This review is split into two this is based off the area of Sumeru and it's world quests and then the archon quest itself.

The region of Sumeru is fun to explore. The extra mobility they added through the floating yellow sigils is what really does this. The aranra quest is long but super worth doing for the story and rewards plus it brings you all around Sumeru to basically act as a guide to exploring. If I was to rank it based of the regions that I have properly explored this is my 2nd favourite behind Mondstat because it is so rewarding to just walk around and find everything and appreciate the environments.

While I'd already loved Genshin, this update really brought back the feeling of being new to the game and truly learning how much there was to love about this game. Take this as an overall rating of 3.X, because a lot of it has remained consistent in it's design and worldbuilding.

The exploration in this region is so fluid and engaging. A lot of other regions have their downsides. Inazuma has too much separated islands that make it hard to run around and explore, as well as the need to upgrade the Sakura tree for the electrogram level which is just annoying. Liyue is so beautiful but suffers from the mountains and sky peaks that make it impossible to have fun traversing or farming materials, enemies, geoculus, etc. It's one of my favorite nations but also one I honestly avoid spending time in. Mondstadt is great but really plain and empty and suffers from being early in the game so it misses on the art development MHY has had in their environments. Sumeru solves all of this, with fun sigils you teleport and swing to. The bouncy mushrooms and environments that TRULY interact depending on the elements you use, as well as all the stamina flowers that makes the peaks and lows of the rainforest/desert less of a slog to climb around in.

Similarly, the addition of the dendro element has been my FAVORITE. We'd been teased with it since Mondstadt, and it added a breath of fresh air into the world of team comps. People will say there is nothing to love about Genshin's combat system, but truly there is a little bit of depth that can make theory crafting so much fun. Dendro adds such a fun layer of complexity to my account that makes previously bad characters meta-defining, as well as just giving you so many options for teams you can choose to build. I must recognize my personal favorite: hyperfridge comp. You are beautiful and I love you.

What else to say... I want to get into the characters and archon quests, but these all shine in later patches. The Sumeru quest has, overall, my favorite stories thus far. I truly thought nothing could top the Raiden Shogun's story because I just love Eimiko, but the stories and information we get in every part of Sumeru (including the interludes!!) is hard to overstate. Nahida is a great archon, and Al-Haitham I LOVE YOUUUUUUU

Of course, it's hard to talk about Sumeru without acknowledging one thing: the inherent racism that mihoyo has made apparent in their writing and designs. Honestly, it's hard to summarize the disappointment and nuance that this conversation needs into a review on backloggd, but to see the lack of skin tone variety on a nation that basis it's origins on the Middle East, is difficult. Seeing a character literally named Al-Haitham be whiter than Nahida's hair, Tighnari being the same, and someone like Candace, who is literally named after the Nubian queen Kandake, being a very ashy, pale brown is so painful. The only models in the game with darker skin are the desert enemies, who are portrayed as thugs or bad people. While yes, some are given storylines that allow us to see them differently, it still feels incredibly pointed. Not to mention characters like Dori who are literally a money-hungry merchant who rides a genie lamp with orientalist elements to her visual design.... There is a lot to take issues with, and I've truly lost hope on MHY to really honor and rectify these issues because they want to pander to the mainland China. It's obvious they understand and research these regions too by just looking at the use of the instruments and the food they respect well in the world-building. It's like they know what they're doing wrong, but refuse to fix it. It makes me very sad, but what can you do when the company refuses to acknowledge any of our complaints? It's saddening, but I hope that when we move forward through Natlan they'll learn not to be afraid of anyone with even slightly dark skin.

Also for anyone who particularly has a loud opinion on the last topic, please don't bother trying to start an argument about this with me. It's just not worth the effort.

(Review of all of 3.X)

Sumeru finally stepped up the storytelling after the failings of Inazuma! Having one more patch worth of the main nation arc really helped develop things and move the plot at a satisfying pace. Nahida is a great character, too.

The music is sublime, they really hit the spot when it comes to using regional instruments to create a unique flavor to each nation. The scenery is also beautiful, although three patches of desert expansions back to back hurt the aspect of diversity.

Underground explorations was fun, although a bit tricky before they added layered maps. I had fun memorizing the layouts though!

Oh, and of course, Dendro! A new element that added a good amount of complexity and team-building aspects that really helped bring new ways to play the game. Its reactions with other elements are very interesting, and I couldn't have been happier with their effort.

One personal dislike I have is how a some of the exploration is gated by sidequests, which I couldn't care less about. The lack of a skip button hurts...

Overall, solid expansion, and brings hope of a very promising future for this game!