It is mostly just artistic framing and not anything technically-demanding. Most of both scenes are just a void.
northernoverture2026-01-17 20:48
Yeah Im not blown away by this being rendered in-game. Both scenes are technically simpler than Mondstadts main road. Like what you said, it's just a very artistically made empty void consisting of a skybox, a plane, and a few meshes. What I am surprised by is hoyo creating these beautiful set pieces that you will only see once on your account. I wish I finished this AQ on my PC instead of my phone to take some high quality screenshots but I wanted to finish it as soon as possible to minimize the chance of getting spoiled. I didn't expect to get blindsided by how cinematic this act would be.
Capital-Trainer37932026-01-17 21:50
I am sure the assets exist in the game. We just need someone to find the location in the map and we can go there using a glitch.
Levitoy12026-01-17 22:04
Wait you can’t go back to the moon?!?!
northernoverture2026-01-17 22:15
Not at all! at least, not currently. If you log out on the moon after talking to Columbina it will spit you back into Teyvat. I thought I could finish the AQ then at least log out on the moon and log back on with my PC to take screenshots. Of course it also prevents portable waypoints.
GetFiltered2026-01-18 00:26
I was snapping screenshots left and right, so [here's the album with high resolution and UI-less pictures](https://postimg.cc/gallery/c4RQG6M).
northernoverture2026-01-18 00:36
Wow, thanks! I was gonna slowly work my way back up from a new account so you saved me like 40 hours of work.
Was this captured on an ultrawide 32:9? I was gonna try using renderdoc to capture UI-less frames of the murals and stitch them together in photoshop but these turned out really well.
GetFiltered2026-01-18 00:40
Yeah, it's native 32:9, wasn't stitching anything. Ended up being just about right to fit those murals.
kazuviking2026-01-17 17:41
When you get fed so low quality for years then slightly above bare minimum effort looks like mindblowing.
Environmental-Map5142026-01-17 17:50
Are you telling me that higher technology and visual quality was there before?! /s
Original-Shallot58422026-01-17 18:16
You prob dont play the game if you think we had low quality for years.
Negative to be negative type comment.
kazuviking2026-01-17 19:19
100% every zone and content except for LUNA 4.
Original-Shallot58422026-01-17 19:23
So your statement doesnt make sense, cause outside of mondstat who looks rather simple, rest of the regions look really good, landscapes and scenery wise.
kazuviking2026-01-17 19:41
Its not the map or scenery but the technical aspects which stayed in 2016 and hoyo refusing to fix it.
Dannyx512026-01-18 05:55
"technical aspects" yeah tell me how the optimization in that other game you love is going.
kazuviking2026-01-18 06:47
You know technical aspect doesnt mean graphical optimizations only.
Dannyx512026-01-18 08:19
so which "technical aspects" are we talking about?
ChaoRenRabbit2026-01-17 18:59
Ah Wuwa player, every comment related to genshin ,another game they always stated they left a long time ago will always be negative, truly a pathetic existent indeed
Environmental-Map5142026-01-17 19:10
I mean... This is why people hate that much the Genshin community lol
They're never take a real criticism or joke that they're defending absurdity and throwing war between games like you
This isn't mind-blowing, this is beautiful, but we're in 2026, if you think this is mind-blowing as in game content and not cinematic, then probably you're living under a rock or only consuming Genshin content
Jsjdhbdnd732026-01-17 19:14
The first 2 shots are actually stunning and i would praise it regardless if it was a newer gacha game or not, the third one i will agree looks just okay, nothing particularly impressive.
ChaoRenRabbit2026-01-17 19:18
Ah yes...is always genshin players fault because "Genshin could never" right? That's your accusation? Me only playing genshin and living under a rock, at least look through my profile before projecting, Genshin has it's fault but at the end of the day is still a fun game something you better remember, is a game, it is meant to be enjoy, if you don't enjoy them game then find another game enjoy not sulk around like an angry ex.
And another thing, have you actually gone through the genshin community recently? Never take criticism or joke, only white knight defending, aren't you just parroting the shit wuwa players always shouting? Can't even form your own opinion?
Environmental-Map5142026-01-17 19:27
No, your comment about wuwa was completely unnecessary, that's the spirit of people who bring toxicity between games when no one called for it. (And I don't even play wuwa)
You're part of the reason this community is so toxic, a complete jerk of you ask
IS_Mythix2026-01-17 19:38
Considering all OP talks about when it comes to genshin is shitting on it and comparing it to wuwa it’s not completely unwarranted to point it out
kazuviking2026-01-17 19:45
>shitting on it and comparing it to wuwa it’s not completely unwarranted to point it out
5 years to improve but still only giving the bare minimum, correction slightly above the bare minimum with luna 4. When was the last time hoyo listened without the community going apeshit over nonexistent rewards and predatory practices.
strawwwwwwwwberry2026-01-17 20:35
“Predatory practices” brother you glaze a gacha game
CookedDuckSteak2026-01-17 23:38
Not this clown thinking his favorite gacha isn't "predatory". Begone WuWa bot.
kazuviking2026-01-18 06:50
Lets ignore the no pity on the weapon banner for over a year till big chinese whales banded together and put pressure on hoyo. Atleast in wuwa is guaranteed and no 25/75 on the weapon banner.
Neospartan_1172026-01-17 21:03
Not at all. Look at the rest of the comments, no one is agreeing with OP that the scene is mindblowing in a technical sense, because it just isn't. However, they're making their comments in a constructive manner.
On the other hand, kazuviking's comment isn't "real criticism" nor a joke, rather it's 100% meant to be incendiary, condescending, and all around looking to provoke an altercation. Nothing of substance nor value to be extracted from it, just pure rage bait.
It's unfortunate that people engaged with it rather than downvoting and leaving it alone, but you can't pretend that it was worth anything more than that.
jasonensteinyt2026-01-17 19:56
People like them are one of the reasons I stopped playing WuWa. Game is good and all, but dear God ppl like them leaves such a terrible impression and makes the community seem toxic.
Same shit happened with Fallout New Vegas, except I was able to love that game later on ever since I learnt to ignore the toxic people. WuWankers (as I love to cal them) are still to this day prevalent even tho both games are different.
Enjoy. Your. Game.
Gargooner2026-01-17 19:10
\>Checks profile
\>Wuthering Wave
Begone dumbfuck
Shubo4832026-01-18 01:16
You're absolutely not wrong lol. It's pretty. I love the playful and colorful art direction, but this game's graphics and character models are far outdated. I remember thinking "Wow, Chenyu Vale/Ancient Sacred Mountain is such a step up in fidelity from the rest of the game", then I played ZZZ, WuWa, Endfield, etc. and now it looks pretty bad in comparison.
Dannyx512026-01-18 05:56
it's a different art style, not necessarily worse.
Original-Shallot58422026-01-18 14:47
We must played different games cause I played all those excluding Endfield.
Wuwa looks like any unreal engine game. Nothing special about it. It looks realistic and good? Sure but its just another unreal engine.
ZZZ? Im day 1 player. In what world does zzz look better? Different artstyle all together but its still in unity engine and it doesnt look better at all.
Particular_Web32152026-01-18 08:47
Least salty wuwa player
wathkat2026-01-17 18:47
This is the result of when devs and artists rely on technical knowledge and artistry without resorting to inflating perceived graphical fidelity by throwing crap into the game at the cost of performance and artistic coherence.
ComposedOfStardust2026-01-18 00:34
I like your funny words magic man
rW0HgFyxoJhYka2026-01-18 09:22
I know you're trying to say "I dont like ray tracing and path tracing" but game devs could use new tech and still leverage their own artistry while working with new tech that can wow people.
Genshin literally added global illumination to this game. They added ray tracing to ZZZ. Its pretty clear they are moving more and more towards ray tracing.
wathkat2026-01-18 09:44
I mean I welcome it and I like new tech. Heck I am even currently doing a playthrough of Indiana Jones DLC using path tracing and a hardcore Henry playthrough of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. But Genshin absolutely doesn't need ray/path tracing to look good.
I'd take a consistent bug-free live service experience over having to deal with optimization issues. Maybe OP hasn't played truly graphical impressive games, but fact that they were wowed nonetheless and that is a testament to Hoyo's ability to deliver impressive visuals. I was wowed too and it's especially impressive that my GPU never never exceeded 6000+ mb VRAM usage on my whole Genshin playthrough.
It's a win for Hoyo to still wow players 5 years in and not succumbing to adding tech Genshin doesn't need.
If ray tracing ever comes to Genshin, I'd welcome it 100%, provided they manage to keep optimization and accessibility in check.
Jaynat_SF2026-01-17 20:04
The terrain itself isn't anything we haven't seen before, they just haven't really given us that many crazy skyboxes before, so these feel super grand. A good skybox can entirely change the sense of scale and space of a scene in any video game.
survivorr123_2026-01-17 21:00
nah some world quests have more crazy sceneries
Jaynat_SF2026-01-17 21:02
I was specifically speaking about *skyboxes*, not the sceneries themselves. Usually they put effort into the design of the "stage" itself while the skybox in the background is relatively simple. Here we have very simple scenes (flat sparkly "water", gray lunar surface) and super detailed skyboxes.
WashedWolf42422026-01-18 00:48
[deleted]
InersDraco2026-01-18 01:20
It is not widely known term indeed. I learned it from moosashi's out of bounds videos despite watching other videogame bloggers before that. They could've mentioned briefly without me noticing though
NaturalAppointment842026-01-18 13:21
Even though I began to hate this game, Destiny had some AMAZING skyboxes! So sad that the game got a cash grab :/
Jaynat_SF2026-01-18 13:37
I was actually thinking of Warframe when I wrote that, they always had nice skyboxes but ever since 2019 they've been making 10/10 skybox after 10/10 skybox, especially the crazy outer space/near space ones (of which the 8th act reminded me). The Proxima regions, Cambion Drift, the whole final mission of The New War, Duviri (all 5 skyboxes), the Deimos labs... My god, I could go on forever.
theweirdarthur2026-01-18 13:42
Clem clem!
Jaynat_SF2026-01-18 13:42
Grakata!
NaturalAppointment842026-01-18 14:13
Oh! I also love Warframe! That’s the game I began to play when I got fed up with Destiny lol
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UmbraNightDragon2026-01-17 20:19
That whole sequence with QTEs at the end of the boss fight was also in-engine. Other standout cutscenes done that way are Cyno vs. Alhaitham from Sumeru Act III and the first cutscene in Skirk’s SQ.
KazakiriKaoru2026-01-18 02:41
The QTE was surprisingly smooth for a non-cutscene moment. I love that they've given the in-game rendered scenes more fluid movement
rW0HgFyxoJhYka2026-01-18 09:21
QTEs? I just let that shit RIP. Pressed nothing and it still kept going as a cutscene lol.
Jirul112026-01-17 22:02
The menu elements really ruin it lol like why do we need an empty minimap in what is basically a cutscene
ShiftAdventurous46802026-01-17 22:12
We needed it so we knew what direction the moon was in.
ShiftAdventurous46802026-01-17 22:16
Technically, it's not that impressive. Mostly just textures and skyboxes. What is impressive is the art and design. This is what you get when the artists and the developers work closely together. This scene may not be particularly impressive by itself, but what is impressive is that Genshin basically does scenes and vistas like this on the regular.
D0cJack2026-01-18 01:34
Visuals are pretty good, but I want to point also that they did good job with transitions from dialogue to in engine cinematics in new quests. Really makes you notice the smoothness.
Nameless492026-01-18 01:51
The lighting when we were on the moon was feels very different although, scientifically, the shadows we have on the moon was wrong but it was very cinematic.
Hot-Masterpiece43252026-01-18 07:39
the fact i can still play on integrated graphics(Radeon 760M, basically GTX 1050 Ti level) and still get 55+ FPS is wild in these areas
xWhiteKx2026-01-18 07:51
they have been slowly shifting pre-render to in-engine cutscene since Natlan release and im impress
Pinoy_20042026-01-18 09:27
I'm really liking the recent rendered curscenes. Especially when Arlecchino was opening a protal to the Iridescent Moon Marrow.
ImTheBias2026-01-18 09:48
Don't be, it's 1 difficulty on a scale of 10 to make scenes like these. Aesthetically it's nice, but you're talking technicality so..
Commentaires
Was this captured on an ultrawide 32:9? I was gonna try using renderdoc to capture UI-less frames of the murals and stitch them together in photoshop but these turned out really well.
Negative to be negative type comment.
They're never take a real criticism or joke that they're defending absurdity and throwing war between games like you
This isn't mind-blowing, this is beautiful, but we're in 2026, if you think this is mind-blowing as in game content and not cinematic, then probably you're living under a rock or only consuming Genshin content
And another thing, have you actually gone through the genshin community recently? Never take criticism or joke, only white knight defending, aren't you just parroting the shit wuwa players always shouting? Can't even form your own opinion?
You're part of the reason this community is so toxic, a complete jerk of you ask
5 years to improve but still only giving the bare minimum, correction slightly above the bare minimum with luna 4. When was the last time hoyo listened without the community going apeshit over nonexistent rewards and predatory practices.
On the other hand, kazuviking's comment isn't "real criticism" nor a joke, rather it's 100% meant to be incendiary, condescending, and all around looking to provoke an altercation. Nothing of substance nor value to be extracted from it, just pure rage bait.
It's unfortunate that people engaged with it rather than downvoting and leaving it alone, but you can't pretend that it was worth anything more than that.
Same shit happened with Fallout New Vegas, except I was able to love that game later on ever since I learnt to ignore the toxic people. WuWankers (as I love to cal them) are still to this day prevalent even tho both games are different.
Enjoy. Your. Game.
\>Wuthering Wave
Begone dumbfuck
Wuwa looks like any unreal engine game. Nothing special about it. It looks realistic and good? Sure but its just another unreal engine.
ZZZ? Im day 1 player. In what world does zzz look better? Different artstyle all together but its still in unity engine and it doesnt look better at all.
Genshin literally added global illumination to this game. They added ray tracing to ZZZ. Its pretty clear they are moving more and more towards ray tracing.
I'd take a consistent bug-free live service experience over having to deal with optimization issues. Maybe OP hasn't played truly graphical impressive games, but fact that they were wowed nonetheless and that is a testament to Hoyo's ability to deliver impressive visuals. I was wowed too and it's especially impressive that my GPU never never exceeded 6000+ mb VRAM usage on my whole Genshin playthrough.
It's a win for Hoyo to still wow players 5 years in and not succumbing to adding tech Genshin doesn't need.
If ray tracing ever comes to Genshin, I'd welcome it 100%, provided they manage to keep optimization and accessibility in check.
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