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khaenriahn-anthropologist · 6 months ago

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Thoughts on Natlan

I want to preface this by saying my entire Genshin map is 100%, I have completed all hangouts and character quests including all the new ones for Natlan and I'm someone who has played Genshin since 1.0 so these thoughts are coming from a longterm and dedicated player.

Music

I think that once again Hoyoverse has done an excellent job with the soundtrack of the new region. I would say the music is on par with Sumeru's which is by far my favorite genshin nation by far.

Environmental Design

Going to be honest, I don't really like the design of the new region. I think Ochkanatlan is the most interesting region visually out of what has been released so far. Many of the other areas bleed together so closely that there's not very much distinction between them, while in past nations there were clearer 'zones' and areas of interest. In Natlan it feels like the only areas of true interest are the Tribes themselves but those are such limited areas that it's not very satisfying to explore.

Also, I'm not really a fan of making the area difficult to traverse in order to push players to pull the limited characters but I'll get to that in a bit.

Another criticism I have of the region is the "Yellow Paint" direction they have used heavy handedly in the region. While past regions used more subtle ways to direct the player or used lighting and the environment to guide players in the wanted direction, Natlan uses what's commonly described as 'Yellow Paint' in Natlan but quite literally. As you traverse the area there will be actual painted arrows to direct the player towards the end goal.

As one of the core aspects of the game is exploration and puzzle solving, I feel it's rather lazy of the design team (Rather than using good environmental design such as lighting and spacing) and also takes away the magic and satisfaction of solving puzzles.

Chests/Puzzles in Natlan

On the topic of puzzles, there's a distinct lack of them in this region. Judging from the Genshin survey we got in the mail last week where one of the key items it asked it seems they're wanting to move away from puzzles and exploration in general which is sorely felt in this region.

Overall it felt like the chests were fewer in number or required no puzzle solving skills in general. With the way tribe reputation was set up for this region, the treasure compass is extremely accessible.

In other regions I would have felt that this was a non issue as the areas felt larger and more complex, thus the treasure compass would have been nice to have earlier. Natlan would be the first region where I 100% completed the exploration aspect before even getting the compass.

As someone who heavily enjoys exploration in Genshin, this was somewhat disappointing for me.

Exploration in Natlan

I think Exploration is okay. I enjoy the use of the saurians in order to explore the region. What I dislike about it is the fact that this is a core mechanic implemented only to sell the limited characters.

Some might disagree and say that you can complete the content without the use of the new Natlan characters, and I agree that it is doable as I have not pulled any of the Natlan characters. Outside of having Kachina who is free, that is.

However, the saurians are more frustrating to use compared to the limited characters as anything involving combat means having to exit the Saurian while being attacked, etc. You're also prevented from exiting them while in the air and if you want to climb or use your glider you are also prevented from doing so which is annoying.

I also feel there's not as much intrigue as past areas and areas that do have interesting ties to the lore have their exploration obstructed by NPC's guiding the player rather than having you explore yourself which I find frustrating.

Natlan Lore/Questlines

The Lore? Good. The Questlines? Could be better.

We're getting a lot of information from the characters themselves which is nice. Ochkanatlan also had a lot of interesting lore provided to us and in a rather straightforward way.

I appreciate that the character quests are built into the reputation quests and they seem to focus more on the characters themselves with less dialogue bloat compared to past regions. As someone who played all character quests this is a large improvement I feel was sorely needed. For once I didn't feel like doing these character quests was wasting any time and included the player in a way that let us experience the world of the limited characters quite well.

My main criticism so far is actually for the archon quests. So far they have been some of the most lackluster parts of the update for me. While there have been some cool moments I'm not very attached to Mavuika. This is the first time I have found an Archon so boring. I also feel like the way they delivered the aspect of war was poorly done and though in theory the air balloon thing was okay, I feel that there was not enough emotional investment.

It would have had a stronger delivery if those dying were characters we had more attachment to. Unfortunately, those that died were NPC's that only shared a few lines of voiceless dialogue with the player only minutes before their deaths. If Genshin had used the PC's to kill off after we had spent multiple updates getting to know them, then that on top of seeing the numbers of deaths would have had more gravity to it. The closest we had to this was Chasca's sister.

In general, I feel like they have gotten somewhat better with this over time. Where more and more we see PC's actually being involved and seen together more but there's still a heavy reliance on NPC's in even important world quests. It's as if they're scared to use the PC's to deliver actual lore sometimes.

Character Designs (Skip if you don't want to see my opinions lol)

They're not my favorite. I do feel there's a lot of 'misses' in the current lineup of characters.

The colorism is something that has been heavily discussed and we all know it's an issue. I'm not an expert on the cultures referenced for Natlan, but even if I were to only talk about the character designs divorced of the cultural references, they're unappealing to me still.

I acknowledge that all the characters have some issues with their design. That said, so far the characters I like the least are Mavuika, Kinich, Chasca, and Ororon. Though I dislike most of the Natlan cast for one reason or another, these characters stick out to me the most. I should say that personality wise, I don't hate most of them, it's mostly their designs that irk me.

Mavuika: I'm sorry, I'm on the team that thinks the motorcycle is completely immersion breaking for me. If they had made it some kind of actual dragon type saurian I would have liked it a lot more and it would have tied in more with the use of saurians in Natlan. I understand that it's technology passed down from the dragons. However, Waxaklahun Ubah Kan the DRAGON SAGE who showed how to use phlogiston to humans doesn't even have legs!!! WHY WOULD THE DRAGONS INVENT MOTORCYCLES. Sorry, it's just so absurd to me. I won't even get into the whole Mavuika's nipple rings on her biker onesie or the crotch to ass zipper. I just hate this design.

Kinich: He's supposed to be a rock climber/bungie jumper which is interesting in theory but I can't stand Ajaw. I think that there's only room enough for one annoying floating companion. But the fact that Ajaw is actual pixels is really odd to me. I get they were maybe trying to modernize the sharp historical artstyle but it's just so... out of place for me.

Chasca: I just think her design is bad. I don't think the color palette goes very well with her skintone, I think that the long purple bangs clashes with the fact that her hat already covers that part of her face, I think the one bare leg facing the camera while using her is both blinding and jarring. The flying gun is so damn stupid. Once again, like at least there's an explanation for Mavuika's stupid bike, but the gun is also just... stupid. At least make her ride one of the birds that shoots out elemental attacks....

Ororon: I quite like this character's personality and story... but I do feel he was a 'gap moe' type character that took the gap too far. I also think his design is just bizarre. The design on his scarf and cloak are so crisp and modern AND BRIGHT that it's hard to look at. I feel like if they had taken a more painted or woven aesthetic it would have looked more natural for the area they're in. The ripped jeans... well, if Xilonen can have jean shorts it's whatever, I do think it's a bit weird but at the very least some characters from Flower Feather Clan wear them so it's not exclusive to him... except he's not even in that clan.

The Natlan Gimmicks

Overall, I can't lie. It's leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I really dislike how 'exclusive' Natlan characters are to the region. The fact that they basically has an expiration date is quite bad, and the fact that the Archon only works really well but only with Natlan characters means that she will be unable to fit in with future teams in the future. It also means that for a long time her best team with stay static in nature as fewer and fewer Natlan characters will be released after we leave the region.

As a core feature of the game is team building, the fact that her longevity relies so heavily on her region is... bad. Not to mention it's not even limited to the characters, but the artifacts as well. Some artifact sets from 1.0 are still BIS for a lot of characters, however in Natlan this is the first time where the sets are only good for the region.

I even pointed out to some people in discord that even the limited weapons aren't worth pulling on because they're nearly only good for Natlan characters. The low crit stat is built into Mavuika's weapon because they made a crit artifact set that's expected to be used together with it, therefore making these weapons lose significant value if not paired with Natlan characters.

Weapon banner is already enough of a scam as it is, but if I pull for a weapon, you better believe I will be pulling for one that I think has longterm use not for one that is going to be unusable outside of anyone but the signature character its designed for.

The characters also lose much of their key selling point, mobility, outside of their region. Are they still usable? Yes. But now they're practically worse than older units outside of Natlan if you compare the distances they can traverse with other units.

They've significantly lowered the rewards in terms of Mora in Natlan. Not only do you not get mora from bounties, but now they effectively cut you off from getting rewards once reputation is capped. The "tree" also gives very little mora compared to older regions. The only good sources of Mora are now through the paid battlepass and from doing leylines.

Fishing was delayed heavily in Natlan, but has little rewards to it this time. Fishing to get the rod doesn't mean anything because there's literally only one thing to buy besides the fishing rod and it's so cheap and doesn't even use the same fish as the rod meaning you don't need the rod to grind any fish at all.

It just feels like a lot of content was overly simplified or removed entirely in Natlan and the design of the limited characters just gives a lackluster feeling.

For some people I'm sure they're enjoying Natlan because it is "easier" but as a longterm player it feels like some of the aspects I loved so much in Genshin are being gutted to appeal to short term goals and players. MHY gets to make characters they can comfortably market knowing the longevity of the characters is limited therefor not worrying about how these characters will behave in the meta longterm, and casual players can complete all the content with little to no effort.

However, I'm still rather disappointed and I really hope Snezhnaya isn't like this.

#genshin #Natlan #Opinion piece #Don't like don't read #If you guys like Natlan that's totally fine #I just wanted to get my opinion out

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khaenriahn-anthropologist · 6 months ago

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We're going to be looking into Kaeya's design elements from his game model and to some of his notable talent designs. This is focused on the visual elements and what information they can provide about him to the viewer.

Kaeya has many details in his game model which can be a little overwhelming at times but let's take a note of how many layers he wears in his outfit. This is something that I feel points to the complexity of his character, a desire to hide something, the layers you need to peel away in order to uncover what he is at his most vulnerable.

As we know, Kaeya is a very secretive character and one that's rather terrified of showing his true self to others. In this way I feel the layers symbolize this.

Continuing on, another odd detail to note about his character is the number of belts, chains, and cuffs that he wears.

Kaeya wears a choker, with a chain beneath it, multiple belts, shirt stays for his sleeves, wrist cuffs, an added cuff on one, a hanging chain, he also has cuffs on his ankles.

While many might assume that this is a fashionable statement in game, we the viewer knowing his backstory can feel that these motifs represent being restricted. This could be from Kaeya's inability to feel that he can express his true self, or feel the weight of his original purpose in Mondstadt to act as a pawn for the Abyss Order.

He is both physically and emotionally restricted. It could also represent his guilt over feeling like a traitor or an outsider to the place he resides in.

We must also take into consideration that it might have something to do with his passive talent: Hidden Strength

The meaning of the passive stays the same in CN as well which could elude to the idea that perhaps Kaeya is under some sort of seal, barring him from using his full abilities.

Kaeya is strange too in the fact that he wears an eyepatch but lacks a sufficient reason for doing so and has consistently worn one since he was a child.

We know the eye was injured during his fight with Diluc, however in letters it is confirmed that the eye is not at all deeply affected by the injury sustained.

In his character quest: Secret Pirate Treasure, he tells the traveler that the eyepatch is inherited by his grandfather and is proof of his lineage.

Now, we know this is a half lie as Kaeya often does not tell the truth, it is likely that the eyepatch is indeed something passed on to him but due to the eye underneath. This speculation is not new, but I will go into some detail for why I think this eye is most likely red in color.

In CN this talent name actually refers to having noble blood and several of the game's references to King Irmin in the game (who is likely distantly related to Kaeya) have a red right eye.

Both Princess Fischl and the Deathly Statuette representing Odin/King Irmin have a red right eye. It should be noted that in Fischl's normal model it is her right eye that is covered instead, hiding the red eye underneath. Kaeya's new skin also includes a red bead on the right side, perhaps hinting at the color it would be beneath his eyepatch.

Ororon and Kaeya also share many similarities, the dark hair with gradient strips is extremely uncommon in genshin, he also has one reddish right eye and one blue. His entire design is deeply tied to Nihility, the undead, and the abyss. His soul is incomplete and was originally going to be used to be sacrificed to the night kingdom to bring the souls back to the living.

Though it is only speculation, we still have no idea what Kaeya's specific purpose was and why he would be Khaenri'ahn's last hope. But we have seen before that previous Alberich's were used to create the Loom of Fate, so who knows but it might have originally been similar to Ororon.

We also see that in his Sailwind skin that if Kaeya's hair was not cut short that he would have more strips of gradient hair all the way down to the end. We have mostly only see this on characters that are gods so we will see if it becomes relevant later on but it could speak to some lesser divinity that Kaeya possesses.

In fact the Tenebrous Mimiflora has featherlike appendages that resemble the peacock feathers with rings of multiple colors centering a dark 'eye'.

What is its 'evolved' form takes the shape of a tree full of eyes and the three diamonds/stars as well, and peacocks are often depicted in mythology as having one hundred eyes of Argus, tasked with guarding Hera, the queen of Gods. The fact that Kaeya is depicted both in constellation and in design as having these peacock elements is interesting when Oculi in Genshin are referred to as God Pupil/Eyes.

Even the material it drops actually eerily resembles elemental Oculi with an eye in its center, gazing out.

This creature seems to have evolved to mimic Irminsul, as you can see the branches of destiny and fate.

Even there in the center of its branches you can see that familiar design depicting the Nihility symbol found on Ororon and through various other characters in Genshin.

If Kaeya's connection to the eyes is some sort of connection to Irminsul or the mimicry of Irminsul we can also take a look at something else interesting about him.

The fur is tied closely to Abyss Mages, but also fur is often a sign of royalty and power historically. Especially white furs which are a symbol of royal authority.

Kaeya's cape is interesting, for one, the feathered part resembles that of which we see in many divine beings and statues in the game.

This winged motif is found on Paimon, on Statues of the Seven, Celestial Nails, Abyss Entities, and even in Dvalin and other Draconic figures.

But what about the layer underneath? Believe it or not, but this symbol is also present in many aspects of the game.

The symbol of a line dotted in diamonds is present in the eyes of the Unknown Goddess, Phainon (From HSR aka Kevin Kaslana)

And Istaroth, the goddess of Time

He also has the three star motif on his shoulder pauldron:

Kaeya also has more connections to the Statues of the Seven, as even his elemental skill heavily resembles Phanes and the Four Shade imagery on the statues.

It even has the same fanned star formation.

In all he seems to have many odd connections between both 'celestia' and the Abyss. Even his other talent Glacial Heart which resembles a snowflake is actually the Triquetra we see in game:

We see it on both items that are affected and touched by the night realm and the abyss in the form of flora and likely has some tie to the three moon sisters as the Triquetra is formed by three carefully layers circles (moons in our case) and represents an unbroken loop.

If anyone is interested in hearing me cover more or would like to talk details, let me know. I'd love to chat about it.

#kaeya #kaeya alberich #genshin #Analysis #design #genshin impact

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