Summertime Odyssey : Genshin Impact

New update means new characters - I risked "just a tenpull" and thankfully got Heizou without ruining my pity. I already have Kazuha, Klee and Yoimiya, so right now I am saving my primmies and my guaranteed to get Tighnari when Sumeru comes out.

I also got Diluc's skin! Gamed the system by using a 2x crystal boost and only spent 15 euros on his costume. I would spend full price too, even though Genshin is a gacha, when it comes to f2p games I think costumes being a premium thing is not too bad - especially when those are full costumes with extra animations and such. Different than paying 30 dollars for a hat, for example.

The new update also came with several events and Kazuha's story quest - I will focus on the Summertime Odyssey quest and Kazuha's character quest in this post, with a little addendum about Diluc at the end!

"Sentient sword" definitely wasn't a concept I was expecting, nevertheless it was a pretty fun quest, though seems to still follow the new style of story quests where the protagonist is sidelined for a secondary character that drives the story. That said.. Kazuha gets a spotlight in the new event!

I missed Fischl's event in 1.1 so I was very happy to see both her and Mona in an event! Their dynamic is very adorable and seeing everyone play along with Fischl's roleplay was very endearing.

As always - Fatui are causing shenanigans! It was the overarching background event affecting the Golden Apple Archipelago, the Fatui even got a world quest after the main story quest, which I will talk about at the end of this post!

First character to get his own domain and story was Kazuha - so if you were disappointed at his "real" character quest, this revealed much needed lore about his past and wandering. It expanded upon the things we learned about the Kaedahara clan during the Five Kasen event! Overall a very satisfying wrap-up to his character arc.

Some people joke how Kazuha is Hoyo's new "favorite" with Tartaglia being the old favorite. I can see that, considering the fact he has been the spotlight of two major game events. I don't mind, however! I love character driven stories and learning more about the past and motivations of people.

Hoyoverse giving Xinyan a spotlight from time to time is very deserved - despite not being a "meta" character, she is very lovely as a story character. Her cheerful attitude and ability to go against the grain with her head held high is very fun! She is a very sympathetic rebel. Her friendship with Yun Jin and Xiangling is also very sweet, especially in Yun Jin's case, since she is someone bound by tradition.

Fischl is one of my favorite characters, both mechanics and lore wise. Perhaps something about her is very relatable on a personal level. Her story did tug at my heartstrings even if the moral was a bit confusing. Let's just say - even though her roleplay is endearing, it kinda seemed like the story said that indulging in maladaptive daydreaming is okay.

Or maybe it was embracing your "weirdness" that's okay? Still, it was a fun quest and we get a pretty costume out of it, well, sorta. You had to find all the conches on the island to get it, as was the same with Barbara's costume last year.

(Oz voice) Behold, the Prinzessing de Verte--- something something. xD

Mona's domain was a pain in the arse that I used walkthroughs for but Mona's story was good! She is a bit of a meme character due to being broke... turns out Mona is not broke! She is just bad with money, however, I would rather focus on her views on astrology - seeing fate as something we simply need to accept and how she struggles to deal with people who didn't listen to her predictions and doomed her own lives.

That I like, oftentimes stories talk about doing grand things and going against fate, but I personally think taking a more balanced approach is healthier - we must respect fate and sometimes we need to learn to adapt and move forward, despite everything. Sometimes things go wrong and we can't force others to act a certain way, we can only seize our own destiny.

In some ways it is similar to Xinyan's rebellion - not everyone will understand you, however, you still need to stay determined!

This was simply a cute quote from Venti I liked. A good way to end the story. :)

As I said - once you complete all big Domains (Kazuha, Xinyan, Fischl and Mona) a few quests open up, one of it is a task to bring together the four Fatui stranded on the Archipelago. Hoyoverse is doing a great job with recent Fatui oriented quests, making them very human and sympathetic, however, I hate that the Traveler refuses to see their humanity and just says generic "wow you're evil and deserve everything!" quips. Like, as always, it's an RPG, let me roleplay a bit or just don't give the option at all. I don't want to scold the Fatui, especially when they're in a vulnerable state.

And that's that! There was also a Diluc event that came out, which was neat, mostly a combat event with some lore in-between, which definitely made Diluc lovable, while also adding more context to his past. The best part - Kaeya and Diluc are actually on good terms!

Oh... I would love to stay for dinner!