Anyone else disappointed with Nod Krai's performance?

Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoyed the story, and the last AQ was brutal. I think some things didn't quite live up to my expectations. We were introduced to 11 factions, and it seemed like the conflict could escalate into a kind of national crisis due to competing interests and influence. Of those 11 factions, only 8 were featured in the AQ, and of those 8, only 7 united to fight a threat in the last AQ. I think they could have used the opportunity to create a conflict of interest or chaos, with external forces like the Favonius and Hexer acting as mediators.

In the end, it all boiled down to good story development, but it left me with the feeling that it was something like, "Since you're friends with the Traveler, I'll help because the Traveler helped me." With 11 factions, I expected some differences and conflicts among them beyond the Wild Hunt being a regional enemy that required action. Let's keep in mind that the Fatui were there and seemed to have issues with the Frostmoon Scions, but that conflict wasn't felt. The Treasure Hoarders, which I would have thought would have been an interesting faction to develop in the AQs, had no involvement and were only limited to the WQs.

I think many things in the story made sense and were very interesting; it was enjoyable. But there are also other things that don't seem to make sense.

With this, I'm not saying that the Nod Krai AQs were bad, just that I felt they lacked something more than what was promoted and the presentation.

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Commentaires

babangelsin2026-01-16 02:33

The faction system that really kicked off with Natlan seems to have the primary goal of enriching the backstory of the playable characters affiliated with them, rather than exploring the implications of their own existence. To me they feel more like backstage props, used extensively in their related story segment and then not really expanded upon.

Grouchy_Gap452026-01-16 02:36

Yes, that's why nod krai is so predictable. All the factions that hoyo themselves teased to clash against each other, and in the end nothing happened

adonis_172026-01-16 02:41

Exactly, the problem is that in Nod Krai they presented the factions in a web event and in the livestream implying that there would be a more complex conflict and that it would not be like Natlan.

refance2026-01-16 02:34

Nod Krai had the best AQ of the game

Grouchy_Gap452026-01-16 02:35

Not at all

refance2026-01-16 02:37

Nah man the points you presented can only support your frustrations in front of your expectations not what the game delivered

Grouchy_Gap452026-01-16 02:40

I didn't présent any point yet. But nod krai is clearly far for the best quest. In fact, it's in the same tier as natlan

refance2026-01-16 03:13

The factions weren't developed in a substantial way
The Fatui menace didn't feel that threatening to the FMS
Those were the points you brought up

esztersunday2026-01-16 02:37

I didn't like it, it felt like a visual novel, it was not as interactive as before. It felt like I was watching it, rather than playing it.

The new map was not used.

adonis_172026-01-16 02:44

I think what they wanted to do was for us to be more witnesses and less participants.

Personal-Mess45022026-01-16 02:45

No, I thought it was great

frostN0VA2026-01-16 02:50

I disagree. Nod Krai's arc is not flawless and it's not some writing masterpiece either, but it's the best arc in the game so far. Made me actually care for the story again. In terms of story I lost the will to live, so to speak, halfway through Sumeru. Half of Fontaine was fun but then Natlan killed me once again even harder than Sumeru.

adonis_172026-01-16 02:53

In my humble opinion, Fontaine is much better. But that would only generate a complex debate based on personal preferences. I agree that they are good arcs, but there was a lack of backstory for the factions and more participation from others that were excluded.

Ravemst2026-01-16 03:18

No just like I wasn't disappointed with Natlan or Fontaine or Sumeru or Inazuma or Liyue or Mondstadt. None of them were disappointing.

Codtahasabir2026-01-16 07:14

The quest was great. But, I completely agree with you having more input from all the factions would have made it better. That's how atleast hoyo introduced the factions being the big part of Nod Krai, so would have you expected more from them.

ThisToe96282026-01-16 09:09

I am super disappointed in nod krai's performance. That's only regarding the writing and story. The design of region is awesome.

Regarding the story. It's the worst AQ after natlan and inazuma.

Words cannot describe my disappointment.

1. Sandrone: Another waifuslop for fan service. We see her at start, she threatens us with fatui, but later traveler becomes buddies with her. AGAIN?! Can't hoyo stop rewriting characters and changing their personalities? It started since arlecchino. They not only dropped all her dark shades on crucabena, but also portrayed her as caring Father. Same here

•A shut-in who's almost never seen outside her
workshop, barely interacts with others and doesn't give
af about people around her? NOPE, she constantly
organizes tea parties with other harbingers, cares
about her subordinates and was very angry when
Dottore endangered the lab workers, so she had to save
them.
• Definitely doesn't care about Signora's death, as
Sandrone was the only one who not only smiled during
the entire funeral, but didn't even close her eyes to pay
the last respects, finding this entire situation "utterly
risible"? NOPE, they were close friends with Signora
and she misses her a lot on her tea parties.
• Barely interacted with Childe, and when she did, she
looked at him like she wanted to kill him? NOPE, he
participated in her tea parties as well, and she doesn't
mind him being there.
• Arle has "little interest in her"? NOPE, Arle is her another
bestie alongside Signora, who also a regular visitor of
her tea parties, trusts her enough to plot against
Dottore together, and cares a lot about her, how some
spoiler event demonstrated.
• Psychopatic and cruel enough to cut off a person's
tongue? NOPE, we will never see even a fragment of
this deranged side of her anymore, plus Paimon told us
that she just pretends to be bad, but in fact is very
good...
• Ruthless enough to say that the entire Nod-Krai is the
dominion of the Fatui, and they should establish a new
order here by suppressing the Frostmoon Scions'
"laughably futile rebellion"? Never mind, we'll never
mention this again, after all Paimon told us that
Sandrone just pretends to be bad, btw what rebellion?
Btw it's all Dottore's fault, blame him and that darn
Pantalone.

2. Columbina: the face of nod krai, and ofc, another waifu for traveler. 3 years of waiting, most anticipated harbinger, because of how mysterious she was, who was even shown glitching in trailer.... turned out to be a kind and oblivious girl..... She's just disappointment, that's all

Hoyo how do you mess up this bad? Nod krai is basically another story in which power of friendship won(basically natlan) The issue isn't the way how they won, it's how we came to that. You think sandrone is dead? Lol no, they'll revive her in the next updates.

3. Wanderer: story wise, he should have been one of the main focuses, because he was supposed to know a lot about dottore, but obviously hoyo wouldn't do that, because it's nod krai, and they have to focus on new characters.

Hoyo also adds too many characters in just one scene, but it doesn't work. Their interactions are a mess, just like in natlan.

Little tension and excitement in the story.

Dottore was also killed too quickly. He always had back up plan, but this time they did him dirty(just like signora).

After this, i am not excited for snezshnaya. Tsaritsa, who gave lots of freedom to harbingers in their work, decided to sabotage dottore(as "consequences" for his disobedience), but there were no consequences for sandrone and arle for disobeying(especially arle).

Design of region: 9/10

Story: 2/10