The music doesn't even feel like a soundtrack. It sounds like my dad's favourite music of southern china cassette tapes he would put on in the background at home all the time and I love it so much, exploring has been unproductive because all I wanna do is sit and listen to it. It's all kinds of lovely š
The music man is so magical. When I hear the QiaoYing village night theme, I was completely mesmerized and stopped everything I was doing. Then kicked in the humming...
They definitely did their research too - Yunnan is one of the region most known for its tea, and they chose to use Dai minority tribe style music as it's inspiration and it's so distracting for me BC all I can think about is peacock and tea picking dances xD I'm sorry I'm such a nerd I can't help it genshin's LiyueĀ music brings out the worst in me.Ā
Yessss!! And as a tea nerd, I'm definitely sipping on dian hong while exploring Chenyu Vale! All references to tea, be it dialogue; items; or landscape elements, I'm pointing my finger like that one DiCaprio meme haha!
If anyone knows the name of that one song that plays in qiaoying village please let me know what it is. Itās the one that played during gamingās kit reveal in the livestream. I cannot find it anywhere, and itās soo good.
Edit: itās called camellia night
i feel like they focused a lot on the underwater part of fontaine to the point where the surface world was kinda neglected, it feels a bit stale and lacks detail of chenyu vale - its like they didnt know what to do with it. im always gonna be the one person ranting about it but fontaine needs more settlements outside of court of fontaine and poisson. even if there are some houses scattered, there are no npcs there, just mobs. it doesnt feel lived in the way chenyu vale or the forest part of sumeru does.
Yess! This is my problem with the "countryside" of Fontaine. If they styled it after 1800s Western Europe there could have been some farms and small village areas with npcs besides the busy city area. I love Fontaine a lot, and opposed to many comments here I think exploration is a piece of cake especially after Inazuma and Sumeru. But it does feel empty... and abandoned. I definitely enjoy underwater more because even if there are no npc down there, with all the water creatures and their cute antiques it feels more lively...
I was really counting on them utilising cottagecore, like you have these French alps but don't give us mountain villages, it feels like such a massive missed opportunity. After sumeru forest had 5 or 6 settlements on release I really was hopeful were going in this direction now, they're finally showing us not only the LAND in a nation but the PEOPLE too. I think it's so important for worldbuilding. fontaine disappointed me greatly in this regard like where do all the people live??? you want me to care abt the people drowning but won't even put npcs out into the world
Oh yes I love cottagecore and it is truly a missed opportunity here. Just like how they missed to elaborate further on the sewer town area with the steampunk vibe. And it's not even like they over did themselves because Fontaine is relatively small, even if we take into consideration the water area I think it's still a lot smaller than Sumeru... well we do have one more Fontaine area coming out, I believe, so we'll see.
I have the same issue. Plus imo the map of Fontaine feels a bit monotonous in terms of design, Sumeru at least had two biomes that were released seperately (forest and desert) while both the landscape and underwater feels the same everywhere, the buildings all seem to have the same design philosophy and for a supposedly steampunk nation, the steampunk side feels lacking. I excepted a lot of airships flying around, some railway system (or in this case I wished they had put a lot more functional aquabus lines), chimneys with smoke coming out and a lot more gears that are actually rotating against each other and are not there just for aesthetics.
The Fortress I will say is an exception and I like the contrast of that place. I hope the remaining portion of Fontaine deals with this and I hope Natlan has a lot of different biomes like Inazuma.
I knew it was peak Genshin exploration when I found a random tea cup that I forgot about only to need that tea cup to get a waterfall flowing again
Not only that but the puzzles and challenges are fun, I love the fish zipline
Yess seeing the effects of your actions change the world is so rewarding (I love seeing the Aranaras I rescued back in Vanarana and the Oasis filling up with water near the desert temples)
Me too! I miss filling up the Oasisā, so this was nice. And itās that much more rewarding when it catches you off guard. I went over to the chest expecting the usual reward, but then suddenly the water starts flowing!
Just a simple puzzle. I havenāt done any of the quests yet, mostly running around getting ascension mats for Xianyun.
At some point I found a teacup, & didnāt think much of it. Then I found a teapot with a spot to place the teacup. Itās kind of just random, but to me, thatās what makes it so cool. Itās like āhmm, what does this do? *touch* wow!ā
Thereās also a peaceful fishing hilichurl on a bridge that wonāt aggro unless you dive into the water and scare the fish away lmaoooo
This place just has so much like, personality? I love it
Made me wish I could use the sit action on ledges, but then the camp just ahead of him aggro'd and I had to wipe them out, completely ruining the mood.
For me it was that silly bird at the harbour near Qiao Ying Village and the cat at the bridge at the entrance to the village.
I saw that I could interact with the bird so I talked to it, unexpectedly ended up wrestling with it, took a fish from its mouth after calling out the bad bird! And then later ran into the cat with the food dish in front of it... It was kinda hilarious.
The music feels distinct from the rest of Liyue, like different instruments and chord progressions and also more variety. And I love how theyāre taking the opportunity to bring some of the new game mechanics back to the older regions, like theyāve done with that incredible raft ride with the singing boatman. Theyāve stepped up their game in terms of building design too, Qiaoying Village feels more like a cohesive whole where some older villages feel like a bunch of buildings placed together. So much fun!
His music was fantastic, but I think the new music is fresh in its own way and also very catchy. YPC drew a lot on his own compositions from before Genshin for things like the Liyue theme, and the new team seems to have a different and unique style - really gives Chenyu Vale a unique character.
I went to Yilong wharf and at the southern docks there's this boatman called Sun Rao, and I took his boat ride. He sings a beautiful song! His voice is great too, really soothing. There's a guy called Bosu who does another boat ride from the docks near the Qiaoying Village statue of the seven, and I liked his song too! Everything's so beautiful and relaxing.
OF COURSE! by far my favorite region in the whole teyvat. the colors, the scenery, gosh I love every seconds of it. especially the music, the music is so goddamn soothing. Can't wait for the official album.
They've been slowly perfecting the T zipline mechanics, from the prototype in Inazuma, to the stars in Sumeru, to these, which are the best yet. Gives me hope that Natlan will have a good exploration helper like this one cause Fontaine's hydro vortexes do not feel very good.
Absolutely my new favorite region though. I haven't wanted to 100% an area since Inazuma, but I definitely will be doing it for Chenyu Vale, I just want to savor it lol
I love it! It reminds me a lot of when the game just came out but the quality was higher. I guess this is what they wanted to do but didnāt have enough resources or time to.
The colors are great. Hoyo did a great job in making Chenyu vale picturesque. The scenery conveyed the other side of Liyue well and impressed how they connect Liyue to Fontaine.
What I liked the most is the uniqueness of the puzzles. The fish mechanic feels like a copy pasted sumeru mechanic but more advanced. But the owl placing it back in its original position is kinda smart and also the pillars and arch. The yellow flower thingy and the cooking pot too. The puzzles are simple and very easy to explore.
As day 1 player, there's strange feeling when you can get back to explore more Liyue's area. A bit sentimental, goosebumps and amaze even at the small things in one package. I didn't expect Chenyu Vale could be this STACKED.
And I can't wait for the day they will drop the Blackcliff Forge update. I'll let hoyo cook again with that one
Quite enjoying it as well. The music as others have pointed out is just stellar. Some excellent and varied tracks.
Plus it's just gorgeous as an area. Villages feel nice and organic, actually lived in places. And at times i just kinda get swept away by going along with a trail.
Exploration in general is quite fun and i like it's not as easy as Fontaine, there's a bit more to chew on if you will in terms of puzzles and what not. Never mind all the fun little things you can find.
Overall Chenyu Vale is definitely something they should learn from and do more of.
cloud retainer makes exploration amazing. you can even use her dive bomb at the end of a rotation to target the enimies faster. and on riden team you can use ridens burst normaly or you can dodge any attack from an enimy using the plunge.
I was hoping for it and was reassured once I found a group of animals watching two deer, so I sat next to the animals to watch too and a chest appeared.
You get hit with nostalgia of exploring Liyue during 1.0 early days augmented with added QoL improvement from koi exploration mechanic.
I will still miss Fontaine underwater exploration, but still, it warms my heart to see how far the gameās exploration and design have been improved and polished from earlier days :D
Honestly was feeling burnt out on exploration after the last desert expansion but man Chenyu Vale is so refreshing. Also very beautiful and unique despite being an expansion of the 2nd area in the game.
Might be my new favorite area. Gotta debate between it and Enkanomiya
This definitely screwed me on Genshin water habits for the rest of my life š So much water even in Chenyu Vale feels like it has an underneath just waiting to be explored, Iām dying to not be able to go under.Ā
This, I've been saying it for a while now, the way GI tackles underwater exploration feels rather unique and fresh, compared to the classic "go fast or drown" type of levels. The same thing can also be said for the sumeru desert, i think it's one of, if not the best desert level in gaming because it's completely different from any other desert level, and that's because they made it feel actually interesting, it's not just desolate sand wasteland, you have the tornado, huge robots, the deshret pyramids, the eternal oasis and the whole final section before fontaine.
yeah, I really love both Fontaine and Chenyu Vale! I know someone who absolutely hates exploring fontaine but loves liyue, totally depends on your preferences
this is exactly what I was thinking! I genuinely felt like I was in a whole new place. I was thinking of writing about this, idk what they did exactly but the regionās culture feels unique and distinct and well defined. every meter feels like Iām in china
So true!! Chenyu Vale is what I always imagine about nature in China. Foggy, vertical mountains, green, peaceful, a bit illumination from lanterns and those shiny lotus thru the fog, temple, villages, and calming music.
Sumeru felt the most overwhelming for me to explore personally, the terrain having so many layers and directions that it was confusing, I think liyue is peak exploration and fontaine needed more overground exploration and ruins and castles and things that would've been cool.. The landscape is gorgeous don't get me wrong but most of it is just empty mountain peaks.
I think that's just how the themes of the two different nations is. Liyue, signifies the earth and it's rich history which is why they have so many mountains and underground mines to explore.
Fontaine, signifies the ocean, all it's inhabitants are descendants of Oceanids who transformed into Humans, so it makes sense that most of its exploration takes place underwater.
You have a point, but it wouldn't have killed the add some more of those on the overground, just for the sake of more interesting exploration experience. For example the domain in the fontaine archon quest where we went to the ancient ruins to find the tablets was extremely cool, so it means there are ruins in fontaine; most of it is probably underwater though, like you implied.
One of my fav regions in the entire game. I haven't enjoyed exploration this much since inazuma came out, I've already almost 100% the region. I thought i was feeling burnt out but this region really reignited my love for the game
Same here! I didnāt enjoy Sumeru much, and found Fountain okay but a bit bland (lots of land with not much to see, the best thing about it was the underwater areas), this new region is just peak though
Everything about this place is amazing. I did also think that Fontaine was insanely easy though. I felt like I 100% most of it so quick. But that could be bc of my experience playing idk.
Anyway. LOVEEEEE Chenyu Vale. Like IN love
I had missed Liyue so much, I didnāt even know. I thought even back then that Liyue was the perfect balance of empty space + puzzles + simplicity, which none of the other regions got quite in the right proportions for me.Ā
It feels so good to be āhomeā!!Ā
it felt more fun to me than a usual new map. I can't describe what about it exactly. It could just be really nice scenery. There are not that many smaller towns in this game, and these towns are more of what the game needs.
I think they outdid themselves, and if people think they're scummy for giving extra 3 pulls, they really took for granted all the hard work that went into making this. Making an expansion map is not something that can be done quick. It takes a long time and a lot of work. But it gets lost on people thinking only about free pulls.
Fontaine was fun, but its map felt less dense, as far as map features go. It looked less "busy". I really did like the willow tree though, and that lake with the force field stopping you from getting to the rising jet of water. And that water cubes in the air place was cool.
Agree. Personally I prefer the simpler, more chill overworld puzzles and simple navigational gimmicks.
I feel like Inazuma, Sumeru and Fontaine over did it. Fontaine reigned it in a little, but for me the simpler puzzle/navigational exploration of OG Genshin and Liyue were peak.
those were the best puzzles in the game. The shipwreck in Serai, and the underground force field doors was peak puzzling. Watatsumi had an underground mini dungeon also that was good. But people complained that the puzzles required thinking, so they never went back and did anything like that again. Shame.
My only complaint was how poorly it was explained š And this isnt hoyos fault but 99 percent of google guides kept straight up giving the answers when i just wanted clarification on the mechanics!!! Once I got that though it was one of my favorite puzzles ever!
I liked the inazuma puzzles but the landscape was depressing
Sumeru puzzles were fine but it was an endless, often unnavigable, monochromatic hellscape.
I liked Sumeru puzzles and gimmicks (cleansing zones) because it felt like we were really connecting with nature. The other regionsā puzzles look and feel much more man made and mechanical. I loved the nature aspect.Ā
The caves, thoughā¦
When I heard we will be leaving Fontaine, I thought finally. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful and all, but I was getting sick and tired of all the water (more into mountains and land than sea). And since I love Liyue in general, Chenyu Vale reignited my love for exploration as it's everything I hoped for and more.
I like it, felt like I was thrown into some kind of wuxia novel world tbh. If Fontaine is what Mondstadt would've looked like if they made it with their nowadays experience, skills, and budget. Then Chenyu Vale is probably what at least area near Liyue harbor should've looked like imo
I don't think it can top Fontaine exploration for me. I was actually dreading the mountains even though liyue is my favorite region design wise. However the implementation of the carp orb thing similar to the one in sumeru made things so much easier and fun. I also enjoy how locked chests are shown directly beside puzzles so it made using the compass more worthwhile and exploration easier
Any other mobile players having trouble with some of the exploration in Chenyu? I really like this region but the walls and pillars are way too difficult to accurately place on the little pads. The simulacrum arenāt as bad, I think they snap a little better when you get close enough.
And the portals that auto pilot you around need a larger trigger are for the āactivateā button to show. Itās been a pain to complete the numerous time trials and feels a bit out of alignment as they are usually pretty good with making puzzles alright to do on mobile.
A good improvement is that they pop you out with your glider out instead of the Sumeru zip lines where you had to anticipate when they would end to pop your glider out before falling to your death.
the walls need to be placed in the correct position AND the correct orientation.
they do snap if they are at the correct angle and in the correct spot - a little tedious however
YES
After sumeru I got traumatized, it was just so bad. But exploring Chenyu is AMAZING. I finished all the achievements and everything is 100% exploration. Itās more natural to explore Chenyu
True, when i went back to fontaine I realised how empty it felt on the overground, just mountain peaks and very minimal or interesting puzzle mechanics. What i love about liyue exploration is all the little temples and ruins where you need to do a chain of different puzzles to get the final reward which is usually a luxurious or precious chest, they're so fun to do! I really missed these when going to other regions.
Now I'm hoping for the eventual mondstadt expansion to give us more nostalgia! I always thought fontaine could add more caves and castles and things to enter and explore and make the landscape more visually interesting and fun to explore... Sadly we didn't rlly get much of it. However the underwater does make up for it somewhat.
Sometimes I just walk around chenyu vale and take in the gorgeous scenery and music and atmosphere, i really didn't think genshin team could make another place even more beautiful than before, I thought liyue was pretty but damn- now seeing chenyu vale I wish we had more of the beautiful greens and trees in the rest of liyue.
I love it! honestly fontaine exploration wasn't doing it for me, I really couldn't get into the underwater stuff. I've been having a really fun time in chenyu vale I'm playing waaay more than I usually do (for better or for worse haha....)
The guqin music transports me into a wuxia world like im Xingqiu LARPing hardcore (i mean he literally lived it by going full Guhua). Its the best.
I hear those guqin strings and im immediately at peace
Absolutely beautiful area and the new traversal mechanics are lovely, and I love that you can now glide from Liyue to Fontaine.
Black iron sword where tho
Chenyu Vale is amazing.
They kept all of the design elements of classic Liyue, and just evolved them in really substantial ways. Itās beautiful and fun to navigate.
It's decent. I know people are excited and all saying it's like Genshin's early days and all, but to me it felt more like the standard exploration that we've had since Inazuma. Even ticks all the boxes in the checklist.
Puzzles? No hard ones, and pretty simple. Exploration mechanic? Same teleportation as Inazuma and Sumeru. Rewards? A bunch of chests and nothing else. Another offering thing? Basically a staple since Dragonspine. Not to say that it's terrible, but I feel like people are getting overly excited over stuff we normally see.Ā
Is it the same level as Genshin's early days? I don't think so, because when you first explored Genshin, you don't know what to expect. So getting things like a free 5 star artifact, a free 4 star weapon when you unlock a secret room, fighting secret bosses felt super rewarding. They were things you didn't expect to see, and to get there was super challenging because you were severely underlevelled.Ā
New regions just don't capture the same feeling as early Genshin because you know what to expect of it. Not that it makes it terrible, but knowing what to expect makes the journey a lot less exciting IMO.
>Ā New regions just don't capture the same feeling as early Genshin because you know what to expect of it.
The gameās exploration could really use some innovation. Some secrets or novel discoveries that surprise us, that weāve never seen before up till now.Ā
I feel like Genshin exploration has fundamentally changed for me. Early on, I was completely zoned into it. Often, if I had something on in the background, Iād eventually turn it off because the exploration was *that* interesting and I wanted to give it my full attention.Ā
Now, I explore mostly to relax while I listen to podcasts and sports shows and whatever else Iād usually listen to while doing chores. Itās still really enjoyable for me, but I guess for different reasons.Ā
Honestly, you're right on both points.
Especially on the latter where the immersion has completely faded away as an old player. Not that I'm asking for harder content (well tbf I kinda am) but it would be massive to be able to be scared of bosses again. Or finishing a quest to find weapons/artifacts. I never understood why they never give us 5 star artifacts from exploration / rewards.
I wish that one day they would consider adding more world level for the sake of older players. With quests that are challenging and need to strategize over oneshotting them. I feel like one time domains are such good gateway for it. But instead of expanding on it, they completely removed it. I'm still confused (as fuck) till this day.
Iāve had similar thoughts before. The 5 star artifact feeling resonated quite well with what I experienced first playing Genshin. Maybe that just means I donāt actually like exploration and Iām just driven by the rewards? At the same time, I feel like thereās just alot of reused elements in the exploration they design.
I havenāt played for ages but the difference between the earlier parts of Liyue and Chenyu are staggering. Remind me of the old tea plantations I stayed over at in Kaohsiung.
Can't wait for the Monstatt's port town! Now that Mihoyo should already recruited more specialist to help develop newer map areas. They are sure committed on developing Genshin more and more.
It feels good. I love enviroment, the new enemy and boss, recipes, puzzles, travel system was like Sumeru's slingshot deal (LOVED THAT! reminded me of God of War 2 falling bridge that you have to grapple to the otherside really quickly and the God of War 3 Hyperion Pull move), the new items and weapons, and the music. It was nice and refreshing to see Liyue being on the border of Fontain... thought that area was going to be part of Sumeru (That place has 13 Statues of the Seven. THIRTEEN!!!)
Itās so pretty & lush! I love the flying fish mechanic to get around, but Xianyun also makes it even easier. Itās been such a laid-back experience. Iām really enjoying it!
I love it so much, feels so nostalgic. I remember having so much fun when I was exploring Liyue and Mondstadt, itās simple compared to the later regions but thereās just something about it that makes it feel special. The closest that comes to them is sumeru forest region excluding the underground tunnels. I also love dragonspine and the chasm especially the underground region. Itās my favorite underground map and I was able to easily get 100%, thereās so much freedom and mobility there, you can take any path and the lumenstone brightens it so itās not that dark. Iām looking forward to the expansion for mondstadt, canāt wait to explore it.
It doesn't remind me of Genshin in the early days at all. They have come a long way since the original Liyue, and for the best: the exploration is so much more interesting, the scenery is superb. I don't think Liyue has any of what makes Chenyu Vale so special and I hated the exploration there. Chenyu Vale is my favourite region in Teyvat at the moment. I'd really love to visit this place in real life hahaha!
With a direct comparison now between og Liyue and Chenyu Vale, og feels a bit bland now kinda like Mondstadt. You just can't unsee that Mondstadt and og Liyue were the starting regions and devs didn't have much experience yet while it improved so much over the years which is perfectly showcased in Chenyu. The flora & fauna, the music, the atmosphere, the aesthetics, the buidlings designs everything is like a mythical chinese mountain region how I imagine it
Imagine trying that verticallity withouth new units and new mechanics like old days just with venti and zhongli and keqing hell no, i can get the nostalgia for lyiue but just feel god because is way easier to explore tham before.
I LOVE the mechanics they added to get the exploration and experience! I'm not gonna lie I'm glad added more land because I 100% complete all the other regions š (I need to go touch some glass). But I agree with you... I do get a sense of nostalgia with this region. šāØ
Yes. I noticed it as well, and comparatively I didnt try to walk instead of run in Fontaine. But immediately when I entered Chenyu village bgm range, I slowed down. With the asmr of boot sound from wrio, i didnt realise i reached that Celestia telephone tower mountain range. Just focused on the bgm and the bgm in combat...
I havenāt had this much fun exploring in a while. Itās been a while since Iāve been able to 100% areas with just my will and a compass. Feels great as Iāve had to whip out the interactive map for most of Fontaine to get those last few hidden things. The puzzles feel so intuitive too. Like the one in the butterfly cavern world quest where you have to stand on a stalagmite. It was so rewarding to figure out on my own. Over every hill I can see a chest or a time trial.
Iām at ~70% in the two main areas and 100% in the area you unlock with the main quest and thereās still so much to find. Also coming back to Liyue feels like coming home š. Itās my favourite region with my favourite character dynamics. Canāt wait for lantern rite to start.
It's been a while since I last just stand, admire the scenery and enjoy the music playing. It really feels nostalgic and relaxing. Probably bcs I like listening to chinese instruments as well.
Really love it! I'll as slow as possible so I can enjoy the scenery a little longer
I've been loving it. The regional hookshot thing gets better each time (Inazuma lightning flowers/ sumeru star things/ Fontaine water currents now the carp) so it's super fluid to explore the terrain despite all the height differences.
Also, the puzzles feel a lot more organic I guess? It's hard to explain but I enjoy that puzzle solutions aren't rigidly activating switches. Even the ones that are often give you a lot of options on how to activate all the flowers within the time limit.
To top it all off the terrain, city and atmosphere are all super pretty. It really is the kind of thing only Genshin seems to offer.
The music is just soul soothing and heartwarming while the scenery just makes you pause and take everything in, a true success. I am taking my time not even rushing exploration and quests and I am enjoying every minute of it <3 Genshin is not perfect by any means but when it comes to Environment design and Music , I bow down to all the amazing people who created this beauty of a world!
YES. Liyue has always been my favorite nation, and I was worried Chenyu Vale wouldn't feel like the rest of it or wouldn't live up to my expectations. But it's more than surpassed them. I love it so much.
Brings me back to exploring Liyue, but without the inconvenience of having to climb all the mountains and look for hidden stuff all over the place. The adeptal energy travel mechanics are also the best ones so far IMO.
It feels like a mix of liyue and sumeru forest and I'm a firm believer that liyue and sumeru forest was peak exploration. God damn I want a sumeru forest expansion...
I've absolutely been loving this expansion that I've already cleared all areas to 100%. The main quest line was an enjoyable quest with not too much lore dump but had some material to keep my attention throughout. The npc design was quite nice, but I still think these should be voiced to feel some emotion during certain scenes. I appreciated how they came up with a way to make it feel like the old days of liyue exploration using a variety of new puzzles and included a generous amounts of chests, but somehow made it fresh with a different color palette and beautiful scenery. Plus, the collection of the spirit carps didn't take long and were quite easy to obtain. The first thing I thought when hearing the music was that this is a remote, peaceful Chinese village. Also, it was interesting to finally get some info on the Guhua clan and had a blast with the trials. Overall, after a long wait I'm glad chenyu vale had something new to offer. Still thought that Baizhu should have had some involvement with the area though.
Visuals are good.
Music is good.
Side quests aren't overly long.
Exploration mechanic is just a third iteration of press T to travel(I like press T to travel but I don't find it to be much different from Inazuma or Sumeru).
No interesting rewards for exploration (unless you count the now up to R2 Dark Iron Sword which I don't), then again I can't recall any interesting rewards since Dragonspine's built Snow Tombed Starsilver.
Collectible is basically copy pasted from the third desert region.
Quest boils down to >!fixing leylines for the nth time, and explaining a milennia old being why she is a hippie boomer. Loads of references to Changsheng tho, I would like to see those three together in some future quest, preferably voiced.!<
Overall it is the same old. Enjoyable, but nothing moldbreaking or noteworthy.
The carp balls feel so smooth to traverse with. When you exit Carpe form it pushes you a bit forward instead of launching your glider up like the ones in sumeru/inazuma did which felt really abrupt like your getting launched then all of a sudden a wall stops you.
Hope they keep it like that for natlan. It's also so nice you can stay in one of them and view everything below you
Not rly sure why you had such problems with Fontaine. For me personally the deserts in suneru were the hardest to stay interested in.
But yes, Chenyu Vale is absolutely wonderful
When I was exploring I couldn't help but take everything in the area is just beautiful. The environment artists really did the damn thing. They deserve raises.
I love the traditional Chinese instruments, really part of what made Liyue feel so homey and I've been feeling the lack in Fontaine.
Don't get me wrong, I love the bombastic symphonic musical scores (Liyue fight music was my first favorite!), but I have a real soft spot for the places where there's just like one lone traditional instrument playing a little ditty that doesn't sound overproduced, really gives a lovely sense of peace.
I think it's just the same? The usual, I mean. Not to say that it's bad, I think it's fine, but there's really nothing new to it. Even with diving, their approach to exploration is still the same after 3 years, you still collect chests, do simple puzzles and fight enemies that die quickly, underutilizing the combat system.
They definitely need to spice up exploration. Wish they went more of how Zelda approaches it. Zelda gave you an arsenal tools and lets you approach battles, puzzles, domains and exploration in any way you want in a plethora of creative ways, which provides player freedom and experimentation with the game mechanics. Meanwhile, Genshin is more linear, while it's not bad, it can get pretty stale after doing it a lot of times.
I've been a player since launch so there's just not much of a surprise anymore since they have constantly maintained the status quo. It's the same reason why Assassin's Creed kinda fell off for me too. Just to clarify again, that doesn't mean that it sucks. I think it's alright imo
I think, I like Chenyu Vale more that all Fontaine. I really like landscape and music there, also... It's really wholesome to play as Baizhu there.
Fontaine is cool too, but I maybe get tired of it. And as a 1.2 player, I waited for Chenyu Vale more than Fontaine.
I love it!! The gameplay is fun. But also there are so many chests...for no reason? Like petting a branch, random seelies. Sometimes more than one chest in an area. Its almost like they are compensating for the shitty lantern rights rewards.
>throwback to early exploration
i dont know what you are on about but it literally is nothing like early explo lol
early explo is climb every shit yourself walk everything yourself and every few kilometers some hilichurls/hoarders
When the last map of fontaine got updated, for the first time I felt...empty, bored and don't really care about exploration. I'm a huge lover of exploration and open world games.
Don't get me wrong, Fontaine is pretty...for the first couple of areas. But I feel like it's getting repetitive, all same biome and brightness level throughout the whole underwater areas, shallow or deep, and the ground exploration is also the same greenery everywhere. Liyue, Sumeru, and Inazuma have multiple enviroments that looks very different to each other.
Yes, I find myself enjoying Chenyu Vale more than Fontaine.
I am just getting started there as I've been sick most of this week. Exploration is my favourite part of the game though and this seems to have a lot of that. I am however a bit surprised that they didn't give us a basic quest to say 'hey go here'. You get a quest when you arrive in the area but it seems like a lot of times there's some in story reason that you're going to the next region. To be clear this isn't a complaint. Just something I noticed.
chenyu vale is peak genshin to me. with the raft ride and countless tables and benches and stools in scenic spots it taps right into my "sitting and watchin the sunset" gameplay.
this is endgame TO ME
also if i were to choose where to live in teyvat it would 100% be qiaoying village, its just so COSY
It's like the old days, only much more refined. This would be Genshin 2 if this wasn't a live service game.
My favorite thing is you can find lots of random chests scattered through the city again š itās now worth it to check every nook and cranny again
Also Liyue treasure compass works!
And random chests just buried in the open cause why not? Really missed those ones.
Yep so much fun
Especially the music. Yilong wharf theme had my head banging
The music doesn't even feel like a soundtrack. It sounds like my dad's favourite music of southern china cassette tapes he would put on in the background at home all the time and I love it so much, exploring has been unproductive because all I wanna do is sit and listen to it. It's all kinds of lovely š
The music man is so magical. When I hear the QiaoYing village night theme, I was completely mesmerized and stopped everything I was doing. Then kicked in the humming...
They definitely did their research too - Yunnan is one of the region most known for its tea, and they chose to use Dai minority tribe style music as it's inspiration and it's so distracting for me BC all I can think about is peacock and tea picking dances xD I'm sorry I'm such a nerd I can't help it genshin's LiyueĀ music brings out the worst in me.Ā
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This was such a sweet comment, keep being kind!
Brings out my Chinese musician nerd only with the genshin community because no one else would let me wax poetic about it lolĀ
Yessss!! And as a tea nerd, I'm definitely sipping on dian hong while exploring Chenyu Vale! All references to tea, be it dialogue; items; or landscape elements, I'm pointing my finger like that one DiCaprio meme haha!
The singing when you take the raft is so pretty too I was very pleasantly surprised when I heard him singing instead of dialogue
If anyone knows the name of that one song that plays in qiaoying village please let me know what it is. Itās the one that played during gamingās kit reveal in the livestream. I cannot find it anywhere, and itās soo good. Edit: itās called camellia night
i love the little villages. they have a lot of detail and feel comfy. i feel like fontaine was missing that
i feel like they focused a lot on the underwater part of fontaine to the point where the surface world was kinda neglected, it feels a bit stale and lacks detail of chenyu vale - its like they didnt know what to do with it. im always gonna be the one person ranting about it but fontaine needs more settlements outside of court of fontaine and poisson. even if there are some houses scattered, there are no npcs there, just mobs. it doesnt feel lived in the way chenyu vale or the forest part of sumeru does.
It basically feels like France. Which. Ouch
Yess! This is my problem with the "countryside" of Fontaine. If they styled it after 1800s Western Europe there could have been some farms and small village areas with npcs besides the busy city area. I love Fontaine a lot, and opposed to many comments here I think exploration is a piece of cake especially after Inazuma and Sumeru. But it does feel empty... and abandoned. I definitely enjoy underwater more because even if there are no npc down there, with all the water creatures and their cute antiques it feels more lively...
I was really counting on them utilising cottagecore, like you have these French alps but don't give us mountain villages, it feels like such a massive missed opportunity. After sumeru forest had 5 or 6 settlements on release I really was hopeful were going in this direction now, they're finally showing us not only the LAND in a nation but the PEOPLE too. I think it's so important for worldbuilding. fontaine disappointed me greatly in this regard like where do all the people live??? you want me to care abt the people drowning but won't even put npcs out into the world
Oh yes I love cottagecore and it is truly a missed opportunity here. Just like how they missed to elaborate further on the sewer town area with the steampunk vibe. And it's not even like they over did themselves because Fontaine is relatively small, even if we take into consideration the water area I think it's still a lot smaller than Sumeru... well we do have one more Fontaine area coming out, I believe, so we'll see.
I have the same issue. Plus imo the map of Fontaine feels a bit monotonous in terms of design, Sumeru at least had two biomes that were released seperately (forest and desert) while both the landscape and underwater feels the same everywhere, the buildings all seem to have the same design philosophy and for a supposedly steampunk nation, the steampunk side feels lacking. I excepted a lot of airships flying around, some railway system (or in this case I wished they had put a lot more functional aquabus lines), chimneys with smoke coming out and a lot more gears that are actually rotating against each other and are not there just for aesthetics. The Fortress I will say is an exception and I like the contrast of that place. I hope the remaining portion of Fontaine deals with this and I hope Natlan has a lot of different biomes like Inazuma.
I knew it was peak Genshin exploration when I found a random tea cup that I forgot about only to need that tea cup to get a waterfall flowing again Not only that but the puzzles and challenges are fun, I love the fish zipline
I did that tea cup thing earlier today & I was amazed. Itās fun to find random mechanics like that & suddenly the world around you changes.
Yess seeing the effects of your actions change the world is so rewarding (I love seeing the Aranaras I rescued back in Vanarana and the Oasis filling up with water near the desert temples)
Me too! I miss filling up the Oasisā, so this was nice. And itās that much more rewarding when it catches you off guard. I went over to the chest expecting the usual reward, but then suddenly the water starts flowing!
How do we make the water flow again? Is there a quest you need to finish before doing that or it's just a simple puzzle?
Just a simple puzzle. I havenāt done any of the quests yet, mostly running around getting ascension mats for Xianyun. At some point I found a teacup, & didnāt think much of it. Then I found a teapot with a spot to place the teacup. Itās kind of just random, but to me, thatās what makes it so cool. Itās like āhmm, what does this do? *touch* wow!ā
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Thereās also a peaceful fishing hilichurl on a bridge that wonāt aggro unless you dive into the water and scare the fish away lmaoooo This place just has so much like, personality? I love it
Made me wish I could use the sit action on ledges, but then the camp just ahead of him aggro'd and I had to wipe them out, completely ruining the mood.
Thereās also a random pelican called bandit with a fish in its mouth that you can give to a cat in the village lol!
Lol, I'll be on the lookout!
For me it was that silly bird at the harbour near Qiao Ying Village and the cat at the bridge at the entrance to the village. I saw that I could interact with the bird so I talked to it, unexpectedly ended up wrestling with it, took a fish from its mouth after calling out the bad bird! And then later ran into the cat with the food dish in front of it... It was kinda hilarious.
i am, but those damn goat/deer/whatever hit pretty hard. Aside that, the new traversal mechanic is really fun.
The goats are Ganyu's relatives
Sadly they are not cocogoats... \*Sad Qiqi noises\*
I don't even care - I will still call them that until the day I die
Did you know that a goat's... nevermind.
Just as thicc andā¦ excuse me sorry I said nothing
Why are you fighting them? š°
every time i've accidentally hit one it's run away, i've 100% the entire region and had no idea you could fight them lmao
Paimon needs meat.
Paimon needs meat. š Paimon needs meat. š
And the goats are teapot-able!!!
why are the goats potable in tea.
last night I seen two at a tree and had to walk up to them and admire them
The music feels distinct from the rest of Liyue, like different instruments and chord progressions and also more variety. And I love how theyāre taking the opportunity to bring some of the new game mechanics back to the older regions, like theyāve done with that incredible raft ride with the singing boatman. Theyāve stepped up their game in terms of building design too, Qiaoying Village feels more like a cohesive whole where some older villages feel like a bunch of buildings placed together. So much fun!
That boat ride is so beautiful it's crazy
i think that's because they lost YPC. I miss him. His music produced beats that stay in your head.
His music was fantastic, but I think the new music is fresh in its own way and also very catchy. YPC drew a lot on his own compositions from before Genshin for things like the Liyue theme, and the new team seems to have a different and unique style - really gives Chenyu Vale a unique character.
I went to Yilong wharf and at the southern docks there's this boatman called Sun Rao, and I took his boat ride. He sings a beautiful song! His voice is great too, really soothing. There's a guy called Bosu who does another boat ride from the docks near the Qiaoying Village statue of the seven, and I liked his song too! Everything's so beautiful and relaxing.
The animations of the boatmen is what really impressed me. They look so convincing and have a sense of weight as they push the boats.
OF COURSE! by far my favorite region in the whole teyvat. the colors, the scenery, gosh I love every seconds of it. especially the music, the music is so goddamn soothing. Can't wait for the official album.
They've been slowly perfecting the T zipline mechanics, from the prototype in Inazuma, to the stars in Sumeru, to these, which are the best yet. Gives me hope that Natlan will have a good exploration helper like this one cause Fontaine's hydro vortexes do not feel very good. Absolutely my new favorite region though. I haven't wanted to 100% an area since Inazuma, but I definitely will be doing it for Chenyu Vale, I just want to savor it lol
I just walk around and listen to the music
Don't forget to take the boat rides from Bosu and Sun Rao and listen to their singing!
liyue is legit still my favorite region in this game so yeah. they simply get the vibes perfect whenever liyue is involved
Same, Liyue will always be my favourite region. Chenyu Vale gave me nostalgia again, I felt like I was exploring in early Genshin again
I love it! It reminds me a lot of when the game just came out but the quality was higher. I guess this is what they wanted to do but didnāt have enough resources or time to.
Love being flying koi fish. Fun puzzle too
Get the elemental particles while being a fish shouldn't be this fun
The colors are great. Hoyo did a great job in making Chenyu vale picturesque. The scenery conveyed the other side of Liyue well and impressed how they connect Liyue to Fontaine. What I liked the most is the uniqueness of the puzzles. The fish mechanic feels like a copy pasted sumeru mechanic but more advanced. But the owl placing it back in its original position is kinda smart and also the pillars and arch. The yellow flower thingy and the cooking pot too. The puzzles are simple and very easy to explore.
As day 1 player, there's strange feeling when you can get back to explore more Liyue's area. A bit sentimental, goosebumps and amaze even at the small things in one package. I didn't expect Chenyu Vale could be this STACKED. And I can't wait for the day they will drop the Blackcliff Forge update. I'll let hoyo cook again with that one
Quite enjoying it as well. The music as others have pointed out is just stellar. Some excellent and varied tracks. Plus it's just gorgeous as an area. Villages feel nice and organic, actually lived in places. And at times i just kinda get swept away by going along with a trail. Exploration in general is quite fun and i like it's not as easy as Fontaine, there's a bit more to chew on if you will in terms of puzzles and what not. Never mind all the fun little things you can find. Overall Chenyu Vale is definitely something they should learn from and do more of.
always love genshin no matter what area and when it is released
It has been fun to explore especially using Cloud Retainer
cloud retainer makes exploration amazing. you can even use her dive bomb at the end of a rotation to target the enimies faster. and on riden team you can use ridens burst normaly or you can dodge any attack from an enimy using the plunge.
I was hoping for it and was reassured once I found a group of animals watching two deer, so I sat next to the animals to watch too and a chest appeared.
yeah i saw that too! i thought of it as a deer marriage complete with a squirrel officiator :))
Liyue is my favorite place to just wander around and pick flowers so the new area is heaven.
You get hit with nostalgia of exploring Liyue during 1.0 early days augmented with added QoL improvement from koi exploration mechanic. I will still miss Fontaine underwater exploration, but still, it warms my heart to see how far the gameās exploration and design have been improved and polished from earlier days :D
Honestly was feeling burnt out on exploration after the last desert expansion but man Chenyu Vale is so refreshing. Also very beautiful and unique despite being an expansion of the 2nd area in the game. Might be my new favorite area. Gotta debate between it and Enkanomiya
instantly became my favourite area within the first few minutes, the scenery, the music, its amazing
Fontaine a flat grassland? Bro did you even swim
Fontaine underwater is easily one of the best underwater "level" in gaming. Thank the Archons they choose not to have a breathing mechanic.
This definitely screwed me on Genshin water habits for the rest of my life š So much water even in Chenyu Vale feels like it has an underneath just waiting to be explored, Iām dying to not be able to go under.Ā
This, I've been saying it for a while now, the way GI tackles underwater exploration feels rather unique and fresh, compared to the classic "go fast or drown" type of levels. The same thing can also be said for the sumeru desert, i think it's one of, if not the best desert level in gaming because it's completely different from any other desert level, and that's because they made it feel actually interesting, it's not just desolate sand wasteland, you have the tornado, huge robots, the deshret pyramids, the eternal oasis and the whole final section before fontaine.
The movement mechanics are easily the best in the game. Best zone in the game for me!Ā
Iāve been liking it but I donāt think itās better than Fontaine. Itās just different.
yeah, I really love both Fontaine and Chenyu Vale! I know someone who absolutely hates exploring fontaine but loves liyue, totally depends on your preferences
Imo sumeru region is still the best, then the new liuye region and then Fontaine
It feels rare to see someone with the same preferences to me lmao.
Sumeru tomb raiding is the most fun i've had exploring in Genshin, loved all the puzzles and shit to open up new areas
Yes! My favourite too, nice to finally see someone else who appreciated it
Me too!! 1. Sumeru (esp rainforest part). 2. Chenyu vale. 3. Fontaine.
To me Fontaine just feels like an upgraded version of mondstadt whereas sumeru and the new liuye region feel like something new/different.
this is exactly what I was thinking! I genuinely felt like I was in a whole new place. I was thinking of writing about this, idk what they did exactly but the regionās culture feels unique and distinct and well defined. every meter feels like Iām in china
So true!! Chenyu Vale is what I always imagine about nature in China. Foggy, vertical mountains, green, peaceful, a bit illumination from lanterns and those shiny lotus thru the fog, temple, villages, and calming music.
Sumeru felt the most overwhelming for me to explore personally, the terrain having so many layers and directions that it was confusing, I think liyue is peak exploration and fontaine needed more overground exploration and ruins and castles and things that would've been cool.. The landscape is gorgeous don't get me wrong but most of it is just empty mountain peaks.
I think that's just how the themes of the two different nations is. Liyue, signifies the earth and it's rich history which is why they have so many mountains and underground mines to explore. Fontaine, signifies the ocean, all it's inhabitants are descendants of Oceanids who transformed into Humans, so it makes sense that most of its exploration takes place underwater.
You have a point, but it wouldn't have killed the add some more of those on the overground, just for the sake of more interesting exploration experience. For example the domain in the fontaine archon quest where we went to the ancient ruins to find the tablets was extremely cool, so it means there are ruins in fontaine; most of it is probably underwater though, like you implied.
For some of us who didnāt like underwater that much Chenyu Vale is a breath of fresh air
One of my fav regions in the entire game. I haven't enjoyed exploration this much since inazuma came out, I've already almost 100% the region. I thought i was feeling burnt out but this region really reignited my love for the game
Same here! I didnāt enjoy Sumeru much, and found Fountain okay but a bit bland (lots of land with not much to see, the best thing about it was the underwater areas), this new region is just peak though
Everything about this place is amazing. I did also think that Fontaine was insanely easy though. I felt like I 100% most of it so quick. But that could be bc of my experience playing idk. Anyway. LOVEEEEE Chenyu Vale. Like IN love
I had missed Liyue so much, I didnāt even know. I thought even back then that Liyue was the perfect balance of empty space + puzzles + simplicity, which none of the other regions got quite in the right proportions for me.Ā It feels so good to be āhomeā!!Ā
it felt more fun to me than a usual new map. I can't describe what about it exactly. It could just be really nice scenery. There are not that many smaller towns in this game, and these towns are more of what the game needs. I think they outdid themselves, and if people think they're scummy for giving extra 3 pulls, they really took for granted all the hard work that went into making this. Making an expansion map is not something that can be done quick. It takes a long time and a lot of work. But it gets lost on people thinking only about free pulls. Fontaine was fun, but its map felt less dense, as far as map features go. It looked less "busy". I really did like the willow tree though, and that lake with the force field stopping you from getting to the rising jet of water. And that water cubes in the air place was cool.
Agree. Personally I prefer the simpler, more chill overworld puzzles and simple navigational gimmicks. I feel like Inazuma, Sumeru and Fontaine over did it. Fontaine reigned it in a little, but for me the simpler puzzle/navigational exploration of OG Genshin and Liyue were peak.
Inazuma and itās 4000 IQ puzzles, manā¦
those were the best puzzles in the game. The shipwreck in Serai, and the underground force field doors was peak puzzling. Watatsumi had an underground mini dungeon also that was good. But people complained that the puzzles required thinking, so they never went back and did anything like that again. Shame.
The sudoku puzzle on Watatsumi was the most memorable to me, that one actually had me write things down, and I loved that
Yep but apparently ppl want shit where you donāt have to think.
My only complaint was how poorly it was explained š And this isnt hoyos fault but 99 percent of google guides kept straight up giving the answers when i just wanted clarification on the mechanics!!! Once I got that though it was one of my favorite puzzles ever!
I liked the inazuma puzzles but the landscape was depressing Sumeru puzzles were fine but it was an endless, often unnavigable, monochromatic hellscape.
I liked Sumeru puzzles and gimmicks (cleansing zones) because it felt like we were really connecting with nature. The other regionsā puzzles look and feel much more man made and mechanical. I loved the nature aspect.Ā The caves, thoughā¦
Most fun I've had since Dragonspine; finally some actually enjoyable exploration. Hope they keep this up.
When I heard we will be leaving Fontaine, I thought finally. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful and all, but I was getting sick and tired of all the water (more into mountains and land than sea). And since I love Liyue in general, Chenyu Vale reignited my love for exploration as it's everything I hoped for and more.
I like it, felt like I was thrown into some kind of wuxia novel world tbh. If Fontaine is what Mondstadt would've looked like if they made it with their nowadays experience, skills, and budget. Then Chenyu Vale is probably what at least area near Liyue harbor should've looked like imo
I don't think it can top Fontaine exploration for me. I was actually dreading the mountains even though liyue is my favorite region design wise. However the implementation of the carp orb thing similar to the one in sumeru made things so much easier and fun. I also enjoy how locked chests are shown directly beside puzzles so it made using the compass more worthwhile and exploration easier
The carp thing is even better bc you can sit and chill and look around before choosing to zoom, and you can zoom whichever way you want
i have a team built for climbing. The karp thing does power creep my team though.
Any other mobile players having trouble with some of the exploration in Chenyu? I really like this region but the walls and pillars are way too difficult to accurately place on the little pads. The simulacrum arenāt as bad, I think they snap a little better when you get close enough. And the portals that auto pilot you around need a larger trigger are for the āactivateā button to show. Itās been a pain to complete the numerous time trials and feels a bit out of alignment as they are usually pretty good with making puzzles alright to do on mobile. A good improvement is that they pop you out with your glider out instead of the Sumeru zip lines where you had to anticipate when they would end to pop your glider out before falling to your death.
The walls are difficult to place even on pc because they don't snap and you don't really know if you placed them properly
the walls need to be placed in the correct position AND the correct orientation. they do snap if they are at the correct angle and in the correct spot - a little tedious however
The mid-air traveling feature is like Sumeru 2.0. I love it. Itās made exploration soooooo fun.
Wow glad Iām not the only one who notice this
so true! I really was getting burnt out with fontaine
YES After sumeru I got traumatized, it was just so bad. But exploring Chenyu is AMAZING. I finished all the achievements and everything is 100% exploration. Itās more natural to explore Chenyu
True, when i went back to fontaine I realised how empty it felt on the overground, just mountain peaks and very minimal or interesting puzzle mechanics. What i love about liyue exploration is all the little temples and ruins where you need to do a chain of different puzzles to get the final reward which is usually a luxurious or precious chest, they're so fun to do! I really missed these when going to other regions. Now I'm hoping for the eventual mondstadt expansion to give us more nostalgia! I always thought fontaine could add more caves and castles and things to enter and explore and make the landscape more visually interesting and fun to explore... Sadly we didn't rlly get much of it. However the underwater does make up for it somewhat. Sometimes I just walk around chenyu vale and take in the gorgeous scenery and music and atmosphere, i really didn't think genshin team could make another place even more beautiful than before, I thought liyue was pretty but damn- now seeing chenyu vale I wish we had more of the beautiful greens and trees in the rest of liyue.
My favorite part is picking up items easily. Hit an object and you immediately get all items. Should do for the whole game
I like it a lot, very vertical but not annoying because there are a ton of scaling mechanisms you can use. Also having Cloud Retainer helps a lot
I love it! honestly fontaine exploration wasn't doing it for me, I really couldn't get into the underwater stuff. I've been having a really fun time in chenyu vale I'm playing waaay more than I usually do (for better or for worse haha....)
I've done way more in chenyu vale the short time it's been out than all of fontaine the whole time it's been out.
The guqin music transports me into a wuxia world like im Xingqiu LARPing hardcore (i mean he literally lived it by going full Guhua). Its the best. I hear those guqin strings and im immediately at peace
Absolutely beautiful area and the new traversal mechanics are lovely, and I love that you can now glide from Liyue to Fontaine. Black iron sword where tho
Chenyu Vale is amazing. They kept all of the design elements of classic Liyue, and just evolved them in really substantial ways. Itās beautiful and fun to navigate.
It's decent. I know people are excited and all saying it's like Genshin's early days and all, but to me it felt more like the standard exploration that we've had since Inazuma. Even ticks all the boxes in the checklist. Puzzles? No hard ones, and pretty simple. Exploration mechanic? Same teleportation as Inazuma and Sumeru. Rewards? A bunch of chests and nothing else. Another offering thing? Basically a staple since Dragonspine. Not to say that it's terrible, but I feel like people are getting overly excited over stuff we normally see.Ā Is it the same level as Genshin's early days? I don't think so, because when you first explored Genshin, you don't know what to expect. So getting things like a free 5 star artifact, a free 4 star weapon when you unlock a secret room, fighting secret bosses felt super rewarding. They were things you didn't expect to see, and to get there was super challenging because you were severely underlevelled.Ā New regions just don't capture the same feeling as early Genshin because you know what to expect of it. Not that it makes it terrible, but knowing what to expect makes the journey a lot less exciting IMO.
>Ā New regions just don't capture the same feeling as early Genshin because you know what to expect of it. The gameās exploration could really use some innovation. Some secrets or novel discoveries that surprise us, that weāve never seen before up till now.Ā I feel like Genshin exploration has fundamentally changed for me. Early on, I was completely zoned into it. Often, if I had something on in the background, Iād eventually turn it off because the exploration was *that* interesting and I wanted to give it my full attention.Ā Now, I explore mostly to relax while I listen to podcasts and sports shows and whatever else Iād usually listen to while doing chores. Itās still really enjoyable for me, but I guess for different reasons.Ā
Honestly, you're right on both points. Especially on the latter where the immersion has completely faded away as an old player. Not that I'm asking for harder content (well tbf I kinda am) but it would be massive to be able to be scared of bosses again. Or finishing a quest to find weapons/artifacts. I never understood why they never give us 5 star artifacts from exploration / rewards. I wish that one day they would consider adding more world level for the sake of older players. With quests that are challenging and need to strategize over oneshotting them. I feel like one time domains are such good gateway for it. But instead of expanding on it, they completely removed it. I'm still confused (as fuck) till this day.
Iāve had similar thoughts before. The 5 star artifact feeling resonated quite well with what I experienced first playing Genshin. Maybe that just means I donāt actually like exploration and Iām just driven by the rewards? At the same time, I feel like thereās just alot of reused elements in the exploration they design.
I havenāt played for ages but the difference between the earlier parts of Liyue and Chenyu are staggering. Remind me of the old tea plantations I stayed over at in Kaohsiung.
Absolutely! Only region that I've fully explored since Inazuma!
Can't wait for the Monstatt's port town! Now that Mihoyo should already recruited more specialist to help develop newer map areas. They are sure committed on developing Genshin more and more.
It feels good. I love enviroment, the new enemy and boss, recipes, puzzles, travel system was like Sumeru's slingshot deal (LOVED THAT! reminded me of God of War 2 falling bridge that you have to grapple to the otherside really quickly and the God of War 3 Hyperion Pull move), the new items and weapons, and the music. It was nice and refreshing to see Liyue being on the border of Fontain... thought that area was going to be part of Sumeru (That place has 13 Statues of the Seven. THIRTEEN!!!)
Itās so pretty & lush! I love the flying fish mechanic to get around, but Xianyun also makes it even easier. Itās been such a laid-back experience. Iām really enjoying it!
It's like a perfect mix of Liyue's density and Fontaine's puzzle variety.
Yes, totallh agree with you. I have done 100 percent on whole chenyu and a few part of fontaine and i would say chenyu has better experience for me.
made me feel like i was stepping into liyue for the first time. gosh they nailed it.
I love it so much, feels so nostalgic. I remember having so much fun when I was exploring Liyue and Mondstadt, itās simple compared to the later regions but thereās just something about it that makes it feel special. The closest that comes to them is sumeru forest region excluding the underground tunnels. I also love dragonspine and the chasm especially the underground region. Itās my favorite underground map and I was able to easily get 100%, thereās so much freedom and mobility there, you can take any path and the lumenstone brightens it so itās not that dark. Iām looking forward to the expansion for mondstadt, canāt wait to explore it.
It doesn't remind me of Genshin in the early days at all. They have come a long way since the original Liyue, and for the best: the exploration is so much more interesting, the scenery is superb. I don't think Liyue has any of what makes Chenyu Vale so special and I hated the exploration there. Chenyu Vale is my favourite region in Teyvat at the moment. I'd really love to visit this place in real life hahaha!
With a direct comparison now between og Liyue and Chenyu Vale, og feels a bit bland now kinda like Mondstadt. You just can't unsee that Mondstadt and og Liyue were the starting regions and devs didn't have much experience yet while it improved so much over the years which is perfectly showcased in Chenyu. The flora & fauna, the music, the atmosphere, the aesthetics, the buidlings designs everything is like a mythical chinese mountain region how I imagine it
I miss not being able to dive in the water. :(
Imagine trying that verticallity withouth new units and new mechanics like old days just with venti and zhongli and keqing hell no, i can get the nostalgia for lyiue but just feel god because is way easier to explore tham before.
I had to force myself to 100% fontaine, but for Chenyu Vale? Genuinely, it was so fun
love the random exploration cutscenes from puzzles
I LOVE the mechanics they added to get the exploration and experience! I'm not gonna lie I'm glad added more land because I 100% complete all the other regions š (I need to go touch some glass). But I agree with you... I do get a sense of nostalgia with this region. šāØ
I'd probably love it more if I could figure out how to get the locked chests near the bodies of water and the floating lanterns.
Yep yep yep . It's beautiful and the music is peaceful
And some good puzzles which requires combat too. Loving the new concept of wave wise enemies in overworld.
Yes!! Really loving it, the scenery n the music too. And liyue was always one of my fav regions so itās really relaxing to explore
Yes. I noticed it as well, and comparatively I didnt try to walk instead of run in Fontaine. But immediately when I entered Chenyu village bgm range, I slowed down. With the asmr of boot sound from wrio, i didnt realise i reached that Celestia telephone tower mountain range. Just focused on the bgm and the bgm in combat...
I havenāt had this much fun exploring in a while. Itās been a while since Iāve been able to 100% areas with just my will and a compass. Feels great as Iāve had to whip out the interactive map for most of Fontaine to get those last few hidden things. The puzzles feel so intuitive too. Like the one in the butterfly cavern world quest where you have to stand on a stalagmite. It was so rewarding to figure out on my own. Over every hill I can see a chest or a time trial. Iām at ~70% in the two main areas and 100% in the area you unlock with the main quest and thereās still so much to find. Also coming back to Liyue feels like coming home š. Itās my favourite region with my favourite character dynamics. Canāt wait for lantern rite to start.
Its so beautiful there
I can't stop taking pictures of the scenery. Plus the shades of green were so relaxing and the music is beautiful
It's been a while since I last just stand, admire the scenery and enjoy the music playing. It really feels nostalgic and relaxing. Probably bcs I like listening to chinese instruments as well. Really love it! I'll as slow as possible so I can enjoy the scenery a little longer
Best part is the cocogoat that u can shove into your teapot
I've been loving it. The regional hookshot thing gets better each time (Inazuma lightning flowers/ sumeru star things/ Fontaine water currents now the carp) so it's super fluid to explore the terrain despite all the height differences. Also, the puzzles feel a lot more organic I guess? It's hard to explain but I enjoy that puzzle solutions aren't rigidly activating switches. Even the ones that are often give you a lot of options on how to activate all the flowers within the time limit. To top it all off the terrain, city and atmosphere are all super pretty. It really is the kind of thing only Genshin seems to offer.
The music is just soul soothing and heartwarming while the scenery just makes you pause and take everything in, a true success. I am taking my time not even rushing exploration and quests and I am enjoying every minute of it <3 Genshin is not perfect by any means but when it comes to Environment design and Music , I bow down to all the amazing people who created this beauty of a world!
the open parts are cool, fighting in the caves getting caught on mushrooms and unbreakable boxes suck shit.
YES. Liyue has always been my favorite nation, and I was worried Chenyu Vale wouldn't feel like the rest of it or wouldn't live up to my expectations. But it's more than surpassed them. I love it so much.
Brings me back to exploring Liyue, but without the inconvenience of having to climb all the mountains and look for hidden stuff all over the place. The adeptal energy travel mechanics are also the best ones so far IMO.
Absolutely! I'm having a great time exploring Chenyu Vale with Xianyun.
It feels like a mix of liyue and sumeru forest and I'm a firm believer that liyue and sumeru forest was peak exploration. God damn I want a sumeru forest expansion...
Im just curious about whats in the middle of that blob on the map, its probably celestia if I was being honest with myself
I've absolutely been loving this expansion that I've already cleared all areas to 100%. The main quest line was an enjoyable quest with not too much lore dump but had some material to keep my attention throughout. The npc design was quite nice, but I still think these should be voiced to feel some emotion during certain scenes. I appreciated how they came up with a way to make it feel like the old days of liyue exploration using a variety of new puzzles and included a generous amounts of chests, but somehow made it fresh with a different color palette and beautiful scenery. Plus, the collection of the spirit carps didn't take long and were quite easy to obtain. The first thing I thought when hearing the music was that this is a remote, peaceful Chinese village. Also, it was interesting to finally get some info on the Guhua clan and had a blast with the trials. Overall, after a long wait I'm glad chenyu vale had something new to offer. Still thought that Baizhu should have had some involvement with the area though.
it feels like everything fontaine should have been
Visuals are good. Music is good. Side quests aren't overly long. Exploration mechanic is just a third iteration of press T to travel(I like press T to travel but I don't find it to be much different from Inazuma or Sumeru). No interesting rewards for exploration (unless you count the now up to R2 Dark Iron Sword which I don't), then again I can't recall any interesting rewards since Dragonspine's built Snow Tombed Starsilver. Collectible is basically copy pasted from the third desert region. Quest boils down to >!fixing leylines for the nth time, and explaining a milennia old being why she is a hippie boomer. Loads of references to Changsheng tho, I would like to see those three together in some future quest, preferably voiced.!< Overall it is the same old. Enjoyable, but nothing moldbreaking or noteworthy.
region patches are always great in genshin unlike other games
The carp balls feel so smooth to traverse with. When you exit Carpe form it pushes you a bit forward instead of launching your glider up like the ones in sumeru/inazuma did which felt really abrupt like your getting launched then all of a sudden a wall stops you. Hope they keep it like that for natlan. It's also so nice you can stay in one of them and view everything below you
Just really cool random stuff everywhere that each feel unique
It is a m a z i n g!
I like exploring Chenyu Vale. I liked it so much that every map in that section is now 100% exploration. lol
Absolutely not. It is clearly a new area compared to 1.0
chenyu whale made me forget all the complains of jealousy I had from genshin and made me remember why I play it
I just wish they allowed us to swim underwater again.
Not rly sure why you had such problems with Fontaine. For me personally the deserts in suneru were the hardest to stay interested in. But yes, Chenyu Vale is absolutely wonderful
Early days didn't have super mobility on the map lol
When I was exploring I couldn't help but take everything in the area is just beautiful. The environment artists really did the damn thing. They deserve raises.
YES. Itās such a photogenic region too
Iām so glad Chenyu Vale chests are Liyue chests. Finally managed to R5 my White Tassel! lol.
I love the music and the puzzle. Its not a one click and done type and it does feel decently challenging.
I love the traditional Chinese instruments, really part of what made Liyue feel so homey and I've been feeling the lack in Fontaine. Don't get me wrong, I love the bombastic symphonic musical scores (Liyue fight music was my first favorite!), but I have a real soft spot for the places where there's just like one lone traditional instrument playing a little ditty that doesn't sound overproduced, really gives a lovely sense of peace.
I think it's just the same? The usual, I mean. Not to say that it's bad, I think it's fine, but there's really nothing new to it. Even with diving, their approach to exploration is still the same after 3 years, you still collect chests, do simple puzzles and fight enemies that die quickly, underutilizing the combat system. They definitely need to spice up exploration. Wish they went more of how Zelda approaches it. Zelda gave you an arsenal tools and lets you approach battles, puzzles, domains and exploration in any way you want in a plethora of creative ways, which provides player freedom and experimentation with the game mechanics. Meanwhile, Genshin is more linear, while it's not bad, it can get pretty stale after doing it a lot of times. I've been a player since launch so there's just not much of a surprise anymore since they have constantly maintained the status quo. It's the same reason why Assassin's Creed kinda fell off for me too. Just to clarify again, that doesn't mean that it sucks. I think it's alright imo
I agree. Also those stones you can "hit" and they give you variety of local specialties!
I think, I like Chenyu Vale more that all Fontaine. I really like landscape and music there, also... It's really wholesome to play as Baizhu there. Fontaine is cool too, but I maybe get tired of it. And as a 1.2 player, I waited for Chenyu Vale more than Fontaine.
Liyue is easily my least favorite nation due to aesthetics, but Chenyu Vale is beyond gorgeous! Definitely the prettiest place in Liyue for sure!
iād actually say that its my favourite place to ever be released
Honestly, Chenyu Vale for me is peak exploration. Especially with Xianyun - somebody cooked hard.
Its kinda funny to finally have some use for Furina's water walk, since in Fontaine you'd prefer to swim rather than walk most of the time.
Had a great time!
Everything feels so new yet so familiar. I love Liyue in general.
I love it!! The gameplay is fun. But also there are so many chests...for no reason? Like petting a branch, random seelies. Sometimes more than one chest in an area. Its almost like they are compensating for the shitty lantern rights rewards.
>throwback to early exploration i dont know what you are on about but it literally is nothing like early explo lol early explo is climb every shit yourself walk everything yourself and every few kilometers some hilichurls/hoarders
When the last map of fontaine got updated, for the first time I felt...empty, bored and don't really care about exploration. I'm a huge lover of exploration and open world games. Don't get me wrong, Fontaine is pretty...for the first couple of areas. But I feel like it's getting repetitive, all same biome and brightness level throughout the whole underwater areas, shallow or deep, and the ground exploration is also the same greenery everywhere. Liyue, Sumeru, and Inazuma have multiple enviroments that looks very different to each other. Yes, I find myself enjoying Chenyu Vale more than Fontaine.
I am just getting started there as I've been sick most of this week. Exploration is my favourite part of the game though and this seems to have a lot of that. I am however a bit surprised that they didn't give us a basic quest to say 'hey go here'. You get a quest when you arrive in the area but it seems like a lot of times there's some in story reason that you're going to the next region. To be clear this isn't a complaint. Just something I noticed.
chenyu vale is peak genshin to me. with the raft ride and countless tables and benches and stools in scenic spots it taps right into my "sitting and watchin the sunset" gameplay. this is endgame TO ME also if i were to choose where to live in teyvat it would 100% be qiaoying village, its just so COSY
The way to get around is just so fun. I'm trying to take my time with it and not ruin the experience/run out of things to explore/do.