed any way besides misunderstood/positively all the time 😞 It's more subjective and personal to say that, but it's how I view it. I've watched a fair few story quests, just not played
As much as there is validity behind your criticisms about a lot of characters being very samey in ways, I can’t really take it at face value when you haven’t done their character quests. This is because this game usually uses Archon Quests to highlight a few specific characters, with it always mainly revolving around the Archon of the region. You said it yourself, you didn’t really care about Arlechino until you did her character quest, which proves to me that the entire problem you’re describing is largely there because you refuse to do almost any character quests.
@@AnArtistInAVoid i did care about Arlecchino. I thought she didn't live up to how she was teased for 3 years though. That's a completely different story. I don't care for majority of characters because they're all good but in the same formulaic way, while with Arlecchino, she was outright offensive to me as somebody who has been following her since early Inazuma
@@ItsJustT my point about you not caring about characters being because you refuse to engage with the content that allows you to learn about them more deeply still stands. Are some characters more formulaic? Maybe, but whether or not that’s exactly a bad thing is up to the one viewing the character to decide. However, I can’t really acknowledge your opinion as completely valid until you share your opinion on all the characters as a collective AFTER doing their character quests. For example, the stoic tall characters, are all each in their own ways unique characters, but you can only really delve deeper into their personal lives and the kinds of troubles they have when you do their quests, because the Archon Quest, with the exception of Zhongli, isn’t about them, shocking, I know. And even with Zhongli, his character is even more explored in his own character quests, where you learn more about his, and liyue’s past, which now shape why he is more stoic. Or how about we talk about other characters, like one of my personal favorites, Furina. Did you know that after the end of the Fontaine Archon Quest, Furina has some difficulties adjusting to her new life, and moving on from the painful role and past she had to take part in, after she starts living her life as a human? This is ultimately resolved through her Character Quest, and she afterwards appears in at least one other Character Quest in a major side character role, that being Clorinde’s character quest, where we get to see Furina genuinely enjoying herself while she plays fun games with her new friends. And all of that new unexplored depth is something you probably would not know because you haven’t done any of the Character Quests aside from Arlechino. Or how about Arataki Itto, to swerve away from archons and more serious characters. Arataki Itto is a goofy guy who is the figurehead of a group of misfits who follow him around because he is simply a charismatic fun loving idiot, but there is more to his character than that. Itto is essentially a victim of fantasy racism, because of his Oni heritage which makes him loud, strong, and potentially dangerous, according to human characters in Inazuma, however, Itto chooses to be himself instead of trying to conform to society’s expectations of what he should be, in order to not only stay true to who he is, but also because in his eyes, what’s the point of acceptance, if they don’t accept you for who you are? All of that depth is locked behind Arataki Itto’s character quest, where we learn about all that information, but don’t really otherwise see focus on, because every other story Arataki Itto has been involved in, has him placed in an environment where he shines, slice of life comedic stories. The character quests are there for a reason, and that reason is to explore the characters of the story instead of focusing on the bigger picture, and by association the archon of the region as an archon. You saying characters in genshin are very formulaic and uninteresting is a criticism born of an unwillingness to engage with content specifically created so you can get more of an in depth look at the character, which in my eyes somewhat invalidates your opinion.
@@AnArtistInAVoid i care for characters in any form of fiction from a perspective of their role in a story. I didn't wanna mention it because I thought it was redundant, but I've watched through multiple story quests and researched various characters for previous videos, and from the many experiences I've had delving deeper into characters, my opinions have remained the same. Story quests are ultimately optional, and the things youve learned in those quests cannot be used in any other form of content due to the optionality of the content you're consuming, like event quests. When I discuss characters, ignoring my examples on similarities, I'm mainly discussing characters seen in the mandatory campaign of the game, being archon quests, as well as the core casual content of the overarching storyline. It's like saying bad characterisation in a show is fine because they're shown to a great degree to be well written and characterised in another spinoff series. If they aren't pulling their weight in an archon quest, it's a problem i have with the character, regardless of other content outside of it. I could've mentioned this in the video, but i thought it was clear enough that my video is my video and opinion alone, with me simply trying to express my CURRENT feelings on a topic. I didnt think it was necessary to detail my deeper views. I am unsatisfied with how characters are interacting with eachother in the main storyline of the game, and i think their characterisation is incredibly flawed because of how similar they seem when seeing them in those quests. I couldn't care less about how different they are after you've looked deeply into all of them, because of course they are. It's pretty hard to accidentally make two identical characters. I'm saying they're similar, always portrayed in a positive light, and usually in a consistently dull level of quality. If you're looking deeply into a character, it's almost a given they'll be unique or appreciated by you anyway TL;DR it's my opinion and i disagree with you calling my opinion invalid when I'm shedding my opinion on content I've DONE and characters for what I've seen, not like I'm saying story quests are bad without even playing them. All i can do is explain why i haven't, which is kinda pointless My aim isn't to get you to agree, it's to strengthen your own views on things. To me, that's the point of a review
@@ItsJustT ok, so maybe your video and opinion aren’t based on a flawed perspective, since you, according to your own words, research characters and watch quests on youtube, but that then means your video is pretty flawed, considering that detail is a rather important detail for new viewers to know when discussing this specific topic. I myself am a first time viewer of anything you’ve ever really done with this video, as far as I can remember, so I think it’s pretty understandable I had no idea you did your own research outside of the game.
Actually i feel neavulite and alheathem are different from each other I though neagulite was going to be like him ehen he was introduced but definitely not now i believe there different from eachother
I somewhat agree that Genshin needs less characters that aren't good people, But I feel like a lot of this just boils down to " These Characters feel shallow because we don't get too deep into their character in any major stories " ... well yeah, While a character becoming Interesting instantly WILL help you get into doing their Story way easier, Them being good characters from the get go is too much to ask for as well for a game with almost 90 characters, and more to come. It's your opinion, I get that and It's fair, But in *my* opinion a character feeling Uninteresting until you get to know them doesn't make them a BAD character, and if we follow the logic you used in this video then Even furina is a Bad character, since for her to get any Depth whatsoever you have to do the entirety of the Fontaine archon quest, since for the first Two of those she's quite literally just your average Stuck up celebrity
@@zefuq my problem is more in the scope of every character being amazing, but amazing in the same way damn near every time. On top of that, alot of similar characters tend to have similar roles in the archon quests, which I guess you could criticize me yet again for going off those, but even in events and story quests that I've played/watched, I just didn't find myself very intrigued by the characters I identified as disinteresting. That never changed, with me only particularly caring for ones that I already saw as interesting to begin with. I never thought anyone was a bad character pretty much, just boring due to how much they all blend together, y'know?
I was willing to hear you out until you said you don't do story quests. People don't *just* do those when they *really* like their character. It's not an ottome dating sim. There's literal world building lore and even gameplay aspects that are locked behind some of those. Entire weekly domains. Sure, some of them are more lightgearted than others but there's substance to be found behind all of them. Especially if you find the characters bland. The whole video feels dishonest. You got a feel for the characters and their backstory at the surface level and are complaining about them feeling... surface level?? Ok bro
@@KhaoRose because the quests are optional. The developers wouldn't put too much substance that effects other pieces of story content besides second acts due to the optionality. I don't complain about them being surface level, I'm complaining about them being viewed as a net positive or that the characters are samey, even the ones that I have researched in depth, or ones I've researched quests for This is an opinion video after all, not something I believe to be objectively true. It's just the way I've felt since I first started playing 3 years ago, and I even did alot of events aswell. I just never found the characters distinguishable as they're all good but for the same reason rather than their own reasons
@@ItsJustT *All* of the content is optional by your logic. Playing the game is optional even. What you are doing is consuming half of the product that is handed to you for free. Half of the characters, half of the world building, half of the nation. Half of the experience. It's like getting into an objective based fps game, heading straight for the objective and getting surprised the enemy team has killed you. However, I digress. I won't sit here and tell you how to play your game, it's none of my business. If you want to eat your burgers plain, even if the salad and condiments are under the huge flashing neon arrows right in front of you, be my guest.
@@KhaoRose i dunno about that. Considering the quests are only a part of the game, not doing the story quests and saying it's "half the game" too feels ingenuine. How else would I play the game for years and make many memories, enough to consider it one of my most important games of all time if it was only half the product?
Think i disagree with just about anything in the video. Maybe you should do quests instead of just watching them. Lynette and Ayaka the same? Really? Ayaka is calm, cute and sweet... Lynette is.. huh...deadpan humor. Actually one of the few characters that makes me laugh.
@@ArniQQ10 hence why I added Lynette and Layla at the very end, just cuz I'm a yapper. The main examples I had, which I'm sorry for not communicating clearer, was Ayaka, Nilou, and Barbara, which people have agreed that Genshin tends to have equivelant characters for each nation due to its status as a gacha game
@@ItsJustT Huh? barbara and Ayaka have very different personalities? Ayaka is soft and introverted, yet determined and strong.. barbara is an extroverted idol. Both are pretty stereotypical anime characters to some degree, but completely different character types. And Nilou? Did you not play the summer event?
@@ArniQQ10 i DID play the summer event. I made a whole video on simulanka. I could easily see Barbara in Nilou's shoes, and I dunno if I could confidently call Barbara extroverted, as I've played her hangout quest when I was younger. I still consider her similar to Ayaka - at the very least, soft, determined and strong
You know there's some irony in people taking what you're saying at face value because they think you're taking something at face value... Anyway you're right, the most interesting characters in the game are the ones that aren't lawfully good, or at least have clear flaws. Heck even Traveler is more interesting to me than majority of the cast. Listen I know they're the MC and get the whole game to grow but still.
the story quests are made to so you can learn more about a character... you literally can't talk about a characters writing without consuming the content specifically made for that character to shine. if you're a casual player that doesn't have time to finish the quests that's on YOU not genshin lmfao 💀 genshin has a main story and thats what the archon quests are about, theyre not going to be able to squeeze every single character in every archon quest and make them "entertaining" for you just because you can't do their story quests. like yeah bro lets go buy some perfumes from emilie and commission some clothes from chiori while the fontaines about to be flooded that's the same reason why the archons and the harbingers have a bigger focus and have more effort put into them. genshins main story has many factions like the archons, the harbingers, the abyss order, hexerzinkel, celestia etc. you can't expect them to put more focus on some lawyer in liyue when we have bigger things to worry about, the other characters mainly exist to expand the worldbuilding of genshin. if you want to know their story better you can do their story quests/hangout and read their stories on their profile, simple you putting lynette and ayaka in the same simp girl category, saying sayu being sleepy offers no purpose other than to make her cute, saying almost all tall guys have the same serious personality is enough to know you don't have enough knowledge of the characters you're talking about the point you made about characters "uniqueness" is extremely subjective 😭you think raiden isn't "unique" but i personally think she's very interesting for being the only archon so far who was openly hostile with us, even though the writing of the entire inazuma arc was very poor and didn't show it well, she is a character who showed the reality of how much grief and loss can impact someone. everyone will have different opinions on this. and what you said about nahida is very true but if we want to put characters in simple categories like you do, she can easily be seen as the 1000+ year old that looks like a child trope you see in many animes. a characters "uniqueness" isn't how you decide if theyre well written or not. this game literally has 90+ characters now
i agree wholeheartedly with everything in this video! it is really frustrating to see how well they can write certain characters while leaving 80% of the cast just blatantly boring and single note. ive always had a hard time articulating it so im glad you were able to compile it all so well. i think the situation is on a slow up-climb with newer updates but it still leaves much to be desired, especially for a gacha game.. i dont think its unrealistic to assume people choosing who to pull on isnt a decision purely influenced by meta, the characters likeableness plays a huge part in it too, hoyo could really benefit from being bolder with character writing!
@@sandwichedtfout but I also think this structure can easily benefit gacha game due to how frequent it is. I'm just unhappy with it, but I don't expect it to change, nor do I think it's gonna bite them in the butt later lol
I really don't understand the issue with Raiden that you and a lot of people have. She's the PERFECT written example of what happens when someone that is not meant nor trained/taught for a role gets FORCED into said role without warning, then add a massive mountain of trauma and NO support network because their absence is the source for said trauma to process that grief and trauma. OBVIOUSLY Raiden was gonna get wonky in the head, but throughout ALL of your interactions with her, you immediately notice that Ei (not the puppet) is actually a fairly soft and empathetic person. She's just so stuck in her own head she's lost herself with everyone suffering as a consequence (which, by the way, only REALLY started when the Fatui were screwing around with their corruption of the Tri-Commission. Prior to that everything was mostly fine). The end of her first story quest (after the 'date' which was A GOOD PART to make her reconnect with the human world) shows that she's decisive but fair, not cruel. The main issue with Raiden's writing is that the background for the severity of her trauma is hidden in artifact, weapon and readables lore. For example, Ei was the one that objected to Yae Miko wanting to destroy Scaramouche just after his 'birth' as a puppet because Ei didn't want to force such a stressful position as Archon to someone as in touch with their emotions as Scaramouche. She's always been kind and sweet but you need to LOOK for it instead of it being shoved in your face.
Bro just called Tartaglia funny...he's more upbeat and cheery until he needs to get serious. He's not comedy relief. That would be Itto, Kaveh and at times Venti. This isn't addressed to you per se, but we're really in a time where people want everything they play or watch to selfishly be godly and top tier in terms of character design, writing and personality, aka "character developement". Overcriticising some of the dumbest things you'll ever see them criticise. It's all I ever hear nowadays whenever anyone describes current media today... Yeah this is an opinion vid. I've never seen anyone make a vid going in depth about character personalities, backgrounds and designs. A character's personality is what makes and defines them as who they are. Not everyone needs to see for example Arrataki Itto go through some serious emotional plotline and "grow" out of his comical role and as a "better person". His comedy is what defines who he is. Leave serious stuff like that for troubled characters or characters with dark backgrounds where ot works. "I never did the character story quest" That's a lie. If you actively play Genshin or even HSR some of them are required to move onto Genshin's story and to reach Inazuma. There's no other way around this fact.
@@darkraven5626 i meant the optional ones the only required ones are early Mondstadt & early Inazuma also I think you completely missed the point I don't think I even mentioned character development I just find them uninteresting, samey, and at times a bit basic I have a problem with having depth for the sake of having depth. That's kinda what I bring up here. We know their favourite foods and stuff but they don't make their surface interesting in the slightest, and every character's depth is formulaic as is
I also have problems with the writing and characters as well i really don't like how poorly fontaine and inazuma is written while the others are at least decent with characters i really don't like how the writers did with Arlecchino's story quest they could've at least made an animation instead of explaining the whole story it feels boring and lazy in my opinion
@@19525-o the exposition was lame. I liked the quest because I had the prior knowledge due to the promotional media, but for somebody that didn't have that, it wouldve been bad
@@ItsJustT i agree, i feel like they put more effort into complex characters with their quest than the other's it really ruins the fun of playing the quest in the first place
@@ItsJustT same i did research with scaramouche, arlecchino, navia, clorinde etc i don't really play the game but if i do i rather pick a European server due to how toxic the American servers are with mains and co op
At least Genshin did give almost everyone a chance of to shine with story quests, though some of them are admittedly mediocre. Honkai Star Rail has many characters that didn't even have a chance to shine, like Hanya and Xueyi, Jade, Fu Xuan, etc. I'll still stand by the opinion that while Raiden wasn't a good character in the Archon quest, her 2nd story quest did fix a lot of her story.
@@unpopularopinion3539 I prefer that, because Arlecchino is a harbinger, and for an antagonist, influence reigns over the character themselves. It's a harbingers thematic responsibility to push their organisation forward, not be pushed forward by their association with the Fatui. Arlecchino lived up to her role as a harbinger in her quest, unlike the archon quests
@@ItsJustT I get what you’re saying about influence being important for a Harbinger, but in Arlecchino’s case, the problem is that she didn’t really use her influence effectively or show enough of what made her standout as a character. From the way she was described-calm, graceful, with a secret psychotic side-there was an expectation that we’d see more depth. She felt like a passive observer rather than a major antagonist in both her Archon quest and story quest. Also, if we compare her to other tall female characters like Yelan or Yae Miko, she really does fall into those familiar tropes rather than breaking out into her own unique role. Her psychotic side wasn’t fully explored, and she didn’t stand out in the way we hoped. In terms of living up to her role as a Harbinger, it’s not just about pushing the organization forward, but also about her individual presence as a key player. If her character doesn’t leave a lasting impression or fully utilize her potential, then she’s not living up to the hype regardless of her ‘thematic responsibilities.’ You can have influence without falling into repetitive archetypes.
@@unpopularopinion3539 i did consider her being similar to not Yelan and Yae Miko, but more Raiden Shogun, Kujou Sara, Shenhe, and those more cold, alien women. However. I do think, while not fully explored, her psychotic side and demeanor is significantly colder than those others as it comes from a place of deliberate misinformation & misrepresentation rather than misunderstanding. However, if comparing her to Yae Miko and Yelan, I understand at least her mysterious, authoritative tone of knowing more than she leads on. She's a little bit of a weird one if you're trying to compare her to other characters, but I do fully get your points
But i agree that they recycle main core of the most characters diluc is cold but actually nice xiao is cold but actually nice albedo is cold but actually nice kinich is cold but actually nice cyno is (was seen by others) cold but actually nice neuivilette is cold but actually nice etc etc
For example albedo was cold because as a artificial human he doesnt feel like he belongs and mostly cared about his search and because of that think that maintaining relationships with others hard xiao was cold because he doesnt think he deserves friendship and doesnt want to burden others and only sees himself as a weapon also was traumatized by losing everyone he loved he didnt want to experience same thing
Honestly, genshin's a pretty interesting game; just a ton of drama and hate, but yes. The character writing is also... SHITTY, Though it kinda got better overtime? Slightly. I mean, not all of the characters are poorly written, most of them just are. Make a part 2 of this if you could, im interested.
It didn't just got SLIGHTLY better, to me if u compare the way furina, neuvillette, navia...etc are written compared to ayaka, Kokomi, Raiden, it feels like an entirely different game in the quality of how they wrote those characters. After rewatching Inazuma playthrough again right after finishing Fontaine it gives a whole perspective and we can tell the writing team is completely different. Just imagine if they wrote furina like Raiden, if navia was like ayaka... Or imagine if they wrote alhaitham like Kokomi. If Kokomi, the genius strategist that didn't do any genius strategy, was in sumeru or fontaine, she'd probably be someone entirely different. Yae miko had absolutely nothing interesting to her character to me, her drive in the archon quest was to save ei, but like..what about her ?? She's one of the mains of Inazuma, compare that to NEUVILETTE who had so much emotions written behind him, character development, feelings explored, played a bigger role in the story too. If Inazuma had Fontaine level of writing and had 5 acts, ayaka would do much much more than just being some friendless princess. Ayato would probably appear in the archon quest as well. They'd show how they battle against the vision hunt decree, Kokomi would be an actual genius strategist by actions not cuz they told us she would be, I'd say Inazuma would be the best written nation but it happened to be early Genshin so it was shit. The amount of lost opportunities and stuff they'd explore if it was a later region is insane. Kazuha was somehow they only character in Inazuma that had okay writing. The rest was absolute dogshit.
it's a gacha game, there supposed to sell you as many as possible characters, genshin I unque as it actually cares about it's character but you can't expect them continually release well written characters and give them equal screen time so just put the effort in characters you know will sell. Also there are very few people who will pull for nuance or evil characters, look at Scara, he is right there.
Genshin DOESNT know how to write villains in the slightest they can make the most heroic hero’s but end of the day this feels like ninja turtles or something where shredder isn’t supposed to win, villains aren’t going to be intimidating if they literally don’t live up to what everyone says like Capitano Vs Mavuika. Arlecchino looks much more powerful than Capitano because of the whole crimson moon thing and fighting off Aether and her children while The unmoving Captain or whatever all the greatness was is caught running away. None of these villains give me any sense of feeling because they all pretty much just suck. Aether or some other archon will be there to beat them all
@@greese_monkey1 yeah, you could most definitely say that. I think the villains work really well as general characters, but could definitely be seen as lacking when looking at them exclusively as villains
I would not say that they don’t know how to write a villain. I thinks it’s more of we don’t have a true villain. The abyss twin and the tsaritsa have beef with the heavenly principles, the harbingers (aside from dottore) work under cryo archon, there’s the hexenzirkel which we hardly know a thing about, obviously the archons, the dragon sovereigns, you name it. There are so many parties at play that I consider the antics of people like the fatui as more of their ideals colliding with others. This is perfectly demonstrated through arlechino and capitano as they are just trying to help their own respective nations. And since the principles have been asleep for so long and have only had like 2 minutes of screen time, I have a hard time believing she is the true antagonist. Basically, there’s too much lore and too many parties for there to be a true villain unless the principles do something during 5.0.
@@aidankresak1917 both this, and Genshin doesn't have the traditional villain archetype in the same way alot of other media does. It stays true to its open world, long term structure, especially with how the villains are written
@@aidankresak1917 That’s fine. There doesn’t need to be a big bad but the fact none of them are really threatening is the main issue I have with the game.
They improved the story quests quite a bit since Sumeru (but Fontaine is the real peak). I didn't really like a lot of the quests before Sumeru, but then they got better and better. Give them a chance. My personal quest recommendations to try out would be: Baizhu, Neuvillette, Yoimiya Act 2, Dehya, Sigewinne, Nahida 1+2.... (yeah, I love a lot of quests...) Clorinde and Cyno Act 2 has a lot of interactions between playable characters (Xianyun is also worth mentioning here, but there are fewer here)
oh I can finally reply from UA-cam studio well, i appreciate your recommendations. I have seen how peak some of Fontaine's are (Arlecchino, Neuvillette and Wriothesley especially) but I'll take the others into consideration. I've also seen Tighnari's story quest, and absolutely loved it. However, it proved to me that just seeing the characters a little further characterised doesn't save them all the time.
(PLEASE READ THIS & REPLIES BEFORE COMMENTING)
[ ! ] Take with a grain of salt. This video is mainly to experiment with a new style, not to be the most accurate, correct, or objective piece of media. This is my opinion, and more of a matter of expression than something I believe to be undeniably factual.
Another thing is, due to the comments, I should probably say I've WATCHED story quests, interlude quests, played events, and researched characters for prior content. I didn't make that clear in the video clearly 💀
Alright. Here's another thing. The CHARACTERS AREN'T THE SAME. They're similar to a fault, but not IDENTICAL. They're like equivalents of each other for various different arcs/nations. Please.
I struggle to describe itto with basic words, his personality is just being itto
exactly why he's great for this video
I think "himbo" is a pretty good summary
An oni, a simpleton, a good guy and yaddi yadda
"A silly Japanese demon guy who loves his bugs and his bros, and no not just male friends he also considers his female friends bros, he probs has ADHD idk just me i guess" -me when explaining The one and oni to a friend who knows nothing about Genshin
In basic words : goofy ahh
I don't understand why people call Zhongli serious or even cold. It's a complete fanon. He's not serious at all, rather calm and awkward (and even silly). He smiles and laughs a lot (okay, not a lot, but according to his mood). His hobby is to chat for a long time about useless facts that seem funny to him. And this is clear even without additional lore, it is literally in AQ. I think he's a character like Uncle Iroh - That is, a wise elder who has already made his mistakes and successes, and now he's just a chill. A Alhaitham and Neuvillete also have their own nuances, but I think it's about the way of presentation from hoyo. Fans of the character will find out everything about the character by finding them in detail, which is not good, not bad I do not know.
@@mihaila6777 i sort of get what you mean, but I still personally believe Zhongli is at the very least stoic, much like the other two. They of course have differences, but enough similarities to be seen as unnaturally similar, with similar roles in the stories aswell - being guides from beginning to end of their respective archon quests, whether because they're integral to the story, or because they're mentor-like
@@ItsJustT Okay, but I still don't understand. Superficially, I would call characters like Yoimiya and Mualani similar in spirit. Or Nilou and Ayaka. Or Hu Tao and Furina (max superficially). For example, if I imagine these characters in the same room, I see their dynamics as similar characters. But Neuvillette, Alhaitham and Zhong Li are quite different in spirit (considering that I don't care about the first two and I only know them by AQ.) Except Neuvillette and Zhong are both old. I would not say that tall men have problems with same personality, unlike female characters. What about Kaveh, Kaeya, Itto, Ayato, Tartaglia
@@mihaila6777 i agree with Yoimiya & Mualani aswell as Ayaka and things like that. However, I dunno, I just personally view those three as very similar? 😭😭😭 The generalist tall men comment was more of a bit, as I definitely don't view all tall men as the same. At the very least, Kaeya, Kaveh, Childe and Itto are all different to a justifiable extent
A lot of it is because the animation show Zhongli still face
It makes it hard to show his snark when he’s always got that face
he is not stoic, he's a grandpa that you actually want to hear stories from and that doesn't want to tell you anything.
I think one thing that gets often overlooked is characters' relationships with each other. Sure, they can (and should) be interesting on their own, but having dynamic and reoccurring interactions with other characters goes a long way in crafting their personalities. Like Kaeya/Diluc, Scara/Nahida, Raiden/Yae Miko, Alhaitham/Kaveh... They all compliment each other, show other sides of their personalities and make the audience more invested. That's why imo Sumeru cast as a whole worked a lot better than Fontaine. In Sumeru I felt like I was watching a group of people getting together to solve a crisis, while by the end of Fontaine's AQ I didn't feel like there was an actual link between the characters other than the Traveller.
Sorry for the essay lol I agree with everything said in the video and look forward to your future content 💞
@@caprichaos that's sweet. But, it's worth mentioning that Fontaine did still do good AT connecting them to the traveler, while I feel like Sumeru was better at connecting eachother rather than to the traveler. However, the dynamics and relationships help significantly for world building especially
@@ItsJustT that's something I didn't think about but it's absolutely true. I suppose it gets down to personal preference, I don't care much about the Traveller but I see how someone else might put more value into Aether/Lumine relationship with the other characters
I agree! though Fontaine’s characters were literally at each other’s throats, and it can pretty easily explain the absence of friendly connection between them. but the whole Fontaine theme was about loneliness and fighting alone and not being able to trust even those who really want to help you, so it makes sense. I love how bitter are the relationships between the main Fontaine cast
@@monshine444I kinda get it, but I feel like that would only work if we had like a twist villain with a playable character. Like a character who was originally presented as friendly with the traveler and other characters only for them to turn out truly and utterly evil. (Not like Childe)
Maybe I’m just asking for more drama between playable characters. Everyone is too friendly imo. I guess that’s why I like Itto and Paimon together.
7:10 this is where I tell you to do hangouts, Layla is sleepy because she’s hard on herself and extremely burnt out from studying and having to meet people’s expectations while also being criticised by her classmates for saying she can’t complete her work (which she thinks is true because she’s unaware of the other personality) while having most of them done by said other personality in my opinion she’s one of the realistic characters.
Meanwhile sayu is because of her insecurities, she sleeps in hope she grows taller to fit into a proper ninja so she does it on purpose while Layla accidentally does it because of pressure (by it I mean sleeping and taking a lot of breaks)
Layla shows a different side of the academiya, most characters we saw who studied there were just smart ass bookworms who could probably handle pressure, she’s a realistic character and good representation for how pressure and high expectations can lead to poor mental state especially in younger people.
Sayu shows how insecurities can cause someone to unintentionally harm themselves and trying their hardest to become better instead of not being insecure and it also shows in her hangout that just because someone has a good position (in this case the shrine maiden) doesn’t mean they’re good people because in her hangout we can see how the maiden yells, hits and humiliated sayu.
@@weirdo_called_F sorry for what I'm about to say, since it's gonna be a small response, but I've said it alot, just know I DID read. That's where their trait comes from, and I get that. However, I'm saying the trait itself just doesn't do much for the character from a point solely of how unique they are or positively theyre depicted as
@@ItsJustT no need to apologise not everyone yaps about characters and I understand your point but as a person with a writing hobby myself, when writing characters you can either have simple traits with meanings, reasons and motivations behind them or just have these aspects straight up and genshin mostly takes the first option, most characters don’t have unique traits but unique meanings behind them which separates them from other characters, it might not seem like it does much but when you consider how the character would’ve been without this simple trait you start to understand how deep rotted these traits go and how it effects the character.
For example: you can say ayaka and nilou adore the traveler but why? Ayaka adores them because they’re the first person to actually become her friend and see her as “ayaka” and not “the princess of kamisato.” Meanwhile nilou adores them because they’re a genuinely good person who helped sumeru, her home nation that could’ve been destroyed to ashes.
And still not everyone is interested in lore or characters that much for them to think of these scenarios.
I think that’s about it , it’s just my personal opinion and analysis of genshin character writing as someone who takes the same approach and anyone is free to agree or disagree.
You should probably play those story quests, point proven by how you 180'd on alrecchino. They address a lot of the points you brought up, including character flaws and moral ambiguity
@@sassyquatch1185 the Arlecchino thing was honestly a really good point there. Besides that, with people I've spoken to about alot of my general opinions on this topic (not always the specific examples included) that have done the majority of the story quests usually agreed with what I was saying
I've also watched through a chunk of them for other videos I've made in the past. My main problem with characters (ignoring Xiao and Mika) is not that I outright dislike them, but rather that they're disinteresting. Arlecchino was more offensive than disinteresting in my first playthrough of the archon quests
@@ItsJustTstill probably should play through the story quests
@@ItsJustT If you are making a point through proof and critical thinking is simply not good to not take into consideration all the materials at your disposition. Story quests are literally the most significant source you have about character lore and characterization, so it should be the main point of discussion to make a serious video. Now, while I agree with a lot of characters having similarities, I really don't agree with what you say on them being "same flavour with different toppings". I will not defend Layla because I deeply despise her and every piece of lore related to her, but other characters are very lore dependent. Kaveh is one of the most loved characters of the story and he is only relevant in events and his Hangout, but he's great cause he has a lot of negatives together with his good personalities and a lot of people understand and like his struggles. Wrio has a chilling lore and an even more chilling story quest that really says a lot about his redemption arc. In the tall female category we have both Beidou and Ganyu that are complete opposites in term of behaviour. Ayato has a story quest that everybody loves to hate because of how much text there is, but it really tells how both nice and scary he can be. Thoma is literally a Fixer, which is one of the most dangerous and morally grey jobs you can do, regardless of his sunshine attitude. In short girls we have Nilou, that is one of the best carachters in the game, in terms of characterization, she is a symbol of the arabic culture and has a very specific cultural reference to Iranian women, and therefore she is strong through kindness, and we also have Xinyan that (even if she's disregarded in a lot of events) it's very different from Ayaka and Barbara.
I'm not saying there are no problems with the characters, but in my opinion, the real problem here is that they like to focus too much on popular characters in events instead of developing some more underdeveloped characters that had less chances of being relevant in the game. If they made an effort on that, we'd really reach a new level of quality here. You know, instead of seeing the same fucking event with Ayaka, Yae Miko and Layla over and over again.
@@reddinareddika3624 i think you and I agree in a bit of a mixed way. For example, the section about nuance is dedicated to your second paragraph, as well as the good section. The popular characters are the primarily "interesting" ones. However, I know a lot of what you told me example wise. Discounting Ganyu & Beidou as I didn't know that, I mentioned how Kaveh works due to (in my opinion) his good interactions with the other Sumeruian characters as it allows his negatives to be highlighted, especially with Alhaitham. I didn't run through every negative character, but I did dedicate a paragraph to the well-deserved Sumeru cast in the final section.
As somebody who did the whole Simulanka quest and majority of Nilou's story quests (solely so I could finish Act V) I too like Nilou, at least more than the other characters I lumped in with her, though I'd still lump them regardless.
Development IS the problem, because Characterisation IS the problem. They're based on stereotypes that could be developed into more unique things, but they aren't, and instead all being decent human beings with their only differences being a few quirks, their lore, design, and occupation without much thought beyond that ignoring their voicelines
@@ItsJustT I'd like to say sorry in advance if I sounded angry or defensive, just in case someone may read it wrongly. I'm not a native english speaker so the nuance of writing is a bit off sometimes. I meant to be respectful towards your video which I appreciated a lot.
First of all, thank you for answering!
As I said, we agree on some things, it's just that I'd put more emphasis on the chances we get at character development in this game, because they are very few, with one "lore" event every six weeks that should aim at making the characters that didn't make it into the main quest shine more, imo. Thing is, tthis doesn't happen and they keep on insisting with the same 3 characters, hence why we don't get to actually differentiate a lot of the characters. One thing that got me really angry, for example, is the two musketeers event that doesn't make any sense. So basically Ayaka, Ayato and Yoimiya went to Fontaine and met Chiori and Chavreuse for some reason, only for Ayato to get completely excluded from the event, and for Yoimiya and Chiori to serve no purpose whatsoever? What was the point??? You needed two musketeers, why not using Chavreuse and Chiori which were BRAND NEW characters and instead using Ayaka that has been in 193453857 events so far? What was the purpose of Ayato and Yoimiya travelling all the way to Fontaine for this? It was just pointless. For comparison, the Interdarshan event for example was so much better, because it really allowed us to understand what would every character in a competitive situation behave like and they all had their time to shine and develop a bit better. So the point that I'm trying to make here is that they keep reusing characters that are mostly concluded, because after three years there really is no point in using Ayaka, as she isn't a "growing character" and her conflict is essentially resolved. I don't inherently have anything against Ayaka in particular, but imo is a striking example of how bad some piece of the writing is. The same goes for Layla, she is very annoyingly stereotypical. A character with DID that seems like she came out of a tumblr post of the 00's, that has no particular conflict and yet she's been in 3 or even 4 events at this point and didn't bring anything "interesting" at the table. There are more points of development, even in older characters that would be so much more interesting, for example "what happened to Thoma's father?", "What is the POV of Venti in the Decarabian war?", "What is like to rule Watatsumi, and how Kokomi deals with the problems of her land?". Those could be good starting points opened by the game and just... left there. Another example is that Neuvillette says in his teaser that he doesn't understand why he's born and it's like he has forgotten some important memories of the past and just doesn't know what to do now. He feels alienated and uses humanity as a mirror to understand himself. This is such an interesting thing that is NEVER addressed again, and it doesn't even say if getting back the Sovereign Authority ever even partly solved this. So really, the problem is they DO make an attempt at writing good characters for the most part, but they then choose to develop things that are just a waste of time when they write the events.
Another point that in my opinion is important in terms of "why some characters are bad" is that the plot is so big that some characters are bound to be secondary and Mihoyo just refuses to let them be just that, secondary characters. Which is fine, but at least tell me something more about them, instead of just leaving them there. What is the point of Mika in the story? To tell us that Varka met Capitano? Okay, but why is he a character? Why is Sayu a Character? Why is Heizou a Character???
Layla is sleepy because basically she never sleeps...i like her bcs she is a college/university student 😂
@@fayitsa622 i like alot of the characters. I think something that's hard to communicate is every character is GOOD, but they're all good in the same way. A good cast has a variety of characters that are all good in their own way, which isn't what genshin really does
@@ItsJustT oh dw i get it,most of characters seem like a huge pool of just "good" characters,i get it at some point i hated the flirt trope or other ones but through time (and endless rage) some shined more than others(mad respect as an NUMERO ITTO lover).
I will talk ab a character i disliked,Ayato,i dont hate him but there is nothing i remember from him and that from luck of screentime and luck of characterization.He did step to his families issues and fixed his clans reputation...but then i know he plays games and he is more mischievous than Yae?And then..?All of em including Ayato are gpod characters but story quests Should highlight a characters... character really because players dont have time to read or listen to the character profile AND do the quests,they want to see them interact with the traveller
(But yes as a uni student i love Layla we suffer from 0 sleep ;-;)
she's so me
im not even into Collage... Im in 8th grade ffs and yet i randomly fall asleep on my desk during recess and lunch break. (i repeated a grade don't shame me pls :'l)
@@pantamews not shamed at all xD dw you are safe
The biggest example of this is Signora. Extremely fleshed out backstory only told through convoluted rng item descriptions, a fricking mondstadt now, but no actual development or characterization in the story other than to drive the plot for the other fatui, even acting as a scapegoat for Scaramouche in 3.3 to pity bait the player base. She’s the biggest writing flaw of the game aside from raiden’s horrible writing
lynette doesn't even simp for the traveller she's just a deadpan, probably autistic girl, who looks out for her family. she's one of the most refreshing characters, nowhere similar to ayaka
@@lualas yoo I'm sorry she was at the end of that group like an honorable mention just bc she reminds me of themm 😭😭 that's just me, you can disagree
This entire video is like me reviewing a restaurant WITHOUT ever stepping foot in it 😵💫😅
4:19, ???, but if you haven't done the story quest, and the hangouts probably, where sometimes the bread and butter of a certain is located, how do you expect to learn about some of these guys. On the exaple of Layla and Lynette, one is anti-social because of lack of self-esteem and sleep depravity, while the other genuinely doesn't like to interact with people. Same with Yelan and Yae, one is flirty as a way to gain information about someone, and the other as a way to entertain oneself.
Your argument for lack of exposure and characterization doesn't really work when:
1. There are only so many places in the archon quests for characters to be given a major role without making the experience overcrowded.
2. If you wanted more of them, yet you decided to avoid the very obvious and given way to do so, what did you expect to happen here, honestly.
7:15
1. Layla is sleepy cause of her constant struggle to keep up with her academics and cause of her other personality taking over during her sleep. She really wants to succeed and she is competent actually, I mean she was the first scholar in Teyvat to solve a THREE BODY PROBLEM, the astronomy geeks will know what I mean.
2. Sayu on the other is sleepy because she is a 20year old woman trapped in the body of an 8 year old, she wants so desperately to grow up the she doesn't realize what toxic lifestyle she has imposed on herself.
Sorry, I think you sorta missed my point. Firstly, I have watched and researched story quests/characters, as well as doing some hangout events in the past. I've had to research characters bc I've been doing Genshin content for around just over a year now. I wasn't only referring to archon quests, but events as well, also taking the few mandatory story quests and interlude quests into consideration. I feel like there's more than enough content to atleast take the sample of characters who HAVE been included and see how effective their previous attempts were. While majority of characters are quite likeable in one way or another, it becomes repetitive how they're all good at similar levels for similar reasons, following a formula for each character's writing that works everytime instead of coming up with something new for each new character.
Also, the thing with Sayu and Layla is simply: I know. 😭 I'm saying there's more emphasis on it which takes away from the rest of the character, because it is an anime stereotype undeniably for the sleepy girl. Every character has reasons for their traits, I just like when it allows for more of an equilibrium in the triad, like Furina, instead of unintentionally simplifying how they're depicted in Genshin media
@@ItsJustT So rather than play the game you instead watched someone else play it and looked up the cutscenes. So why are you playing at all if you cant even bother to experience it yourself?
@@michaelr3077 DAWG I DIDNT HAVE ACCESS TO THE GAME AT THAT TIME 😭😭😭
5:20 they have different personalities? Why is Lynette and Layla here? I don’t understand how you can’t see the differences between them
@@TaylorTheCreativeOkOkOkLaLaLa i grouped them together for multiple similarities, not necessarily because they're all fully the same. I just personally see similarities with ATLEAST Nilou, Barbara and Ayaka. Lynette and Layla just share a little bit of what lumps the first three together, so I mentioned them, similar to honorable mentions. Apologies for not making that fully clear 🙏
Something about xiao; while i can not speak from my own expierience, from what i heard is that his charachter comes off completly diffrently in chinesse. They did him dirty in the english dub a bit, at least from what i heard. Also, i think charachters as heizou, kayea, and a few others also are well written with flaws and intresting gimmicks, but since they are four stars, they do not have much screentime ( and by that i mean heizou mostly, others appear in events a bit more often)
Damn..😭😭😭😭
I've seen Kaeya and I agree. His history with Diluc also helps with his more mixed characterisation. Just wish there was more of him in the main story. I haven't seen much of Heizou, but I know he's a pretty interesting fellow
aghghhhanah what bothers me about kaeya not getting barley any screen time is the fact hes khaneri’an, and that he has the alberich name too. i mean yeah there isnt much for him to do now though, since hes not a spy for the falken nation anymore and has accepted mondstat as his technically, so theres that. but then theres him and dilucs relationship. i always wish everyday hoyo decides to make a dedicated event for them, or a quest, where they finally make up and be best bros again.
This is true. Every dub except English depicts Xiao as a calmer character and doesn't come off as edgy at all. Xiao is more so shy and awkward due to purposefully isolating himself to protect others (and himself) from further pain. He's not edgy at all, rather he's just someone who has gone through a lot and doesn't wish to hurt any more people than he already has. He was enslaved, forced to kill against his will and consume their dreams. Then once he was freed, he had a found family in the form of the other yaksha generals which lost themselves to karmic debt. He doesn't hate himself because omg edgy, he hates himself because he's actually hurt others many times (against his will), he doesn't think his actions were bad, they were ACTUALLY bad and that's why he hates himself, for the atrocities he's committed. In the beta lore which never came to the game it was implied that his Master also SAd him but I guess that was too dark for a game like genshin. Xiao's story is not one about death and redemption, but rather one of Xiao accepting that he isn't a weapon and has a place amongst society. In the Chasm quest we see that he doesn't want to die, he just values his life less than that of others', which is something that he needs to overcome. He has one of the best pieces of lore in the game with one of the worst executions imo, because he's such a complex character yet if you don't purposefully go out digging his lore and birthday mails, all you see is an edgy/emo/simp for traveler type of character, when in reality, he's a really kind person who wants to be around people but believes that will just cause them further pain (which IS a valid concern, as his karmic debt actually hurts those around him, so it's not the classic "I'm a monster, I'll hurt them") kind of deal. I also like his implied "crush" on the traveler, wanting to put crystalflies in their hair, to hear their voice, canonically dreaming of going on what are basically dates with them?? All of that is mail fanservice, I know, but it still feels so... genuine? He hasn't let anyone in his proximity in a really long time, so having let that happen with the traveler, he sort of develops a child-like crush on them because his own innocence was taken away when he was enslaved at a young age so he never got the chance to experience this. I think it adds depth to his character. Anyways I'll stop yapping now, can you guess who my favourite character is lol 😭
@@7Sins7Dreams7 holy yap, i read all that. thanks for taking your time to write all that because WOW i never knew all that. Hehe also i can tell. This is now convincing me to use my xiao cuz i never really use him sadly
this is a bit of strange video to make not having played many story quests (that's your perogative though - i haven't done all of mine either). for example, after playing childe's story quest i wouldn't really call him ruthless and it explains exactly why he does what he does and that he cares quite a bit about people. obviously, genshin should do a better job at displaying good characterisation in the main story but it can't fully flesh out a character. if it did the main story would be long and drawn out and it could focus on characters people aren't interested in.
for example, star rail's penancony main story was largely critiqued for having an excessive amount of time dedicated to one character's background. it was good content, and related, but the amount of time spent on it felt misplaced in the main narrative.
The earlier archon quests took the route of shoving story quests down your throat. I said I haven't played any, but I have watched a chunk, and from the ones I have watched, my appreciation for the characters grew but my opinion never changed. Due to Fontaine now, Childe could even be characterised as not ruthless just by playing the main quests for example
as someone who loves hsr, i need to emphasize how much i LOVE moze. Throughout the story i was amazed, usually a bunch the "quiet" characters in gacha games talk like normal pople, but moze at the least talks the least, hes actually quiet! and its also shown how he isnt really the type of person to connect, he literally says that he would let him friend die for the sake of someone else and abandon him!
Hoyo has a crippling fear of portraying their characters in any kind of unflattering light.
... unfortunately you can blame the CCP for that. All playable characters must be morally good (HOYO always messes with the CCP's laws, but still important to note)
? there’s three characters who are quite literally murderers and horrible people with their only redeeming qualities being that they’re nice to some individuals
@LjCast-b6q they're morally ambiguous. Arlecchino owns an orphanage and cares for her children killing Crucabena to save them, Childe cares deeply for his family and has very a very strict moral code, and Scara gets a redemption arc (assuming they're the characters you're talking about.)
(LONG essay ahead)
I do agree with you, for the most part. I at least think characters like Nilou, Ayaka, and- for a male version- Kazuha are big examples of what you're criticizing (though I am biased- these are my least favorite in all of Genshin because I find them insufferably boring.)
While there may be an attemp to round out a character with conflicts and goals, they can still be poorly handled if they're not presented right OR if you complete their goals too soon. I personally don't find these 3 as impactful because after they all played their role in the Archon Quests, they've just been left with...Being nice.
They don't have conflict among the playable characters or NPCS that needs to be resolved, they're always treated positively, the people who do oppose them are painted as wrong for doing so, and the flaws they do have are overshadowed/told but not shown/conquered too easily.
I specify "Archon Quest" because it's these quests where these 3 have the most action and involvement. I actually used to like Nilou during the AQ. And Kazuha's moment against Ei was cool to see.
I still think Ayaka was one of the worst parts abour Inazuma's AQ. BUT at least it was clear Hoyo was trying to make her a character.
But afterward, their subsequent appearances in other quests have been so...Boring. All their conflict was resolved in the AQ, and Hoyo refuses to give them more than that. So instead we have stuff like Ayaka making friends and being told she's soooo good at things like acting, Kazuha getting complimented left and right for the sword block, and nonstop shoving in our face how amazing Nilou is at dancing.
And what's worse is that the 3 of them CAN have conflicts and flaws worth exploring in future content.
I think Ayaka is a big case of having flaws that are "told" and not "shown." Plus, the presentation of her struggles don't match the supposed impact, in my opinion. So why not have quests that lean more toward her political position? She was put into a position of power without much of a choice, so why not explore (with way more depth) why this position is such a burden to her. Let's see this supposed contrast between Politican Ayaka VS "Normal" Ayaka in an actual conflict. Let's see this supposed "mask" she wears.
And Kazuha can potentially have conflict with Wanderer (I BEG people to not make this point about shipping.) I want Wanderer to make amends for what he did to Kazuha's family. And honestly- I want Kazuha to not forgive him. I want to see Kazuha be flawed and irrational- I want him ANGRY or RESENTFUL. Wanderer ruined his family. This may be the most likely, but I really want Hoyo to show an uglier side to Kazuha somehow.
Finally, Nilou could have more conflict with the Akademiya. Not another "crusty old Akademita nerd wants to shut down the theater" plot. God no. But Nilou clashing with the other characters who are strongly affiliated with the Akademiya like Cyno or Alhaithem. I want to see that "ART vs STEM" Character dynamic happen where they learn to understand one another. That way we can see Nilou's shortcomings like how she may not be gifted as the Akademiya students and how she may not completely understand how they think. And no matter how hard she tries, she may never understand them. The "Art VS Akademiya" theme of Nilou was the most interesting thing about her and it was dumped after the AQ- I want to see it brought back and done better.
Of course this is all subjective. And the fandom will surely have my head for insinuiting some of the most popular charcters in Genshin aren't Hoyo's best.
For the record, my #1 is Mona because I think she's very well rounded. She's prideful and she has the intelligence and skill to back up the pride. But she is not infallible and she's not always right. She's mature enough to take care of herself, but will let her ego go for those she cares about (eg. Fischl). And her relationship with B is so all over the place that it's both hilarious and kind of concerning. And there's so many mysteries about her that are unresolved and leave room for further growth.
Best of all, everything I said about her can be found in actual game and event content. Not behind her profile.
Anyway- apologize for the long essay. Thank you if you actually read it. I love Genshin but I am extremely critical of how it handles characters. But Lord knows that the fandom will not allow you to have negative opinions about the 3 I mentioned.
@@pinkraven7043 everything here is me fr
I even agree with the parts you DO like about Nilou and Kazuha. However, im not a mona person and personally hate her BC she's the one I get whenever I lose 50/50 😭
I think you can compare Genshins character writing to Naruto's handling of side characters.
Its so obvious how some characters have so much more work and effort put behind them. The "main" characters like the archons and fatui harbingers are so apparently better written than other characters. The "side" characters like tignahri, wrio etc. are good characters but not nearly as good as the main characters.
The same thing can be seen in Naruto. One big complain about the series is that side characters are often neglected. The main characters like Itachi, naruto etc are way more liked because they have so much more work put behind them.
DAMN AS A NARUTO AND GENSHIN FAN THIS COMMENT IS FIRE-
4:25 Um, ☝🤓there's a fourth reason. I need primogems. 😔
Childe is not a flirt… please… he’s not a flirt… he’s just so heavily mischaracterised by the community and his English VA because he said “girly” that people think he’s a flirt…
@@takendruid idk i remember viewing him as a flirt even when I first saw him in the Liyue archon quests, and I had no exposure to the fanon besides a Scaramouche comic strip lol
So it's to each their own
I think it is a pruduct of having too many charcters and that is the problem all gatcha games deal with. If you take out alot of the lesser important characters and put more focus on the main cast the story could have been better but they have to sell as many characters as possible to earn money. This results in alot of characters seem forced or bad written and they try to fill the gaps with story quests and hidden lore in the characrer info.
Agreed. It also just has an affect of, if characters WERE all good, being inevitably repetitive anyway. The gacha structure will make writing formulaic if not bad, and that's what it is
@@ItsJustT True. They also like using character development as fomo to get people to log in and play the events that has been done multiple times tex Albedo/Fishl. Characters that if you played events is good characters an if you did not they are nobodys.
As someone who absolutely loves Evil characters (like Koyanskaya from FGO, and it's not only me being down bad for her) I strongly agree that Hoyo is afraid of showing good characters negatively. There is more portraying negative characters in a good light (Arlecchino, Childe and Scaramouche being nice examples) I still want more. I want Evil characters that have some positive traits to hold onto, and Good characters having visible flaws that make them more like people.
thats because of chinas laws. Genshin is a kids game and in china, kids games arent allowed to have villains as playable characters.
@@ccaiqque Common China L
This video reeks of not doing any of the Character Quests.
That's cause I haven't done them. 😭 I've watched a load of them and researched alot of characters in the past, but my opinions never really changed on the ones I looked into, I just learned to appreciate them more. Every character is good, but it's always in the same formulaic way that it eventually gets repetitive and, to me, becomes a problem to an extent
@@ItsJustT fair. There are notorious ones that do not develop at all. Also consider that Visions are given to people who have been acknowledged by gods. They have already experienced a life changing event.
@@jmesporlas very true. Well, atleast they have ambition. Idk if all of them have experienced that
You lost me the moment you said Yae Miko and Yelan have the same personality lol
Two characters can fall to the same archetype but still be different characters. Amber and Yoimiya, two energetic girls who befriend the player very quick. One is a responsible law-abiding knight who nonetheless has that impulsive nature, while Yoimiya is more carefree and works well with kids because she has that childish side to her, and you see her more responsible side when things get serious. Another example, Xiao and Scaramouche, two angsty short kings who avoid making meaningful connections in fear of losing someone close again, but one is a tsundere who tries to protect his nation and has a soft spot for the traveler, one of the only people who even remotely understand what he's been through and the other doesn't know who he is and his experiences turned him to evil instead.
Tropes and archetypes are a good way to give someone a base idea of a character, a first impression that can then be expanded upon. Given that not every character is in the main story, Genshin does a really good job of making the characters varied in personality, even within the same archetype. It's a necessary literary shortcut when you have like a gajillion characters and not all of them will be featured in the main storyline
@@toohopeful160 I... Didn't say they're the same. I said they're incredibly similar due to multiple shared traits and a similar or same archetype. I quite literally said they're the same with multiple differences afterwards, like how I put Layla with the other 4 but then said she's sleepy, and that's something that still differentiates her. When I was describing the characters I like in this problem, I too drew connections to other characters, but explained how their difference was larger than the ones I think fall short due to this writing proboem
Honestly, using "lazy" as a reason for characters, or mostly anything within games, being bad is just lazy and reductive. It's almost never the case.
I also think you should use your eyes more and not just glance at characters. Because then you might actually see how they're different. There are also over 90 characters in the game. Of course some of them are going to be similarish.
@@Runegrem you shouldn't tell me I'm wrong but then say "of course you're going to be right". I wasn't focusing at all on why BESDIES that single comment that serves solely as a conjunctional sentence to continue the video. The characters I have researched on a deeper level haven't satisfied me in the slightest, and if you disagree, that is completely fine. Shouldn't be a bad thing to share different sentiments
@@ItsJustT True, opinions will always differ. In this case I think you oversold how samey the characters are.
But I stand by not calling creators lazy for not making what you think is good content. You didn't focus on it, but you said it nonetheless.
@@Runegrem i dunno, I still think they are. There's a clear difference in which characters are more important and how unique they are. If I made a scatter plot for the two things, I'm sure it would be a linear graph
@@ItsJustT Characters with more screen time tends to be deeper and more multifaceted. That's just how things work everywhere really. And the more facets a character have, the easier it is to be unique.
But uniqueness is not a linear graph if compared with importance. For some examples you have Faruzan, Fischl, Xinyan, Chongyun, Noelle, and Dori. I could also say Hu Tao, but she's been a major actor in a few events.
I could also mention Mauvie for a counter example, but I haven't played through the current Archon quest yet, and there's more to be released, so I'm withholding my judgment of her until later.
Characters with overtly bad traits likely tend to have way less sales appeal so gacha games avoid it because they only have a 3 week window to earn that gacha money from customers so anything that makes the customer uncomfortable is a no-go.
Because the characters are treated like products in a gacha game this is their sad reality as they have to be "marketable".
Even in cases like scaramouche who's a villain, he's bent into a tragic victim and no longer does anymore atrocities by the time he becomes playable. He's even kind of comedic now almost being more like a tsundere type.
@@XieRH1988 Scara still maintains a sharp tongue and irritating attitude. That's enough for me, but I do agree, and it's unfortunate. I cared more about identifying the problem rather than explaining why bc it's pretty hopeless overall
Layla is always sleepy because of her DID which makes her split personality wakes up and does things whenerver she tries to sleep or has nervous breakdowns.
Sayu is always trying to sleep because somebody told her that she's shorter than her friends because she doesn't sleep enough. And she's pretty insecure about her height.
@@inthenameofcontractlendmem983 I'm aware of why and they're perfectly understandable reasons. However, I just wanted to mention that the two were similar because of how much these traits depict their character. Alot of their characterisation, from what I've seen, is spent on showing off their sleepiness.
@@ItsJustT I think you should play their hangout quests. Their differences are very clear at least to me. But it's up to a person opinion whether they're bad written or not.
very interesting video, we should see more genshin content like this-
@@novastruck261 you think so? I feel there'd be plenty but honestly I've got no clue. Thank you nonetheless ❤️
Yelan and yae are not similar just because they are seductive, hot women.
@@EggGamingMoment they're also both smart, powerful and have authority. I feel like the seduction is just what highlights it lol
the last time genshin try to add a morally grey, instead of plainly 'good' character in the game, it had destroyed its cn community full of incels
yes it's no other than scara
My issue is that we got to the point where "character design" is a code for "fetish". What some innocent person might find adorable or interesting is a sexual trigger to another, and the later is the reason the character is designed that way, cause that is why that character sells. And due to every chracter having to be endearing in some way, only those who explicitly do not do so are standing out.
@@Salbeira you're kinda spitting facts ngl. I think it's the same with their quirks. Typically, people will either find it arousing or adorable, hence why it's added. Traits aren't added for the lore, but the lore is added for the traits 😞
I love furina thats the whole comment
@@didu173 LMAO 😭 W comment
FURINA OUR QUEEN!
I don't agree with basically anything after the intro, starting with the reasons why someone completes the story quests. Your understanding of the game is incredibly incomplete if you not only aren't doing those quests, but take the stance that those stated in the video are the only reasons to do them, because it reflects on what you do and do not see about the game.
To draw an analogy, it would be like saying that the lore and worldbuilding of Genshin feels incredibly incomplete, random, and like the writers just pull things out of thin air because you not only skip the books and item descriptions, but mash the button to skip the quests as fast as possible *when that is where the lore and worldbuilding occurs*. People who aren't interested have the prerogative to skip it, but then they can't turn around and say it isn't there.
@@azuarc while I appreciate the analogy, I have watched a multitude of story quests, played events, played hangouts, and researched various characters, with my opinion remaining there. The point on positivity is one that has nothing to do with story quests especially considering the ones I've seen have characters helping out NPCs or doing good for the world, which only establishes my point further
From alot of what you said, it sounds like you disagree with me, considering you said my reasoning for doing them is wrong. However, that's just my opinion. It says it in the pinned comment. Don't take what I'm saying for fact, but rather what I believe
@@ItsJustT I do...or at least I remember disagreeing. I put the video out of mind, so I can't recall what exactly I disagreed on, but of course it is your opinion and you are entitled to it. I was just trying to get at the root of perhaps why we had a divergence of opinion.
@@azuarc that's an admirable thing to do all things considered. Id do the same
I think you are the ine who oversimplifies the characters, at least to some degree. Yeah in a huge roster of characters, tropes and personality traits are there to draw attention ti the character and give you a first idea of who they are, but if you think they lack character depth and individuality, i think you are not listening to them enough. And no i don't mean that they are diffrent just because of the reasons why they are like they are. Two examples would be sethos and itto and yelan and yae miko. Just like in reality people with many overlapping personality traits can still have very different personalities. That's something you can't easily explain because it's more complex than just naming tropes and traits. I love yae miko but can't stand yelan and thats not because of their design because I liked before she opened her mouth. I think sethos and itto can be better put into words. Both are "the funny extrovert in class" but while ittos character plays a lot around his poser ego combined with childishness, sethos is more gossipy. And while itto stays this way even in serious moments to an extent, sethos can be far more serious if needed.
Yes some characters serve very similar tropes and especially in the times of mondstadt to inazuma the overworked girl was really getting tiring and is worth getting criticised. I just think there are many very interesting, fun and distinguishable characters in the game and breaking them done to tropes and a few traits and then criticising there are not more than that besides from lore, doesn't do them justice
@@dessdev8404 I think you could be completely correct, because yeah, they do have differing traits, and yes, I did oversimplify them, because that's how I view them, and this video is an expression of my opinion as stated in the pinned comment. There's a reason people can so easily enjoy the characters - I probably wouldn't be making a video on it if it was common thought in the community
Going off the music, I am also waiting for the next episode of Delta Rune. Anyways, I feel like it's nearly impossible and might actually be a negative to give every character truly unique traits/personalities or time to develop. Particularly because the Devs have to keep making new characters.
You gotta sell us an Ayaka/Nilou type every region for example. And if you go more in depth with those types like say with how FF is fleshed out in HSR, you run the risk of splitting the playerbase, 'cuz people who like those characters will appreciate the screentime and people who hate those characters just feel alienated when it's shoved into the main story like Ayaka and Yoimiya's Story Quests being forced into the Inazuma AQ. I think that's also part of the reason why you get almost nothing for most characters in the main story, and even in their goddamn story quests, the characters are often second fiddles to some NPCs.
The Devs seem less inclined to go too far with any given character because they're trying to appeal to as many people as possible without doing too much to cause a division. On paper, that's lazy, when you expect a character design and tropey personality to hard carry. In reality, that's just being efficient with these kind of games and it's proven time and again to work. Kinich is another Xiao that similarly doesn't have much going on besides personal suffering, but most people already love him anyways for his aesthetic, VA, whatever have you.
The bottom line is, most people are fine with shallow character writing and can make do with other aspects. You don't really need to make everyone 10/10s in the character development and character progression departments. God knows most FGO players didn't actually care about how well written Zenobia was when she spiked sales on her only rate up to date during a Halloween event banner, despite being a 4* that was going to be added to the general pool.
I think Genshin's more or less fine as it is for character writing, including keeping character lore or development in Story Quests, Hangouts, or even Events in some cases. The issue instead is the accessibility of those Events. You can touch character stories and hangouts whenever they unlock and you feel like it. But your only option for Event content is like. UA-cam. That shit sucks.
@@unboundking9742 you seem like a real chill guy. I like you, but yeah, I fully get that. This was more expressing my dissatisfaction with the characters, but ignoring the obviously dramatized title, Genshin could easily continue as is lmao
@@ItsJustT To be clear, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your take at all. I think it's actually an interesting topic that could be up for another video at some point honestly, since what any given person thinks the right balance should be for characters is always gonna be different.
Like with FF and Aventurine in HSR, we even have cases in Genshin where people feel like someone got too much screentime. Like I recall a lot of people not being very big fans of essentially two main events in a row recounting Kazuha's backstory to us, or some people complaining about Itto getting a lot of the Events based around his plans, while others complain about Raiden showing up for two seconds in any given Events.
Genshin may be fine as it is to me personally, but it isn't without it's faults on the characters as you've said. Even putting aside old Events having no way to view/play them now, you also run into the character story issue. Most people call it NPC Impact since the person you're playing the quest for is rarely at the center for it. So in that vein, you not playing any Character Story Quests ultimately won't change your opinion much since the quests themselves rarely have any new things about a character besides sharing some tidbits about their backstory, and rather often just reinforce the role they take in the story at present.
Like I remember liking how Ayato and Yae are always keikaku dori-ing every Event. And their character story quests, for better or worse, are just more of them doing that in the background with NPCs taking front and center instead of the other playable characters in Events. Since they were already mostly background heroes, I didn't mind for those two. But when other characters who you know are more in the forefront of situations like Hu Tao and Yoimiya end up having to deal with NPC problems instead of their own, you kinda feel how almost scared the Devs are to establish anything new for these characters.
When they take the base lore they created themselves seriously we get gems like Tartaglia, when they don't we get someone like Nilou and when they havd conflicting moments we get the weird cases like Dori, who at the exposition level is awful but has such heavy backstories tht one can only wonder, why not show that instead of the obnoxious here and now?
i havent meet sethos but from his intro in yt.... wtf. like they went he is x, y, z like to explore like we dont want a enumeration, we want an experience. and the way they make furina is soo good, they always goo like THE ONE, AND ONLY FURINAAAA but clearly hint she is off.
Going a bit off topic from most comments, i do think one of the biggest flaws on character writting in genshin, is that so many characters have so much to them and is never told in the main quest line, makes us miss a lot of details, kaveh has such a sad backstory and he appears in the end of the archon quest and thats it for him, also event locked story, I dont agree with a lot to what you said but I wanted to add my view and also you are not wrong in a lot of points
@@Artephobic this is so real
You should do some character quests. No I don't believe every character is a gold mine in a gacha game there are gonna be specific golden child's which is a VERY salient point you brought up. I think that's why despite myself I still catch myself liking Albedo. Problem is a good chunk of his build up is done through events so any new comer to genshin would glance at him for a second at most. I dont blame them for that though they have no access to one of the other parts of this theoretical character design pyramid you proposed in the video characterization, lore. A character story quest list in order of quality is definitely needed to filter through the junk. Even my favorite characters get done dirty so there are going to be characters I dont even like that did better in this field. In a game with so many characters/ backgrounds it is SO hard to filter through and makes the golden child's position more highlighted. Its so odd in a game that is very colorful with exaggerated colors popping out on screen, in the outfits that a large majority of it doesn't matter as they get overshadowed (some more gracefully than others). For example the overworked wives of genshin impact will struggle to hold attention in the presence of other characters.
@@mirror2922 I've watched a fair few, aswell as doing plenty of events over the years. I will say, it hasn't really helped me much ngl. The only one that benefitted was Albedo like you proposed when I did the dragonspine event quest in late 2021
Well, I think that's still a pretty good amount of well written characters. They can't just create that many awesome characters, that would be really hard. Also, compared to wuthering waves, It's way better. Wuthering waves characters are EXTREMELY shallow, boring and dry. They are too straight forward, simplistic stereotyped characters. Although their character 3d model is good because of which many characters look good, the designs are actually not that great. Same goes for the story in that game. It's horrible. Simple, predictable, too dramatic for normal things (sometimes feels cringe) and not much depth to the stories other than what they show you. Also, too centered around the mc etc.
@@hindifictionsworld8032 that's my problem. There's too many good characters, and they're usually good for similar reasons that, to me, make them blend together
This is a really interesting perspective from someone who hasn’t done the character story quests. It is definitely a valid criticism that the majority of the cast are portrayed too positively. In fact, a lot of the story quests involve them helping out some NPC’s problem, reinforcing their heroism to contrast a villainous NPC. Those NPC centered quests get repetitive after a while, so I don’t blame you for skipping the quests entirely.
Unfortunately, while the fixes you proposed would certainly be effective in building character, this is a gacha game first and foremost. There are undoubtedly character tropes that are more marketable than most, and the sad truth is that this is why we have more of the soft-spoken, overworked waifus and tall husbandos; they sell like hotcakes with the Asian playerbase, i.e. their main audience. By contrast, characters like Scaramouche are not looked upon favorably because of his personality is too much like a bully, hence why there aren’t as many characters like him in the playable cast.
@@TheAAJYu thank you and I fully agree ❤️❤️❤️
@@ItsJustT Glad to see we agree on something. I do hope that you can eventually give the character story quests and hangouts a chance, since those tend to be where most of the characters get their time to shine. There’s only so much screentime you can allot a character in the main story, after all. Remember that Itto never shows up in the main story and probably wouldn’t have become nearly as popular if his character quest didn’t make a damn good first impression.
The fourth reason I do story quests is to get them out of my face cause I’m sick of seeing them there 😮
@@BeisRaliade gonna be me fr
I know you may not be very interested, but I highly recommend doing Fontaine’s character quests. They’re extremely good, and way better than the ones we had recently. Lyney and Wrio’s are okay compared to the rest of the Fontaine cast, but they’re still pretty good
You need a reason to play a story quest? Its content, gameplay. You play games to play them. I should not need to explain this. I doubt i need to explain primos either. I can never understand the mindset of someone that plays a game, ignores content, then complains about it. WHY DID YOU INSTALL THE GAME?
@@michaelr3077 yeah so Genshin is sorta big and there's a group of players called casual players that usually pick certain content they'd like to engage in, especially because of how time consuming the game is, and my limited ability to play for extended amounts of time. Not everybody has the time to finish all the content in the game, and when Genshin draws out your playtime and it's runtime just to give you all the content, I see it as a problem. They're able to make characters more engaging and interesting in the main quests without needing to delve deep into them all the time, because that's good writing. The archon quests are especially important, and to have the characters be lacking in them is a problem, is it not? Half the game is exploring and gameplay bro I don't have time I'm already doing that
This video is just oh boy…
I mean I thought I understood your point but ummm it seems to me you view “serious/brudy” as bad a quirky and funny ass good which realistically makes zero sense
I don't see anybody as bad. I may not have said this clearly, but every character is great by themselves. However, as a CAST, they fall far weaker due to the sheer amount of them aswell as the usage of their character formula that they've been doing since Inazuma came out makes them weaker amongst their peers, and strong by themselves. The similarity thing was my first point but I eventually figured out my thoughts further about it during and after the videos production
love your videos!
@@enaplushie thank you ❤️❤️❤️
I disagree a bit with the reasons why you do a story quest. Of course, many people don't have time to do story quests, but Genshin has always been pushing you to do story quests as a part of the story experience. Back during Inazuma, with the compulsary Yoi and Aya quests, as well as all the quests that unlock a boss (Zhongli 2, Raiden 2, Nahida 2, Arle), we've always been incentivised to complete it ASAP. Now with Natlan's release its grown even more clear, with extra primogem rewards for completing story quests during the character's banner period. As well as this new version trailers also include dialogues and scenes from Story Quests for the patch, which shows that the story quest is a highlight for the new patch. Genshin as a game treats these quests as 'highly important' (for people who care about the full story it's as much as you can get to a must-do) and so will the players, regardless if the character is interesting or not. Of course, since they're permanent, its easier to just ignore it since you can do it at any time as opposed to limited events. Doing only the archon quests is only the outline, there's a lot of relevant plot points inside story quests as well, so not doing them will not give you the full scope. Hangouts and extra lore from Character Stories are the true 'extras'. Its kind of like the Archon quests are the key episodes of a show, story quests are the other episodes and the 'extras' are the wiki page with more info.
However, I definitely agree that the characters are glazed way too much. Characters such as Raiden (worst case) suffer especially from this. This is why the Fatui Hamburgers are often my favourite characters.
@@helen6736 story quests have been very important for a long time. Even in 4.6, Cyno's Act 2 was highlighted for half the trailer because of the shared themes of leadership between Arlecchino & Cyno, and then Sethos released the following update. However, I don't like the quests when I do experience them too. Well, I like them, but they're not much more than the character helping someone, with a few definitely surpassing that and giving alot more character (more recent ones for sure) though I feel like if you can only find the character being good in their own quest, then there just isn't much to be desired from the character interacting with other characters or being in other forms of media. For quests to be optional, it means other quests will suffer from not being able to just go under the assumption that you've done it before
Since you haven’t played many story quests I’d like to highlight a few that I think are the best and worth playing:
Deyha’s: I really had no interest in her originally, but after the AQ and especially her story quest, it made me like her a lot.
Neuvillette’s: Another character I didn’t care much for at first. His story quest is less about him specifically but more about his relationship with the melusines and how things have changed over time. After all he’s really old.
Navia’s: Honestly it’s more of the same as the AQ with her quest. But that’s not a bad thing, because I think she’s the single best written character in the game.
Lyney’s: Now funnily enough I still don’t like him. But his story quest really made me appreciate him as a character. I understand why he’s the way he is now.
Yoimiya part 2: This quest made me love her, but I might just be a simp. Okay but for real, it just hammers down all the things that make Yoimiya who she is. Honestly nothing special, but was special for me.
Navia’s and Dehya quests were great primarily because they were actually about them as characters, even with Navia’s where they bring in some random NPC it still ties back to her as a character.
Yes yes please I want more characters who suck!
But for real I want to see these overly positive perfect characters go through hardships and even traumatic events. However harsh this may sound, I want to see Klee be put into a serious life or death situation. Who knows how that would play out? I want to see Hu Tao in a story with big stakes. Maybe someone close to her ends up dying? I want to see Sucrose have to deal with the consequences of everything Albedo has going on. Like how would she react to Albedo going out of control and destroying Mondstadt?! I want to see Noelle fight to almost her dying breath trying to help everyone but can no longer and finally receives help herself. (This one in particular gosh I really want to see that happen, it would be so heartbreaking but then happy, man I’d cry)
Layla slander 😔 I think she’s quite interesting actually. she’s not a split personality (cos that’s a superrrr dated term for people like them) she’s plural (more than one person in one body) and I think that’s actually really cool of them to add into a gacha game AND there’s no cliche of Other Layla being evil or trying to bring down Layla. She’s not, she’s a helpful and kind person who wants what’s best for Layla cos she cares. Also she’s a struggling college student. Real.
Like I get that she’s not particularly special to the world in comparison to other characters but I think what she represents as a positive depiction of dissociative disorders makes her existence a positive rather than a negative for not being as fleshed out as an archon or a harbinger ykwim?
@@xXGloomuraiXx she is good for representation, and it helps to cover a variety of different concepts within the characters in the story. I do think that's good
I think every character is good. It's just that that's it. They're all good, and when everyone is good, they could all be bad, too. Same with everyone having superpowers meant nobody's powers were super anymore
That's my problem, the characters aren't good for different reasons but rather the same reason with the same formula, just using different traits, representing different things and altering their lore/designs
holy shit bedman pfp
You're quite naive with this story quest take. You basically tell others to judge a book by its cover. Any expansion on a character is just that, more substance - and IMO you've missed out
@@SignOne i haven't done any story quests, but I've watched a dozen and researched characters holistically for previous content I've made, and from what I've seen, while it helps me appreciate characters more, it does not change my opinion on them. It's a little naive to tell me I'm missing out but then tell me it's just more substance, which I assume is just more of what I've already gotten for the characters I've seen, and that substance itself is what isn't enough, not just the book's cover. Each character in the cast is perfectly fine individually but fall short when put up as a group due to the repetitive formula used for each character released. It's pretty much been redone since Inazuma, with a few different things such as their lore, design, quirks and voicelines. However, that's it, and the repetitive, heavily gacha-esc style of character writing is the problem I have.
@@ItsJustT I can clearly tell from what you said in the video and how it doesn't reflect my experience of these story quest whatsoever that you for sure did not do these quests and/or didn't take in any nuance within them if you researched them. Obviously you're not in a position to even entertain that I'm naive for saying you missed out when I'm the only one who has done them. Unless you really go with intellectual dishonesty to say me saying these quests providing more substance is substance you're already familiar with. I hope you're not going that route
His defense is basically, I may not have done it, I watched it.
It's like saying I didn't watch the movie but I sure read the plot.
Watching something and playing it are two different experience.
@@SignOne
@Phantom_Zone dawg a chunk of quests are the dialogues and cutscenes 😭 if I'm discussing characterisation, then isn't that what matters? I'm not making some in depth commentary on the quest's pacing or something
@@ItsJustT I totally understand where you are coming from mate.
But I personally think that you're lacking that personal touch for that matter.
For many (me included) the knee jerk reaction is to doubt your opinion when you say 'I watched it'; even if your takes are valid in some senses.
As someone who shares the same sentiments, this is most likely why I only like a few characters in Genshin. My absolute favorites are Childe and Furina, who (surprise surprise) are some of the game's well-written characters. I agree with everything on this video except for Childe being a flirt. He's just a really friendly guy. Being friendly =/= being a flirt in my opinion lmao
@@hyuranghae could be very fanon, but he's definitely got some kinda energy about him lmao
You should try HSR, the characters are more mature and deeper I'd say
Characters quests exist for a reason, you know...Just sayin😅
@@Evgenia00 Story quests 🤓 but no I've watched them and they make for amazing stories sometimes but in my equation they won't do much bc you can never use any material from them in other quests since they're only optional. This in turn ruins it for me bc, like I said, I'm not gonna get any more out of the character than I did already, just learn more
yelan and yae are not similar at all wtf are you on lmfao
@@lululumpia agree to disagree 🙏🙏🙏
id throw Lisa in there aswell. Yelan is one of the better characters considering her lore in the chasm, with capitano and overall her role in the perilous trail quest, but from what I've seen, I see her similarly to the other two
even things like her ult imply that flirtatious attitude that you see with the other two
just compare yelan and Lisa's ults 😭
About this point you made for Xiao at 10:26 how would you portray it? Like Xiao hating himself actually causes harm to both himself and others? I'm curious.
@@stevele987 yes. That is exactly it
1:27 IS THAT A JOJO REFERENCE!!?!?!?!?!
I love Fischl ngl
ngl on one hand I feel like some of this video suffers because you don't know enough about a character, like the reason for layla's sleepiness (which, she already has a bare minimum excuse for being a student let's be real)
on the other hand... yeah I don't like doing hangouts either
@@hedgehugs people keep misunderstanding 😭 I actually know alot about where characters' traits come from, because Layla's is pretty well known I'd like to assume, but I'm saying the trait itself, regardless of where it comes from, lends itself to bring similar to Sayu's due to how often the sleepiness comes up for the both of them
There are no real problems with stereotypes. It’s just that the way it implemented is bad. We have seen potential succeeded with having stereotypes like danganronpa and total drama. The problem is Genshin is dog shit at writing.
@@unpopularopinion3539 LMAO
yeah, the stereotypes in genshin are undeveloped due to the lack of negative outlooks on characters, showing more variety in the somewhat basic stereotyping in genshin
@@ItsJustT If Hoyoverse/Mihoyo step up their game and actually provide good writing just like they did in some of the storylines in Hi3 then I Don't think we would have a problem.
There are more characters that have percievable flaws though. For example, Dori is obsessed with mora and is too greedy (poor Kaveh), Faruzan is a bit obnoxious sometimes, Eula will swear revenge on you for sneezing wrong, Yae Miko will actively fuck with people to make them uncomfortable for her own amusement etc
Also i dont disagree with you at all but the fact that there is a majority of fully 'good' characters makes the morally ambiguous ones stand out way more.
If you want to know the characters better you should really do the story quests! They reveal a lot about the character although sadly, the plot often focuses on some npc. They need to stop doing that. Hoyo also needs to make more! I need a story quest for Sara especially! Like what to we actually know about her aside from being a simp?
Almost every character has a negative trait or mannerism. However, beyond that quirk, I don't see characters being portrayed any way besides misunderstood/positively all the time 😞
It's more subjective and personal to say that, but it's how I view it. I've watched a fair few story quests, just not played
@@ItsJustT I see what you mean like it's the framing, not just the traits themselves. That makes sense!
Oh I never would have considered that!
As much as there is validity behind your criticisms about a lot of characters being very samey in ways, I can’t really take it at face value when you haven’t done their character quests.
This is because this game usually uses Archon Quests to highlight a few specific characters, with it always mainly revolving around the Archon of the region.
You said it yourself, you didn’t really care about Arlechino until you did her character quest, which proves to me that the entire problem you’re describing is largely there because you refuse to do almost any character quests.
@@AnArtistInAVoid i did care about Arlecchino. I thought she didn't live up to how she was teased for 3 years though. That's a completely different story. I don't care for majority of characters because they're all good but in the same formulaic way, while with Arlecchino, she was outright offensive to me as somebody who has been following her since early Inazuma
@@ItsJustT my point about you not caring about characters being because you refuse to engage with the content that allows you to learn about them more deeply still stands.
Are some characters more formulaic? Maybe, but whether or not that’s exactly a bad thing is up to the one viewing the character to decide. However, I can’t really acknowledge your opinion as completely valid until you share your opinion on all the characters as a collective AFTER doing their character quests.
For example, the stoic tall characters, are all each in their own ways unique characters, but you can only really delve deeper into their personal lives and the kinds of troubles they have when you do their quests, because the Archon Quest, with the exception of Zhongli, isn’t about them, shocking, I know. And even with Zhongli, his character is even more explored in his own character quests, where you learn more about his, and liyue’s past, which now shape why he is more stoic.
Or how about we talk about other characters, like one of my personal favorites, Furina.
Did you know that after the end of the Fontaine Archon Quest, Furina has some difficulties adjusting to her new life, and moving on from the painful role and past she had to take part in, after she starts living her life as a human? This is ultimately resolved through her Character Quest, and she afterwards appears in at least one other Character Quest in a major side character role, that being Clorinde’s character quest, where we get to see Furina genuinely enjoying herself while she plays fun games with her new friends. And all of that new unexplored depth is something you probably would not know because you haven’t done any of the Character Quests aside from Arlechino.
Or how about Arataki Itto, to swerve away from archons and more serious characters. Arataki Itto is a goofy guy who is the figurehead of a group of misfits who follow him around because he is simply a charismatic fun loving idiot, but there is more to his character than that. Itto is essentially a victim of fantasy racism, because of his Oni heritage which makes him loud, strong, and potentially dangerous, according to human characters in Inazuma, however, Itto chooses to be himself instead of trying to conform to society’s expectations of what he should be, in order to not only stay true to who he is, but also because in his eyes, what’s the point of acceptance, if they don’t accept you for who you are?
All of that depth is locked behind Arataki Itto’s character quest, where we learn about all that information, but don’t really otherwise see focus on, because every other story Arataki Itto has been involved in, has him placed in an environment where he shines, slice of life comedic stories.
The character quests are there for a reason, and that reason is to explore the characters of the story instead of focusing on the bigger picture, and by association the archon of the region as an archon.
You saying characters in genshin are very formulaic and uninteresting is a criticism born of an unwillingness to engage with content specifically created so you can get more of an in depth look at the character, which in my eyes somewhat invalidates your opinion.
@@AnArtistInAVoid i care for characters in any form of fiction from a perspective of their role in a story. I didn't wanna mention it because I thought it was redundant, but I've watched through multiple story quests and researched various characters for previous videos, and from the many experiences I've had delving deeper into characters, my opinions have remained the same. Story quests are ultimately optional, and the things youve learned in those quests cannot be used in any other form of content due to the optionality of the content you're consuming, like event quests.
When I discuss characters, ignoring my examples on similarities, I'm mainly discussing characters seen in the mandatory campaign of the game, being archon quests, as well as the core casual content of the overarching storyline. It's like saying bad characterisation in a show is fine because they're shown to a great degree to be well written and characterised in another spinoff series. If they aren't pulling their weight in an archon quest, it's a problem i have with the character, regardless of other content outside of it.
I could've mentioned this in the video, but i thought it was clear enough that my video is my video and opinion alone, with me simply trying to express my CURRENT feelings on a topic. I didnt think it was necessary to detail my deeper views. I am unsatisfied with how characters are interacting with eachother in the main storyline of the game, and i think their characterisation is incredibly flawed because of how similar they seem when seeing them in those quests. I couldn't care less about how different they are after you've looked deeply into all of them, because of course they are. It's pretty hard to accidentally make two identical characters. I'm saying they're similar, always portrayed in a positive light, and usually in a consistently dull level of quality. If you're looking deeply into a character, it's almost a given they'll be unique or appreciated by you anyway
TL;DR it's my opinion and i disagree with you calling my opinion invalid when I'm shedding my opinion on content I've DONE and characters for what I've seen, not like I'm saying story quests are bad without even playing them. All i can do is explain why i haven't, which is kinda pointless
My aim isn't to get you to agree, it's to strengthen your own views on things. To me, that's the point of a review
@@ItsJustT ok, so maybe your video and opinion aren’t based on a flawed perspective, since you, according to your own words, research characters and watch quests on youtube, but that then means your video is pretty flawed, considering that detail is a rather important detail for new viewers to know when discussing this specific topic.
I myself am a first time viewer of anything you’ve ever really done with this video, as far as I can remember, so I think it’s pretty understandable I had no idea you did your own research outside of the game.
@@ItsJustT I checked, and this isn’t the first time I’ve interacted with your channel. I simply seem to have forgotten.
Actually i feel neavulite and alheathem are different from each other I though neagulite was going to be like him ehen he was introduced but definitely not now i believe there different from eachother
I finally found your yt denfence
@@ThatFinger1 who are you? 🥹
@@ItsJustTnot pretty sure if you remember me but were used to be friends in roblox
@ThatFinger1 I'm sure I'd remember you I just need you to tell me which friend you are 😭
@ItsJustT my user is LhanzDUgly display name is just YNXE we met in Auto Rap Battles if you remembered
@@ItsJustT its LhanzDUgly my display name is YNXE
I somewhat agree that Genshin needs less characters that aren't good people, But I feel like a lot of this just boils down to " These Characters feel shallow because we don't get too deep into their character in any major stories " ... well yeah, While a character becoming Interesting instantly WILL help you get into doing their Story way easier, Them being good characters from the get go is too much to ask for as well for a game with almost 90 characters, and more to come.
It's your opinion, I get that and It's fair, But in *my* opinion a character feeling Uninteresting until you get to know them doesn't make them a BAD character, and if we follow the logic you used in this video then Even furina is a Bad character, since for her to get any Depth whatsoever you have to do the entirety of the Fontaine archon quest, since for the first Two of those she's quite literally just your average Stuck up celebrity
@@zefuq my problem is more in the scope of every character being amazing, but amazing in the same way damn near every time. On top of that, alot of similar characters tend to have similar roles in the archon quests, which I guess you could criticize me yet again for going off those, but even in events and story quests that I've played/watched, I just didn't find myself very intrigued by the characters I identified as disinteresting. That never changed, with me only particularly caring for ones that I already saw as interesting to begin with. I never thought anyone was a bad character pretty much, just boring due to how much they all blend together, y'know?
I was willing to hear you out until you said you don't do story quests.
People don't *just* do those when they *really* like their character. It's not an ottome dating sim.
There's literal world building lore and even gameplay aspects that are locked behind some of those. Entire weekly domains. Sure, some of them are more lightgearted than others but there's substance to be found behind all of them. Especially if you find the characters bland.
The whole video feels dishonest. You got a feel for the characters and their backstory at the surface level and are complaining about them feeling... surface level?? Ok bro
@@KhaoRose because the quests are optional. The developers wouldn't put too much substance that effects other pieces of story content besides second acts due to the optionality. I don't complain about them being surface level, I'm complaining about them being viewed as a net positive or that the characters are samey, even the ones that I have researched in depth, or ones I've researched quests for
This is an opinion video after all, not something I believe to be objectively true. It's just the way I've felt since I first started playing 3 years ago, and I even did alot of events aswell. I just never found the characters distinguishable as they're all good but for the same reason rather than their own reasons
@@ItsJustT *All* of the content is optional by your logic. Playing the game is optional even. What you are doing is consuming half of the product that is handed to you for free. Half of the characters, half of the world building, half of the nation. Half of the experience.
It's like getting into an objective based fps game, heading straight for the objective and getting surprised the enemy team has killed you.
However, I digress. I won't sit here and tell you how to play your game, it's none of my business.
If you want to eat your burgers plain, even if the salad and condiments are under the huge flashing neon arrows right in front of you, be my guest.
@@KhaoRose i dunno about that. Considering the quests are only a part of the game, not doing the story quests and saying it's "half the game" too feels ingenuine. How else would I play the game for years and make many memories, enough to consider it one of my most important games of all time if it was only half the product?
The audacity to compare my girl Lynette to Ayaka
Think i disagree with just about anything in the video. Maybe you should do quests instead of just watching them. Lynette and Ayaka the same? Really? Ayaka is calm, cute and sweet... Lynette is.. huh...deadpan humor. Actually one of the few characters that makes me laugh.
@@ArniQQ10 hence why I added Lynette and Layla at the very end, just cuz I'm a yapper. The main examples I had, which I'm sorry for not communicating clearer, was Ayaka, Nilou, and Barbara, which people have agreed that Genshin tends to have equivelant characters for each nation due to its status as a gacha game
@@ItsJustT Huh? barbara and Ayaka have very different personalities? Ayaka is soft and introverted, yet determined and strong.. barbara is an extroverted idol. Both are pretty stereotypical anime characters to some degree, but completely different character types.
And Nilou? Did you not play the summer event?
@@ArniQQ10 i DID play the summer event. I made a whole video on simulanka. I could easily see Barbara in Nilou's shoes, and I dunno if I could confidently call Barbara extroverted, as I've played her hangout quest when I was younger. I still consider her similar to Ayaka - at the very least, soft, determined and strong
You know there's some irony in people taking what you're saying at face value because they think you're taking something at face value...
Anyway you're right, the most interesting characters in the game are the ones that aren't lawfully good, or at least have clear flaws.
Heck even Traveler is more interesting to me than majority of the cast. Listen I know they're the MC and get the whole game to grow but still.
the story quests are made to so you can learn more about a character... you literally can't talk about a characters writing without consuming the content specifically made for that character to shine. if you're a casual player that doesn't have time to finish the quests that's on YOU not genshin lmfao 💀 genshin has a main story and thats what the archon quests are about, theyre not going to be able to squeeze every single character in every archon quest and make them "entertaining" for you just because you can't do their story quests. like yeah bro lets go buy some perfumes from emilie and commission some clothes from chiori while the fontaines about to be flooded
that's the same reason why the archons and the harbingers have a bigger focus and have more effort put into them. genshins main story has many factions like the archons, the harbingers, the abyss order, hexerzinkel, celestia etc. you can't expect them to put more focus on some lawyer in liyue when we have bigger things to worry about, the other characters mainly exist to expand the worldbuilding of genshin. if you want to know their story better you can do their story quests/hangout and read their stories on their profile, simple
you putting lynette and ayaka in the same simp girl category, saying sayu being sleepy offers no purpose other than to make her cute, saying almost all tall guys have the same serious personality is enough to know you don't have enough knowledge of the characters you're talking about
the point you made about characters "uniqueness" is extremely subjective 😭you think raiden isn't "unique" but i personally think she's very interesting for being the only archon so far who was openly hostile with us, even though the writing of the entire inazuma arc was very poor and didn't show it well, she is a character who showed the reality of how much grief and loss can impact someone. everyone will have different opinions on this.
and what you said about nahida is very true but if we want to put characters in simple categories like you do, she can easily be seen as the 1000+ year old that looks like a child trope you see in many animes. a characters "uniqueness" isn't how you decide if theyre well written or not. this game literally has 90+ characters now
i agree wholeheartedly with everything in this video! it is really frustrating to see how well they can write certain characters while leaving 80% of the cast just blatantly boring and single note. ive always had a hard time articulating it so im glad you were able to compile it all so well. i think the situation is on a slow up-climb with newer updates but it still leaves much to be desired, especially for a gacha game.. i dont think its unrealistic to assume people choosing who to pull on isnt a decision purely influenced by meta, the characters likeableness plays a huge part in it too, hoyo could really benefit from being bolder with character writing!
@@sandwichedtfout but I also think this structure can easily benefit gacha game due to how frequent it is. I'm just unhappy with it, but I don't expect it to change, nor do I think it's gonna bite them in the butt later lol
Complains about characters not having depth while avoiding their story quests.
....what?
I really don't understand the issue with Raiden that you and a lot of people have.
She's the PERFECT written example of what happens when someone that is not meant nor trained/taught for a role gets FORCED into said role without warning, then add a massive mountain of trauma and NO support network because their absence is the source for said trauma to process that grief and trauma. OBVIOUSLY Raiden was gonna get wonky in the head, but throughout ALL of your interactions with her, you immediately notice that Ei (not the puppet) is actually a fairly soft and empathetic person. She's just so stuck in her own head she's lost herself with everyone suffering as a consequence (which, by the way, only REALLY started when the Fatui were screwing around with their corruption of the Tri-Commission. Prior to that everything was mostly fine). The end of her first story quest (after the 'date' which was A GOOD PART to make her reconnect with the human world) shows that she's decisive but fair, not cruel. The main issue with Raiden's writing is that the background for the severity of her trauma is hidden in artifact, weapon and readables lore. For example, Ei was the one that objected to Yae Miko wanting to destroy Scaramouche just after his 'birth' as a puppet because Ei didn't want to force such a stressful position as Archon to someone as in touch with their emotions as Scaramouche. She's always been kind and sweet but you need to LOOK for it instead of it being shoved in your face.
BABE, WAKE UP, IT'SJUSTT UPLOADED !!!!
Bro just called Tartaglia funny...he's more upbeat and cheery until he needs to get serious. He's not comedy relief. That would be Itto, Kaveh and at times Venti.
This isn't addressed to you per se, but we're really in a time where people want everything they play or watch to selfishly be godly and top tier in terms of character design, writing and personality, aka "character developement". Overcriticising some of the dumbest things you'll ever see them criticise. It's all I ever hear nowadays whenever anyone describes current media today...
Yeah this is an opinion vid. I've never seen anyone make a vid going in depth about character personalities, backgrounds and designs. A character's personality is what makes and defines them as who they are. Not everyone needs to see for example Arrataki Itto go through some serious emotional plotline and "grow" out of his comical role and as a "better person". His comedy is what defines who he is. Leave serious stuff like that for troubled characters or characters with dark backgrounds where ot works.
"I never did the character story quest"
That's a lie. If you actively play Genshin or even HSR some of them are required to move onto Genshin's story and to reach Inazuma. There's no other way around this fact.
@@darkraven5626 i meant the optional ones
the only required ones are early Mondstadt & early Inazuma
also I think you completely missed the point I don't think I even mentioned character development
I just find them uninteresting, samey, and at times a bit basic
I have a problem with having depth for the sake of having depth. That's kinda what I bring up here. We know their favourite foods and stuff but they don't make their surface interesting in the slightest, and every character's depth is formulaic as is
I also have problems with the writing and characters as well i really don't like how poorly fontaine and inazuma is written while the others are at least decent with characters i really don't like how the writers did with Arlecchino's story quest they could've at least made an animation instead of explaining the whole story it feels boring and lazy in my opinion
@@19525-o the exposition was lame. I liked the quest because I had the prior knowledge due to the promotional media, but for somebody that didn't have that, it wouldve been bad
@@ItsJustT i agree, i feel like they put more effort into complex characters with their quest than the other's it really ruins the fun of playing the quest in the first place
@@19525-o exactly why I rarely play them and instead research characters in general
@@ItsJustT same i did research with scaramouche, arlecchino, navia, clorinde etc i don't really play the game but if i do i rather pick a European server due to how toxic the American servers are with mains and co op
@@19525-o I don't play the game bc my phone is an op, I'd only prolly get on if my gf begged me 😭🙏
At least Genshin did give almost everyone a chance of to shine with story quests, though some of them are admittedly mediocre. Honkai Star Rail has many characters that didn't even have a chance to shine, like Hanya and Xueyi, Jade, Fu Xuan, etc.
I'll still stand by the opinion that while Raiden wasn't a good character in the Archon quest, her 2nd story quest did fix a lot of her story.
I agree with the Raiden thing. Though like I said, they could've handled it significantly better, like Arlecchino
@@ItsJustTyou’re not even pulling from a good example I’ll stand on what I said her story quest had little to do with her
@@unpopularopinion3539 I prefer that, because Arlecchino is a harbinger, and for an antagonist, influence reigns over the character themselves. It's a harbingers thematic responsibility to push their organisation forward, not be pushed forward by their association with the Fatui. Arlecchino lived up to her role as a harbinger in her quest, unlike the archon quests
@@ItsJustT I get what you’re saying about influence being important for a Harbinger, but in Arlecchino’s case, the problem is that she didn’t really use her influence effectively or show enough of what made her standout as a character. From the way she was described-calm, graceful, with a secret psychotic side-there was an expectation that we’d see more depth. She felt like a passive observer rather than a major antagonist in both her Archon quest and story quest.
Also, if we compare her to other tall female characters like Yelan or Yae Miko, she really does fall into those familiar tropes rather than breaking out into her own unique role. Her psychotic side wasn’t fully explored, and she didn’t stand out in the way we hoped.
In terms of living up to her role as a Harbinger, it’s not just about pushing the organization forward, but also about her individual presence as a key player. If her character doesn’t leave a lasting impression or fully utilize her potential, then she’s not living up to the hype regardless of her ‘thematic responsibilities.’ You can have influence without falling into repetitive archetypes.
@@unpopularopinion3539 i did consider her being similar to not Yelan and Yae Miko, but more Raiden Shogun, Kujou Sara, Shenhe, and those more cold, alien women. However. I do think, while not fully explored, her psychotic side and demeanor is significantly colder than those others as it comes from a place of deliberate misinformation & misrepresentation rather than misunderstanding. However, if comparing her to Yae Miko and Yelan, I understand at least her mysterious, authoritative tone of knowing more than she leads on. She's a little bit of a weird one if you're trying to compare her to other characters, but I do fully get your points
terraria
@@eIychia yes.
Nah xiao is good character sumeru guys are boring as fuck
But i agree that they recycle main core of the most characters diluc is cold but actually nice xiao is cold but actually nice albedo is cold but actually nice kinich is cold but actually nice cyno is (was seen by others) cold but actually nice neuivilette is cold but actually nice etc etc
But their stories and reasons are diffirent
For example albedo was cold because as a artificial human he doesnt feel like he belongs and mostly cared about his search and because of that think that maintaining relationships with others hard xiao was cold because he doesnt think he deserves friendship and doesnt want to burden others and only sees himself as a weapon also was traumatized by losing everyone he loved he didnt want to experience same thing
For me yeah i can recognize the patterns among diffirent characters but they are still distinct enough to me
Honestly, genshin's a pretty interesting game; just a ton of drama and hate, but yes.
The character writing is also... SHITTY, Though it kinda got better overtime? Slightly.
I mean, not all of the characters are poorly written, most of them just are. Make a part 2 of this if you could, im interested.
@@novastruck261 nobody's really poorly written. They're just mostly written at such an okay level that it gets repetitive quickly
They are just not well written.
@@ItsJustT hmm...
It didn't just got SLIGHTLY better, to me if u compare the way furina, neuvillette, navia...etc are written compared to ayaka, Kokomi, Raiden, it feels like an entirely different game in the quality of how they wrote those characters. After rewatching Inazuma playthrough again right after finishing Fontaine it gives a whole perspective and we can tell the writing team is completely different. Just imagine if they wrote furina like Raiden, if navia was like ayaka... Or imagine if they wrote alhaitham like Kokomi. If Kokomi, the genius strategist that didn't do any genius strategy, was in sumeru or fontaine, she'd probably be someone entirely different. Yae miko had absolutely nothing interesting to her character to me, her drive in the archon quest was to save ei, but like..what about her ?? She's one of the mains of Inazuma, compare that to NEUVILETTE who had so much emotions written behind him, character development, feelings explored, played a bigger role in the story too. If Inazuma had Fontaine level of writing and had 5 acts, ayaka would do much much more than just being some friendless princess. Ayato would probably appear in the archon quest as well. They'd show how they battle against the vision hunt decree, Kokomi would be an actual genius strategist by actions not cuz they told us she would be, I'd say Inazuma would be the best written nation but it happened to be early Genshin so it was shit. The amount of lost opportunities and stuff they'd explore if it was a later region is insane.
Kazuha was somehow they only character in Inazuma that had okay writing. The rest was absolute dogshit.
In my opinion, you are right but it's not their fault, it simply has to be done because it a gacha game
it's a gacha game, there supposed to sell you as many as possible characters, genshin I unque as it actually cares about it's character but you can't expect them continually release well written characters and give them equal screen time so just put the effort in characters you know will sell. Also there are very few people who will pull for nuance or evil characters, look at Scara, he is right there.
@@polmni2799 id still consider it a problem, whether or not it's right to expect a fix
Genshin DOESNT know how to write villains in the slightest they can make the most heroic hero’s but end of the day this feels like ninja turtles or something where shredder isn’t supposed to win, villains aren’t going to be intimidating if they literally don’t live up to what everyone says like Capitano Vs Mavuika. Arlecchino looks much more powerful than Capitano because of the whole crimson moon thing and fighting off Aether and her children while The unmoving Captain or whatever all the greatness was is caught running away. None of these villains give me any sense of feeling because they all pretty much just suck. Aether or some other archon will be there to beat them all
@@greese_monkey1 yeah, you could most definitely say that. I think the villains work really well as general characters, but could definitely be seen as lacking when looking at them exclusively as villains
@@ItsJustT Genshin definitely could make villains characters most games do it. I don’t know what their mindset is 😂
I would not say that they don’t know how to write a villain. I thinks it’s more of we don’t have a true villain. The abyss twin and the tsaritsa have beef with the heavenly principles, the harbingers (aside from dottore) work under cryo archon, there’s the hexenzirkel which we hardly know a thing about, obviously the archons, the dragon sovereigns, you name it. There are so many parties at play that I consider the antics of people like the fatui as more of their ideals colliding with others. This is perfectly demonstrated through arlechino and capitano as they are just trying to help their own respective nations. And since the principles have been asleep for so long and have only had like 2 minutes of screen time, I have a hard time believing she is the true antagonist.
Basically, there’s too much lore and too many parties for there to be a true villain unless the principles do something during 5.0.
@@aidankresak1917 both this, and Genshin doesn't have the traditional villain archetype in the same way alot of other media does. It stays true to its open world, long term structure, especially with how the villains are written
@@aidankresak1917 That’s fine. There doesn’t need to be a big bad but the fact none of them are really threatening is the main issue I have with the game.
They improved the story quests quite a bit since Sumeru (but Fontaine is the real peak). I didn't really like a lot of the quests before Sumeru, but then they got better and better. Give them a chance.
My personal quest recommendations to try out would be: Baizhu, Neuvillette, Yoimiya Act 2, Dehya, Sigewinne, Nahida 1+2.... (yeah, I love a lot of quests...)
Clorinde and Cyno Act 2 has a lot of interactions between playable characters (Xianyun is also worth mentioning here, but there are fewer here)
oh I can finally reply from UA-cam studio
well, i appreciate your recommendations. I have seen how peak some of Fontaine's are (Arlecchino, Neuvillette and Wriothesley especially) but I'll take the others into consideration. I've also seen Tighnari's story quest, and absolutely loved it. However, it proved to me that just seeing the characters a little further characterised doesn't save them all the time.