My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. AKA the climbing puzzles are dying

Why would Hoyo not put a chest atop the monolith on Hisi Isle...

I really miss the time when we had chests hidden in hard to reach places like this one. I feel there have been less and less environmental puzzles of this kind with every patch. They always felt so rewarding.

Commentaires

RLLRRR2026-01-29 19:20

There's one up there, you just have to use Strength on the truck first.

Piggstein2026-01-29 21:02

I’m so old

Aisukoshka2026-01-30 11:52

my back just cracked

Z0mbi3Jayk3r2026-01-29 19:28

Honestly, yes. So many times when I'm exploring and climbing up rocks or other things, I think this is the perfect place for a chest and almost every time I'm getting disappointed :(

HuTaosTwinTails2026-01-29 19:30

They've neutered exploration and puzzles as a whole across the board. The community (and people who play games in general) just want linear hallways, brain dead easy puzzles that take no thought to solve, etc.

Salvation-7172026-01-29 21:17

Even all the mini games and special events. Wait 1 minute and you can click a button to solve the puzzle or game instantly and get the rewards.

I’m a die hard never click the button guy.

jo_nigiri2026-01-29 21:22

To be honest I think gambling addictions are mostly to blame, I'm a casual and often notice people base their opinions on ingame features on how easy they are to gain primogems from, like they're completely necessary and you can't skip anything and have to rush to 100% everything for primos

Saveonion2026-01-30 04:20

This is 100% a massive problem.

wiltinghost2026-01-30 01:21

Puzzles have been steadily getting easier but the newest Nod-Krai has got to be a new low. The puzzles can barely be considered puzzles, you get chests just by doing nothing. And all the oculi are in easily reached places. It’s so bad that I was wondering if this was an accident due to some internal issue that made it so they didn’t have time to finish working on exploration. I didn’t consider it could be intentional.

AltFire002026-01-29 19:36

Exploration rewards has been on the decline for a while now unfortunately. Once you could climb a random spire and find something at the top, now it's a set-path zipline straight to the reward. I know people didn't like Inazuma puzzles, but at least they were actually puzzles.

CementEater80002026-01-29 19:45

And there was absolutely 0 exploration of the new map in the 6.3 AQ, you just get teleported to the exact coordinate that you are needed to go, by the end of two entire AQ acts in the new map you still haven't lit up the new area or done any exploration in there, seems like they are making exploration as optional and as irreleavnt as possible, which is kinda sad considering exploration is one of the main elements that made Genshin the game it is today.

XnoxNeo2026-01-29 19:52

That happens in every post Liyue AQ tho, most of them usually take place in the first zone of the region

CementEater80002026-01-29 20:05

wasn't always like this though, you could at least *see* the map while doing some small objectives in the open world, and get yourself familiar with it while doing the AQ and then explore later, as oppsed to the recent AQs that just teleport you left and right to where you need to be.

i would know because i returned to the game in 5.0 after a few years and compeleted the last nation AQs in an almost sequential order, the only real differenc was Fontaine because the narrative was focused inside the opera house and Meropide fortress for the most part, but there was still plenty to explore, including the beautiful underwater areas

SilverScribe152026-01-29 20:41

No? Like Inazuma had you traveling over each island, Sumeru had you in the desert, Natlan had you visit basically each area at least once...Fontaines probably just the worst offender, since it was the only one i can think of that was just in the city. Even Nod krais story you visited each of the areas in the first patch..

UrsusObsidianus2026-01-29 21:06

Fontaine had the trip to Meropide too.

SkyZippr2026-01-30 00:07

Tbf the majority of Sumeru desert was covered by WQ, but I digress

wektor4202026-01-29 22:18

Given that nod krai AQ take 5h to complete and designed to be done in one sitting

Teleporting is fine

PH_0072026-01-30 01:08

I think the first part of this is the problem. Why the hell are they 5hr movies (most actual movies are not this long) designed to be done in one sitting??? I can pause movies any time I like, even. Wtf is this, Hoyo?

PH_0072026-01-30 01:06

This is really funny to me because I did the AQ first and wanted to do the new weekly but then it simply... wouldn't let me. It was "unlocked" so quickstart was gone but it wasn't on the map until I went there myself. It's so borked it's unfunny.

Khoakuma2026-01-29 19:50

For awhile it was looking up and up with Ochtkanatlan and the Sacred Mountain exploration. Which honestly hit greater heights than even Inazuma or GAA 2 for me (maybe not Mona island, but on average). Now we are dropped back to Liyue level of trivial puzzle and flat maps.

Sitherio2026-01-29 20:00

I like the compass changes but I'd prefer it in a map the size of those last areas not the nod krai size. I literally completed the AQ and all factions and all exploration of the entire new region in 1 day. While it's nice for completion, what do I get to look forward to for 5+ weeks now?

CanaKitty2026-01-29 20:26

I disliked most all of 5.x time, but omg Ochtkanatlan was amazing. Exploring that area was the most fun I have had exploring in Genshin since like way back in Enkanomiya.

PH_0072026-01-30 01:09

Liyue pressure plate puzzles take braincells as opposed to a lot of recent ones, at least.

Sad_Difficulty_78532026-01-29 20:34

I actually loved inazumas puzzles, it was one of my favourite places to explore. Sumeru desert would have been a close second had it not been an absolute ballache to get across the damn thing, the puzzles were fun though. Its been a bit downhill since then, Fontaine makes up for it with the underwater thing, but the rest? Meh.

Edit: admittedly, I only explored through the first 3 areas of natlan properly and then had a baby and got too busy, and ive only just caught up to current AQ and dont have much exploration done in the newer areas, so maybe Im missing something, but idk, there used to be a cool puzzle every few feet and now its just some annoying shit I gotta fight or something.

GlitterDoomsday2026-01-29 21:39

Natlan very much depends on the Saurian you gonna use... I would say all the color/paint related puzzles were fun and I'm glad they picked those for the summer island.

Sad_Difficulty_78532026-01-29 21:50

Yeah tbh, that one wasnt too bad when I had a chance to have a run around, the others, ive not been able to keep myself awake long enough to get far, which is shite because im trying to get as much done before Sony take it off the ps4 as I haven't been able to justify upgrading to the newer console yet.

Famous-Yoghurt94092026-01-30 02:32

Crazy that they're doing that.

Tbh I scrounged an old Samsung s10 phone when one of my parents upgraded and now that's how I play it. It's shocking how well optimised genshin is for mobile compared to consoles.

Even my mid range phone ran it smoothly and looked really good, though with less snazzy effects.

Makes me think they could have optimised it better for PS4, just had no reason to.

Mitsukirin2026-01-29 22:42

definitely. it was a blast actually

StanTheWoz2026-01-29 22:01

The thing that killed me about Inazuma was those goddamn overhang cliffs you couldn't climb up and how inconsistent the electro grapple thing for them was. Just felt like shit to use. I do miss the puzzles though, for me Sumeru was peak exploration

Sad_Difficulty_78532026-01-29 22:06

Yeah the grapple was a bit clanky, glad they polished it up for sumeru 🙏 and I loved the sumeru jungle/forest areas, the desert overland aged me, especially finding those last few bits I needed to 100% it 😂

bjirgaming2026-01-29 22:21

I remembered being pretty angry about the electro grapple thing back then because i was playing one of those "reach the destination" commission which i ended failing multiple times because i played the game with shitty internet and the button just won't appear

Can't say much Sumeru's exploration though cuz i just started getting serious about it after abandoning for years, but i recently started working on the aranara wq by playing 1 quest a day and it's been pretty nice and chill

LunarLoom212026-01-29 23:19

Also the Inazuma rewards were stingy asf

pancakedelasea2026-01-30 02:28

this is honestly my biggest gripe lol, i don't mind some of the puzzles being challenging but the rewards absolutely don't match the time spent doing them. the electrograna just being glitchy and inconsistent af doesn't help the case at all either

vinuvinuvinuvinu2026-01-30 03:59

Sumeru went balanced with caves. a lot of caves.

dennisleonardo2026-01-30 04:44

>Sumeru desert would have been a close second had it not been an absolute ballache to get across the damn thing

It's not even the lame traversal of endless sand dunes, it's the fact that 50% of the desert is locked behind world quest progress. I don't mind world quest locked areas, they've been a thing since inazuma, but you can't lock half an area behind very long world quests, especially since most players tend to explore first and do quests later.

KuraiBaka2026-01-30 10:00

The worst is that one Pyramid who has two doors but only one can be open, now there's a hole that can drop you in the room, but it has a forcefield blocking it when door 1 is closed.

BusAffectionate35882026-01-29 20:45

I don't know who the hell didn't like Inazuma puzzles but I can safely say that they need to start using their brain for once. This game's puzzles evolved to need absolutely zero brain power because of some players refusing to use their brain.

MakiiZushii2026-01-29 20:53

The people who complained about GAA puzzles being too hard and forever changed the trajectory of Genshin’s puzzle design. That’s who.

McDonaldsSoap2026-01-29 23:37

What's GAA?

MakiiZushii2026-01-29 23:38

Golden Apple Archipelago. It was the region for the first two summer events. The second event, right before Sumeru, was the one people complained about puzzles the most.

McDonaldsSoap2026-01-29 23:43

Ah ok, I only started last year so I had to watch those on YouTube. The second one is with Fischl right?

hackenclaw2026-01-30 04:56

GAA biggest problem is not the puzzle being hard.

IT IS HARD PUZZLE THAT NEED SOLVING IN A LIMITED TIME.

No players can procrastinate all those puzzle is a big problem.

WeWereInfinite2026-01-29 21:36

There's an infuriating gacha player mentality which particularly affects Genshin, where a huge (and loud) number of players simply do not want to play the game. It's like all they want to do is pull and the actual game is a obstacle to that.

It's why Genshin's "puzzles" became braindead-tier, the exploration became easy and basic, they added a compass which just shows you exactly where everything is once you've found the obvious stuff, removed character quests, and Archon quests are often just 5 hour cutscenes with no gameplay.

The devs constantly cater to people who don't want to play their game, making it worse for those who do.

WuWa is suffering from the same thing where patch after patch people praise "quality of life improvements" which are actually just ways to avoid playing the game.

ncro_2026-01-29 22:20

I mostly agree with this, but the compass upgrade really just feels like a net positive to me. Unfortunately it's only in the smallest region for this yeae because Hoyo refuses to update the bad outdated shit.

Beidah2026-01-30 03:08

The fact you have to clear 90% of the region first makes it great for "cleaning up", without taking away from the exploration.

dreamsallaround2026-01-30 02:54

I still remember seeing many posts complaining about how the puzzles are too difficult during Inazuma and ever since then the puzzles became more and more basic which is a shame cause I loved a good challenge.

I guess a lot of gacha players just want their primos fast to the point where they got a lot of feedback asking for easier puzzles....maybe its time for me to keep giving them feedback about how things are too easy now.

Seraph1992026-01-29 22:09

Yeah I have to admit, a lot of what I loved about exploration and puzzle solving and even doing weekly events has been removed or made too easy to be fun. This game used to engage me a lot more and now I kind of just speed through everything except the Dire SO content, and the story and lore related parts are the main things that keep me playing

PokeTrainerSpyro2026-01-29 21:01

I feel like the puzzles have gotten very dumbed down for the general audience, which doesn't even make them worthy of being called "puzzles" anymore

jonnevituwu2026-01-30 01:15

Funny how puzzles are either 1-2yo iq tests or the most cryptic thing ever that takes you a whole ass hour to figure cuz you didnt know the item that did X on another puzzle can do Y and Z now because REASONS.

pc_player_yt2026-01-30 01:29

the cryptic stuff has been around for a really long time so I'm glad that they aren't removing it. Like that Inazuma island where you have to break all the randomly placed pots for the chest to spawn, or the Sumeru rainforest one where you just get chests with 1 mora in it that slowly leads to an actual primogem chest.

Wild_ColaPenguin2026-01-30 02:00

Not only you. Ever since Simulanka all puzzles have become brain dead shape shorting puzzles for toddler.

NA_0_10_never_forget2026-01-29 21:10

It's unfortunate because this is literally the basis, and best part, of genshin impact

Nara_RyUko2026-01-29 21:16

Only problem with Inazuman puzzles is that the rewards did not match the difficulties. They are actually fun and logical.

rose__dragon2026-01-29 22:00

I'll never forget that one particularly complicated relay puzzle that rewarded an *exquisite* chest. Was absolutely not worth it tbh.

JuanDeChuj2026-01-29 21:20

Inezuma had puzzles that required more than on braincell (2) and it made them 1000% more interesting

illuminaegiwastaken2026-01-29 22:56

I loved Inazuma Puzzles personally. Sumeru also had great puzzles, it's just that the desert design was... rough sometimes.

I did enjoy most of the Natlan scenery and the last summer island was really fun- but I wasn't a big fan of Fontaine or Natlan's puzzles as a whole. (I didn't care for the Underwater segments, and the Saurian controls were... not my favorite in the world lol.)

NecessaryBumblebee112026-01-30 01:07

What made the Sumeru desert rough was the fact that we didn't have underground maps at first. I did everything at 100% in the desert before they added the underground maps and it was so frustrating at times.

I recently came back to the desert cause despite having 100% I knew I was missing a few things here and there and the first time I saw that big pyramid's layout I was so shocked since I fully forgot they added the underground maps to Sumeru and I haven't seen them before.

illuminaegiwastaken2026-01-30 01:22

Those definitely helped, but even with the underground map, some areas are just a pain in the butt to explore. I went back and did all my Sumeru desert exploration after those maps were added as well, but I still spent a lot of times running in circles or getting absolutely lost because of there being inteconnecting parts on different levels. Or things that *look* like they interconnect, only to be blocked by one of those invisible Sumeru walls. Maybe if those things were better marked it wouldn't be so bad. It's a shame too, I do genuinely love the desert regions of Sumeru and have a lot of fond memories from playing through those areas haha.

anarchy7532026-01-29 23:29

I genuinely can't stand the shit that's been going on since natlan.

"press t to watch a cutscene of you doing a challenge, but oooooh, you might need to press t once more in the middle."

It's so fucking bad.

NecessaryBumblebee112026-01-30 01:10

Those fucking jellyfish challenges in Nod Krai. Like I love Nod Krai, but there was that one challenge where you have to go from jellyfish to jellyfish to collect particles and I saw so many people complaining about how it's a hard challenge.

Like no offense, but you have to press the same button like thrice and it takes less than 30 seconds, come on now.

Edit: typo

NoteBlock082026-01-30 02:06

I loved the Inazuma/GAA2 puzzles and have been asking for their return in every survey since.

nerd_reader_51592026-01-30 02:20

It's not about rewards. It's about roaming free and spot a miniatured chest!

Ishamaelr2026-01-30 05:47

My theory is they started to decline due to people complaining, so they made things easier. Same thing happened like you said after inazuma.

I love to explore, and love hidden puzzles, but no, idiots had to complain and be like "I'm too lazy to figure anything out and want my hand held, so I'm complaining because I'm missing out on primos because of this, blah blah".

Always someone that has to ruin shit for others.

CodeNeko232026-01-30 08:16

I know inazuma like the back of my hand and loved every part of it.

Templar2k72026-01-29 19:48

Inazuman Puzzles and Sumeru desert haunts people to this day. Personally I loved both but they dumbed down a lot of stuff after those.

Vier-Kun2026-01-30 05:06

I miss the almost challenging puzzles, I kept asking for more engaging puzzles even during Inazuma, then puzzles died...

atelei2026-01-29 19:49

This!! I love climbing while exploring, too bad they stopped rewarding random activities like trying to reach the highest point in every map, or that one chest in Liyue you get by jumping on branches :/ People complained too much about how difficult Inazuma puzzles were and now Nod Krai exploration is so easy that it doesn't feel as rewarding anymore. And yet I still see posts on here crying about the Nod Krai puzzles being too difficult, which is crazy! So many Genshin players hate actually having to play the game istg, all they want is for primos to be handed out to them like candy

Ravemst2026-01-29 19:56

Well if people didn’t whine about puzzles we would still have lots of them. Some people just don’t like using their brains and just want things handed to them.

Amanda_acnh2026-01-29 19:58

I am currently trying to complete the desert in Sumeru since I didn't finish it and the contrast is really noticeable. I actually have to think about some of the puzzles and even then most are only simple chests. In Nod Krais I kill a random enemy and two chests spawn.

popejak2026-01-29 21:48

Same! I just went back to finish the obelisk puzzles and it’s so fun. I’ve stumbled upon some random chests and puzzles I missed before.

I miss Sumeru desert. It’s my favorite region. I love the design and how much stuff there is to do there.

Danishes7242026-01-29 22:07

The biggest problem with the desert and why a lot of people hated it i think is because we didn't have the layered map whenever it initially released and you had to find everything underground completely blind. Nowadays with the underground maps it's probably way more fun.

popejak2026-01-29 22:39

Eh I just didn’t start it immediately so I never really dealt with the map issue haha.

I will say even exploring with a map is a bit of a crapshoot though. It’s very convoluted - which to me is fun (at least now it is).

Like for the obelisks- you click “show nearby sacred seals” and one of them is on top of the Mausoleum of King Desheret. I had to go check guides to figure out how to get back up there because it had been so long since I played that quest line.

But I’m also just dicking around and finishing minor things so it being confusing doesn’t bother me too much.

Also epic soundtrack. Desert is best.

NefariousnessLocal872026-01-29 22:29

sumeru desert is peak of exploration for this game. specially before they added the layers update to the map. exploring around was actually felt like im on an adventure. puzzles were actually hard and they hid some of the chests really well that when you find them you felt like you did something amazing. all of this with insane music and desert vibes and you get peak. enemies was also not cringe af. and without layers you actually dont know where you are sometimes which is giving you a real exploration feeling.

The_New_Overlord2026-01-29 22:32

Totally agreed, desert was so fun. Running through all the interconnected tunnels under the pyramid and piecing together little snippets of lore from the scattered ruins was the best feeling in the game.

FlashFire7292026-01-29 23:09

Hub, funnily enough, the layered stuff and feeling constantly lost is what drove me *off* the exploration. Felt like I was going in circles seraching for things on both the in game map and the interactive one. I much more vibed with the style of Mondstat and Liyue. I haven't done much of Fontaine or Natlan, but what I have done of the former, I remember getting similar feeling of how I felt in the desert.

TableTravel982026-01-30 00:24

What does "enemies being cringe af" even mean?

Robin3432026-01-30 01:22

Enemies with normal health bars so you can just use whatever characters you like for exploring instead of using the new strategies. In natlan you had the purple enemies you need nightsoul for and in nod krai there are these wierd ass shields and double health bars.

EmiliaLewd2026-01-29 22:44

For me Sumeru is when puzzles started decline, they were a lot more straightforward than Inazuma. But Sumeru is where exploration peaked, I miss Sumeru

Hikash2026-01-29 23:04

I absolutely agree. It feels like coddling. "Ohh, you killed three monsters? Here's your three chests! What a big boy!" It's crazy.

Amanda_acnh2026-01-29 23:50

I wouldn't mind if there were some hard areas and some easier ones. If I am short on time and wanna grind primos I appreciate the faster pace. But if a whole region is fast paced, it takes away the fun.

Fair-Manner-20282026-01-29 20:09

Highly unfortunate when devs cater to whiny rats who aren’t even gonna play the game for more than 3 months tops. In any game.

Fortune862026-01-29 20:16

I don't mind complex puzzles I just prefer it when all the bits are in one room/area. I have the memory of a sieve and if I have to wander off to check on something that puts the rest of the puzzle out of sight there's a 30% chance I'll forget what I'm ooh a treasure chest!

Original-Shallot58422026-01-29 20:18

These posts about exploration lately really do tell what I always tought.

You will never, ever satisfy this massive playerbase. There is no way or anything to satisfy it fully.

And I agree with OP.

I remember posts or reels on different platforms about Genshin taking a hit during Sumeru cause it was so big and people didnt like to explore, cause world quests are very long etc etc. Inazuma for "difficult" puzzles and so on.

Now they try to make it more straight forward, its not good either. This truly shows that being a game dev(of any game not this one in particular) is not easy task.

haxt972026-01-29 20:31

Yeah, I mean it's kinda like this:

Chests hard to get = You don't respect player's time.

Chests too easy = Bland, meaningless exploration.

It's really really difficult to satisfy everyone. Devs must prioritize the more (way more it seems) popular side which is the "lazy" option. I mean if I was a mobile player then I would prefer something quick rather than challenging.

qwerty88572026-01-29 20:57

How do we know which side is the more popular side? I only ever see people complaining about a lack of exploration now, not the other way around

Vortex_Infurnus2026-01-29 21:07

The playerbase that actually interacts with the game on online platforms is probably only like 1% of the total playerbase. Genshin has tons of backend data of every player, most likely they see a lot of people having very low exploration % on Sumeru and Inazuma, leading to them dialing it down since. Most of these players are casuals who maybe only see the odd TikTok or two of the game and barely interact with the bigger playerbase otherwise, so it’d be hard for fans to accommodate / get information out of these players.

cyansusg2026-01-29 21:18

They also have surveys

Telighoth2026-01-29 22:29

even then, people won't be taking the time to fill those out unless they have something to complain about a lot of the time.

FlashFire7292026-01-29 23:13

If the online platform playbase is 1% like the previous person said, the playerbase who do the surveys it seriously and don't just quickly click through for the rewards is probably 0.5%, save in the very few cases of extreme screw ups (Zhongi incident, Neuvillette incident, Google Classroom incident, etc.)

Whilyam2026-01-29 21:57

I didn't think this is a fair dichotomy. With the new compass, knowing where stuff is is easy so they could have put them in harder locations. But they're just making loot railroads now. Just walk down a path and interact with everything and you'll get everything. It's boring.

The_New_Overlord2026-01-29 22:35

> Chests hard to get = You don't respect player's time.
>
>
>
> Chests too easy = Bland, meaningless exploration.

I think the bigger problem with chests being difficult to get, especially in Inazuma, is that they were often common chests. If it's a puzzle that actually requires thought, it should be at least an exquisite chest or higher. It feels insulting when there's a degree of complexity to a puzzle and then no feeling of payoff for completing it.

OrbitalSong2026-01-30 02:49

They already budget out exploration rewards in advance for a region when designing rather than deciding them based on how hard a puzzle they made.

So then the question becomes, for the same reward, would you rather a puzzle that solves itself, or a puzzle that requires thought?

Alexander_Icewind2026-01-30 04:27

Personally I'd rather we had fewer, more engaging puzzles than a large amount of simple puzzles. Keep the total rewards the same, but having like, 5 good puzzles that each reward a lot of primos is way more satisfying than having like 25 easy puzzles that each reward a few.

Quality > quantity for puzzles, IMO.

Qba36932026-01-29 21:13

Of course its not easy to be a dev but I think they had this kind of thing down back with Dragonspine. Most puzzles boiled down to finding the agate and figuring out the fastest path to get to the ice, which was usually very simple and straightforward for most people. But it also had a lot of things for people more passionate with exploration. Like a reward for getting to the top of the Celestial Nail, that mini world quest where you had to feed the fox? in the cave for multiple days, collecting the stone tablets thorough the area to open the vault, etc. It began to be either too complicated for some people or just straight up pressing a single button. Ever since Inazuma we are just bouncing from one side to the other.

I'm fine with how simple puzzles are now, although I would rather have something that is at least somewhat challenging, but at least throw in a chest or an achievement for getting to hard to reach places.

lfsi2026-01-29 21:25

I think the problem is actually easy to solve. Just give players enough rewards that they don't feel the need to hunt down every last chest like it's a second job. Hoyo will never do this because it's at odds with their profit margins, but if they wanted to they could.

The_Steambird2026-01-29 20:24

I did the same thing

MycologistOk46842026-01-29 20:30

Now exploration has to be gimmicky, with enjoyment locked behind characters (Natlan) or the same type of "cool new" puzzle copy pasted around the map (Nod-Krai). One of my main reasons for playing the game is exploration, and while Nod-Krai is stunningly beautiful, it feels like the aim is for each new map to be easily farmed for primos. And I hate it.

Qba36932026-01-29 21:20

I strongly disagree on the Natlan take. I took a break from the game when Natlan released and when I came back I managed to get a hold of most of the Natlan characters before getting to the region. I barely used them for puzzles and exploration because for me it felt worse than the Surarians. Pretty much every time I needed one for something it wasn't further than the line of sight.

RandomGuy9282026-01-29 22:46

It depends on if you were using the premium characters or the four star characters. The premium characters are basically upgrades compared to the saurians (*especially* Chasca and Varesa) whereas the four star options are basically downgrades (looking at Ifa in particular there, but it applies to the others). Mav is in a weird spot in that she's notably worse than most of the dedicated five stars even though she can do all of the movement things at once.

So it depends very heavily on the character. Chasca genuinely breaks like 80% of Natlan and it isn't even close. The other 20% is Varesa's area.

M3rcury212026-01-29 20:38

This is what happens when too many people just want primos handed to them with zero effort. Entire maps that can be 100% in one day. Funnily enough, the same people that then moan they want more to play 😅

I loved the exploration when it was more like ‘exploring’. Don’t get me wrong, ofc the NK compass is nice, but it made the whole thing go way too fast.

femsoni2026-01-29 21:18

NK compass would hit on regions like the Sumeru desert. My biggest beef was I took a break from Raiden release to 5.1 and felt quite betrayed by how reputation in Natlan allows you to accept all bounties at once unlike previous regions which require individual completion.

The_New_Overlord2026-01-29 22:37

> Funnily enough, the same people that then moan they want more to play

What makes you think it's the same people?

Jungle_Julia012026-01-29 20:41

Gosh I miss sumeru so much.

The_New_Overlord2026-01-29 22:38

King Deshret's pyramid was peak

PantheraAuroris2026-01-29 20:45

I feel like I've still seen oculi on top of most places

free_username_2026-01-29 20:53

It’s a nerf to people with characters that can climb heights or jump higher easier. And a buff to those without said characters?

pooey_canoe2026-01-29 21:03

What is the lore behind the Hiisi Isle monolith? I find it weird how no-one mentions the massive structure that overlooks the whole of Nod-Krai, does it even have a name?

Qba36932026-01-29 21:27

I'm not sure if it is correct but I believe it was mentioned in one of the early AQ that it is a fragment from the moon. I don't think it was said directly so I might have misinterpreted that.

GrumpySatan2026-01-29 22:05

It was created by the Pyro Sovereign to reach the moons and talk to the Moon Sisters (or make a new moon, since they tried after Nibelung left), which is described in uhh Ineffa's weapon IIRC.

During the WQ in the area you get to go inside and get a message acknowledging that you have ties to the Sovereign (cuz of Little One having the mark) so it lets you into a special space.

LawbroBetz2026-01-29 21:04

Does anyone know if the new treasure Compass shows every single One of the chests/puzzles or if there Is still the risk of missing some ? I would love to go back to exploring without the interactive map

saehild2026-01-29 21:09

I did notice a weird amount of oculi just hovering above the ground with no challenge acquiring them. It feels like there’s less mystery when the compass shows everything.

jisooed2026-01-30 00:35

there is an oculi you can only get by doing the time trial near the granny local legend which isn't obvious lol

Creative-Current94242026-01-29 21:16

Specially if you do Climbing Puzzles with Lisa, it's gonna make you fell uneasy.

Pastrami-on-Rye2026-01-29 21:19

Oh i climbed this too 😭 it was a little disappointing but it was fun to be so tall. This must be how cats feel

Qba36932026-01-29 21:25

Yea the climb was really fun. Probably wouldn't be that upset if I could at least turn of the fog in the distance to get a great view. lol

Chucknasty_172026-01-30 00:02

Fun fact about this pillar, during the world quest when you gain access to the chamber beneath it, the pillar actually does move downwards a bit. I know this because I put a portable waypoint on it, but after the quest the waypoint was floating above the pillar itself

MonDking2026-01-29 21:26

The vast majority of the genshin playerbase does not like exploration. Its a chore. For them the game is just waifu collection so making that easier by making exploration easier is the way to go if you are the game dev.

SergViBritannia2026-01-29 21:28

I am disappointed as well! Chests are just lying out in the open! I wish there were most puzzles! Exploring is my favorite part of the game!

InkyLizard2026-01-29 21:35

I really love the exploration aspect of the game, but why is stamina depleted while running? I'm cool with stamina being used for climbing, but just doing short sprints between light jogs is not a great player experience

MissionInfluence1232026-01-29 21:45

I mean, there was an island besides the lighthouse that was completely empty... Why put rails to it when there's nothing except for a lamp?

Next_Investigator_692026-01-29 21:51

My guess is because of the compass, I imagine now that casual players can easily find every chest, placing some in hard to reach places can lead to being annoying/forced

AuDHDcat2026-01-29 21:53

I can glide from a high height still.

I loved the introduction of Qucusaurs in Natlan. Every once in a while I'll just get to the top of Ochkanatlan or the volcano and just glide to the ground for forever.

USDXBS2026-01-29 21:59

They are catering to the people who get angry when everything isn't immediately accessible.

They are catering to the people who got angry at trying to get "The Catch" and think it was too hard.

_Linkiboy_2026-01-29 22:10

I'm currently exploring Fontaine and whenever there's a little peak like this, there's usually a hydrocolus on them

I_am_indisguise2026-01-29 22:16

Man f those people who complained about exploration. Look what it has come to now

If u don't wanna do it, don't do it. At least, let other people enjoy exploring.

Man I miss how massive desert and forest was

SectorApprehensive582026-01-29 22:23

was replaying the game on xbox to unlock the other sibling, and having to figure out parts to climb up Liyue mountains was fun. Granted, it was slow moving like real climbing, with lots of breaks, but it felt great to get to the top. And that is the problem, it takes patience to mimic a real world experience, whereas now they just let you zipline up there for a quick trip, literally and figuratively. If ppl had patience for mimicking real motions and the feeling of slow achievement that comes with it, Death Stranding 1 wouldn't have only been brushed off as a walking simulator.

healcannon2026-01-29 22:37

I was just complaining about this sort of thing earlier. I feel less rewarded for exploring everything since I wasnt getting rewarded. And then I was getting rewarded for killing 3 ruin guards and 1 ruin grader but it wasnt even at the same time and it gave me 3 chests. Like why are you stacking them for enemies in the game since the start?

I remember when Inazuma came out and was kicking my ass. I remember climbing the tallest mountains in Liyue to get chests and discover other magical things.

The first part of Nod Krai was fun because of the 3 different distinct regions. This new region felt half hearted by comparison. Still a lot of effort put into it but its not the same.

CrimsonSaens2026-01-29 22:41

There's a Lunoculus on top of every tall rock in Nod-Krai, there's plenty of climbing to go around already.

Villain0002026-01-29 22:55

They’re getting so lazy with chests. Now one group of enemies with additional waves on this new island can give you 2-3 chests at once? Like, that feels extremely lazy.

Escheiron2026-01-29 23:14

The monolith physically changes during a world quest. The same goes with >!Piramida!< . Putting a chest there when the location physically changes would lock players out of the chest if they didn't get it before doing the quest.

A counterpoint to this would be the >!Tower of Ipsissimus!<, which does move chests after the world quest. But in that case, the area itself does not change physically when it sinks so the chests are in the same place relative to the tower, just underwater.

If you're looking for roof chests, the Kuuvakhi Experimental Design Bureau has some.

Edit: formatting

Regurgitate022026-01-29 23:24

Yeah I miss actual puzzles in the game

Tooluka2026-01-29 23:34

I suspect it's because of the new compass. They don't want to piss players with hard to reach marks. Nothing on Piramida too btw.

WolfySpice2026-01-30 01:43

I climb everything I see. Not because I expect a chest, but because the reward is in actually doing it.

BillyBean111112026-01-30 02:34

They took the puzzles out of the game completely.

It's frankly very disapointing as someone who loves open world exploration for that part of the game to essentially be dead now. We get a tiny map every 3 patches with no real puzzles anymore. Just 2 minute paint by numbers with 3 chests at the end.

I'm sure it has to do with engagement and that most people weren't doing all the content before and I get that, but it's still frustrating and someone who enjoy ed that part of the game the most.