Why Genshin's Characters Are So Popular [Genshin Impact Discussion]

#genshinimpact #genshinlore
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[ChillwithAster]

Let's not forget the NSFW art ; appreciate

[obbobo]

When it comes to gacha games specifically, genshin is one of the only games i have seen to place so much importance on its characters.
Instead of just telling a summary of the character, it tells their story, what food they like/dislike, how they feel about other characters.
Hoyo really got the characters to feel more human than a great majority of other gacha games.

[cernunnos]

I think the community underestimate how insane the character designs in genshin are. Like seriously, compared to any other game (in the f2p gacha kind of game, look at Tower of Impact for example), the chara design in genshin is immaculate, every single character feels vibrant, unique, colorful and different, without being derivative, despite being heavily influenced by games and anime in general. Even if i don't like certain characters, I think they all look incredible

[kostiantynkhomenko]

It's easy, because each character feels not just a skin, but character with own personalities, abilities and own story that has connections to main story etc. This is why it is fun to win Gacha in Genshin and it feels different then in TOF where you just able to mimic characters.

Also Genshin make you feel part of story, unlike other games, including MMO, so you feel involved and this why characters could feel so good for ya.

[jasmineyu]

As someone who is picky when it comes to fiction, I’d say that a lot of love and care (most of them) was put into writing these characters. In a way, they feel like real people with their own lives and struggles instead of having their entire personality revolve around the MC.

[Itsuki]

certain artists: "i can explain..."

[kbucket]

I had zero interest in Zhongli (even knowing he was an archon already) until we met him in Liyue. His personality, lore, and relationships with other characters and the traveler made him one of my absolute favourite characters.

[manoelafvb]

I think something that also works is the fact that you overcome obstacles in the game with characters that you build. You have to put effort and spend time with them, so you kinda care about them because you've invested in them. You can hate a character because they are frustrating to play, too. But the feeling that you get when you pass through content with a specific character or team creates that bond as well. I think about it a lot with pokemon too, for example. You end up linking some underrated pokemons if you put them in your teams and discover their potential. I got really attached to Amber because she was the only character I knew how to play and master until AR 45, so I played most content with her and she feels dear to my heart. However, I'm a big fandango gremlin fan because of his lore and personality and every crumb of Scara lore that appears in the game makes me excited. I have two completely different experiences in a single game and I guess this also helps with the popularity of characters in the game c:

[brezze]

Not only the playable characters are popular, even the Genshin NPC are lovable and memorable like Katheryne, Teppei, Zhiqiong, Rana etc

[RSatoshi]

Like people said, it just that the characters have their own personalities instead of just a "skin". And when we use the characters it feel like we are them, and we also follow their own story in a way. This is why i like PGR as well, they also feel "alive" as a character.

[vanshakes]

i would say, hyv treats their characters seriously, not just a gameplay icon. hyv produces contents in a way that more like writing a book or drawing manga or producing a film. the gameplay part is just a plus gift in your experience, the true gold is lore and complex-hand-made world experience.

[Jesses]

There are many aspects that make a character, and they really nail all of them in Genshin Impact. I think one of the biggest ones, at least biggest that I noticed, is actually their relatable flaws. For example, and spoiler alerts, Collei. She has an auto-immune disease that makes every day life difficult sometimes. She also has some SERIOUS trauma that makes it difficult for her to be physically intimate with anyone. Despite this, she is rather upbeat and tries to keep a good spirit. Ei, despite being a stoic hard boiled leader, she is emotionally rather fragile, mostly due to her not dealing with her loss well. She has arrested emotional development making her seem rather immature despite being over 500 years old. She also can not take responsibly for her actions in many cases, and her constant desire to eat sweets rather than real meals seems to indicate an almost childish personality hidden under her rough exterior. And then there is Fischl. I am not a professional therapist, so I do not think I am qualified to go into any detail about her flaws. All these aspects make them feel like real characters. No cardboard cut-out here.

[supachaitengtakul]

Gacha games have always been good at character design. And then Mihiyo came along and asked... What if they're 3d instead of PNG? What if they are well voice acted and animated? What if they are well characterized? And what if the world is not apocalyptic depressing future? That moment was when Mihoyo found gold.

[serenediipity]

i learned in one of my screenwriting classes that there are four main factors in making a likable character: their defining characteristics, a paradox (unexpected trait they have), a flaw, and something that gives them humanity. i think hoyoverse does an amazing job at incorporating these aspects into all of their characters, particularly the paradoxes that lead to quirks such as kazuha's heightened senses or albedo's taste for spiders. on top of that, the game makes you spend time to peel back the layers of each character whether that be through raising their friendship level to unlock dialogue or waiting to learn something new about someone the next time they appear in a quest/event.

[justdoingdalies]

Well I recall that it is Mihoyo's design plan was to sell their characters as Idols where people would love and be invested to them.

[duderine]

How much I like a character never depends on their in-game strength or usefulness. The only thing that matters to me is the design and personality/story.

[realhehe]

I think it's because they are unique!
Every Character has a unique story and character design ❤️

[christiannugraha]

My main games for the past two years is Genshin Impact and Team Fortress 2. The mercenaries in Team Fortress 2 is also extremely popular. Now that I think about it, they both have the same thing about them, which is both has spawned bunch of memes about their characters.

The characters in both games have unique quirks and iconic voice lines that you can use on certain situations to kinda joke around, even when the topic of conversation isn't exactly about both games. Like Sniper with "Professionals have standards" when joking about works or jobs and Zhongli with "Osmanthus wine" when talking about nostalgia.

[kimarimoi]

Even though they promote the heck out of every character (for obvious reasons), I think part of why they're so popular is because they're *not* universally lovable. They each have flaws and hard-to-ignore traits that some people will like, and others will dislike; but they cover a broad spectrum so that all players will have some favorites. Arguments over which characters are best only make people more attached to their own "mains, " so it works in their favor even if it causes some conflict. Some even appear intentionally designed as a counter-choice to a very popular one (Yoimiya to Ayaka; or if by elements, Yoimiya to Hu Tao, and Eula to Ayaka) for people who don't want to follow the crowd.

Most gacha games try to make every character a mostly-inoffensive waifu/husbando to get players to roll for all of them. Genshin instead tries to make people roll like crazy for just a few characters, to get constellations and their weapon (and two useless extra weapons). Given how much money it's making, seems like this strategy works pretty well...

[mowossh]

Genshin's character designs are a very interesting phenomenon. If you show these designs to an industry professional they would scoff or even say the design is outright horrible in some cases. I constantly sway between agreeing and disagreeing myself - the character designs are incohesive, clashes with other characters from the same region, takes inconsistent design inspirations from different cultures that just doesn't make sense from a design perspective, and a lot of the designs are very sexualized and panders to an obvious group of anime fans that are into this kind of thing. It's very hard to wrap your head around some of these designs, and the divide between fans and haters of the designs proves how controversial they are.

But on the other hand, Genshin's popularity proves that even if the designs are """"bad"""" in theory, it still works. I think the art team for this game is incredible and they've came up with something really special. The blend of very modern fashion and their idea of a 'generic fantasy archetype' fashion (for example Monstadt characters' blend of modern military and medieval fantasy costumes, Liyue's modern business attires and chinese Hanfu etc) was, as you mentioned in the video, blurring the lines between boundaries of real life and the game, and also the boundaries of what makes a 'good character design' on paper. The art team coming up with superior designs even after having to censor some of their characters (Mona, Jean, Rosaria) just proves how much thought and love the art team put into their work!

Personally even if some characters are still a hit-or-miss for me, I have to admit that the character designs is what caught my eye in the first place to pick up this game. I also agree that this game should really have more diversity if not for representation, but a chance for the art team to come up with even more unique designs that are held back by the character's, um, skin color. And I've yet to even comment on the writing for the characters (which i will not, i am not a writer)!