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Genshin Impact is coming up on its seventh anniversary, and that’s meant a lot of questions without answers and pieces of lore leading up to various reveals. There’s also been this big mystery surrounding the Tsaritsa, the Cryo Archon that rules Snezhnaya, heads up her Fatui, and sent her Harbingers out to collect the Gnosis of each Archon. When the Luna 6.0 patch series with Nod-Krai released, it seemed like we were leading up to more solid information. Now that even only 7.0 is here, we’re already seeing information that’s leading to some pretty big insights and information drops that make it feel like HoYoVerse’s work over the years is paying off.
Editor’s Notes: There will be no exact spoilers mentioned for Genshin Impact 7.0 below, but references to some reveals. There will be spoilers for some characters’ roles up until the 7.0 patch.
The first and biggest reveal with Genshin Impact 7.0 involves the nation of Snezhnaya itself. We’d heard rumors about the region in the past. People like Childe brought up how brutally cold and barren it can be. There were even suggestions its own Archon was tied to the conditions. Now we see for ourselves exactly how frigid it is and what that means for everyone living there. The fact that we rely upon a train for safe passage around the area acts as an added element of how dire and potentially dangerous it can be. We also visit a village and see the energy issues firsthand as part of the early Chapter VII Archon Quests. Right away, HoYoVerse uses the new questline and exploration elements to show and tell us about life in the area.
All of this is also tied quite closely to the Tsaritsa and her Fatui. The group has appeared as an antagonistic force since our journey in Genshin Impact began in Mondstadt with Signora. We’ve gradually been introduced to various members like Childe, Wanderer/Scaramouche, Columbina, Sandrone, Arlecchino, and Capitano since. And… that’s made things more confusing! Because a lot of these people we’ve met haven’t been all bad! There are times they’ve been affable and helpful. There are some that, ahead of Genshin Impact 7.0, could for sure able to be described as evil, like Dottore and Signora. But as time has gone by and we’ve seen certain people’s behaviors and motivations, the goals of the group as a whole felt a bit called into question.
And Genshin Impact 7.0 helps with that! The pacing on the first two parts of Chapter VII do a good job of educating us about the Snezhnaya region, giving us a chance to see members we do and don’t know, and learn more about what’s actually going on. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I’m not going to flat out say what’s happening. (The two parts of Chapter VII aren’t too long and it’s better to see for yourself.) But we get answers from important individuals about what’s going on, get to see what the Fatui and Harbingers are dealing with as a result of their mission, and get greater understanding about the situation and some members.
Even more important, Genshin Impact 7.0 involves a lot of new information about Paimon. She’s been our mysterious ally and the game’s mascot since the very start. And a lot of who and what she is led to speculation over the years. Is she secretly evil? Where did she come from? Are there powers she possesses that we’re unaware of? I will say that what’s happening her reminds me a lot of a certain recent storyline situation in Honkai: Star Rail. But the initial insights we get into who and what she is in the second half of Chapter VII are informative! We learn a lot, considering how focused much of that part of the Archon Quests storyline is focused on what the Traveler and Fatui member Odette deal with during that portion.
Essentially, it feels like HoYoVerse is using Genshin Impact 7.0 to start making good on the promise to tell us more about what has and is going to happen in the game. We learn about the mystery region of Snezhnaya! We get a better idea of what kind of organization the Fatui and its Harbingers are! We find out new details about Paimon! And that’s all just in the first two acts of the Chapter VII Archon Quest. Considering how many acts we get in these mainline missions, there are probably a lot more reveals ahead of us. It feels like the teasing is finally at an end and we’re getting the answers to questions we might have had for seven years.
Genshin Impact is available for the PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and mobile devices.
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