Why do I feel relieved that Sumeru is over? A Genshin Retrospective!
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- Опубликовано: 20 май 2024
- We’ve finally reached the end of Genshin version 3, and I realised that in the midst of all the excitement for Fontaine, I also feel... relief?
Sumeru gave us exciting new gameplay to experience, stunning landscapes to explore, and fascinating secrets to discover. Many of the quests have turned out to be the most impactful and emotional in the game for me, many of the characters introduced have been instant favourites - and Nahida in particular just completely stole my heart.
So why am I feeling this way? After all that promise, why do I feel a sense of disappointment?
How Nahida Stole My Heart • How Nahida stole my heart
Cyno is the one Genshin character I regretted pulling...
• Cyno is the one Genshi...
I don't regret my Cyno any more! • I don't regret my Cyno...
00:00 Intro
00:46 Version 3.0
03:06 Version 3.1
05:47 Version 3.2
07:38 Version 3.3
08:55 Version 3.4
10:20 Version 3.5
11:47 Version 3.6
13:49 Version 3.7 & 3.8
14:20 Verdict
16:52 Conclusion
Genshin Impact is an open-world action/exploration game, available on PC, PS4, PS5 and mobile devices (iOS & Android).
I'm always happy to talk Genshin and other games, streams 3pm UK every Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun
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#genshinimpact #genshin #sumeru #review #retrospective 
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I really wish the jeht quests were voiced, i think my enjoyment of sumeru would be marginally better if the loooooong important world quests had voice acting
Paimons VA would be able to buy a house from the payment of voicing the aranara quest alone
They are too long and quite wordy.
@@Ultravioletskies LMAO
that true
Idk, the feeling of filling the lack of voice acting made it great for me ( Maybe because i skip dialogues anyway). Its like when you skim through a book then got blasted with smthing you werent expected, and it highlighted the OST more for me.
Voice acting could be great but the silent ambiences would be lost with it too. Maybe that worked with the high "octane", action-packed archon/story quests but for world quests, those silent moments are great once you finished a quest.
Genshin desperately needs a skip button and a recap feature both. The mountains of content locked behind walls of overly verbose text really kills the momentum of exploration
"recap feature" what the actual fuck
is paimon repeating everything three times not enough for you?
@@axelvinicius3365 no, in case you don't have an extra half an hour to read through pure shit dialogue and want some gameplay now, but then to revisit what you skipped later (if you're interested that is), i see no problem in that function, as game effectively has all the files even after completing the quests
just look at the dialogue in the archives...
@@aelrii6129 there isn't for many of things, such as events and small quests
@@aelrii6129 the archives dont have world quests and events
I hate sand and every expansion of the map was just more of sand. I also dislike unmapped labyrinths and invisible walls. I dislike exploration being gated by gadgets obtained after veeeery long line of quests. While quests (and especially Archon Quests) were a big improvement and I like the instant zip points, I'm glad that Sumeru is over.
I agree 100%!
omg yes the zip points!! absolute life savers
Except that's not true. All three deserts in Genshin feels different and has more difference than some games with actually different themed worlds. And if You don't like exploration being gated by long quest line, then You sure must have hated Aranyaka! But You aren't. That's why You are just prejudiced. And all the lies that desert is just "more sand" is are hilariously pathetic. Repeating a lie hundreds of time *won't* make it true.
I even wish we had more of them
The sumeru archon quest was definitely my favorite region archon quest in the game and I’m glad they took their time with it. I hope Fontaine can live up to the hype
Sumeru era was overwhelming but still now looking back all I see is positive side and so much of content I loved… Ah, maybe I’m not ready to let that all go
Well the good thing is, you can always go back 🥰 Thinking about it now, it would have been better if I had left the desert unexplored as soon as i started getting tired of it, that way I could go back when I needed a change of scenery!
@@saurusness I'm currently at this stage. I havent fully 100% exploration the 1st and 2nd desert area plus i'm lazy to finish the world quest. Desert area is too much, the puzzle melt my single braincell haha.
Tell me about that not to mention we finally got some about useful info from the dendro Archon about lumine and knowing that we’re the fourth Desander of this world and that lumine belongs to this world.
I think that Sumeru's archon quests were some of the most exciting and suspensful. The world quests also contained some of the best like the aranara and Jeht's quest. WHenever I think of them, I get a sense of warmth and nostalgia.
My only disappointment was that the desert overall did not have enough screentime in the main storyline of sumeru. But that jeht quest in both areas of the desert were great
True
Loved the desert part, felt indifferent on the forest part
True. I reallllyyyyyyy dissapointed to peak reverse pyramid quest. Its highlighted on trailer so i though there was an important info, or a super hard bosses to fight. Yet. Its just simple easy quest after a dragging dessert quest.
Jeht deserves a damn vision already. Poor girl :(
i liked the Design from Sumeru especially the Dessert but the exploration was truly horrifying.. i hate unmapped underground areas and I don't like items that i have to use for exploration.. i just want to explore without any stupid shit 😅
this 1000%
same they need a better system for the underground bits cuz it's just frustrating
@@litchtheshinigami8936 great news , in 4.0 they are adding underground and underwater maps (multiple level maps)
So you hate having to actually think? And figure stuff out on your own? I don’t get people. They need to be spoon fed everything to be able to get anything done. Unless everything they need is marked with a way point on the map they will never find it. Ridiculous. You guys would never survive in from software games that don’t have a map at all
@@tehCostHD goodness you seem to have taken this quite personally
People who haven’t gotten to Sumeru’s desert before 4.0 are gonna have such an easier time with the new layered map update😭😭 wish that had been me, the desert ruins made me so dizzy
I'm probably one of the rare few who loved how you had to memorize all those pathways to not get lost.
@@samirSchthe worst part wasnt the getting lost in the present, it was the coming back to find things we missed
Yup, I was rushing to do those explores for my Eula cons, then weeks later hoyo be like: here is underground map for you, Im like dafuq now?
same@@samirSch
fr i was one of the worst also the desert being so big the sunny and dry feeling made me nauseous n its crazyasf
Sumeru was just overwhelming, not gonna lie..
Even today, I can't bring myself to do world quests and desert exploration.
Hopefully that'll change after we get a change of scenery and the underground maps!
Its hard to start. But when you do, its hard to stop. I enjoyed the desert ruins becoz its not as hard as inazuma. And it reminds me of tomb raider or prince of persia. Even the music sounds like aladdin.
and the main part of the desert is underground and locked behind world quests.
It was the best! Problem is obsession of everyone to do 100% which is unnecessary. Only important part is Archon Quest which was honestly the best till date. On par with Fontaine ending. Other 3 regions literally had boring stories
Took the words right out of my mouth! I avoided the desert until I managed to get all the permission for unlocking doors. It wasn't until that point that it felt fun in the ruins. And even then, I'm really unsure how much I've left behind from before.
Hoping the map updates help!
Oh you were smarter than me! I definitely have some stuff left behind (despite map saying 100%) but I've been avoiding going back to check 😅 Hopefully underground maps will make it a breeze!
yeah I've got soooo much desert explo left, but I'm looking forward to the underground map toggle feature coming in 4.0
what are you talking about? you get permission little by little with each part of the story and you can explore and clear along the way with Jeht. it was brilliant. you didn't have to "avoid" it to finish it all at once later, that was your own mistake. don't blame the game for your own choices.
@@rootedpen2my god how many problems, can he do what the fuck he wants? For fuck sake
I was extremely excited for Sumeru, for the dendro reaction and the region. But i just got burnt out by 3.2 and barely played eventually quiting. I couldnt be bothered after i realized that the aranara quest locked the exploration. One of the best things in the previous regions was being able to freely roam around and grt lost. But now im forced to do a quest i dont want to. Discovering quests that expand the world are fine but dont force me to. Im really hoping Fontaine allows that freedom.
I hope so too, because I feel the same way, specially when it takes multiple quests to unlock areas
sumeru felt like home idk how to describe it but in this music u could feel it and in the 3.6 update the new music was like a goodbye from sumeru and that its over for it
Sumeru's rainforest was the reason i feel in love with exploring (which I hadn't been doing before at all literally my liyue is at 60-70% still) but Sumeru's dessert is the reason I started hating exploring again, when i explore i want to be able to just relax and go along with the interactive map clearing everything in the same area at once, so I hate having to come back to the same ruins I've already explored just to unlock some new room, who even came up with that idea, to this day i still haven't step a foot in the last dessert region and i only started exploring the region before it like a week ago to prepare before the fontaine
Same here. Just finished all sumeru world quest today... 😅 It's too long.
And that last desert map is actually what all the players want from the previous two desert maps, no gadgets, no gimmicks, just straight exploration, that's why i finished it first than the previous two desert maps 😂
@@LeviAckerman-kv3ee I honestly gave up on dessert the moment fontaine dropped, but exploring fontaine so far is amazing, the few quests there are are quick and the rest is just straight up exploring, I hope mihoyo will keep up this trend for the upcoming regions as well
@@Ali-jp4re yep, Fontaine feels like the 2nd Mondstadt experience in exploring, everything is straightforward and fun, only a few things locked behind a rather short quest chain, unlike the lengthy Aranara 😅
Sumeru has more of a living interconnected cast of characters than Liyue ever will.
100% agree, I hope this is a trend that carries on to other nations, and retrospectively to older ones
Sumeru characters felt like a found family! I loved all of the character connections and interactions between Sumeru folks and even loved bringing Yoimiya to Sumeru. 💛 I'm so excited to see what the vibe of the characters will be like in Fontaine. I don't think everyone will be buddy buddy like they were in Sumeru, and I want the drama!
The desert is the only part I didn't like about Sumeru, literally everything else was gorgeous, the cast felt more alive than ever, and my favorite character, Scaramouche, finally got to be playable with an outstandingly fun playstyle. I loved Nahida too and her aunt - nephew dynamic with Wanderer, and I grew to like charas I didn't expect to like, for example I hated Alhaitham at first but he swiftly found a soft spot in my heart. I love Sumeru, it feels like home, so much so that when the Fontaine overture teaser released, I legit cried because I wasn't and still isn't ready to say goodbye to my favorite region. Time flew by so fast, I will miss Sumeru. Best region by far.
Same for me, though I'm curious to see if Fontaine we de-throne sumeru as favourite region 👀 I LOVE the interactions between Nahida and Scara, and the way she patiently deals with his little bratty moments while still being her sweet slightly whimsical self 💜
You can still come back and explore there lol
@@mihaelatrpevski3857 yea im just not rlly good with change and I'll miss the archon quests lol
yesss I agree so hard about what you said about the desert! It is super annoying beeing in the underground tunnels, which are a labyrinth of chaos and then not getting in to some door. Marking it into the map or forgetting and then having to find the right place after doing some quests that give you the ability to access the doors again....really fustrating. But to be honest, Sumeru has been so good. The music, charachters, the enviroment of the rainforest and some super cute quests. Every reagion that comes, it gets better so I'm super exited about fontaine. Such good video again!
YEss exactly that! IF there was an underground map that allowed you to at least easily retrace your steps to the lcoked doors, that'd have solved a lot of issues!
I strongly agree too. I’m tired of endless conversations in unskippable, inconsequential cutscenes. Let alone boring desert and valueless exploration reward. I’m honestly even more concerned with water diving in Fontaine being frustrating. Please be good, Genshin 4.0!
Believe it or not, the Aranyaka questline was the highlight for me. It was the only part of Sumeru that truly touched me. The Chasm interlude story was my favorite up until that. Many people hate the Aranyaka quests but they'll remain in my heart as something special I experienced. I'll miss it going forward into the new region. As for the other Sumeru quests... F*ck that stupid drum mission. Hated every second of it and I'm lucky I even own Venti to do it easier. But it wasn't bad. Just... It wasn't Aranara. The little creatures, the hunt to find them all, the exploration, the gadgets, the clipboard, everything feels like home. The Vanarana statue of the Seven is my main spawn point since then.
Honestly the Aranyaka quest itself was a delight! I just ADORE the aranaras so much, but I think I just started too many quests simultaneously and they all melted into one messy tangle, and I definitely got frustrated when I had to go hunt down all the remaining 76 aranaras to open a few silly chests 😅 I really wish the aranaras would return to the world or at least make occasional appearances after you've completed all their quests 🥺
@@saurusness For me, the issue was that I loved every bit of it but after I collected everything the aranara vanished and very few remained, plus the inventory items were all withered and it just felt like I had to say goodbye to what legitimately felt like the part of the world that truly clicked with me. I wish there was more to do with the aranara, like repeat their little games, unlock voicelines, receive occasional stuff in the mailbox or unlock some minigame. Or at least if their furniture and houses were available in the teapot. In fact, I'd have loved to have actual aranara in my teapot and not the four wooden carvings I got from the 3.0 event.
@@karisrahl4444 yes exactly!! The aranara themselves genuinely make me so happy, and the fact that they just disappear leaves this feeling of emptiness :( Also same, I'd give anything for some teapot aranara, or even better, an aranara "pet"/companion that follows you around (like during that one part of the quest)🥺
@@saurusness I'd pay for that, and I am f2p.
The forest will remember
For me the story is the best of the game so far. The characters were great. The jungle region is fantastic. The desert region however was difficult to navigate. Aboveground it has either to tall cliffs or long distance via sand. Underground finding your way around has horrible without a quest marker guiding you which makes finding your way back if you have to leave mid quest difficult. The second and third desert regions weren't quite as bad navigation wise but those problems remained. The third desert regions plot wasn't not that good.
yeah definitely agree! The second and third deserts were easier to navigate but by that time I think I'd had enough of the desert.. I'm really hoping that after exploring Fontaine the desert will feel fresh again and I'll gladly go back and finish the last area!
"The third desert regions plot wasn't not that good."
So was it good?
Its not disappointing, its just a lot. When i went back 3.7-8 i had the interactive map tabbed the whole time, and that really helped my experience
@@anhelaanhela4996 they are going to, in 4.0 hahaha. It's late but better than never
@@anhelaanhela4996 I think it's because the interactive map is SLOW. Maybe my computer is potato and so is my phone, but they have quite a bit of trouble when I try to zoom in or out, or when I have too many items turned on at the same time.
I resonate with this so much. The story overall in Sumeru was sooo good but a lot of the exploration, especially underground, felt exhausting to me, and so did a lot of those unvoiced world quests. They’re so bloated with dialogue. I’m beyond ready to leave Sumeru
Edit: typo
Sumeru will always be my favorite just seeing my culture represented and seeing so many familiar names being on npcs fills me with joy i loved it so much it felt like home
dont forget the gorgeous music, Sumeru most definitely peaked with the middle eastern music (for the desert)
I feel the same and I'm glad they kept the first area of Fontaine fairly small, we're not overwhelmed
I understand and agree hence I am so glad genshin is adding a feature where you can see the underground parts on maps to make exploration ( for those who love it like me) so much easier. Tho I know my opinion is different I loved all the desert it gave so much lore into sumeru for me cause I am a lore junkie but I understand why people hated the redundancy but I personally loved that half sumeru was desert and the other was forest ( lore wise its amazing for those who know) but great video
Yes! I initially loved the desert, I only started resenting it when it felt so difficult to navigate both without the underground maps and with the blocked exploration, but I'm really hoping that after getting refreshed in Fontaine, going back (this time with maps!) is going to feel a lot different and more fresh!
Same, like it will be tiring if you cram exploration for like 2 days. But what I do is every after discovery I stop playing. I rest. Then I explore again. The desert maps are really gorgeous.
You put into words exactly what burnt me out in sumeru: endless dialogue and endless exploration blocks everywhere. The unmarked underground was also so prohibitive in hindsight because everytime I got somewhere I'd hesitate to leave the place because I was worried I'd forget how the exploration questline was going. Legitimately one of the places I'm stuck in under the main pyramid had me scratching my head for several days cause I left it and came back completely lost. It just made it feel like I had to commit several hours to an area to clear it in one shot otherwise I'd get stuck again. It was very frustrating and suddenly exploration became daunting rather than fun. Not to mention the constant looking around in a cramped space made motion sickness such a constant issue for me even on the smoothest settings.
Fontaine has gone back to my favorite style of genshin exploration again: stuff found all over for you to flit between and never locking you out of an area. I went all over each area of the map without starting the main questline just because everything looked cool and interesting and I got caught up with the excitement of exploring again. Even if I saw something but got distracted and came back later, I didn't need to remember like hours of mechanic explanations or routes to get right back into it.
Am I the only one who cried during the samsara arc? For some reason seeing nilou dance at the end made me emotional. Also I loved nahidas introduction! The second arc was really the best for me
That was the only time I liked Nilou, then she showed up just to dance way too many times after that
Samsara arc was honestly great. First time I really felt glued to the story itself
@@anfani6839me when i dont read, she only performed once after that too
SAMEEE the samsara arc is literally the best archon quest and i'll die on this hill
@@ashevoy The groundhog day loop trope is a tad overused imo - you see it frequently enough, it loses the impact and becomes just a "lemme get to the rest of the plot ffs" slog.
Legit cried at the end of the Main archon quest with Nahida and the previous dendro archon. Was so moving and well done. I started in 3.4 and Sumeru will always have a very special place in my heart.
I think what was missing in the Aranara quests was Nahida's presence. I know that their interaction would have gave them a reason to show up in the quests. I also don't want to end the quest, I don't want to say goodbye to them.
Yess :( I mean she would've ideally helped the aranaras but she was absent very wierd
Sumeru was fun for me. I was in my Indiana Jones mindset and was absolutely floored whenever I discovered new underground tunnels that lead all the way to the other end of the region.
I felt a strange calmness doing the world quests, especially when inside the robots or underground. Since I could no longer see the day and night cycle, it felt as if I was tackling a huge labyrinth or dungeon at times that always led to reshaping the terrain or finding an beautiful ancient place removed from the rest of the world. It gave me Chasm vibes. I’ve also noticed a gameplay flow Hoyo does that actually helps me concentrate. I love exploring new areas but never really know where to start. Ever since the chasm though, it’s always felt like the logical option to do the World Quest because it will naturally take you through the area at large and remove many of the roadblocks at the same time. It helped me develop a “I’ll get over there eventually” mentality that removed the urgency of seeing a particular space right that instant. As long as a boss icon or domain wasn’t in the area.😂
All that being said, I’m very happy the next region is a place with concrete lol. All the regions have be wonderful but I’m a little tapped out with pure nature.
I love this take! And I think you're right, if I had lost the urgency to complete and discover things sooner, perhaps I wouldn't have gotten so frustrated with the exploration blockers etc 🤔 Still, I'm very glad we'll get underground maps as one thing that DOES always help me is being able to leave little markers in spots that I'd like to return to for whatever reason! Hoping exploring Fontaine and the change of scenery will also help me get over my desert sickness heh
@@saurusness Oh definitely. I will never refuse an underground map. Things would’ve gone a lot smoother.
As a Lore enjoyer, I also feel relieved that Sumeru it's over, because of the last patches,
I've felt the history, it's stuck on side histories (like 4 months), and the main plot forgotten,
Main plot: Reuniting with our sibling and finding out what is needed to do,
to get back to us (going to consult an Archon it's part of searching for her) and the histories that have correlation with our growing on the path
Side history: the past, organizations and their schemes that interact or influence on our path, if those actions don't benefit the main goal or makes us grow as character
Genshin is still world-building, a.k.a. building up context for the future since it's not a 100% finished product start to end. So I wouldn't expect much.
you do know all world quest are for the lore,, the mini quest are for filler, story quest are for character lore and the archon quest are for the "main" story... and if you didn't know you do now. Even from fontaine forward, the portion of "main" story would still be just as much than the other quests, as most archon quest are only in 3-4 patch between all 7-8 patch in each version. Also, if you didn't read most of the lore, some of them actually are telling you about the blonde haired adventurer back 500 years ago, and I consider it as part of the "main" story as it serve as the foundation of the story. I'm sure hoyoverse will make a good summary of it at the end when we met the siblings because casuals don't read lore, haha
Genshin is 90% filler. The main plot is not going anywhere anytime soon
It's mostly trying to flesh out the story and characters and world, but emphasis on try, sometimes its an interesting quest like tighnari's story quest or alhaitham's story quest, the other times it's just npcs with 0 voice acting and instantly forgettable plotline, plus at least with sumeru they actually give us information about our sibling and other huge lore implications about teyvat.
The main problem is that they revealed the sibling too early to the player and the MC. We already knew who is behind it in 1.0 and MC knows it since before Inazuma. If we didn't have that (or at least the second part), just exploring the world wouldn't feel so weird.
I really loved Sumeru worldbuilding and questlines, but yeah the main issue for me was the quests that just locked you in for 1 or 2 hours without any warning :/
yeah THIS is definitely the biggest issue, and I really hope this will change. the worst part is not even knowing how long you'll be locked in for!
I think Jeht world quest was the most impactful storyline for me so far. It talked about the other gods of Sumeru and basically the history of Sumeru. Even though I hate the underground mazes and its puzzles, the story of King Deshret and Goddess of Flowers got me hooked to finish the quest. Its kinda ironic that the memories of the old Sumeru can be only told as a folklore by the desert people. Even nahida can't talk about it since she was formed from the purest branch of the tree (by her "past-self") and her "past-self" is gone. Basicallly the 3 Gods of Sumeru from the past are merely a folklore.
The last part of Jeht's quest was just (T^T)...
Sumeru has been the highpoint of Genshin for me personally. I'm the type of players to always rush the new world quests and 100% exploration during the first week of patch release and I also like skim through the dialogue instead of just completely spamming through it. I cannot wait for Fontaine though, and I hope the underwater exploration and new puzzles in the overworld are fun!
The few things that I found tedious in Sumeru were once again leveling up the statue of the seven and finding the 76 Aranara, which is basically like finding another extra 76 dendroculi, but without in-game map proximity markers. I hope Fontaine is the first region in which we have less oculi to find than in the previous region, especially since the Hydro travelers kit looks like a massive disappointment in comparison to the dendro kit; I don't want to work for those constellations lmao. Also please, no more exploration gadgets. Sorush puzzles imposing a minimum of 2 extra loading screens was just annoying in the last map expansion.
While I did personally like the desert underground exploration because it made you pay attention to the surroundings to know where you are, I do like the addition of underground maps streamlining the future underground exploration for everyone.
yesss!!! first of all, excellent video! the time and care you put not only into the editing but what you're saying is as well done as ever, and truly shows how much effort and care you put into these videos!
secondly, you've put everything i've felt about sumeru perfectly into words! 3.0 was revitalizing for my love of genshin and i was playing for hours on end exploring. even when the desert first came out, i slowed down a little but was still super interested in the new area. but when we kept getting more and more desert, it felt redundant. especially since i think i was also one of the unlucky ones that did some things out of order and messed up the whole underground exploration. im definitely waiting for the map update with the new patch to go back to that 😅
even down to the story, boss fights, and events!!! truly a rollercoaster of an experience. thank you for reminding me of all the good and bad that came with sumeru and your take on it!! im beyond ready for fontaine though!! 🤩
Thank you and thank you for watching 🤗💜
I think artifact loadout might come in fontaine
I liked almost every second of it from the adorable Aranara to the only grey adult story in the game. (Jeht)
alternatively, jeht & the aranaras were the only parts i really enjoyed 🫡
@@anhelaanhela4996 tartaglia couldn’t save Liyue from being a zero tension snore fest and inazuma as a whole was rushed and half baked.
Childe is def the only gray playable character we just haven’t seen him do anything on the screen that’s bad. As for raiden the game itself completely excuses all of her “” bad actions, and treats her like a waifu.
i agree so so much!! the exploration was extremely overwhelming and there wasn’t much actual lore related to our sibling and khaneri’ah minus the jeht quests and caribert. apart from that sumeru was so so very pretty, i just think it’ll take me about a year to plough through all the content. i can’t wait for fontaine!!! it’s def going to be my favourite region
I suspect it will be mine too! Honestly realising I'm in no rush to fully explore the remaining areas definitely helped lessen my so called "burnout" and I think once we've had a change of scenery, even the desert will feel fresh again ^^
sumeru was so fun i think in the beginning i was probably the most hyped for it more than anything but over time it did start to feel exhausting. like the only things i think i genuinely enjoyed were the archon quests , some of the new areas and the overall scenery of sumeru. i just wish they’d cut down on how heavy the dialogue is sometimes cause i start to get a headache when reading it all but overall sumeru definitely lived up to my expectations and i hope fontaine will be good
I agree with you! I loved everything about Sumeru, and at first the desert part was coll too, but with more desert areas started to become a feeling of burnout.
Btw i can say Sumeru was wonderful overall!
Yes! Despite my issues, still my favourite region/version so far for sure 🥰
Ngl the Ceribert quest is the best for me. It sad to see people skip as the quest makes you understand the past and make you feel what the other sibling felt. Although its a long quest, it was amazing for me. Love the voice acting too in that quest.
Look I’m just gonna take any excuse to say this but I think a skip dialogue option would have helped with certain parts of Sumeru (*cough cough Aranara*)
Yoimiya’s story quest was the spark of hope i needed to power through the rest of the story quests that i had previously left undone
I am huge into exploring and finding Easter eggs or less visible items. Sumeru is one my absolute favs. Cyno and Althaithem are amazing. The quests are great. Idk I see how people can’t deal with certain things of the zone, but all the things people hate like the underground unmarked areas, that stuff got me excited af 😂😂😂. Nahida and Scaras quests made me sob. I pulled Scara and is one the best toons I’ve been enjoying to play.
I’m amazed by how perfectly you summarized many of our experiences with Sumeru. It’s almost like you took the thoughts out of my head. This was really enjoyable to watch and listen to. Great video and well put together. Looking forward to more. Fontaine is so close - literally tomorrow!
it was indeed a lot with sumeru, although i've loved the quests! But the desert ruins and underground are indeed and pain for me, hoping it gets better with the new map update
3.x archon quest is the peak of story telling so far.
Samsara part is excellent and heart wrenching. in archon quest each character has role to play and irreplaceable in they position.
world quests is big and long which is excellent and i want even bigger longer more world lore related.
i just afraid how are they gonna toppling it in 4.x
Mihoyo's game design strategies have shifted - exploration is very interwoven with World Quests in such a way that following the world quests will lead you to where you need to go for exploration. I do agree that the underground map in the desert would have made the experience a lot more enjoyable. As someone who also enjoys exploration mainly, I have to say I think the way they've managed to intertwine the two has honestly made the questing experience a lot more enjoyable for me. I would have liked to see more variation in the desert landscape. We really only started to get that slight variation in the last desert area in 3.6. But I'm sure once Fontaine is over people will say they are sick of the water. Mihoyo seems to be looking to expand the world exponentially moving forward. I think a lot of the issue is people wanting to 100% every area before the next map expansion comes out. Don't do that to yourself. Just do what you want when you want. There's no pressure with this game and that's what I love about it.
This is the best comment I've read so far. Do what you like is really the best thing to satisfy.
It’s like having a good meal but when you’re ready to leave you’re ready
The labyrinths and clearance being disorienting was the goal, kind of like sheer cold in dragonspine. Imo it’s a fun way of limiting exploration , it makes the exploration feel more memorable
The desert was very good.i love coplicated areas to explore. In fontaine i hope there will be many underground water dungeons.
I hope so too, I think the maps will make a massive difference for me personally! I'll probably feel refreshed to back and clear any potential remaining corners of the ruins 😁
Nah, it was pure bullshit. Glad it s over, fountaine destroys anything before it
Someone who like exploration and open world ,music i really love all of sumeru 😂yep desert too 🗿
Final desert area is easily a top 5 area, I wish Sorush was a permanent companion, she was too good and very handy.
You are right when you say sumeru has connected community. For me only mondstat and sumeru got that, liyue to some extent, and inazuma as the least one.
Speaking of world quest and exploration, I from a long time learned that you should complete the world quest chain before 100% the entire region since some place will be locked. I actually like this anyway since I want to discover it through the story itself, not by randomly exploring just for what I call "shallow" reason of 100%ing it. Of course I will try 100% it in the end.
I always jokingly say this to desert videos, but idk if people are so frustated in desert areas since its so monotonous, does hoyo succeed or fail 😅 ? I mean that is why people even in real world hate desert. But for more legitimate problems in genshin was that no underground maps at the time which was extremely frustrating. Of course its coming but it highlights one of the biggest problem in genshin which is lack QoL update.
Genshin is not in a bad broken state compared to tons of AAA games now, but the community still needs a lot of QoL uodate for the game. Since the last 2 patches it kinda started with equipping 4 special gadget on the fly, and the upcoming underground map. But there are still more like long requested artifact loadout or other artefact and resin related. Idk why they give Honkai Star Rail so many long requested genshin QoL features while genshin dont. Is it actually because of lack of time, lack of manpower, or whatever else ? Hoyo is still a mysterious company for me despite been playing this for 2+ years
Amazing content as always!
School took over my life when Sumeru released. I missed out on literally every event except windtrace rerun. I got back into it around patch 3.6, long after the rest of my friends burnt out. Doing all the archon quests in one sitting it's amazing. The world quests for the forest region were waaay too long especially the Aranara quest. They repeated their Teppei mistake with Rana, another character we were "made" to care about. Fortunately, it was remedied with the Liloupar quest where we meet Jeht and her trauma (she deserves a vision imho). The quest integrating TCG was pretty cool too. Overall, I think Sumeru was a vast improvement over Inazuma and can't wait to see what Fontaine has in store for us. Cheers!
Exploration is also what got me hooked to genshin. Every area before Sumeru is 100% and even now Fontaine is close to 100%. Sumeru on the other hand is about 20% in most areas. Feels like so much is locked behind side quests in Sumeru and they are so boring to do! Fontaine also has areas that are locked behind quests but at least the quest aren't super long and filled with boring dialogue.
Just like you, I never had a favorite character in this game until Nahida came along.
I 100% agreed with everything until you said you didn't like the Samsara loop. That is my all time favorite archon quest. I didn't mind the length because I thought it was so good.
I guess I never had issues with being locked out of areas and having many quests ongoing at once because of how I play. When I start a quest, I start it intending to finish it in the same sitting, and if I don't, I don't do anything else in the game until I finish it. Also I do the quests first and then explore the area afterwards. I prefer being taken to new areas via the quest rather than on my own. It feels more cinematic that way.
I don't recall Cyno telling any jokes in the archon quest. I liked him during the quests, he was serious and intimidating. But ever since he's been in many events and showing his true self, I started to not like him as much anymore.
I honestly forgot how good the ending of Sumeru's archon quest was. I guess I was so focused on being salty that I knew about Scara's boss and that I found it disappointing (I would have preferred to go into it blind but stupid Twitter likes to show me leaks), that the rest of the quest just left my brain.
Exploration did eventually get stale for me and Sumeru as whole for that matter. I definitely got tired of the desert with version 3.4. But I will say I still very much enjoy the Golden Slumber and Dirge of Bilqis quests with Jeht and crew. I just really wish they were voice acted like archon quests are. (And maybe include playable characters too?)
11:21 You actually can leave Caribert by interacting with a certain door (depending on how far you are progressed in the quest changes which door it is), so you can actually take it step by step. I never felt the need to do this though as the quest was pretty short and really engaging for me. But you could say I have a higher tolerance for long dialogue compared to most people. I have yet to skip a single line of dialogue in a new quest.
Your aranara microcosm was perfect, I gotta agree with you on that as whole.
Sumeru is easily my favorite region for now. Loved every moment of the exploration.Tho I still can't forgive them for not putting 1 SINGLE mummy in there... and that's despite there being tombs... shame...
Sumeru was just to vast! Exploring is fun but the desert is soooooooooooooo hard. Sumeru desert gives me anxiety that made me not to do any quest in sumeru. Including the forest one. It’s just so difficult to navigate
For me Sumeru was just too big. Don’t get me wrong I love exploring all parts of sumeru but while being in the dessert everything just looked the same to me there wasn’t much that got me excited to keep on exploring every inch of the map. I hope fontain will give me the same feeling that I had when I fist explored Mondstadt
Well..this is my 1st region....i started in 2.8.....so i don't know how were the previous regions...i really loved sumeru ❤.. rainforest.. desert everything ...my 1st archon is nahida...
I really really loved sumeru..and looking forward to fontaine ❤
I started playing at the tail end of 3.6. How I *wish* I could have started playing a few months earlier. I have absolutely loved Sumeru, desert included, and am so disappointed that I’ll never be able to complete the earlier limited 3.x events.
I overall agree with you on almost everything. I wasnt so much bothered by locked areas but the repetitiveness of the areas was the worst! I understand you try to have things consistent, but they should have done stuff to help orientation...like color code areas or have different types of art or something. oh and the invisible walls! God I hate those walls!
I loved Sumeru, & most of the new characters, but you hit the nail on the head here. I think it was all the locked quests for me. Both the ones I was locked out of & the ones I was locked into.😅 So excited for Fontaine tho!🤩 Also FIRST & I love yooouwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu ❤❤❤
I just came back to Genshin recently with low expectation since i left at the worst possible time(After Inazuma and 1st Anniv). But then Sumeru just blew me away. The story is actually peak, the characters are endearing, the region is HUGE with tons of contents. Didn't have trouble exploring much thanks to the new map layout i guess.
If Fontaine managed to do the same, i'm gonna actually invest my time and effort into this game again. Whatever Hoyo is cooking, they should continue the same wonderful job they did in Sumeru.
Sadly, fontaine is a dissappointment. Hoyoverse extended the archon quest like Sumeru but with a Quality of inazuma😢
@@maxuelmiranda7645 i just finished the 2nd Trial and i thought its pretty decent so far. The worst thing about Inazuma is the supposedly "climax" of the chapter, so let's see if Fontaine would repeat the same mistake... hope not.
Such a good retrospective! Being a fairly casual gamer (I usually only do daily commissions and resin (if that), and then when i have time and energy i explor and do quests), I’ve been taking it so slow with the desert that it doesn’t feel like too much of a chore. And because I’m doing it so belatedly I’ve been able to read other people’s experiences, and thus use the quest to start the exploration to not get locked. Also i do very little at a time 😅 loved your recap, and lookign forward to fontaine :D ALSO congrats on youtube partner again! ❤
Thank you so much 🤗💜 Yeah once they add underground maps, and knowing what order to do quests in will probably help massively!
@@saurusness yeah i feel lucky to be able to take advantage of that..! That being said it’ll probably still take me 1347382 years to finish sumeru as i imagine i’ll want to take a peek at fontaine too 😅
I had true Genshin burnout after 3.5. I have not been playing much since, but I look forward to diving back in with Fontaine. That being said, Sumeru was truly a magical experience and the music was nothing short of emotionally breathtaking. The music was so good that I feel like a lot of my tears were triggered because of that. When Nahida says her goodbye to Rukkadevetta I was a mess!
“diving back in with Fontaine”
aha i see what u did there. ok no same tho bc i had burnout right after 3.4 bc i finally didn’t have a reason to keep playing anymore (got scaramouche after 2+ years of waiting) and it got too overwhelming with all the map additions and stuff but i am glad to announce that fontaine has been so much more fun for me than sumeru could even hope. just one look at that landmass had put me off from exploring sumeru but fontaine keeps things small and condensed, provided u dont get lost underwater, ofc. that has also been a very refreshing way of exploring as well, albeit with its little issues like having to find the nearest blue glowy animal to steal their skill from so that you don’t die from taking damage (from what i’ve gathered, crab is BY FAR THE BEST) and all of this while also having probably my favourite story so far even tho i only finished part 1 but that was incredibly fun. i personally dislike the ousia-pneuma thing most bc i feel like the devs don’t need to add some weird niche to mix up exploring all over again (imo just having things activated/controlled by hydro is already enough) but i don’t mind it overall. its probably my favourite region so far so after such a long burnout i’m finally back.
Solid vid, couldn't believe my eyes that the sub count was barely at 2k. KEEP GOING!!
I felt the same, I was so excited for Sumeru and it did become my favourite region but then we just got so much desert and I was over it. Very excited and more than ready for Fontaine and hopefully it won't be the same with underwater exploration. Also Nahida stole my heart too.
Sumeru has become my favorite region. The characters are lovely, the map design is great (even the desert maps are interesting to explore) and the music?! Gosh! I LOVE THE MUSIC. It felt really refreshing.
My only complaint would be the underground exploration. I hope the map overhaul will make this easier because it IS a pain and my desert areas are all stuck at 85% because of it. 😅
I feel like Sumeru was by farrrr the best expansion with the best story and I dont really have confidence they can top it or equal it now. I hope so!
It had so much content for those of us that wanted it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all
I'm so scared Fontaine will feel lackluster just because they did so well with Sumeru 🙈 I'm excited for the new region and I assume I should trust Hoyo to make Fontaine a fun and interesting time but still...
Im back to say 4.0 is here holy crap I think they might top it
@@miathapapaya I just finished the archon quest. I loved how they implemented the trial gameplay! That was a lot of fun and really gave me Ace Attorney vibes! But I must admit storywiss I prefer Sumeru. My opinion might change with 4.1 and 4.2 but so far the execution of the story felt a bit... weird 😅 it's also funny how we witness the accident on stage but nobody really cares that someone just died in front of them 🫣
@@lemonbunny71 same thoughts here. when i finished the archon quest in fontaine, i was like "huh??? That's it???" took me within the day to finish vs a week and a half from sumeru one. the fontaine archon quest felt like a cliffhanger to me, can't deny with that ace attorney feel of that tho it was really fun, had the chance to debate as well with the archon too even though i dislike her for now, will change once there's a dedicated story quest for her.
agreed
this sums up my experience of sumeru almost exactly. Hopefully hoyoverse can keep their momentum this time around
3.0 was basically where I joined Genshin. I had my story quests finished and my friend messaged me telling me about 3.0 being released like a week after that day.
So your summary is an accurate and very well said way to describe the way I have experienced Genshin as a high AR player.
Though I just wish more storylines were voiced if they're minor characters. Or even major. Jeht and the Aranara quests being silent led to a massive lack of immersion for me.
I'm just excited for Fontaine, a new Archon, and new character relationships now though.
And Nahida is best Archon. Hands down
Sumeru was not disappointing at all. I am 100% for all areas including Sumeru. All quests done…. Explorations my favorite part of the game so, more please.
lol no
Ah yes. I too love big open empty areas with very little to do, that's also a pain in the ass to explore unless you do two extremely specific and extremely boring quests.
@@screamingopossum7809 that seems to be the general consensus about this region. vast, sparse, annoying. it's almost like they made the region and then decided to scale it in blender by 3x in every axis.
sumeru was the worst, everyone quit because of how shit it was LMAO LITERALLT EVERYONE
I think the biggest issues for me was the unvoiced major world quests. I love the idea of long questlines that take you all over a region in order to contextualize exploration into more than aimless wandering, but the lack of voicing (and 3 times more dialogue than necessary) make them so boring to sit through. Also since the quest aren't mandatory I'm a bit sad all the major NPCs I actually liked won't ever show up again.
I think a lot of the quests that weren't voiced, especially the aranara and the Jeht quest is what mainly drained my love for sumeru, that and exploring without having the layered map feature was pure torture.
multi-layer map has been a lifesaver for sumeru exploration. I haven’t completed all of the quests yet so I’ve gotten to experience actually having a map in these quests and it made the experience a lot better
I loved sumeru through and through but everyone their own experience
Very much this!
The only things that really disappointed me about Sumeru was how they ruined Candace and Dehya and didn't voice Jeht's quests. Everything else is just great. Could things be better? They always can, but I'm very satisfied with Sumeru and I feel Fontaine can be even better. There's something very satisfying in not drowning anymore.
But overall, you summarized well my feelings with this video. Well done.
Really glad I joined a few months ago and not before the maps got sorted. I need to find a resource that actually puts the quests in order.
but for me i always expect the archon quests to take 2-3 hrs long if i give my full attention to it. i treat it like im watching a movie because its very special and have lots of effort and dedication put into it. i love genshin lore so much. i do not want to miss the emotional impact of the story just because i was rushing the dialogue nah nah thats why i do these steps before i do the archon quests.
what i do everytime we arrive in big patches(2.0, 3.0, 4.0)
- unlock first the statue of the seven
- unlock artifact domain burn resin
- do my dailys and then
- do the archon quests so my resin is actively refreshing.
i can see the frustrations with the world quests oh boi i love the aranyaka quests but oh boi it took weeks to finish so i always treat world just bit by bit. when the desert was expanding, i didn't bother exploring it, all i did was unlock tps and fight the world boss and dipped out XD
great video btw
I'm so glad you made this video - i was really sad that my love for genshin seemed to be waning as sumeru progressed. For the first time in 2 years I stopped loggin in daily cos i was so burntout from the bloody desert :') and its so hard to get back into if you don't play daily because there's just so much content its overwhelming! Fontaine is helping me come back but it just doesn't feel the same any more :'(
I think your take is extremely close to mine. I also think the ridiculous naming conventions they chose made it hard to really latch on to parts of the story. I still couldn’t tell any of the actual names of the Aranara or any of the schools.
But the naming followed the exact same pattern as in every other region. It requires just as much effort to memorise and learn to correctly pronounce Liyue names, landmarks, and words. Inazuma was full of Japanese words that took just as much effort to get through (no, not everyone is familiar with Japanese language by default). Sumeru simply followed the same logic, but somehow I see so much more frustration over that. If you can learn the Liyue Qixing, and Narukami Shrine, you can also learn Haravatat and Amurta. (I'm not saying you should learn either, only that singling out Sumeru for using their languages when every other region does the same sounds wrong to me.)
I don't feel the same at all. Sumeru is my favourite region. I 100 percented every area. even before I 100 percented any other region. It is the most beautiful region and I love all the characters. Tighnari is by far my favourite, followed by wanderer and faruzan. It has the most impactful and full of lore stories and quests. (only Nilou's quest was the most boring ever) I loved the puzzles, ad the tunnels in the desert. I felt actually sad when I continued to Fontaine and Fontaine has been very hard for me to like. For me it is too different atm. .Even though the under water world is beautiful the area at the moment feels very empty. It has been growing on me though. I also didnt like the detectiving in the quests, cause there is no consequences if you get it wrong, i wanted to skip the dialogue. so i wasnt listening and just clicking whatever until i got it right. very very very boring.
I think we might be opposites 😂 and that's ok! 💜
I basically had the same experience, once I only played for half of 3.6, skipped all fo 3.7 and only came back to genshin 1 month ago all because of the desert. Exploration and world quests are most of my favorite parts and I was really exited for the desert but for the same reasons as you said I couldn't get into, and they just kept releasing more of it. And I got really tired of artefact farming. However now I'm doing the desert quests and relsly enjoying them, and can't wait to explore after I'm done with Fontaine now they've added the multi layered map haha
Same the underground maps just make me pre-emptively excited to return to the desert despite getting so tired of it 😂
your message resonated with me so much, lets hope fontaine can reignite my motivation to explore the world without using a guide like in genshin 1.0 and 2.0. See you in fontaine !
Thing i dissapoint is just the characters. I was expecting Dendro who can summon root for crowd control. And why there is no strong Geo char who live in the desert?😢
girl i want to warn, since you don't like desert region, temple of silence is yet to release, that place is supposed to be one most darkest, mysterious and powerful places in genshin, its also a desert region (confirmed by leakers) its cyno's affiliation. keep up the energy
It's not necessarily that I don't like the desert - initially I felt the desert was wonderful and exciting and beautiful in its own way - I think my issue is simply the way the first desert quests made the experience somewhat frustrating, and then getting two desert expansions back to back started feeling a little monotonous 🤔 I'm really hoping that after a change of scenery in Fontaine the last area (which is the only I have left to explore) will feel refreshing again!
@@saurusness that's awesome😊👌
Traveling through the Sumeru desert definitely repelled me from the nation. I enjoyed the aranara quest and the Jeht quests, but HATED dealing with The Withering for the longest time. Some of the events were interesting. NAHIDA SUPREMACY my primary team is the Dook Dook Destroyers and are built around her!
That said, a major reason I got so sick of Sumeru that I barely even played 3.7 and 3.8 at all is that I'm helping a friend with his account, and so would have to do all the desert exploration TWICE. Put that with the new giant world quest 3.7 got, I did the whole thing and 100%'d one of the two zones for him and just feel myself aging when I see that 19% on mine T_T
I'm also looking forward to Fontaine. Klee's event being functionally in Sumeru made me take until this past weekend to bother doing it. It was a lot of fun but Buer save me from that damn desert.
Before even watching the video, the only reason most people don’t like Sumeru is because of the desert area and how big the underground areas are
There was too much desert - Listen, I loved the desert but there was so many blockers to exploration in the desert that it was painful! I'm hoping they learn something out of this - that there is such a thing as too much of an area. There were places I figured we would get before Fontaine like the village in Liyue that we hear about all the time as a passageway with the tea... They could have dropped some of those places and it would have broken up the monotony of a very bleak desert region. At least new players coming in will have the underground map. We can be the boomers who remember when there was no map or teleport waypoint markers 🤣Also, I wish we'd had something (could have been added to say the flower crown they give us in the aranara quest) that allowed you to know when you're near an aranara if it's equipped. I still haven't found them all and I want to open those chests but it's frustrating! Lovely video as always 🥰
YES I completely agree! There can bee too much of a map, especially if there's not enough items of interest on that map to keep you occupied, which is precisely I think what was wrong with the very last desert area: you have to walk for ages between points of interest and all the rewards are measly common chests...
YES the flower crown working as an aranara compass would have been BRILLIANT!
Yeah, I didn't mind the desert, it could have worked better as an exploration and farm area though instead of endless gate locked areas and, I get that they wanted to you to experience the puzzles for lore but the endless reading, and voiceless whatever, it just becomes repetitive and monotonous, wasn't necessary, the map was way too big for all of that. Still, I guess no one can say there was no content, idk.
Yeah Baizhu's addition was pretty nice; he was probably the best character story quest in the game so far just due to how engaging it was and not just a bunch of crammed in words; I want to say Yoimiya's story quest was also pretty gud cuz it kinda felt like an actual story that could've happened. A huge problem w/ character stories is that at least 75% of them is just utter nonsense to fill in the gap; like the storyboard was probably given a directive to make a story for characters that don't expand the lore (WHICH WE WANT TO HAPPEN) and don't focus directly explaining tidbits like character designs we want to know more abt like why Yelan has a thing for gambling/dices or other random gimmicks. My biggest gripe are the character story quests where your involvement is completely unnecessary and the situation overall resolves itself (Ayato, Yae, Cyno, Alhaitham, Kazuha to name a few at the top of my head). I will say Yae's wasn't bad cuz we do get to see a bit of youkai lore and her cutscene was beautiful.
And I get that this is just a storytelling issue that's been prevalent thruout sumeru where they just don't know wut to talk abt and are trying to stretch things out and showcase all of Sumeru; and yeah there were a lot of plot holes that were more prevalent in Sumeru. Cuz Mondstadt was just "oh no dragon infected we gotta stop it," and Liyue was "welp geo archon dead guess we gotta plan a funeral" and Inazuma was "civil war." meanwhile Sumeru's story was an abt a coup which was very difficult to pull off. And ofc the problem w/ explaining too much (which they did) meant that the things they didn't explain were very blatant like why Scara was in Sumeru and why he was working w/ Dottore when he was dodging Childe and the Tsaritsa's command. Or just why Azaz was and the previous Sumeru Sages were motivated to lock away Nahida for the 500 years of her existence (or how they did it successfully)
I think that overall Sumeru is pretty fun when u get down to it, but for casual players, it's a lot more stressful trying to get everything especially the goddamn aranara quests (I was very shocked we got such a big storyline in the very first 3.0 version which is something that like hasn't happened in previous region releases). The desert is a bit weird to think abt cuz in retrospect it is probably the best part of Sumeru but it's kinda like taking a shower where internally you don't want to go to the desert, but it's very nice once you settle in
Dehya's story quest solo's everyone else's ngl. Scara's was also good (even if it's disguised as a main quest lol).
Wow. So glad I haven't started my Sumeru Archon quests yet. The 4.0 improvements to the ingame map UI will definitely help my first impressions of that area.
Ain't no way, Samsara part was the best part in whole Sumeru Archon quest imo
Also Nilou > Ayaka
Genshin is a journey we take together, us the players together with the devs as they themselves learn and progress.
Sumeru is a huge and important step up from previous versions in ways too numerous to mention.
Many good steps were taken in the right direction and yet there's still lots of room for improvements.
While MHY hasn't been the best communicator at the end of the day they are attentive and they do listen, although they obviously don't always agree. They take slow, at times frustratingly measured steps towards bettering Genshin.
All we need is some faith and patience.
Things seem promising and I'm really looking forward to Fontaine!
Very much agree! 🥰
For me, 3.6 desert area is my favorite place to explore in the game, the puzzles were fun and encouraged me to 100% it. My absolute favorite.
I love this whole 3.x patches review so much, it's so well done and put together nicely. Although it's not fresh anymore, but after watching this, I would love to see your review to 1.x and 2.x patches too (ofc no pressure if you don't want to do it, since it's been a long while).
Sumeru wasn't disappointing in the slightest. In fact it was leaps and bounds better than any region before!
Sumeru was probably the most interesting and written nation imo, I honestly think the mark that they missed was the potential for diversity in character skin tones (ik it’s not like it directly effects the game but some designs genuinely just look much better with normal human skin tones)
That's a great point, I agree, it would be nice to see a little more diversity in skin tones
Sumeru was an absolute banger- also doing all quests once they appear -as intended - I could fully enjoy the desert without running into any walls - Sumeru is the country I have explored the most by far around 95 everywhere
Honestly for some reasons I feel so bittersweet saying goodbye to Sumeru. I started to play basically in the middle of 3.X and even though I spent most of my time in Inazuma at the beginning Sumeru despite all of its inconveniences made big impact on me. I started to explore desert slightly before that I went to Inazuma. Same is with the rainforest. And when I came back there and did all of necessary quests I somehow felt like I'm home
It's sad that since 3.7 I barely had anything to do there and that sometimes explorations was a torture. But I really feel that Sumeru and its characters also gave me this kinda feeling what will make me go back there in future
I think it's the same kinda feeling that early players feel toward Mondstat. Like, objectively there's nothing that fascinating but you constantly feel nostalgic towards your first region
Edit: I just wanna speak up a bit. I adore Nilou. She's one of my favourite characters in Sumeru so far. But at the same time I totally understand that a character 'Nilou' in my head, which I made linking small pieces of content with her not only in the game itself but also in her voicelines and story, and actual 'Nilou' presented by Hoyoverse are two different characters. And mine is better. I'm really sad that in game she feels more like a child who plays a tree in a school play. I don't want her to be one of the main characters but you don't really need to make her one to give her a decent arch
It's crazy how Jeht who is an NPC (my favourite though) has better personality treatment than one of a playable characters
I agree with basically all of your points. Sumeru was exhausting. The forest is packed full, and 100% took a lot of work. The reward is an immense desert full of unvoiced dialogue and convoluted terminology. I have 100% everywhere except the desert of hamdraveh. You couldn't pay me to care about those little flying fairies
My experience was almost diametrically opposed to yours.
I didn't especially care about Nahida's personal arc and to this very day I still feel that Ei's story is the most interesting of the Archons bunch and Inazum's design and color palette is my favorite.
Still, there was a lot to love about Sumeru.
The main quest and the Aranaras' ones are interesting reflections on the role of memory and history in shaping the identity of a civilization or an individual. Literally, as far as the game world is concerned, since erasing the memory of some event or being from the collective consciousness equates to not just killing him, but also erasing its past existence and changing historical events.
For me the issue was that I don't usually like stories which are told through elements or characters that are crafted around the kind of aesthetic that appeals to children. The Aranar's story is definitely very serious and almost frighteningly sad and maybe the contrast between their fairytale, almost infantilized appearence and the tragic seriousness of their life cycle is intended, but I still can't bring myself to take it seriously given how they look like and act.
Aesthetically, both the rain forest and the desert areas are gorgeous and I love how the design team has mastered the use of verticality in version 3.0. We already had examples of how the game world could be made more intricate and stratified by the use of the third dimension when the Chasm and Enkanomyia were introduced, but with Sumeru this aspect of the game reached its peak.
The clever use of verticality allowed the developers to make the players feel all the weight of Teyvat's history: new civilizations built on the ruins of previous ones that had fallen to time, mistakes, supernatural conflicts and even the petty passions of supernatural beings (I mean, an entire civilization brought down over three generations by the machinations of a Jinny as revenge against the moral degeneration of her husband? Sign me up).
And this is were my experience differed from yours the most. I believe that version 3.X side stories were actually some of the best in the entire game so far.
Not only Jeht's story was very emotional and compelling to me, but even if I didn't especially care about those sidekicks, those stories proved to be inextricably intertwined with Teyavt's history, so much so that by pursuing those quests, as a player I found myself digging into the past of the fictional world. The exploration was not just about geographical space anymore, but also about time (and that's especially funny when you get to the Eternal Oasis, where everything is literally frozen in stasis and the peaceful breathtaking beauty of the place is that of a cemetery: the final resting place of a dead goddess...).
True, the ruins are a maze which sometimes feels frustrating to navigate. But that's one of the reasons I loved it so much. Even getting lost was an adventure in itself and the confusing nature of the subterranean world made navigating the environment a challenge that rewards dedication and player's knowledge. Which is something that it's harder and harder to find in modern games.
To the younger generations it might sound strange, but there was a time when video games didn't hold the player's hand at all and quests locations were not marked by pin on maps. Just think about the Eye of the Beholder series, or Morrowind to see what I mean (and yes, I am that old).
For me some of the best memories of Teyvat will be linked to the silent halls of some Sumeru's desert buried ruin...
4:02 I had the exact opposite opinion for the characters, I loved Nilou the first time I saw her, and she is still my fav character. 5:14 I‘m very excited for Fountaine but I‘m scared that the underwater exploration will be similar to the underground ruins in the Dessert of Sumeru. 6:47 The Archon quest in Sumeru was so good, I really don’t know how Fountain will top that! I hope in Fountaine the Quests and Puzzles don‘t get harder, longer and more complicated every version like in Sumeru.
Based on the few flashes we've seen of it, the underwater exploration looks really open and free to me so far! There'll definitely be ruins deep underwater, but the rest looks huge so really hoping it feels more available right from the start!
Curious whether you also find Cyno a little meh because really think they were aimed at opposite crowds almost 👀
yeah I think the Archon quest bar is set quite high, though that said the trailers and teasers have been quite promising so far!
I'm hoping the underwater exploration will feel less jarring simply due to the underground maps we'll get (which I assume will apply underwater too), but this time I'll try to go into it feeling less pressure to see/complete everything at once, and perhaps that'll help too!
Same I love that nilou is doing arts in a city of scholars it clashes and makes for an interesting clash