I think player many not realize why Genshin still on top 10 is never about because of their gender ratio. Its always about character relevancy and interaction. Even the latest summer event had all Fontaine including some popular npc albeit some of them is cameo but voiced. Now the Moonchase even with how funny Zibai and Zhongli lol. next patch is the most economical for Genshin. Everyone will involved.
Not just that, the presentation just continues to get better. The scene in restaurant with Danica where her dialogues change based on your actions, and the coin fight
When I talk about how involving old characters and making the story not just like a date/121 actually helps the world feel alive, I get told "Not everything has to be like Genshin." And I'm just like bro, that's not a Genshin thing. That's a story thing. 95% of stories told in a serialised fashion have a recurring cast of characters. And when they don't there's usually some other artistic value they're going for instead. As opposed to monetary concern about selling one character.
It’s hilarious when you bring up the importance of ensemble recurring casts adding depth to characters and you get people brushing it off saying not every story has to be like “hoyos”. Like bruh, play any actual jrpg and you’d realize hoyo is just really inspired by jrpg stories .
This is exactly why I adore the Anecdote feature that gives you a quick look at what x character is up to today, even without it being tied to the main story. It's very slice-of-life, like I enjoy getting a peek at whatever new stupidity Itto got himself into from time to time.
The fact that u can always just see the meeting point characters even outside any quests is so awesome, i love seeing odette and her dancers on the stage and flins doing random shit on his island
I've been begging Hoyo for things like anecdotes for yeaaaars. I'm glad they're doing them more. I wish the characters that are playable were in the overworld all the time as NPCs. We don't even need voice for them outside of the anecdotes, just about living their lives. The next level would be for characters to actually be at the place they say they will on their birthdays.
The anecdote feature really is incredible for making the world feel alive. I especially love when other characters are out in the wild. Makes me feel like they do their own exploring too and it's a nice surprise.
I mean if I have to choose between a game that does good after sale and a game that does not, I would choose the former. And Genshin double down on having more interaction with the characters since they introduced travelogue and meeting points. Even 1.1 character like Childe gets tons of anecdotes, it’s reassuring that your character has higher chances of not being completely abandoned. Justice for Emilie though.
Adding to the list, Genshin also does their low rarity characters justice. Many are still relevant in meta like Bennett, Chevreuse, Iansan, Faruzan, etc., and they also get plenty of screentime (well, most of them anyway. some are not so lucky). Heck, even Heizou who doesn't have a big role in the main story and isnt meta, has SO MANY anecdotes available to him, even more than five stars.
It makes the world feel more... natural.
Also customers have more sense of security. Their favorite characters most likely will still have content down the road even if they're no longer new.
Emilie birthday art this year is so barebones if you compare it to albedo’s, ayaka’s. I legit thought they just put her 3d model a’la zzz birthday art too lmao
I do think tbf to WuWa that the story approach they take are still stories, it's just YMMV on how much you enjoy that type of self-insert super centralized main character type story. It clearly has an audience. That said, for me as well, not really a fan. One of my favorite things about HSR was with Amphoreus the way so many of the characters had these deep long-standing relationships with each other completely independent of us such that you could clearly understand what they were up to before we got there. Whereas when I was playing WuWa there were chars I liked where it was still like okay but what are you doing when we're not there?
You gotta give HSR its plaudits on this one too, if they're going to get slandered for the SPs. The SPs exist because they do focus heavily on integrating preexisting characters into the story. Obviously they could just integrate the old characters and have new characters as well such that they don't need SPs, but at that point, it's either way too many characters to give proper development to, or they don't have anything to put on banner.
It still ties to gender in one way or another, because here, every character is given a chance to shine, including the male casts. Like, comparing how male characters are treated in terms of screen time and plot relevancy in Genshin or HSR to other gacha games like WuWa or even Endfield is like night and day. They had an entire event dedicated to Benett, the recent AQ had the male casts play a crucial role in the story, especially Pierro.
I can't even remember the last time a male character in WuWa had any sort of plot relevancy or even an added screentime beyond a couple of cameos and cutscenes since maybe Jiyan. Even Herseen, the guy marketed the most towards the ladies had the shortest story quest in the game.
Genshin 6.0 - 7.0 has like 80+ hours of voiced content (since they do a substantial amount of voiced content outside main story) along with the open-world, major world quests, and side-content such as TCG/Teapot/Miliastra Wonderland. Also decently optimised.
Yeah it also funny some players complains about world quest in Szesnaya is so fucking tragic they want atleast a happy ending but no Tsaritsa story got a tragic ending too.
and I also think that Genshin is still one the best (if not the best) regarding of how they involves their NPC to their world building and story. from like Lepine Pauline level to Ninnin and Zeitlind level (have their dedicated story as a world quest).
I love that Genshin somehow make use of their NPC to the point that some of them is basically has dedicated fanbase because of just how good and memorable they are.
Teyvat is feel so alive thanks to them. like I can just blindly go to Tsurumi island and instantly remember about Ruu :(
I loved how they included Zeitlind in this anniversary thingy - sure it's outside thing but I like how they remember about her (but please let us meet her on the road).
Someone give me playable Ikhor or I would cry. Like he’s the second most appealing character design wise in the game for me and he’s gone just like that, I can’t.
Yeah, it really shows how much passion Genshin devs have for their game's worldbuilding. It's not perfect but still wonderful.
It's not just about selling 350$ chairs and pushing only playable characters crying stories, but overall Teyvat storyline. Not just playable characters are highlighted but NPCs too. Sure, some lore is very hidden only in books but most of them are getting revealed and explained in the story later.
World Quests are always free and doesn't promote as brute ads to make you pull the playable chars, they show Teyvat stories where NPCs are the main characters alongside the MC. Some event stories are also NPCs centered.
Nearly all 120 playable chars are still appearing to this day in new quests and in the future we can expect all characters appearing to prepare to the endgame. It's so epic and motivating.
This isn't a truth nuke. People keep using this tired insult. Anyone worth their salt knows people are still dissatisfied with how characters are treated in Wuwa. There's thousands of complaint posts about removing character stories in MQ and bring back companion quests due to how story is. 3.5-3.7 has very mixed reviews.
Imo character stories in main quest(in wuwa case its companion quest) can work fine if the character quest actually make the main quest progress instead of feeling out of place
Of course its easier said than done, even Genshin had some mixed review too (like nefer or ayaka if you wanna go wayyy back)
Considering Wuwa is currently "selling" a $350 chair, I fail to see how it isn't about Wuwa.
And I also find the company insanely funny with their delusional fanbase because there isn't even a housing system. It's a chair for taking photos... on the highest tier of a spending event.
Also selling SMS emotes and themes for a shitty SMS system you "message" characters on. At this point I can only laugh.
Genshin's devs have been clever in how they keep previous areas and characters integrated with the plot. Though there are areas that haven't been visited in a little while, the cast of those areas tends to show up here and there.
Also, not gonna spoil anything but the Epilogue of Act IV seems to be headed in a direction that will lead to a mass return from older characters.
Exactly lol. Ngl, when I first saw the Snezhnaya teaser, the only ones I was interested in pulling was Mitya, Danica and the Tsaritsa. Now I want all of them because of how amazingly integrated they are in the story, except my money can't get all of them lmao
Yeah that’s not a problem, I usually only spend on Archon banners or if there is one character that I genuinely love anyway. It’s why I only get to use at least one or two topup bonus options for the entire year. I mostly rely on freemogems and if they don’t go home I’d be bitter but shrug it off lol
The quality improved as well. Character movements when talking and interacting with other characters, Aether/Lumine has been talking a lot instead of Paimon, Older characters has a cameo in the new region, etc. The game is getting better.
Yeah, people underestimate how much character interactions keep a fandom alive, which by extension attracts new people. As much as I like wuwa, we have very little fan content outside of gooner art because of how often characters show up and are seemingly forgotten about.
Map expansion, gun mode expansion, more main quests and side quests, I think we can max out the Traveler, and probably more I'm missing. Loaded update.
People never acknowledge that Genshin is genuinely just a really good game fullstop and the writers actually care about most of their characters.
I know zero gacha games or even full fledged games that would make an entire summer story centred around a 6 year old four star just because they planted the seeds to his story since the beginning, and Bennet isn't even an anomaly. Xinyan, Mona, qiqi, Fischl etc. some of the lowest selling or standard characters would get flagship events centred on them just because it makes sense for the story rather than the revenue.
And somehow that generates them long term revenue.
It is never about gender ratio, scarce QoL updates or stingy pull rewards, or any common complaints like what you see here. Most players love this game for what it is. And credit to Hoyo they can make a lot of people stay attached to the game for 6 years.
This is something that i feel really off by Wuwa and i like the game a lot. Worldbuilding retain more players than they thought and it's way more engaging.
Genshin characters’ personality and relevancy to plot have the most love put into them, especially since the lunar patches. They do a great job of keeping most characters relevant in the overarching story when it makes sense. The writing and character direction is the best it’s ever been.
I think Genshin just had the first mover advantage tbh, first gacha with a 3d open world. It's a huge factor not only for gacha games, in basically any live service it's a big boon as people only have limited time to play games and for live service you don't finish the game then move on to another cake. An example is in mmos too, WoW is still like one of the most popular mmo even after so long
They’ve also fixed the past mistake of ‘pull lunar or die’ by giving old characters access to the newest reactions and by extension making Odette (the stellar reaction driver) do well, you’re not pulling future impact if odette makes your 3-4 year old unit busted.
First and foremost, the reason why Genshin is at the top is because it got a boost from Covid and has a very greedy monetization system combined with a low amount of free things.
There are no other reasons. Want to dispute that? Well, try explaining why Naruto Mobile is high on this list, despite the fact that this game is absolute low-effort trash
Idk? Wuwa?
Doesn't change the fact that Genshin is still greedy trash, lol. Go count how many patches you have to save up just for a chance to lose 50/50 (spoiler - more than 1), and that'll tell you everything.
Depends on the patch. Funnily enough the last 2 patches completely dismantle your argument. Genshin has a slightly lower pull but also releases fewer characters, less reliance on weapons, 4 stars, no spending event, free skins, capturing radiance but is still greedy. Well go back to honkai and zzz bud.
Idk what bro is talking, i played all four game(but hsr and wuwa as f2p) and i dont know since when i dont need to save more than one patch to get 1 50/50 chance on those game lol
Genshin has a slightly lower pull but also releases fewer characters
Even with fewer new characters in Genshin, you still need at least 75–80 pulls for even a chance to 50/50
less reliance on weapons, 4 stars
Yeah, sure. By the way, you still need pulls to get C6 4-star
no spending event
Wow, let's just not pretend that Genshin doesn't sell all kinds of other shitty cosmetics for insane amounts of money, right? The only difference is that spending event actually gives you something extra for the money you spent
free skins
Holy. Even HSR and Zenless give you free skins. HSR has fewer, Zenless has more. But let's just say I've noted your attempt to lick Genshin balls
capturing radiance but is still greedy.
Oh yeah, that system that only exists because you don't even have the chance to get any 5-star character every patch (since they basically don't give you enough pulls). How wonderful of them to give players a chance to get at least something after multiple losses, when a single loss costs you two patches worth of savings? Ofc its still greedy, try to use your brain at least sometimes
If genshin gives more pulls per new banner than zenless or HSR
You can use c0 4stars as downgrade/sidegrades. At least there's something to use. Conveniently you forgot about 4 star weapons which genshin does way better.
Spending events are greedy still. ZZZ has had 2 spending events and 1 pulling events. These are literally fomo tactics, there's no defending it. It's psychological trick into justifying spending more than you've would if there weren't a spending event.
"A single loss cost you 2 patches worth of saving". I mean you're literally making it up.
Btw Genshin has way less powercreep or the fact that it doesn't make up new paths/classes (which aren't even mechanically interesting) to sell weapons banners.
If genshin gives more pulls per new banner than zenless or HSR
No its not.
You can use c0 4stars as downgrade/sidegrades. At least there's something to use.
Good luck with that.
Spending events are greedy still. ZZZ has had 2 spending events and 1 pulling events. These are literally fomo tactics, there's no defending it. It's psychological trick into justifying spending more than you've would if there weren't a spending event.
Low pulls income is more greedy, but ur still defending this shit using mental gymnastics.
A single loss cost you 2 patches worth of saving". I mean you're literally making it up.
I mean, you obviously have some serious cognitive issues. Less than 90 pulls most of the patches? Yep
Conveniently ignores the patches with more than 90.
If we only look at patches starting from 5.0 like in the chart above, you can see that >90 happened in only 5 patches. There were 19 patches between 5.0 and 7.1 (including both). Any more questions?
I agree genshin has lowers pulls but that's it. Greed isn't measure through a single metric.
So...?
When you compare meta, weapons, 4 stars, release cadence, powercreep, capturing radiance, lack of spending/pulling event. It's not close.
Comparing the meta, I still see people in ZZZ using 1.x characters to clear all content.
Also, many characters can easily use 4* W-Engines (weapons), and there are more pulls, which gives you a choice of which new characters you want to get. By the way, getting any 5* per patch >>>>>> getting no 5* per patch.
Trying to make a spending event look greedier than Genshin's lack of pulls is hilarious. I can fully skip spending event and still pull new characters. But with zero spending events in Genshin, I have to wait two patches just for ONE character. And that’s not even a guarantee, it’s just a 50/50 chance every two patches
"Covid and has a very greedy monetization system combined with a low amount of free things."
LOL Covid is around 6year and Covid buff still effective?
Wow okay. Maybe you are professional marketing.
Genshin would be the number 1 gacha game with or without Covid. Covid did boost it but it also boosted the numbers of all games. It's not unique to Genshin.
The real reason Genshin is number 1 is because it was completely new. It was a full fledged open world RPG which had never been done before. It actually gave the player a full 3D environment to freely use their characters in. Compare that to most Gacha games before it with their 2D playable sprites.
Your point about greediness and lack of free rewards screams bad faith. Genshin has been improving a lot on these fronts and remains a far better experience for F2P players than so many gachas on the list.
Genshin proved that gacha games could be AAA quality.
Also Naruto is so high up because it's fucking Naruto. Even non-weebs love Naruto. Same with the DBZ game.
Genshin would be the number 1 gacha game with or without Covid
Yeah bro, cope about that.
Genshin has been improving a lot on these fronts and remains a far better experience for F2P players than so many gachas on the list.
One of the worst open worlds in the industry, yeah
Also Naruto is so high up because it's fucking Naruto. Even non-weebs love Naruto. Same with the DBZ game.
There have been many Naruto and Dragon Ball gachas in the world. Many of them are already dead, by the way.
Using IP as an excuse for popularity didn't work
I mean, your opinion and a bunch of butt-hurt Genshin players crying over my words don't change the facts. Only in this clown game they selling you characters to improve your exploration. Holy "open world experience"
Judging by the amount of downvotes on my comments, Genshin fans really experienced some serious butthurt from my words.
It’s unironically hilarious to see these people get mad at the fact that a game which locks exploration upgrades behind a paywall (in this case, behind characters) is a garbage open-world game
Are you using internet explorer. Because COVID ended 4 years ago. If you are gonna criticize something use the up to date information not something that are still stuck in years ago.
Because apparently Genshin is the "only" open-world game out there? Truly, no alternatives whatsoever, absolutely niche genre. Or, you know, maybe non-gamers just aren't interested in actual gaming
I’m not lying to myself. Open-world game that locks exploration upgrades behind paywall is a bad open-world game. Deal with it, cry about it, but a fact is a fact
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u/KamijyoTeio 6h ago
I think player many not realize why Genshin still on top 10 is never about because of their gender ratio. Its always about character relevancy and interaction. Even the latest summer event had all Fontaine including some popular npc albeit some of them is cameo but voiced. Now the Moonchase even with how funny Zibai and Zhongli lol. next patch is the most economical for Genshin. Everyone will involved.