For those who struggled with Natlan but are loving Nod Krai: what made the difference?

For me it's the environmental storytelling. Natlan really lacked a Kipumaki cliff kind of area to showcase the storytelling through the environment (Dragonspine, Yashiori, Chasm, Tsurumi, Mt. Damavand).

Also I like the presentation of the technology more. They understood that something being explainable in-lore isn't enough, what matters is how it's presented to the players.

Also, generally the vibes and tone is a bit more on the serious side which I like. I think that this is what people meant they wanted for Natlan as well, but a lot of critics misconstrued it as people just wanting horror, murder etc. I think Nod-Krai balances it well.

I just like Nod-Krai's vibe a lot more, and the archon quest quality difference is pretty big too.

As for what I actively disliked about Natlan...one of the big points in Natlan was the whole six heroes thing, and yet they never had a fraction of the chemistry that Nod-Krai's cast has between them as a group.

Individually I actually like most of the Natlan characters, but I'm pretty some of them have literally never spoken to each other on-screen. And all the while the narrative pushes power of friendship stuff. Is the friendship in the room with us?

nod krai just feels so chill, so mature. i dont know how to explain this but it feels like they are tired from the drama in natlan and tried to do something creative. first of, villains are better, characters are 1000x more interesting both look-wise and personality wise. a lot of hyped characters, good pacing, no power of friendship excluding the dottore fight, actually focusing on the main story, better traveler personality, interesting plot twists and side quests, etc etc. i think environmental it is better as well. the main thing tho is that how "hopeless" we felt against dottore. definitely my favorite part and villain in all of genshin.

Natlan is nice, but there's one too many open area with nothing on them. I spend more time running than any. Nod-Krai is it because it's compact. There's something to open/kill in a close proximity with each other.

There just isn’t much to Natlan. You go in, travel around a bit, get to know the cast, save the day and it’s over. Aside from a select few parts that I found interesting, there was nothing intriguing about the Natlan AQ. It was too straight forward to ever be interesting.

Immediately going into Nod Krai, you get the opposite. Imo the prelude alone was more engaging than the entirety of Natlan. You get a robot with lost memories, a letter from a character that has been highly anticipated since the beginning of the game (Varka), and there’s the intrigue an upcoming convergence between several rivalling factions (Fatui & KoF). In the main part of the AQ, everything about the story is engrossing. You get a bunch new mysteries and subplots that are all very captivating. The mystery of the Traveler’s spaceship, a moon goddess & former harbinger, the appearance of the abyss twin, Rerir and Tholindis, etc.

Honestly, I found Natlan fun. I like a lot of the characters and I like the region itself. But story-wise it felt like such a let down compared to the previous two regions, and the Nod Krai AQ has really only cemented how poorly executed Natlan was.

Edit (because I want to ramble more): I also think Nod Krai’s cast of characters & their relationships is way better. I personally like the power of friendship, but Natlan was just in your face, all telling and zero showing. The Nod Krai cast had much better chemistry between them, and it felt far more genuine.

My issues with Natlan are still here in Nod Krai. In fact, they're a bit worse now.

I was burnt out during Natlan and I'm not for nod krai.

Also I like the nod krao quests/characters more than the natlan ones.

Moon>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Sun

For me it’s purely how the compass works in nod krai compared to the other regions (as someone who’s main problem with natlan was the exploration)

Personally i find the main cast in Nod Krai is much more compelling than Natlan's, also having more chemistry. The 6 Heroes didn't really do a lot of important stuff at the end of the day.

Although Natlan's Act 4 was one of the greatest Archon Quests ever, i still believe Nod Krai was more consistent in quality, while Natlan is often cited to peak at Act 4 but have a weak ending. Nod Krai was great from the start, with Act 1 being arguably the best First Act so far (Also fleshed Lauma out very organically).

I also enjoyed the narrative and stakes of Nod Krai more. Rerir was such a great antagonist, and Dottore is arguably the best villain in Genshin (Both him and Rerir are competing tbf). Meanwhile in Natlan there wasn't a clear antagonist, it was just the Abyss for most of it, and Gosoythoth didn't particularly leave a lasting impression. His defeat was SO anticlimactic.

I personally found Columbina a more compelling character overall than Mavuika, despite the various issues i have with some of her characterization. It feels like they were trying SO HARD to paint Mavuika as this cool badass flawless girlboss, but they forgot to give her a proper personality.

Aside from the story, I really like the atmosphere of Nod Krai more, it feels so solemn, so mysterious... kinda reminds me of Frieren. Meanwhile i'm not really a huge fan of Natlan's bright colors, and the mismatching aesthetics between playable characters, NPCs and world. The Nod Krai Treasure Compass was also certainly an upgrade over the previous nations which made it more enjoyable.

The biggest difference for me was the environment since I love Genshin most for its exploration. I found Natlan too visually overwhelming, particularly the red/orange-heavy color palette. Nod Krai is the exact opposite for me and parts of it are reminiscent of Enkanomiya, my favorite place in Genshin thus far. This, and how there's a clash of nature and man with the Fatui settling in is very beautiful.

Also, while the Natlan archon quest had its moments, I've found Nod Krai's to be more memorable and enjoyable. Having more than one male 5-star for the region is another bonus.

Moving around Natlan was dependent on character abilities and saurians, so if you didn't whale it was difficult to move around the map without finding a dino first.


Nod Krai doesn't have that problem 

Natlan was fun to me but in smaller doses, and I do think theres some misfitting places in the region as it becomes really bare very much like Sumeru in certain parts (not the desert btw thats peak). Fontaine I get with its esoteric nature.


Whereas Nod Krai is a completely different atmosphere its kind of like Inazuma in a way in that I feel the unwelcomness in some areas and how compact it is which i do very much appreciate. It has that gloomy setting to it


Also all of the characters in Nod Krai are GOATED, the writing is super on point for each one. The entire cast is brilliant.


I still can't when Aino and Ineffa have interactions. Too precious and wholesome, biggest highlight for me whenever they are on screen.

I liked Natlan, but Nod-Krai has the same whinsical fae charm that made me fall in love with the game in Mondstadt.

The Frostmoon Scions area is the best area in Nod-Krai, both aesthetically and music-wise.

Better story and more variety with the cast (aka, not only female characters)


Natlan felt like a mess of a concept only really pushing a couple of characters on the spotlight and it was hard to feel anything towards the full cast unlike Nod Krai


And I actually didn't really like the Natlan exploration as a whole tbh, I guess it felt like a downgrade compared to Fontaine which I adored, same with Sumeru

Not as much cliff climbing.

Natlan feels like a chore to explore due to it's vast and layered map. Also, I don't like the color of the environment in Natlan

Nod-krai doesn't give me a headache from hell. Something about natlan's color design...that alone really affected my experience.

I liked Nathan fine. It was actually Sumeru (and the desert expansion, and the dang Aranara quests) that made me just… not want to pick up the game for a year and a bit. Wound up coming back right around Ineffa’s banner.

Natlan characters and map designs felt so rainbow and gaudy overall, everything seems relentlessly screaming for attention. Nodkrai feels more balanced and relaxed, but still exciting with all its mysteries and storytelling. Nodkrai seems more mature while Natlan more for kids in aesthetics.

feels like a disney game

Just to be clear, I absolutely loved both regions exploration-wise and that Natlan might even be my favorite area, AQ aside, to explore and take in the beauty. I also acknowledge that my opinion may be wildly different from others, obviously.

The huge gap comes with the story. Nod-Krai felt mature about their war. You can feel its effect on people and that there is a sort of devastation in the air. The feel, environment and even exploration is tied very well to the story.

Everyone is on the edge regarding each other but there is a great sense of urgency in the story that people from all the factions believably put aside their differences for the good of all. It also currently has my attention for best antagonists in a main story in Rerir and Dottore. Columbina, despite my perpetual annoyances when the story starts to make a girl overly attached to the Traveler, was actually presented really well and avoided some of the things that annoyed me with characters like Citlali. She's what I wished Cyrene was in HSR, for those of you who know. Overall it was immersive, genuine and exciting. And it was fulfilling to complete as well.

Meanwhile Natlan and its people look like they're having fun with their war. The only time I felt some sort of emotion was during the war arc in the middle. They don't even seem like they're worried for foreign tourists safety.

The Natlan cast has almost no chemistry in comparison to the Nod-Krai one, like they were just told to work together and magically click because they're supposedly family and that that's how things were. And this could be personal but I felt nothing for Mavuika who I felt was supposed to tie the group together. Maybe the non sympathetic style was intentional, which I would appreciate, but I guess she was just presented to me as uninteresting. After the resolution of the conflict, it felt like a bubble or a fart that just came to pass even after all the effort.

Basically, what I didn't like about Natlan's setting was presentation. I know that story-wise they're supposed to be devastated by the war that's been the bane of their nation and that they've lost so much and that the joy in the atmosphere is supposedly some sort of resilience and friendliness of the people, yet because of how mismatched the atmosphere is, I feel no urgency at all.

Thankfully though, the Natlan world quests were absolutely amazing and are the biggest reasons I appreciate the lore of the land.

Well, I enjoyed Natlan but overall Nod Krai is far better.

I expected Natlan to be a darker region with heavy plot, but it ended up to be a rainbow region with Walmart Pokémon and power of friendship

You just wanted engagement farming didn't you?

The climbingggggggggg, I tell ya the climbingggggggggggggggg😅😅😅🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I liked Natlan's world quests and limited time events more, but the AQ felt sloppier. Not bad, but I genuinely didn't take anything seriously outside the WQs.

I Iike Nod Krai's AQ more, but it was too dense. The story was tidier, but certain parts felt bloated or tacked on. The WQs were mostly meh.


Exploration is easier in Nod Krai, but more rewarding and impressive in Natlan.

In general, I feel like Nod Krai is a step in the right direction for gameplay, story, and QOL. Except for Hydro Traveler. That really pissed me off 😂

The compass, The way challenges were easy and straightforward and the insane quality of the archon quest

The compass made my life so much easier, I was having fun exploring the map again like the first time i played the game

The challenges were straightforward and easy to do while in other region i'd have to sacrifice my first born to get a common chest

The archon quest was SO GOOD, It's everything i expect an archon quest to be, The stakes were high, The inclusion of older characters like Wanderer and Albedo was amazing, The traveler felt like an actual character, While on the other hand the archon quest of Natlan was so bad that i genuinely quit the game because of it

Also Natlan was VERY overhyped by everyone which didn't help, The nation of war and dragons didn't live up to it's name, The pyro archon was very weird both in terms of design and characterization, The character line up was SO boring and lacked chemistry, The captain didn't live up to the hype and felt like he was just there to bait people into playing (it's still wild to me that he's included in the Natlan teaser but isn't playable)

Overall the compass made everything fun and less of a chore and the archon quest made me WANT to play the game more

I didn't hate natlan because I loved the exploration, but the story was weak. You need a antagonist and barring that, a sense of mystery. Natlan didn't really have either. Capitano turned face and while that in itself wasn't bad there wasn't anybody to replace him as antagonist. It's natlan vs a bunch of generic monsters.

Nod Krai gave us two villains. Rerir was a passable villain(But with really good backstory) and Dottore is obviously great. Tentatively it may fall flat where natlan succeeded in exploration. A lot of that depends on if we get a sendoff zone like natlan did and how big it is or if we're just done. If we're done there wasn't enough content.

The world building and storytelling feels more cohesive to me. One thing I really couldn't stand about Natlan was how inconsistent the advancements in tech were between playable and non-playable characters. Maybe that's a weird thing to get hung up about. But it reslly spoiled the immersion for me that for eg Xilonen's DJ table had modern lights meanwhile other people were still using fires. Idk, there are many other examples but overall it just made it hard to get immersed. But Nod Krai didn't have that issue. The storytelling also feels more well-paced, you can really feel the stakes and tension.

I also liked that the decisions they reached feels like they collaborated and discussed properly. Natlan at times felt unrealistic cause with so many different tribes and people, isn't it unrealistic to have no discussions and conflict? People were too eager to just go along with Mavuika's plan despite it not being guaranteed to work.

The only thing I really disliked about Natlan was exploration.

Reason is very obvious, cause exploration QOL was Gacha locked.

As someone whos habit is only pulling roughly 1/3rd of all Chars but those vertical this SUCKED SO BAD!
It was such a miserable experience always being forced to look for the next god forsaken dino to then commit some infanticide in order to get the next chest.

I just quit exploration all together until I finally got Mauvika and the Compass.
Ofc with her mobility exploring was fun, but since it was so much at this point also quite the chore.

I think I only really had fun exploring in Natlan in the two dungeon areas.

I have some points why Natlan felt like crap for me, strictly from a exploration perspective.

1. Designing the map around dinosaurs with pay for convenience characters that aren't even that convenient since I need to go into party and switch constantly even if I get them all. I can only have 4 party members and there are like 6 different dinosaurs. That's not factoring in that obviously not all Natlan characters work together, so to get a functional team, you can't really have the 4 you want anyways.
2. Then the dinosaurs being clunky as hell just feels bad.
3. Natlan is filled with giant cliffs everywhere that need Xilonen to climb or the Chasca area where there are huge gaps between clifftops and the likes. It can all be done with dinosaurs but it's just very frustrating knowing that they deliberately made the map feel worse if you didn't pull X character. And me, as a person who pulled **all** Natlan characters, still find the map inconvenient and annoying due to point 1. Another very clear example of this is the grapple hook points around the map, which in Sumeru, just existed and are available for anybody and everybody. But now in Natlan, you suddenly need to transform into the dinosaur or be Kinich just to access them. I don't know about others, but that seems to be a pretty clear example of exploration deliberately made to be shittier to me. Like maybe the higher cliffs and whatever have plausible deniability but I think the grapple hook points paints a pretty clear image to me.

Literally any other ones of the newer regions are better than Natlan's design, such as Fontaine (land), Chenyu Vale or in this case, Nod-Krai.

I liked Natlan, but I do enjoy how the NK local legends allow multiple challenges to be cleared at once.

the compass is pretty based

The compass in Nodkrai is unmatched. It makes me want to explore, while I stall to 100% other regions because finding those chests/oculi is a pain in the arse.

Character designs, story, and character kits.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder of course but design wise I highly prefer Nod-Krai's designs compared to Natlan. I like the more fantastical elements and the robotic stuff we see is more old fashioned or steampunk compared to Natlan's modern aesthetic.

Nod-Krai has my favorite story in the game so far. I loved seeing all the characters work together to defeat not one but two great villains. We actually get to see the characters cooperate and combine their talents and abilities. No one felt left out, all the characters got some time in the spotlight. The lore was really good too, I especially liked learning more about the Sinners and the 3 moons after so long.

Finally meeting Varka and Alice was great too. Nicole is very interesting as well. I love Durin's design and thought his story was interesting, it's great to see Albedo, Scara, and Arle again and they even had a role in the AQ. Flins has a good design too and some interesting lore, I like the lightkeeprs as a group too. Nefer had some really cool moments, and Jahoda was super funny.

Columbina is wonderful. I really liked seeing her become friends with the other characters and the Traveler, and her lore was really well done. Her interactions with Sandrone were both funny and heartwarming.

Kit wise, I prefer the more straightforward design of Nod-Krai's kits, as well as the more fantasy themed visuals.

If I had one complaint it would be the fewer maps. Not that Natlan had very many either, but I still think it would be nice if we had a bit more exploration content.

we’ll be in snezhnaya and peons will still have raging natlan hate boners that can never go down while sitting in a circle jerking each other off and talking about natlan

The treasure compas.

I'm stuck at 98% in basin of unnumbered flames. I checked every corner and still couldn't find anything else.

Nod Krai put the lore and main story into the Archon Quest. For Natlan, you had to play world quests to see the city of dragons. No VO, no usual cutscene glory. It was spectacular and better than Mavuika’s AQ. I will get killed for this opinion.

For me, Natlan was a fun place with little importance in the story. I liked the story from Sumeru & Fontaine, but Natlan's story did not live up to the same standard.

The devs succeeded in adding characters that increase exploration, but character mean pulls, and pulls mean money for some people.

I will give it to Natlan's World Quests though, those were enjoyable.

Natlan wasn’t bad but it could’ve been better imo. The “power of friendship” thing was very much prevalent. While that in itself isn’t bad, I just hope it wasn’t so verbalized the way it was. Nod-Krai was more subtle in that department and appreciate it. It’s the similar “power of friendship” type but more showing instead of telling. I also enjoyed the friend/rival situation between Nefer and Lauma, I feel like we don’t get much of that in genshin.

The natlan characters (and relationship bewteen them) and in consequence the whole AQ powsr of friendship thing was so "flat" (for lack of a better word in my vocabolary). Power of friendship seems wrong anyhow, there was no real friendship going on between the group as a whole.

Like....Flins / Sandrone has more spark from that 2 second interaction than any of the natlan charas with each other (I'm not talking shipping). Nation of war but all charas just "exist" in perfect harmony and 0 depth with each other. Chascas background could have been a big influence but no, let's leave it to the NPC. I didn't even cry when hkkm happened and I usually would always cry at such a moment. That's how untouched I felt.

The fact that capitano saved xilonen twice in short time gave me false hope he's going to reveal smth like btw back then in my first time in natlan I had a little fling with your grandgrandgrand grandmother or smth like that. But nothing, it was just coincidence but this shows level of desperation I had for SOMETHING interesting

Ororon/Citlani was the closest to "something" but even that felt like unused potential in the end.

Just compare the final battles.

Natlan is just a series of fights and dialogues (and feasts) about powers and working together throughout the versions to culminate in our buddies sending power of friendship while Traveler fights alone with Mavuika. Cool (ot at least intended to be) but empty. Characters don't show any growth throughout the versions, everyone in the end is exactly the same as we have met them.

Nod Krai's finale is a result of events, planning, actual information gathered over the course of the versions and then tightly knit together with all the (spoiler) time flow stuff with Columbina to let everyone actually physically contribute to the plan and the fight. Everyone had their place, their role, and had actual character development throughout each version despite some characters being long-established already.

There's a lot to be said but this comparison is more than enough already.

It just feels like genshin again?


Natlan felt like a cheap shonen episode where i'm surrounded by unfitting fortnite characters that have 0 world building consistency with NPCs, who don't use any of the technology the playable natlan chars use.


The archon fights on a modern bike, there are characters swinging around like spiderman, a cowgirl flying on a gun, while the npcs just appear to be cavemen fighting with spears and rocks.


And their only explanation just boils down to "xilonen built it, but just for the playable characters"... Lol.

I suppose I’m one of those rare few that actually liked Natlan exploration 😅 I thought the nation was absolutely gorgeous and (save for a few of them) I thought playing as saurians was an interesting mechanic. Then again I’ve always loved the concept of shapeshifting even if indwelling isn’t exactly shapeshifting per se.

My biggest issue with the Natlan AQ was that I really couldn’t connect with any of the characters and didn’t find them interesting. The only ones I liked were Xilonen, Ifa, and Mavuika. And one of them literally isn’t even present in the AQ!! Tribal chronicles shouldn’t have replaced traditional character story quests and that also didn’t help with the lack of connection.