Perhaps the most fitting quality of this star successor are its production values; the music SOARS straight from the opening screen asking you to listen for the astral train's imminent lift-off instead of tabbing out till the updates are finished; the comfy town on a snowy planet calls you with its timeless visuals, SA SE SOO the singing calls for you to explore, prodding imagination at what lies ahead. Characters have these elaborate rule-of-cool ultimate animations where they re-enact the Matrix lobby scene or sit and drink tea while a satellite eviscerates their foes with a blinding ray of planetary destruction. Before you know it you're battling some ice goddess bitch that's nuking your party with meteors while an almost Kill-la-Kill-esque track blares but that's not all you stupid idiot there's a giant mech as well punching her frosty ass on its turn and... really it's all thanks to the unsung heroes, the gacha paypigs that made it all happen.

But, BUT wait a minute... Hoyoverse... HoYo... In many gaming news outlets it was stated that the entirety of the Teyvat chapter of Genshin so far was written by a singular golden snub-nosed monkey, a species of primates endemic to rather minor mountainous forest areas of central and southwest China; the CEO of the now multi-billion dollar giant took the opportunity to save one of these endangered creatures by offering it an important work spot in early 2017 - a lead writer for their new sprawling open world fantasy rpg. A touching story for sure but as much as I love animals they don't always understand nuance. Maybe the number of creative apes in the writing team has doubled however, because a lot here is actually charming. If it wasn't apparent I've clocked out of the main story quickly, but it's usually the side stuff that attracts me more in these kinds of games. Fulfilling the repressed raccoon fantasy of conversing with trashcans, finding alternate universes inside furniture, questioning Nigerian princes via random payphones... Dealing with stowaway on my own Ebon Hawk, responding to March's stupid text messages with the cringekino options (not picking these is soulless) without chastisements of some mentally deficient flying toddler, taking pictures of Himeko's Himekos, really the optional stuff is what makes this mostly flat-plane world feel alive (though the 120kg (~260lb) aerobics enthusiasts disagree, swearing a jump button would somehow help more with that).

Will keep at it until the inevitable burnout, nice to see the CRPG (C for Chinese to distinguish from fellow JRPGs) revival still going strong, I haven't even got around to Underrail yet. :(