Calling Natlan a "Cultural Mess" While Ignoring Every Other Region Is Just Racism
A large portion of the hate directed at Natlan is outright racism. The region’s concept is literally clear: unity among peoples, alliances between tribes, communal organization, shared oral traditions, and collective values placed above individualism, traits widely present in most of Indigenous cultures. All of this is cohesive and consistent with the proposal. The whole point of the Natlan Archon Quest is precisely the rejection of war, they hate war, they do not romanticize it, they do not desire it, and they seek freedom from it. Yet many people saw this and still complained because they expected a “nation of war” to glorify conflict. That criticism completely ignores the core message of the narrative. The only truly justifiable negative point about Natlan is the fact that most characters have light skin; beyond that, the remaining complaints are either shallow readings or thinly veiled prejudice.
If you’re going to argue that Natlan is just a huge “mix of cultures,” then honestly, fuck off. Fontaine, Sumeru, Nod-Krai, and Mondstadt are just as culturally mixed as Natlan, and yet no one seems to complain about that. Sumeru is the only partial exception, and that says a lot, because it exposes how racialized this criticism of yall is. Regions inspired by predominantly white countries are rarely scrutinized in the same way.
Almost every Genshin region is a blend of multiple cultures; only Inazuma and Liyue are relatively singular in inspiration. Fontaine alone draws from the UK (Wriothesley and the Fortress of Meropide being inspired by Victorian England), Italy (Navia’s faction and much of Fontaine’s urbanism), Portugal (notably in some OSTs), and Switzerland (especially in its legal and institutional structure).
Mondstadt is no different, incorporating influences from Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Lithuania, Poland, and the Netherlands. Yet none of these regions are accused of being an incoherent “cultural mess.” When this argument is used selectively against Natlan or Sumeru, it stops being about worldbuilding and starts being about prejudice.
If you’re going to argue that Natlan is just a huge “mix of cultures,” then honestly, fuck off. Fontaine, Sumeru, Nod-Krai, and Mondstadt are just as culturally mixed as Natlan, and yet no one seems to complain about that. Sumeru is the only partial exception, and that says a lot, because it exposes how racialized this criticism of yall is. Regions inspired by predominantly white countries are rarely scrutinized in the same way.
Almost every Genshin region is a blend of multiple cultures; only Inazuma and Liyue are relatively singular in inspiration. Fontaine alone draws from the UK (Wriothesley and the Fortress of Meropide being inspired by Victorian England), Italy (Navia’s faction and much of Fontaine’s urbanism), Portugal (notably in some OSTs), and Switzerland (especially in its legal and institutional structure).
Mondstadt is no different, incorporating influences from Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Lithuania, Poland, and the Netherlands. Yet none of these regions are accused of being an incoherent “cultural mess.” When this argument is used selectively against Natlan or Sumeru, it stops being about worldbuilding and starts being about prejudice.
Commentaires
I mean, there are legitimate issues on how "Culture" is represented in Genshin (your culture likes food and music?! Wow! So does mine! How unique!), but saying that there's too many inspirations isn't one.
I get that most people who argue for "racism" usually need to *really* stretch to make their point, but this is some next level yoga.
If this is what your algorithm is feeding you, there's a deeper issue at play.
You can understand why people think Sumeru and Natlan are hodge podges when Egypt and India have so little to do with each other as Germany and Czechia does. Imo they should've committed Sumeru to India and Natlan to Mesoamerica like you can clearly see the main regional influence for every other region
Fwiw I think Sumeru did the mixture decent, but would've still preferred it to be a consistent region
It's like combining China, Japan, and SEA to make a generic "west Asian" setting
And no, the current regions do not have as much diversity in them as Natlan and Sumeru do. If the all white region consisted of South African Boers, Mississippi valley Creole, and Siberian subsistence farmers, then sure, that would be a hodgepodge to a similar level. But the Pacific Ocean takes up half the globe, and separates the tribes of Natlan. Italian culture is different from French and English culture yes, but not nearly to the same extent at all, especially considering the historical era influencing the game had these nations ruled by people who were cousins with each other
Okay but dude said very little to do with each other.... which is completely false
If you know geograhy thats where Pakistan/North India is. Thats a Fton of people.
We're well into Nod Krai, and closer to the beginning of Snezhnaya than the ending of Natlan. Leave the discourse back in 2024.
I dont think any game that im aware of has 100% historical or even cultural accuarancy.
Also what evidence do you have to support this. Is there concrete hard evidence to prove this? If its ur own opinion then fine
Put very succintly I do think the most disrepectful/dissapointing thing with Varesa isnt the obvious fetishization but its literally the Mask itself. If people knew what that respresented there would be far more outrage but there isnt is there.
on the list of things why people didn't like natlan, I doubt this makes even top10
my biggest problem with natlan is that its the nation of war, but we have one region wich is a holiday region. one region with has surfing and swimming pools. and the whole identity of natlan is colorful, happy, and positiv.
the archon quest was good. but outside of the archon quest we have no suffer, grief or fear. they even party before the big battle in the archon quest.