I kinda wish they could update the older models too, but I also understand that there is a huge cast so they're doing it through skins from now on.
Less-Money70032026-01-03 06:57
There are some obvious picks to start with though, like Ayaka, Albedo, Itto, and just anyone from the Mondstat gang who will likely be returning in future archon quests
parnubay2026-01-03 07:19
There was an old rumor those characters may get a model buff but that was awhile ago. It may be copium or it DOES come but takes years to :’(
JDBCool2026-01-03 07:39
Well, when you consider that skins are basically 1/2 of the process of making an entirely new playable character.....
You can *kinda* see why they're SO picky unless it's to do with story and said character is central to that story segment.
Just look up "I made an HSR skin", the character being Jingliu from concept art.
Like yeah, HYV could just solve the problem by throwing more money. But they'll rather just make skins that are more "convenient" with the story-work flow.
sorry_for_vague_desc2026-01-03 09:08
Making a 3D model is nowhere near 1/2 the amount of effort and budget that goes into making a new character. They already have artists and modelers creating hundreds of cosmetics for the Manekins, it's the exact same skillset.
mooke2026-01-03 11:45
That's not *all* of the work involved. The mannekins can adopt a throw shit at the wall and see what sticks approach.
Skins for characters will have to meet a much more stringent criteria.
A bit like how you can reduce all the characters to silhouettes and still be able to identify every single character. That's not entirely an accident, that's a symptom of designing characters who explicitly do not overlap with each other. It's about ensuring each is unique in their own way. And that takes work.
New skins have to capture the spirit of the original character while not standing on anyone else's toes and still be different enough that they seem worth acquiring. What this probably means is that for every ten designs they concept art for one might be worth adopting.
It's not really "1/2" the work, as I suspect the writing for the character is substantially more. But even if they tried they wouldn't be able to churn out new skins for characters at even a tenth of the speed they could produce costumes for the manekins.
This is probably weighed up against the opportunity cost of making a new character and how much more money that brings in.
Yotsubrain2026-01-03 14:48
I get this viewpoint. Though maybe MHY can just refresh the current models and assets with a higher standard, like fixing albedo's hair or diluc's face ought to be enough for the time being.
mooke2026-01-03 15:15
Oh I don't disagree.
I was taking issue with the trivialisation of the making of skins, nothing about fixing up old models.
I would abolutely want them fix up the old models.
I presume they aren't doing it because it either increases the percieved value of new characters or because they can then leverage the "jank" of old models to sell new skins later. I know I paid for Ayaka's skin because I was maining her at the time and I didn't like how the original model's tits bounced around so much.
PuzzledPost72812026-01-03 16:14
I don't think this is the case at all to be honest. What happens is most of the time they are very insistent that there has to be lore/story/an event attached to the skin.
I've done work in design and if they had a dedicated team to skins they could churn them out A LOT more frequently, but they often decide they need to write a story for the outfits, tie it to an event, which essentially doubles the work required. The concept art, modeling for the skin itself, that process probably doesn't take nearly as long as what you're imagining, especially if they're working in teams.
But yeah, it probably is not as profitable as new characters are, so that's probably why they don't have a dedicated team working on them year round. It's a shame because I actually would spend a lot of money on skins if we actually had more options lol.
zannet_t2026-01-03 07:16
I understand if they did it in waves but doing it through skins released every now and then is a horrible and lame system for model upgrades. But of course they're still gonna make mad bank so what do they care.
LokianEule2026-01-03 07:34
With such a large player base, it’s almost a “too big to fail” situation
Jaquemart2026-01-03 11:15
Nothing is too big to fail, especially a game, especially in China.
SueDisco2026-01-03 11:27
Pokemon is a perfect example of this not being true.
BillysTown2026-01-03 07:58
I reckon they can get it done in small bursts though , If there is anyone knowledgeable here how long would just changing the hair/face features a bit take.
Lucky-chan2026-01-03 08:15
Doing it in small batches seem realistic.
I do think the issue that they would come across is redoing all pre-rendered cutscenes and replacing the old models over time. Because imagine if they do it in small batches but multiple characters appear in one cutscene. Would you have to remodel all of the characters that appeared? If you do one but then another character gets a remodel later, would have to update the same cutscene multiple times?
I think that's why they might be sticking to giving characters whole new outfits. But if they're doing it this way, they need to give out more skins.
LandLovingFish2026-01-03 08:57
Makes sense especially with the content and don't even start of they bring back an event archive. Easier to just introduce a new skin and have them use that from them on then try and fix like what getting up to 100 now? And npc models too especially old regions would need refreshes to match, at least if they're in open world.
Dense-Decision91502026-01-03 08:25
yeah the older models really need an upgrade, which is why i'm kind of upset neuvi got a skin bc he already looks gorgeous 😭 esp bc the skin is super similar to his base outfit
Lucky-chan2026-01-03 08:27
Yeah, as much as I love Neuvillette, I would have loved a Zhongli skin even more. Or any other Liyue character. They really should have released more than 2 skins like that one time with Xingqiu, Shenhe, and Ganyu. 😭
Martian_on_the_Moon2026-01-03 10:39
Same could be said about echo trails. At the pace they are going, they will never catch-up. In fact, they are released at slower pace than characters.
ErrorEra2026-01-03 11:15
And strangely the opposite with the poses, more poses come out than the coins to redeem, plus they favored certain characters having like 3 already while some don't even have 1 yet.
Dylangillian2026-01-03 13:59
Archon skins have been avoided like the plague and the reason is fairly clear imo. They're waiting for a time they can make a dedicated event for them since skins tend to be associated with lore.
Kaispian2026-01-03 08:50
Then maybe they can try releasing more skins at a time? I don’t really see why not
Kr_zz2026-01-03 09:33
The Diluc flair makes this funny
GetFiltered2026-01-03 11:37
The company with the size and wealth of Hoyo doesn't get any kind of "it's hard/time consuming" passes. They can and should do it, full stop. No excuse is a valid excuse for them.
Lucky-chan2026-01-03 11:53
They will also have to adjust a number of pre-rendered cutscenes featuring a large number of characters, both new and old, like they did when the censored Mondstadt skins came out.
So if you release, let's say 5 remodels per patch, and adjust the cutscenes they appeared in, what if a character with no remodel in the same cutscenes gets one later in the future? That's a lot of fixes over time.
So I think it's unlikely they will do remodels unless it's through a skin that causes a character to change later rather than earlier on.
GetFiltered2026-01-03 12:07
Once again, they're making the obscene amounts of money, literally no task is too much for them. They just don't want to because why would they, people will eat it up and even make excuses.
Lucky-chan2026-01-03 12:13
I'm just saying realistically, having to go back and re-edit cutscenes who knows how many times *is* a waste of time especially in regards to old players who won't revisit those cutscenes. It's not about the money.
I would prefer updated models, but I understand why they wouldn't do it this way. But since they're making the newer skins more detailed, they should just release more skins at a greater frequency. That way, any future appearances of those characters would have an updated version.
For example, Yelan appeared in her alt skin in the anecdotes.
ChaliElle2026-01-03 12:59
lmao. You want some fries with that?
wggn2026-01-03 11:37
it's more profitable to do only a few at a time
Notorik2026-01-03 11:52
The thing is that characters rarely wear their skins so we will be seeing the same old models for most of the cutscenes and dialogues. Sometimes is seems almost uncanny to see new characters stand next to the new ones.
rorschach_blots2026-01-03 12:56
I'd be happy if they update Diluc's skin model for free. It's the only skin of its rarity and it looks outdated compared to this free Yaoyao skin.
0scar-of-Astora2026-01-03 20:48
Kinda sucks because for most of these characters their most iconic look is the original one.
hoyoshill2026-01-03 06:54
My first 4 star character I got after playing.
chii_Say2026-01-03 08:06
She's an awesome starter character!! Her and Keqing (my first 5*) made for a deadly duo in my early game! I still use them often tbh!
blastcat42026-01-03 16:10
My team of Yaoyao, Keqing, Fischl and Kazuha put in such good work during the dendro era. Keqing felt like she got a new lease on life!
AzureFirmament2026-01-03 08:12
How does that work? You got Yaoyao before Amber or someone else?
Mikauren2026-01-03 08:40
Their first gacha 4star. It is not possible to get her before Amber.
AzureFirmament2026-01-03 09:07
That's what I was wondering. I thought maybe the game changed something by the way they said Yaoyao is the first four star after playing.
hoyoshill2026-01-03 10:32
everyone got amber for free, but yaoyao is the first character i got from a 10 pull, she and fischl carry me in early days.
Mik872026-01-03 10:34
I remember years ago there was this one hardcore elementless traveler player who haven't done even the initial quest to light up first statue of 7. You meet Amber in story later on so he haven't had her iirc. That person had only unlocked like half of in game menu, but the event menu was available for him, he was getting only free characters from there (no wishes) and I think lantern rites counted in, so Yaoyao would technically can be claimed before Amber.
Cosimov2026-01-03 06:57
I looooove Yaoyao, but there are other characters that could have used the glow up over her...
playerkei2026-01-03 06:59
holy biggest upscale next to Yelans
rW0HgFyxoJhYka2026-01-03 08:00
Holy shit Diluc is comin I hope
Camsy342026-01-03 08:09
Phrasing
NikhilB092026-01-03 09:30
They didnt stutter
SkyZippr2026-01-03 10:54
They know what they want, what they really really want
Glitchykins82026-01-03 13:49
They want to zig uh zig ahh
XenowolfShiro2026-01-03 08:15
He had the first (and only) 5 star skin and still looked basic AF.
donttrustmewithagun2026-01-03 08:38
Yeah this model quality increase came after his skin, it's much newer
XenowolfShiro2026-01-03 17:47
Even by 2.8 he had fallen behind the quality of newer models. A five star skin definitely should have done some more work to his model.
Jaquemart2026-01-03 11:13
And the Grand Mondstadt Update ignored him completely. Apparently, Sucrose and Fischl needed more buffing.
rorschach_blots2026-01-03 12:50
Must be Klee approved to get an Alice buff.
d-the-luc2026-01-03 14:36
I personally want that too as someone who named himself after him
Totaliss2026-01-03 17:05
they should at least upgrade his skin, seeing as how it's paid and is the only 5\* skin in the game...
Cryogenx372026-01-03 17:06
Best we can provide is a Diluc kit revamp
joepanda1112026-01-04 06:44
*Rosaria upgrade/un-nerf when???*
maeiya2026-01-03 07:07
She's so cute, my daughter 🥺
baguetteispain2026-01-03 13:54
OUR daughter 🥺
Zeek0_2452026-01-05 10:12
W Rizz unc
BichonWisperer2026-01-03 07:09
Her eyes as well or it's the shades that are differents bit feels better
Hiphopapocalyptic2026-01-03 07:42
Could be the lighting maybe they flattened her face? Old model looks like thry got the focal length wrong lol.
LandLovingFish2026-01-03 08:59
New seems to have slight bigger eyes and a alightly bighter look
Solacen2026-01-03 07:12
Her skins hair looks so fluffy and soft now.
Otherwise_Orange91272026-01-03 07:16
Now i'm not mad that Amber hasn't gotten a skin yet If that means they're going to make her even more beautiful 😭
ItsLoudB2026-01-03 11:39
Well technically she did..
xkoreotic2026-01-03 20:53
Still waiting for Amber's manga outfit. She so cute there, here's to the copium.
meove2026-01-03 07:20
model during Natlan have improved a lot. hope Hoyo update more old model. lmao during current event where Minnie Varesa Xilonen hand are high detail meanwhile Traveler hand blurry
Martian_on_the_Moon2026-01-03 10:42
Even Fontaine characters suffer from it. When they focused on Arlecchino's hands, you could see blurred textures...
kifune892026-01-03 13:05
Model started improve from yumemizuki Mizuki and Varesa
IPutTheLInLayla2026-01-03 16:38
It definitely did from before, Mualani and Kinich already are way more polished than most characters before
Plus-Theme-32832026-01-03 13:06
Well we got a skin for the traveler next update
Il0vechocolates2026-01-03 07:21
Her new outfit is so pretty and she looks adorable!
MrCovell2026-01-03 07:21
I guess we can say at this point that it rules out them going back and just updating old models. I love all the new models, but not sure how I feel about that. I wish they had the time, will, gratitude for us, pride in their work, whatever you want to call it, to go back and update the older character models to current day standards
chii_Say2026-01-03 08:01
Agree, most of the original outfits are just iconic and depict the characters' very essence. The new skins are nice but most of them have a generic feeling where the character personality and distinctive details are lost a bit on the way. It is a huge work to update old models given the number of characters I guess, still it would be awesome.
DreamyAkemi2026-01-03 20:59
for real, how can any of them do this kind of work then ever include YaoYao base in any quest they design knowing the default looks like a brick?
heck, i'm shocked they allowed Albedo at all in his state in Nod Krai with how important it is. Like at what point does nobody put in a ticket to update his model to match the story's standards just out of self respect? It can't be that cost inefficient, i refuse to believe it.
kidanokun2026-01-03 07:34
I still wish the base skins still get some update tho...
lilSpookii2026-01-03 07:42
im living for this
nolxve_exe2026-01-03 07:47
Wow omg it looks incredible
chii_Say2026-01-03 07:54
Her new outfit is so adorable 😍
I will miss a bit the osmanthus flower theme in the details though, like the cute hairclips, which is her constellation and her whole thing...
Still very happy with the new hair, so much better!
BillysTown2026-01-03 07:59
Her actual face looks a bit different too or am i tripling , man those older models need this 😭
ohoni2026-01-03 08:06
Wow, I didn't think the new costume was a huge upgrade design-wise, but in terms of detail, it definitely knocks it out of the park. This is ZZZ-scale.
Wild-Sheepherder28862026-01-03 08:11
We need Albedo skin now
Martian_on_the_Moon2026-01-03 10:44
You mean [this?](https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Impact/comments/1pgn83j/they_finally_updated_albedos_model/)
Cannot wait for release.
ArkhamN72026-01-03 08:13
This is one of the main reasons I want skins for older characters, or at least Hoyo should do a general upgrade to the ones that came out before Fontaine..
Marinesneaux2026-01-03 08:15
She looks less like a chicken nugget now
Square-Way-97512026-01-03 08:16
Yaoyao buff when?
rekage992026-01-03 08:24
The left image isn’t rendered in game though is it? It’s the same way they do cutscenes, it looks very similar but it’s not the same.
Maybe just me but I kinda like the old stylized one
katoult2026-01-03 09:35
Not just that.
New one looks like she simply missed her trip to the hairdresser to have that shag cut back to its normal form.
Adventurous_Cash_6352026-01-03 08:54
She is SO CUTE. I love the new color.
littlely62026-01-03 09:00
It's great to see this level of detail on newer characters, even if it makes me hope for a few touch-ups on some of the older favorites down the line.
glacierpawz2026-01-03 09:05
as an albedo main this is getting my hopes up (coping)
ElricaLavandula2026-01-03 09:46
Honestly, as much as I like that they improve the graphics, I have two little gripes with it.
First, the older characters look ridiculously bad next to the newer or improved ones. It's bothering me so much.
Second, I kind of liked the more simplistic hair designs. Of course I like better resolution, better textures, slightly more details. But in this case (also Aether's and Lumine's) I think there now are *too* many details in the hair. Something in-between these pictures would have been perfect. Left is too detailed, right is too bulky, blocky? I don't know the right word.
Anyone else who thinks like that?
hatsu-232026-01-03 09:52
I need this kind of changes on the hypothetical future Beidou Skin🙏🙏
New-Cicada70142026-01-03 10:18
She looks like a totally different character, in the BEST way
Zyx-Wvu2026-01-03 10:25
Moments like this makes me wish Hoyo just allows players to have mod support so they can personally improve the models themselves.
Sonoreal2026-01-03 10:26
So they actually don't want to remodel old versions of their models
Position_Waste2026-01-03 10:30
Damn it's like seeing something in HD for the first time. I love how soft her hair looks now
Lumina_chann2026-01-03 10:38
Fluffy hair vs flat
Btw i like the upgrade tho
Porkfight2026-01-03 10:52
Yaoyao looks like beta compared the original model
Fast-Ad-24152026-01-03 10:57
seeign these visuaal upgrades makes me positive, that ocne the PS4 is finally away, we will get to see hopefully significantly more visual upgrades
Sachin9512026-01-03 10:59
Albedo crying in the grave rn
Aackland2026-01-03 11:27
the added detail in her hair makes her sooo cute, and she was adorable before!
CaspianRoach2026-01-03 11:40
they really need to do something about the 'no nose in poor lighting' issue on their models
DigiAirship2026-01-03 12:18
too bad the model is still the same bobblehead one...
Nero_PR2026-01-03 12:28
And that's the only gripe and negative of Genshin the first of its kind. Next to other contemporary alternatives Genshin is already showing its age, but HoYo can't just go back and update everything in a fell swoop.
Drift_Byte2026-01-03 12:30
The skin really suits to the Dialogue of Desert Sages aka the "Magical-girl Polearm"
arseholierthanthou2026-01-03 12:34
I wish there were a way to choose the new face model but keep the old outfit. I love Yaoyao in her green, she's adorable.
AndromedaBliss2026-01-03 12:51
I wish Diluc, Albedo, Xiao, Razor and Itto got these treatments too
kifune892026-01-03 13:04
Remember guys Yaoyao skin is free I guess
imnotthinkinghard2026-01-03 13:25
My yoyo is getting new drip hell yea 🔥
Nearby_Dragonfruit662026-01-03 13:39
Holy I feel like I'm looking at a different game, it looks amazing
Dylangillian2026-01-03 13:57
Genshin's model improvements are a more recent thing, but when it comes to hair you can see the steady improvement of it with each nation. Inazuma, while not a big one, already improved hairstyles by a bit, same with Sumeru. But then in Fontaine we got a big leap in how detailed the characters' hair looks, even more so in Natlan where the entire models were greatly improved.
It is quite frankly extremely immersion breaking when you now see an old character next to a new one, which is also why I hope the new traveler skins becomes the main ones for story and that Paimon can maybe also get an update.
DI3S_IRAE2026-01-03 14:00
She looks amazing in the new skin, love her.
Ornery_Intern44312026-01-03 14:22
Very happy about those improvements. Seeing the difference of like 2 years later I think? It's very cool what hoyoverse achieved over those years
neat-NEAT2026-01-03 14:33
"But Yaoyao wasn’t released that long ago.".... Nearly 3 years.
Brain is still on "Yaoyao and Baizhu release in 1.6 with the chasm!!!!"
Chesse_cz2026-01-03 15:08
Instead fixing standart models, they rather release new skin for only one character in months.... Yeah, well played....
SincerelyTheWorst2026-01-03 15:14
Albedo update WHENNN. Bro has been in so much of the Nod Krai story/ recent content and his model looks busted as hell standing next to everyone else (even the npcs).
Albireookami2026-01-03 15:16
really would like them to update base models instead of offloading the work to only skins.
KitkatMidna2026-01-03 15:25
She looks amazing!
Isafox_drawing382026-01-03 15:35
She looks even more similar to Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura : Clear cards! So cute ☺️
hechiiimakooo2026-01-03 15:37
the hair bangs tutorial i see online vs how my bangs look like when i try it at home.
External_Cucumber932026-01-03 15:37
She’s growing up
Argentumhedgie2026-01-03 15:50
Someone tell me Diluc is next and will get the fluffy hair he deserves 😭 even his skin is outdated hair model
rose__dragon2026-01-03 17:29
While I still wish they could update the older models (*especially* the Archons, since I'm not sure they'll ever get skins), I'll take new skins as a way to get updates. I just wish they could release skins more often to make up for it.
Commentaires
You can *kinda* see why they're SO picky unless it's to do with story and said character is central to that story segment.
Just look up "I made an HSR skin", the character being Jingliu from concept art.
Like yeah, HYV could just solve the problem by throwing more money. But they'll rather just make skins that are more "convenient" with the story-work flow.
Skins for characters will have to meet a much more stringent criteria.
A bit like how you can reduce all the characters to silhouettes and still be able to identify every single character. That's not entirely an accident, that's a symptom of designing characters who explicitly do not overlap with each other. It's about ensuring each is unique in their own way. And that takes work.
New skins have to capture the spirit of the original character while not standing on anyone else's toes and still be different enough that they seem worth acquiring. What this probably means is that for every ten designs they concept art for one might be worth adopting.
It's not really "1/2" the work, as I suspect the writing for the character is substantially more. But even if they tried they wouldn't be able to churn out new skins for characters at even a tenth of the speed they could produce costumes for the manekins.
This is probably weighed up against the opportunity cost of making a new character and how much more money that brings in.
I was taking issue with the trivialisation of the making of skins, nothing about fixing up old models.
I would abolutely want them fix up the old models.
I presume they aren't doing it because it either increases the percieved value of new characters or because they can then leverage the "jank" of old models to sell new skins later. I know I paid for Ayaka's skin because I was maining her at the time and I didn't like how the original model's tits bounced around so much.
I've done work in design and if they had a dedicated team to skins they could churn them out A LOT more frequently, but they often decide they need to write a story for the outfits, tie it to an event, which essentially doubles the work required. The concept art, modeling for the skin itself, that process probably doesn't take nearly as long as what you're imagining, especially if they're working in teams.
But yeah, it probably is not as profitable as new characters are, so that's probably why they don't have a dedicated team working on them year round. It's a shame because I actually would spend a lot of money on skins if we actually had more options lol.
I do think the issue that they would come across is redoing all pre-rendered cutscenes and replacing the old models over time. Because imagine if they do it in small batches but multiple characters appear in one cutscene. Would you have to remodel all of the characters that appeared? If you do one but then another character gets a remodel later, would have to update the same cutscene multiple times?
I think that's why they might be sticking to giving characters whole new outfits. But if they're doing it this way, they need to give out more skins.
So if you release, let's say 5 remodels per patch, and adjust the cutscenes they appeared in, what if a character with no remodel in the same cutscenes gets one later in the future? That's a lot of fixes over time.
So I think it's unlikely they will do remodels unless it's through a skin that causes a character to change later rather than earlier on.
I would prefer updated models, but I understand why they wouldn't do it this way. But since they're making the newer skins more detailed, they should just release more skins at a greater frequency. That way, any future appearances of those characters would have an updated version.
For example, Yelan appeared in her alt skin in the anecdotes.
heck, i'm shocked they allowed Albedo at all in his state in Nod Krai with how important it is. Like at what point does nobody put in a ticket to update his model to match the story's standards just out of self respect? It can't be that cost inefficient, i refuse to believe it.
I will miss a bit the osmanthus flower theme in the details though, like the cute hairclips, which is her constellation and her whole thing...
Still very happy with the new hair, so much better!
Cannot wait for release.
New one looks like she simply missed her trip to the hairdresser to have that shag cut back to its normal form.
First, the older characters look ridiculously bad next to the newer or improved ones. It's bothering me so much.
Second, I kind of liked the more simplistic hair designs. Of course I like better resolution, better textures, slightly more details. But in this case (also Aether's and Lumine's) I think there now are *too* many details in the hair. Something in-between these pictures would have been perfect. Left is too detailed, right is too bulky, blocky? I don't know the right word.
Anyone else who thinks like that?
Btw i like the upgrade tho
It is quite frankly extremely immersion breaking when you now see an old character next to a new one, which is also why I hope the new traveler skins becomes the main ones for story and that Paimon can maybe also get an update.
Brain is still on "Yaoyao and Baizhu release in 1.6 with the chasm!!!!"