Snezhnaya Will Change Genshin Forever…sounds a bit hyperbolic, but after listening to Xiaodan & Aquaria talk about Snezhnaya in their behind the scenes video. It really feels like they will.
They’ve done this before with their Nod-Krai Behind the Scenes video. They set expectations of what the team wants to accomplish in Nod-Krai & they succeeded.
I am expecting the same with Snezhnaya & yes this doesn’t meant the implementation of some of the features or expectations will be perfect, but at least they are trying something new.
One of the first things we saw was train heading for this beautiful city covered in snow! Although, they didn’t directly point out the city itself. They explained Snezhnaya being this wonderful blend of many places from Eastern Europe & around the Artic Circle.
One of my favorite highlights was them talking about is the repurposing of older building to fit a more modern use. They provide examples like the Beijing 798 Art District (video tour/image source), which was created with an abandon factory.
I love this concept because it ties into the themes of Cryo with preservation. I’m looking forward to exploring these historical buildings of an industry that no longer exists while seeing how Snezhnaya was still able to transform it into something new.
Also for gameplay purposes, it will allow us to explore some pretty cool locations that will be the blend of historical & modern-day Snezhnaya.
They also talks a lot about TRAINS! I love trains, they are my favorite mode of transportation & I love that they just went into depth about trains. They want them to be more than just transportation. They want players to be able to explore inside the trains & they questioned to themselves what kind of gameplay can we have inside these trains.
Now if you weren’t convince trains was going to change Genshin forever. The way they talked about the update to elements & how Cryo will function in Snezhnaya is incredible.
They see Cryo as an element that can help players shape the environments during encounters. Battles will now be between yourselves, your enemies, and the environment around you. They specifically call out making this more than just a new elemental reaction. And when you pair it with enemies being more strategic allowing players more ways to counter enemies. I imagine we’ll be doing a lot of breaking flooring beneath enemies or creating walls to split groups of enemies up.
They also hinted at expanding all other elemental powers to be more than just reactions in Snezhnaya so I am excited to see how this will manifest.
AND FINALLY, not only they showed off a new outfit for the traveler, which looks pretty sick!! They finally are addressing the question of…
What should gameplay feel like as a Descender. I have extremely high hopes for this not just because Aquaria literally says “a brand-new gameplay, completely different from the game as you know it”
But this is the glimpse into modernizing Genshin Impact, they talk pretty explicitly about Hoyoverse paying close attention to what players enjoy from other modern games. They even provide examples of how Genshin has changed because of this approach.
When they talk about what it feels like to play as a Descender & I look at other popular games within the same genre. Descenders might be a more faster paced action playstyle that utilizes all the elements at once.
They even mention that new characters are undergoing a major graphical update. To the point where they even pointed out that members of the dev team were in disbelief that this is still Genshin. This now totally makes sense why we saw a new outfit for the Travelers. So they can update the Travelers’ model to support this new system.
It is a weird thing to point out because Genshin models have been improving each region especially with Nod-Krai so for them to make this statement now. They set my expectation pretty high on this one. They even mention that they want the in-game content to be on par with the cinematic content, which is a fantastic decision! I would love to see more in-game cutscenes that rival that of the cinematics!
Lastly, let’s talk about the story because Aquaria teases that we will learn the full answer to why the Archons seemingly handed over their Gnosis to the Tzarisa. As he puts it, “in some way, the better choice for Teyvat as a whole”
I love this, it really goes to show that we are wrapping up so many unanswered questions! While also teasing us with some new questions like what kind of ancient power is being frozen inside Snezhnaya. Is it some how related to the Fae & their powers? They reference Cryo being used as a way to store & preserve energy so we are most certainly getting a hold of some sort of Fae or maybe powers from Hyperborean times. Maybe the cryo even preserved some of the Heavenly Principles power from the Celestial Nail that destroyed Hyperborea.
There is just so much from this video that really highlights how much Hoyoverse wants to push Genshin Impact into the future. It is clear they that they do not want Genshin Impact to feel like an old game. They want to continue to modernize & make it better. They want to make sure that it can still compete against modern games of today.
The last part I want to leave on is Aquaria’s feelings on Snezhnaya. He brings up that many players are looking forward to seeing the conclusion in Snezhnaya, but how that perspective prevents a future possibility for Genshin Impact to tell more.
I appreciate that they are understanding that they might lose players after Snezhnaya because people feel like the story has concluded. At the same time, I’m sure they are finding ways to make sure they retain as many players as possible as we move to the next storyline.
For me, I will probably drop Genshin after Snezhnaya. For many stories whether it be games, TV, anime, and whatever else. Once I have any kind of narrative closure, I will feel satisfied. Very rarely do I care to replay a game or rewatch a movie.
And for a game like Genshin where I have invested so much of my time into this storyline. I just won’t have the energy to see what the next 6 years of Genshin will be, but I will also be happy knowing that they are still telling awesome stories!
That’s it from me! Thanks for reading!