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Falling into Hoyoverse Gaming Hell
As I alluded to in previous posts, most of my 2023 has been absorbed with playing Genshin Impact, my newest hyper-fixation, as well as Honkai: Star Rail from the same developer. In retrospect it's not all that surprising this has happened. I have a lot of friends that play both games, I was becoming increasingly burnt out on Fortnite after playing it regularly for nearly three years, and other properties I'm interested in have either ended or are on lengthy breaks (see: Doctor Who)
Because I have these games on the brain, I thought I'd write out some of my thoughts on them so far. I'm pretty much current on both, which means spoilers below the cut for the most recent patches in each (4.1 in Genshin, 1.3 in HSR).
Genshin Impact
Favorite Characters (Play style): Kazuha, Ayaka, Barbara, Lyney, Alhaitham
Favorite Characters (Story): Kazuha, Ayaka, Lyney, Itto, Nahida
Favorite Area (Main Storyline): Fontaine (so far), Sumeru
Favorite Area (Overall): Inazuma
I started playing this game in January and I burned through it way faster than I expected. Granted I still have some of the new stuff to do in Fontaine, and a handful of side quests probably still left in parts of Sumeru and Liyue, but its hard to imagine tackling that amount of story and character building from the beginning again. In general, I've been a really big fan of this game's writing, and while I think its faltered sometimes in terms of pacing it's rarely let me down in terms of character writing or thematic elements.
My only major gripe with the game at the moment is the fact that I wasn't around for previous events that contained key parts of the story's lore, especially in areas that are now otherwise barren like Dragonspine and to a lesser extent Enkanomiya. The game compensates for this in some ways (I never encountered Scaramouche prior to his appearance in Inazuma so the dialogue exchange is changed to act as a first meeting) but it still feels like I'm missing out on major story beats.
Probably my biggest surprise was how much I ended up liking Inazuma by the time I actually finished untangling all the weird environmental stuff that made it a nightmare to navigate. Like it's not somewhere I'd wanna live if I were in Teyvat but I love the aesthetic and some of my favorite characters from the game are from this region. Like Sumeru probably has my favorite (completed) story so far, both Archon and World Quest Chains, but I've found navigating it and spending time within it to be notably more frustrating due to its size and layout. I haven't yet done had any events that take place in previous regions, save for that TCG one, so I'm excited to get more story for those characters and spend more time after wringing out so much from them already.
Honkai: Star Rail
Favorite Characters (Play style): Sampo, Gepard, Silver Wolf, Qingque, Jing Yuan
Favorite Characters (Story): Sampo, Natasha, March 7th, Yukong, Luka
Favorite Area (Main Storyline): Jarilo-VI
Favorite Area (Overall): Jarilo-VI
I started playing this game on launch and it initially felt like diet Genshin to me, because it's turn-based playstyle (and ability to autoplay) didn't require as much time and work. And while I still agree with this to some extent, I've enjoyed (most) of the ways the game has evolved to set itself apart. I do have my frustrations with the Simulated Universe though, and how it feels like the game starts to actively punish you for not rolling for certain limited five stars in a way Genshin never has. Like, I got Kafka basically by accident but I've ended up building her just so I'm able to make headway in this sphere of the game. Which I guess wouldn't be as big of a deal if it weren't obvious the developers were putting more energy into the endgame content than the actual storyline and overworld gameplay.
My biggest issue with this game is definitely the dip in quality during the Xianzhou Luofu arc - particularly with the writing. It has set up many interesting characters and done interesting things with them in certain companion missions, while other companion missions feel like a complete waste of time and the main story quest feels underwritten and nonsensical. It felt like so much of that arc was spent treading water until hitting plot points that had no buildup and ignoring character beats that had been set up. The NPC Dan Shu getting a really great buildup only to be completely discarded one update later just shows that, at best, they didn't plan out a consistent and satisfying story to tell. Hell, Luocha and Jingliu were subtly teased the entire arc only to finally get their big moment in a cut scene as the main characters leave for the next destination. Like, is any of it actually going anywhere?
I think part of why I'm so harsh on it is that the previous arc on Jarilo-VI, which was dropped all at once with the launch of the game, was so good and delivered for almost every character in such a satisfying way. The subsequent companion missions have only built this up further. And with the interlude story being teased for the next update, it really feels like the game is making the most out of this area at every turn. Here's hoping that when Penacony eventually drops in game it will deliver this level of storytelling.
Because I have these games on the brain, I thought I'd write out some of my thoughts on them so far. I'm pretty much current on both, which means spoilers below the cut for the most recent patches in each (4.1 in Genshin, 1.3 in HSR).
Genshin Impact
Favorite Characters (Play style): Kazuha, Ayaka, Barbara, Lyney, Alhaitham
Favorite Characters (Story): Kazuha, Ayaka, Lyney, Itto, Nahida
Favorite Area (Main Storyline): Fontaine (so far), Sumeru
Favorite Area (Overall): Inazuma
I started playing this game in January and I burned through it way faster than I expected. Granted I still have some of the new stuff to do in Fontaine, and a handful of side quests probably still left in parts of Sumeru and Liyue, but its hard to imagine tackling that amount of story and character building from the beginning again. In general, I've been a really big fan of this game's writing, and while I think its faltered sometimes in terms of pacing it's rarely let me down in terms of character writing or thematic elements.
My only major gripe with the game at the moment is the fact that I wasn't around for previous events that contained key parts of the story's lore, especially in areas that are now otherwise barren like Dragonspine and to a lesser extent Enkanomiya. The game compensates for this in some ways (I never encountered Scaramouche prior to his appearance in Inazuma so the dialogue exchange is changed to act as a first meeting) but it still feels like I'm missing out on major story beats.
Probably my biggest surprise was how much I ended up liking Inazuma by the time I actually finished untangling all the weird environmental stuff that made it a nightmare to navigate. Like it's not somewhere I'd wanna live if I were in Teyvat but I love the aesthetic and some of my favorite characters from the game are from this region. Like Sumeru probably has my favorite (completed) story so far, both Archon and World Quest Chains, but I've found navigating it and spending time within it to be notably more frustrating due to its size and layout. I haven't yet done had any events that take place in previous regions, save for that TCG one, so I'm excited to get more story for those characters and spend more time after wringing out so much from them already.
Honkai: Star Rail
Favorite Characters (Play style): Sampo, Gepard, Silver Wolf, Qingque, Jing Yuan
Favorite Characters (Story): Sampo, Natasha, March 7th, Yukong, Luka
Favorite Area (Main Storyline): Jarilo-VI
Favorite Area (Overall): Jarilo-VI
I started playing this game on launch and it initially felt like diet Genshin to me, because it's turn-based playstyle (and ability to autoplay) didn't require as much time and work. And while I still agree with this to some extent, I've enjoyed (most) of the ways the game has evolved to set itself apart. I do have my frustrations with the Simulated Universe though, and how it feels like the game starts to actively punish you for not rolling for certain limited five stars in a way Genshin never has. Like, I got Kafka basically by accident but I've ended up building her just so I'm able to make headway in this sphere of the game. Which I guess wouldn't be as big of a deal if it weren't obvious the developers were putting more energy into the endgame content than the actual storyline and overworld gameplay.
My biggest issue with this game is definitely the dip in quality during the Xianzhou Luofu arc - particularly with the writing. It has set up many interesting characters and done interesting things with them in certain companion missions, while other companion missions feel like a complete waste of time and the main story quest feels underwritten and nonsensical. It felt like so much of that arc was spent treading water until hitting plot points that had no buildup and ignoring character beats that had been set up. The NPC Dan Shu getting a really great buildup only to be completely discarded one update later just shows that, at best, they didn't plan out a consistent and satisfying story to tell. Hell, Luocha and Jingliu were subtly teased the entire arc only to finally get their big moment in a cut scene as the main characters leave for the next destination. Like, is any of it actually going anywhere?
I think part of why I'm so harsh on it is that the previous arc on Jarilo-VI, which was dropped all at once with the launch of the game, was so good and delivered for almost every character in such a satisfying way. The subsequent companion missions have only built this up further. And with the interlude story being teased for the next update, it really feels like the game is making the most out of this area at every turn. Here's hoping that when Penacony eventually drops in game it will deliver this level of storytelling.