It is not often that Genshin plucks the MC from a Final Fantasy game and turns him into the chief justice of Fontaine. What an interesting world this is.
A new underwater area will be introduced, the Fortress of Meropide, incorporating steampunk and industrial elements. Meropide is ruled by Wriothesley and is interestingly outside the jurisdiction of Fontaine. But anyways, this is basically Genshin's very own Rapture in Fontaine. The Bioshock mania does not get any more real than this. Hopefully it will be an interesting area to explore, but first appearances did not disappoint.
So if Meropide is like Rapture, then will there be an Andrew Ryan? No gods, only man.
The developers explained that the circular nature of the assembly lines is to symbolize the repetitive, menial aspect of labor in the prisons.
Tangent: speaking of prisoners, the British empire exiled many of its crooks and convicts to Australia. So in a sense, Australia was Britain's 'Meropide'. One is also reminded of a line from Hamlet: 'Denmark is a prison'. This was completely random, but Wriothesley was apparently a patron of Shakespeare.
It appears that the commission system will become more like Star Rail's, where other activities (besides daily commissions) can count towards giving the daily rewards (via encounter points). In Genshin, completing events, story quests, opening chests can count towards encounter points. Also in the end one still has to visit Katheryne to get the last reward. By contrast in Star Rail one can just level up an artifact or use a technique. Moreover, the final reward can be accessed from menu without having to teleport.
Also we can finally switch between different conflicting quests instead of being forced to finish one quest to start another one.
Overall this is a step in the right direction. It does save time as completing events can reward points. The next step would be to make completing domains, leveling artifacts, synthesizing/cooking stuff award points. Moreover, the ability to claim the bonus award from the handbook (rather than visit the Adventurer's Guild) as in Star Rail would make this more like quality of life.
There is a robo boss (Experimental Field Generator) created by Edwin Eastinghouse. It seems to modify gravity (gravity reduction field) and allow the player to jump high like Xiao. Hmm, it seems Xiao's 'western education' consisted of learning how to jump high from this robo boss as well as learning the hp sacrifice destruction dao that various Fontaine characters follow.
Other than that, an electro unicorn will also be released as a boss.
The Experimental Field Generator was originally designed to turn Fontaine into a city in the sky so that they could avoid the flood. So basically Columbia in Bioshock Infinite? It seems Genshin already has Celestia as a city in the sky.
The name of Noctis' signature weapon does remind one of a certain era in modern history. Not everything needs to be spelled out directly, but if this is the intention, then this message has been received.
All that will be said is that: laissez-faire capitalism can lead to the rapid development and economic growth of a nation. But it can also lead to rampant corruption, a 'Godfather' era. It is inevitable that sooner or later, balancing mechanisms and anti-corruption efforts would be put back in place. As they say, imperialism is the extreme form of capitalism.
This even happened in the USA in 2008, where the rampant expansion of private capital was put in check and became more regulated by the USA government. Even the USA is not completely capitalist. If all USA companies cared about was making money (and this is what the true capitalists care about), then they would just sell themselves to China given how large the Chinese market is. But no, the USA government intervened in its own market and guided it with an iron hand.
If one truly admires capitalists, then they should look up to Alexandrina Victoria, the biggest imperialist and capitalist of the past 200 years. It is during the Victoria era that British corporations (such as the East India Company) ruled entire countries.
We travel to Meropide to find whereabouts on Childe. Lyney and his siblings have also broke in. Wriothesley reveals that the primordial sea waters are rising and are in fact located beneath Meropide. Meropide was helped built by Egeria and her followers long ago. Inspired by the legend of Remuria and his golden ship, Wriothesley is working on building his own ship to save the people from the rising sea waters and global warming. If Noctis is the Leviathan, then the story of building a ship and the flood sounds eerily similar to Biblical stories...
In this WQ, we meet Caterpillar (Cater) and Lanoire and help break them out of Meropide. Cater was sent to Meropide 400 years ago. On the surface, he looks like a kid with blackened arms and legs. But his true form is an anemo hilichurl rogue. His master, Narzissenkreuz, performed some experiments at the Ordo to make him look like a person, while also giving him intelligence. If only Narzissenkreuz could have done the same for Chlothar Alberich's kid Caribert...
A guard named Estienne helps Cater and Lanoire escape. Lanoire returns to her family, her grandfather Earnshaw. Lanoire's mother is Agnes.
Cater has some interesting dialogue, saying there are 'mutually exclusive' and conflicting elements in the nature of his existence. He says sometimes he is a bloomguard (pari) and other times a dragon. To interpret this, we will dive a bit more deeply into the lore of Genshin.
In Teyvat, there are three realms: light realm, void realm, and the human realm. The light realm or vishap realm is the elemental realm of the vishaps and dragons. The hydro dragon Noctis is of this realm and is able to harness the power of hydro without a vision. The void realm is associated with the abyss. The human realm is created by the Primordial One and is associated with the power of heaven and celestia. The bloomguards, khvarena, and pari are associated with the power of heaven too.
Some have likened the vishap realm to the elemental system and the void and human realms to the traditional dark and light (holy) elements in games.
There is a whole fan theory on how the traveler is able to harness elemental power and how that connects with dragon pearls, allogenes, gnosis. Moreover, this connects to the lore of King Deshret, the Dragon King Nibelung, and the Primordial One. (As of 4.1 it is unconfirmed whether the Primordial One is the Heavenly Principles or whether they are different, but both are related to Celestia, so it could be safe to say that Nibelung was fighting Celestia.) This will be written more about later.
As discussed in Rene's lore, things like abyssal energy (void realm) and heavenly energy (human realm) possess a higher 'authority' than the elements of the dragon realm. It is said that the abyssal energy is able to possess a 'will', and Rene was also able to cure Jakob by using abyssal energy.
Long ago, the Primordial One fought a war against the seven dragon sovereigns and won. The Primordial One then took a portion of the dragons' elemental authority, creating gnosis that would later be bestowed upon the gods. So dragons such as Noctis do not have the power they once had ('Dragon Authority') as some of that authority was given to archons such as Furina. Noctis even says that to regain his full power, Furina (or whoever has the hydro gnosis) would need to return that 'authority' to him.
Whether this lost dragon authority has anything to do with the abyss and heaven possessing a higher 'authority' over the elements remains to be seen.
The main point is that when Cater says he sometimes identifies with a bloomguard (human realm) and dragon (light realm), it seems to suggest that his existence could be related to the human realm of Celestia and the elemental realm of dragons. Cater even refers to these different components as 'mutually exclusive', being 'pure' but also 'alien' to each other, similar to how the three realms are exclusive to each other in Teyvat. It may be that his master Narzissenkreuz harnessed one of these powers (Celestia, elemental, or even abyssal) to transform Cater into human form. After all, his master did use the Holy Blade of Narzissenkreuz to achieve the transmutation.
Hilichurls were once humans that were cursed by Celestia, thereby transforming them into monsters. This happened to non-pure Khaenriah people such as Chlothar's son. Recall Caribert received the power of the abyss from a sinner's statue, and this caused Caribert to regain some human speech and intelligence, eerily similar to how Cater gained speech and intelligence through his master. This incident inspired Chlothar (Eide) to found the Abyss Order as he believed the power of the abyss was needed to overthrow Celestia, the ones who had cursed his son in the first place.
It seems the power of these realms (abyss, celestia, elemental energy) can give hilichurls human intelligence and speech, as is demonstrated via Caribert (and possibly even Cater, though this is unconfirmed). In other words it takes the power of these realms to combat the curse of Celestia.
Throughout the history of Teyvat, it seems Chlothar was not the only one who realized that abyssal power was needed to combat the holy realm of Celestia. It appears that the traveler's sibling, after journeying through Teyvat and gathering the seven elemental authorities, may have also realized that the elements (dragon authority) were not enough and that they needed a higher authority (the abyss) to fight Celestia. Hence, the traveler's twin became the prince/princess of the abyss. This would make sense if the abyssal and human realms had a higher authority than the dragon elemental realm. Moreover, some have theorized that the dragon king Nibelung (and maybe even Deshret) also combined the powers of the abyss and elements to combat Celestia. It is known that Nibelung used forbidden knowledge to fight Celestia. Forbidden knowledge is what causes the withering, eleazar, and oozing filth. It is not known if forbidden knowledge has any connection to the abyss or other realms. The Heavenly Principles had to cast down divine nails from Celestia to purify the world of this forbidden knowledge.
Forbidden knowledge is known to have caused corrupting and destructive effects on living beings. On a sidenote, the Arkhium found in Fontaine has also been described as having a similar negative effect on people (as well as Primordial Water to another extent). However, as of 4.1 it is not known if Arkhe and Primordial Water are connected at all to the power of the three realms, nevermind forbidden knowledge. They could all just be separate things.
Much of the above remains to be confirmed/disproven and is still theory (albeit at least backed by textual evidence). Some have remarked how the first 2-3 years of Genshin did not really have much lore on things like the history of Teyvat, the Abyss, Descenders, Realms, the Primordial One, Dragons, etc. But as we move further along in the Traveler's journey, inevitably more key story points will reveal themselves, and perhaps Genshin Impact will become more like lore impact.
Fontaine introduced a new mechanic called life bond via the Fatui Operatives and some weapons. Life Bond is almost similar to the Prana effect in Star Rail in the sense that it prevents hp from going above a certain amount. However, in Star Rail the prana can be cleared via debuffing skills, whereas Life Bond can be cleared by excess healing. Apparently one kind of Life Bond effect can last 10 minutes (really long) if not cleared through healing.
The Operatives also apply a corrosion effect in addition to the life bond. What this means is that you want to bring a healer for these guys. Interestingly, the Fontaine characters that can self-heal a ton such as Lyney and Noctis can be effective at clearing life bonds. Imagine a spiral abyss that puts operatives, riftwolves, and the serpent knights together in a floor.
So Fontaine is really cementing itself as the land of hydro and HP, whether it involves HP drain, healing, life bonds, etc. This is the path of destruction.
This site has been keeping track of everything that has happened so far in the version 4.1 events and story. The overall presentation of the event "The Peaks and Troughs of Life" will also be considered when evaluating version 4.1.
What happens in the next 2-3 weeks, including the decisions made, will also be carefully considered when evaluating the ratings of the appropriate versions.
Also, Lee Hsien Loong has been prime minister of Singapore since 2004, which is nearly 20 years.
Here we record the cases of discrimination, bias, favoritism and review the events in 4.1.
Dream of Roving Stars event: bias and favoritism, not learning from 3.8, placing certain characters 4th in certain pictures shows discrimination against people based on name.
Archon quests: treatment of certain NPCs indicates bias and discrimination against people based on name.
Unfinished comedy: Earnshaw being the grandfather of Lanoire (Linuo'er) is fine. He is the father of Agnes, Lanoire's mother. However, yoshinori is the paternal ancestor of kazuha. If Earnshaw was the father of Lanoire's father, and Lanoire were male, it would be more fair.
Waterborne poetry: favoritism to certain characters, bias and favoritism to callirhoe, using blackmail. Blackmail is a crime punishable by law.
In the combat event (Inspiration Eruption), there were 4 trials: 1 buffed anemo, 1 buffed dendro, 2 buffed hydro. Ordering indicates discrimination based on elements.
Naming of the vase breaking event abuses liu yong connection to give favoritism to hu. Ordering of vase names in English localization indicates bias and discrimination based on name.
Noctis sq: neuvillette did not make big enough sacrifice. In most other char sq, the character attacks someone close to them. But neuvillette did not. Vautrin prison fine, domenico villain fine. But treatment of certain other npcs indicates bias and discrimination. If hu or hubel were the villain and went to prison, then the story would be more fair.
Wrio sq: discrimination bias against people based on name, favoritism and difference in treatment between npcs, wyler caught fine, aucelet crook fine. If wrio beat up auriol or aucelet it would be better. Another case of blackmail and threats.
Jellyfish event: bias and discrimination against people based on name. If it was kesean arresting augereau it would be better. The placement of elton on day 4 and liffey on day 6 shows bias and discrimination against people based on name.
Klee event: it is what it is.
Banners: somewhat questionable pairing supporting specific family shows unfair favoritism and bias as well as abusing public resources and media to serve the interests of one family. Noctis Venti pair maybe a bit more fair in light of 4.2 banners.
Paimon Stickers 27: arrangement of characters indicates discrimination against people based on name, favoritism, and bias. When evaluating these sets, we look at characters in the 4th position of each row as well as the 4th row. Past history shows certain people have bias and favoritism to hu tao. We all know what Liu Yong refers to, but abusing that as a reason to be corrupt and play favorites with hu, while oppressing and holding back everyone else reflects very poorly on legacy. From now on we will record any instance of favoritism to hu as abusing the Liu Yong connection.
Putting people in the 4th position on Paimon Paintings is not the way to win hearts and minds to whatever you are supporting, especially if it becomes repeated and abused. It only leads to resentment and causes a negative effect on the community. The people making these choices have low EQ and need to think before acting. They need to be inspected for discrimination and bias.
The arrangement of characters in paimon paintings 27 and 28 indicates deep-rooted biases and discrimination. It is recommended to find the art directors responsible for arranging these characters, interrogate the fundamental causes for their prejudices, and then prepare succession planning and replacements for such people given that this problem has been going on for years.
The corresponding versions will be punished for these choices. Moreover, 4.x has gained a strike from the mistakes made in arranging the paintings 27 and 28. If this problem continues and 4.x gains more and more strikes from discrimination in Paimon's Paintings, then we may have to institute the following countermeasure: a version will automatically be B/F tier if the Paimon Paintings indicate bias and discrimination.
One of the anniversary videos depicts hu tao and yaoyao in a scene (Teyvat Adventures Commemorative Video - 3rd Anniversary Letter - Genshin Impact). This video contains bias and discrimination, placing certain characters in the 4th position. It abuses the liu yong connection and has favoritism and bias to hu.
Peaks and Troughs of Life: it has been noticed with combat events only certain characters are placed 1st and 6th while other characters are never placed 1st or 6th. In this event, hu tao and yelan are placed 1st. The 4.2 Misty event and other combat events also show bias and favoritism to certain characters, abusing the liu yong connection, conferring benefits and favoritism to hu and people close to hu.
Also, creation of character to align with the release of another video game and then coordinating the 4.1 events to align with specific dates such as 10/26/2023 is an example of politicall motivated scheduling and unbridled greed. This will result in a penalty of the evaluation of 4.x, as well as other consequences.
Gourmet Tour: placement of characters in 4th position or numbering of 4th video indicates bias and discrimination against people based on name. Investigate the art directors responsible for creating these videos, interrogate the root causes of their prejudices, and prepare replacements and succession planning for them.
The above cases will be reviewed when making a final evaluation of version 4.1's rating.