5 stars for me but let me be really clear. This game feels like a really big hit or miss. I feel like there are some misconceptions about this game that if you don't come with that bias from the beginning it's actually super enjoyable.

I got interested in this game fully because of the soundtrack (I am a music composer), which absolutely BLEW MY MIND, I'll talk about it later. But I gotta say, now there are so many things in this game that made me fall in love with it such as the background design, characters, and mostly the story.

I play this game purely because of the story right now, going free to play for the moment and the gacha system hasn't been an issue. You get really busted characters like Xiangling from very early stages in the story, and if you have friends who have a higher AR than you, it gets easier to get through some stuff. I'm not gonna say that you don't need to grind, in later stages of the story like the third region there are some bosses that are actually hard, but it's not something so limiting, at least that's how I saw it. The artifact and elemental damage system is also really cool, there’s a lot of math over there but dealing 50K damage is not necessary at all.

The game actually starts in the second region to me, the first story from Mondstadt felt mid to me (although there’s a lot of people who liked it). I’m not gonna say it’s bad, but once you get into the second region, everything changes, literally. The landscapes are so beautiful, the music is even better, and it gets out of that Zelda wannabe zone that it was around at some places of the first region. The story is actually amazing. This one in particular has very good storytelling and interesting characters. Same for the next region too.

They are different stories because it’s different lands with different ideals. There are even stories that treat some subjects like totalitarianism, the power of the people, economic crisis… With such interesting characters and events happening. There are even substories of some side characters that are better than the main quests, which is insane. Genshin players probably know which ones I am talking about already.

The art direction in this game is INSANE. Graphic scenes with beautiful illustrations, stunning landscapes, and honestly, the best part of the game, the SOUNDTRACK. I am not joking when I say this is the best videogame soundtrack I’ve ever listened to in my entire life. Of course it’s my opinion, but this soundtrack reaches the soul of the people so easily. It has a very big influence from Joe Hisaishi, the composer of the Studio Ghibli films, but also makes fusions of very different genres and blends them incredibly well. Seriously, this soundtrack is insane and even if you don’t play the game, please consider having a listen to some tracks, for example the Azhdaha Battle theme II.

There are some drawbacks like some suspicious character designs, the game has definitely a horny-bait factor for some characters and the gacha is very dangerous, and I get people hating it. But honestly, for me, I am taking this game really slowly, chilling a lot, and getting flooded with an amazing soundtrack and a very heartwarming story. I know this isn’t the regular mindset people take, it tends to be more polarized, but this is my case, which I am so grateful for. Can’t wait to keep playing this and knowing what’s gonna happen with all the characters.