So now that Nod Krai is likely over (and it's been more than enough time for people to beat it, what are people's thoughts on it?

I'd say it was certainly a surprise, I think a lot of us (or at least I was) expecting to go to Snezhnaya, though I did find the story interesting. My two biggest complaints really are that I wanted more of Rerir, and that Colmbina wasn't nearly as creepy as she initially seemed to be back in A Winter Night's Lazzo.

Commentaires

LivingASlothsLife2026-02-02 02:40

Favorite region by far. In terms of story and cast of characters its on the same level as Sumeru for me which was my previous favorite. I really like how the entire cast came together, felt really natural including Sandrone and Arlecchino overcoming mutual enemies with everyone else.

Didn't expect Sandrone to become my favorite among the cast but she was written so well, so much love put into her character. Really like how much of her character ties into NarzissenKreuz Ordo WQ as well, which imo is the best WQ in the game

pzlama3332026-02-02 02:43

In my own opinion, the best archon quest and characters writing so far. The map is extremely easy for exploration because the better compass, but it is a big disappointment for its much smaller size and not much content. World quests are still good, but I feel they are not as good as some world quest series of earlier nations. In gameplay, the team building of new characters have much worse restrictive than earlier characters, and some of them are much worse without their dedicated support, and some new enemies are much harder to kill without specific new mechanism.

lanienah122026-02-02 02:44

Exploration felt super disappointing but coming after natlan didn’t do it any favors since natlan was peak in that department.

Story wise however it’s easily #1 I’m so glad we came here before snezhnaya

AnonUSA3822026-02-02 02:45

I liked the story alot, but ending felt… kinda rushed?

Idk, rerir one moment is the arch villan and the next hes a pawn of dottore sulking in the moon’s shadow because of the pointlessness of his endeavors?

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 02:50

Yeah, I wish Rerir was the villian throughout all of Nod Krai. Like he's hyped up through act 2 and 3 as this big bad guy, and then he's just kinda gone. I honestly felt he's the best written villain in Genshin, I honestly really liked Rerir's writing.

ArcticGlaceon2026-02-02 06:59

Just to add on, from a meta point of view, the reason rerir was well written is because hoyo didn't feel the need to categorise him into either "playable character who must have 0 bad qualities" or "villain who is 100% mustache twirling evil". They just wrote an interesting story, focusing on what someone with human qualities and motivations would do.

I think a lot of us in rerir's shoes would do exactly what he did; compartmentalise what he did as "just my job" to build towards a future with Tholindis. I don't exactly love my job, optimising prices to extract the most value out of customers, but hey it's a job, I just wanna get it done collect my paycheck and live my life. I'm sure MOST of us are like that. Even from Tholindis POV knowing what rerir is doing, she doesn't exactly want to rock the boat that they're in.

It's a very interesting plot line, and I think the best part of the nod Kai story.

Weaponmaster4702026-02-02 02:55

Nah that was great how he became gentleman Docilerir after getting sent back into the cosmic gulag.

Kimy_Miya2026-02-02 03:40

He found what he was looking for, Tholindis, even if there's only a fraction of her soul leftover in there but that was enough to calm his nerves ig

SnorliKING2026-02-02 04:31

not only that lol but the abyss wasnt corrupting his mind anymore, he said that the voices went away in that space, so he came back to being just a sane human

Kimy_Miya2026-02-02 04:38

Yup! That too, And we see how he is now

GGG1002026-02-02 03:49

If you paid attention during the quests then it’s easy to realize that Rerir was never the mastermind behind everything.

LewisDruid2026-02-02 04:23

Literally. Like we already knew The Doctor was there, and everyone was like “yeah, no clue what he did, but he went home.” Why any character (or player) would believe that doesn’t sound suspicious is beyond me. And then I think Flins mentions a few times that it feels like there’s something bigger going on besides just Rerir.

I can only assume it’s people skimming the dialogue that wouldn’t notice, but maybe I’m wrong. I agree that it felt really obvious who the really villain was beyond the scenes.

GroundbreakingBite622026-02-02 03:50

It's because Rerir's story is not over. He is one of the five sinners, one of the backbone of the whole story, he will be back.

KendiArtista12026-02-02 04:13

People be forgetting his dripmarketing with the quote from Vedrfolnir

"Sin" has tainted the past, and "Fate" rules the future, but his story has yet to reach its end. Rerir's obsession shakes the laws of the world — such is the power of a Sinner.

AigheLuvsekks_2026-02-02 06:49

My first thought when dottore caught colubina and the party fialed to beat him was that we are going to release rerir later and have a thor ragnarok moment, sadly that didnt come true

Void0Cat2026-02-02 02:45

Overall, pretty great. Though it's been a roller coaster with all the important lore drops we got recently.

multistansendhelp2026-02-02 02:47

I went in with zero expectations, because for most of the time I was playing I didn’t even know it was a region we would be going to.

I think the plot was fantastic, did a good job at quickly endearing us to many new characters, and explained a lot of information on the sinners and Khaenri’ah which is setting us up well for endgame.

I have very mixed feelings on exploration. For people who just want to burn through getting freemogens, the new compass is great.

(Putting an edit here because people think I am complaining about the compass. I said above, I think it is great. The complaint below about region size is separate.)

However for those of us who love getting lost in a region and finding hidden treasures both literal and figurative, the region seems so smushed together compared to the breathing room even in earlier regions like Liyue. Everything is very pretty, but I feel directly led to all of it.

At this point I’m interested in wha sorts of filler we will have next in the lead up to 7.0

Edit - Originally said leadup to 6.0 but I meant 7.0. Whole “welkin moon” thing threw me off.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 02:52

My big disappointment is that I wanted more Rerir. I loved his voice acting, and he was the first villain in the game who genuinely felt like a threat. Along with that I loved his writing, and they hyped him up a lot through the archon quest only to finish him in an honestly underwhelming way. I expected more of him considering all the lore drops about him and how he's one of the sinners.

TOH-Fan152026-02-02 03:02

My biggest disappointment is that Columbina felt pretty bland. I enjoyed her interactions and relationships with her fellow Harbingers, but outside from that, there’s not too much of a personality there. I still might pull for her because of meta, though.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:04

I liked her relationship with the Traveler. I thought their interactions were honestly really cute.

TOH-Fan152026-02-02 03:21

They were definitely cute, but for someone who was the main focus of Nod Krai’s AQ, Columbina felt undercooked. Kind of like people complaining about Mauvika.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:30

I do agree there.

EffectiveMirror75342026-02-02 04:31

Yeah, a lot of people will roll their eyes at you if you say she should've been more eldritch or even violent, but imo it doesn't fundamentally change anything about her character and would've given her more flavor.

IHeartBadCode2026-02-02 04:12

I actually like how Rerir ending. Not in death but in something worst. Forever denied the thing he became a sinner for in the first place.

It's a kind of poetic justice to a character that, while I think most people would say he's flawed, he was a villain. Zero compunction for the people and children he murdered. Only stopping when it became personal.

He's a person worthy to be despised who came to terms with himself only after redemption was no longer possible.

It would be really cool if they did all the sinners like this. Have them all meet an end that denies them the one thing they do sought after, and do so in that they don't go out in a bang but with a welp.

A good story isn't one with a happy ending for everyone. And Rerir's story was just enough to be great.

xADDBx2026-02-02 05:32

> I have very mixed feelings on exploration. […]

I think those are two different things here. I honestly adore the compass. I can finally go back to the times of randomly getting lost everywhere and doing stuff without having to constantly get distracted by marking pins as completed. I know I could just not use the map; but that makes finishing true 100% just way too annoying. I stopped doing mapless exploration since 2.0. The compass is imo the second best solution to this (compared to Hoyo just syncing map pins to ingame…)

At the same time, the Nod Krai map was very condensed. Especially the upper region in the newest expansion is like 1 hour if you exclude the quest. I do love the visuals, but it was fairly small (admittedly Nod Krai was said to be small). Which also lead to people unlocking the compass too early imo (I personally only used it when I was pretty much what I considered "done").

Sumeru/Fountaine maps with Nod Krai compass (unlocked late) would be peak exploration for me.

ToucanicEmperor2026-02-02 05:52

Seconded so hard on the exploration thing. Yes I know some people complained about the size of some of the maps, but that is what made Genshin unique for me. Seeing that free wandering across vast lands get replaced with these compact islands just has been something I’ve personally disliked since Fontaine onwards.

QueenSnowTiger2026-02-02 06:52

I agree! I do like the new compass because I’m not particularly a huge exploration person but I do want all my chests. However I miss the large maps and varied locations, it was just so much more fantastical to explore. I didn’t ever mind the desert. It was hard to follow up because I have shit memory but I really enjoyed it.

Honestly Fontaine and natlan weren’t too bad considering the first three regions are smaller; sumeru was just massive. However nod krai the exploration just feels non exploratory. I understand a lot of the land has been destroyed by everything that’s happened but it still feels really restricted. It feels like there’s no actual wild land and just towns and research centers.

Timey162026-02-02 07:06

IMHO the treasure compass should work like the old ones and level 2 only activates at 90% exploration progress and level 3 only at... 100% to mop up the remains.

kawaiihoshi2026-02-02 02:48

I have a friend who recently uninstalled Genshin because of irl, lack of interest, and other small stuff. After Luna IV released, I was checking my friends list to see who I can co-op with and saw that they were online like a day ago and were consistently online since then. I saw them like a few days later and lovingly called them out for being a fake idgaf-er and they told me that the Luna IV was really good it got them playing again which honestly? Pretty much sums up how good it was in my opinion.

nicoledd032026-02-02 02:48

I'm pleasantly surprised, I had really low expectations because I really dislike the direction they took with Natlan's story and design (from characters, to world and quests); and I was also expecting to go to Sneznhaya this year, so Nod Krai initially felt like a gut punch.

But the archon quest was pretty good and engaging, it felt like it had time to actually develop and the characters were pretty well stablished + I loved how they made the team dynamic work. It dragged a little at times, specially in the las section with Columbina traveling backwards in time and the traveler being kidnapped by dottore, tho it might've been because I did chapters 5, 6 and 7 in two days, so I was stuck in between cutscenes for 5 hours at a time.

I'm also enjoying the exploration and the world quests. My only gripe I think would be that they started to include character locked interactions and scenes that I feel should not be locked behing the gacha.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 02:54

I do kinda wish that act 6 and 7 weren't basically just one really long cut scene.

squeamishkevin2026-02-02 04:23

Like that sword embedded in the rock at the legendary lone wolf location isn't just waiting for Varka. When content is already a lot lower than what it used to be, being locked out of sections suck.

djkaerf3242026-02-02 02:48

i loved it but i hate the feeling like this isn't the last time we will see the doctor

edit: don't get me wrong i love how he is written he was made to be hated and hoyo did a lovely job of getting it through

arseholierthanthou2026-02-02 03:08

I think the problem is that, while he was amazing and there are plenty of ways for him to return (like hidden segments), we went through eight acts of long archon quest to get rid of this guy. I loved it, but if he comes back it will be like the whole war over Nod-Krai was all for nothing.

D0naught2026-02-02 02:50

Overall just better than everything from before. Dialogue, story, lore, pacing, even exposition is fun since the units are just that interesting. Mvp of the patches are definitely the Rerir and Dottore.

Though the exploration in Natlan is better imo. And I like the Fontaine kits dps balance wise.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 02:55

I do like how Hoyoverse is finally starting to dip into slightly more mature story writing with Rerir and the dialogue. I mean I was surprised to hear Sandrone tell Dottore to go to hell considering how the writing usually is.

Real-Contest49142026-02-02 02:51

Story is great because rather than be something completely new, it instead builds upon all the plot pieces from before.

I think natlan was the last nation where we would have major set up.

Now that we have almost all nations developed I think the story's really gonna start picking up now as a whole and Nod krai is just the first taste of that.

Sadly while the story was good the exploration was admittedly lacking. It's easier sure but with so much less space the map just feels bare.

Personally didn't like the new environment mechanics all that much compared to the natlan.

I don't even think any character kits affect the environment puzzles like the previous nations did which is disappointing.

Also sad the character kits were more end game dmg focused rather traversal based.

It feels we got a better story but mechanically we stepped way back.

Pinguinmeister2026-02-02 02:51

The last fight felt anticlimactic, so I am eager to see if it's really the end or if something might come up later in the story. But except for that, peak. Peak all over.

Whilyam2026-02-02 02:56

Oh no, is it actually over? It feels like it needs another chapter or two.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 02:57

Pretty sure it's over. I just want more Rerir. I might as well be Rerir fan number 1.

Khoakuma2026-02-02 03:15

There should be another map expansion at least. Since we haven’t maxed out statue of the Bina yet.

Big_Shower_75612026-02-02 02:58

Loved the Archon quests, although I wish there were more break moments. Felt like you just had to keep going and going.

Liked the design but exploration was too easy. I really miss the days of just exploration content. I’m also really sick of these broken up archipelagos of mostly water. I miss Sumeru & Liyue exploration really.

World quests were okay but tbh, I haven’t really loved the world quests since Jeht’s in Sumeru where lore was mixed with intense character driven persona stories.

Characters were fun.

All in all, I don’t love it as much as Sumeru, but I still enjoyed it a lot

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:00

I kinda want a region like Mondstadt again. Though my love for that might also just be how magical it felt when I first started playing.

Big_Shower_75612026-02-02 04:15

I would love to see how todays devs handle Mondstadt. Ever patiently waiting for Doreman’s port

EffectiveMirror75342026-02-02 04:33

It's not just you, the storytelling was genuinely more economical back then. If you look at mondstadt's script, just about every line is necessary, and the banter is short and quick, with characters being allowed to make fun of things.

Fun fact: The Dainslief Chasm quest- one of the BEST archon quests in the game, is only 42 minutes long.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 04:50

And Dainslief is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, who just so happens to be my favorite voice actor.

Lumine_Alatus2026-02-02 04:37

Actually there's plenty of breaks! Even in between the Nefer parts and Columbina parts. It's just hard to tell. I did each act over three days.

EffectiveMirror75342026-02-02 04:41

Even if you include those, there are still not a lot of breaks. You need to devote half an hour or so to get access to a break at times.

Big_Shower_75612026-02-02 05:14

Those aren’t breaks. Those are save points. Breaks is when you can fully stop doing the archon quest and continue exploration or side quests and move the characters around at free will.

xADDBx2026-02-02 05:36

I think if you leave after a save point it’ll give you an option to rejoin via a domain-like entrance after leaving the game, so you actually can take a break

HollyBlocky2026-02-02 05:05

I miss the puzzles. It feels like there weren't any real puzzles outside of the mirrors in the Frostmoon Scions.

As for world quests, I found all of them great except for Illuga's world quest in the recent region. The writing for it felt like it was missing something.

lolife2502026-02-02 03:00

This is by far the worst genshin has ever been for me. I value open world exploration/puzzles> combat >character building. Story for me is dead last, how it's forced so hard on the player, the lame boring unskippable dialog, especially this patch interrupting and taking camera control from you as you traverse the world is bad. I havent played since pulling Columbina and attempting to open up way points, it was just too much, let me play how I want already.

HollowBreath2026-02-02 03:00

Exploration was ok but held back by tiny areas to explore.

The archon quest was overall good but I disagree with people saying it’s the best because imo Columbina isn’t interesting enough to carry the story for so long. Eventually I kinda just got tired of seeing her and always found rerir to be a more interesting character than her or Dottore, so the story lost some steam halfway through.

My by far biggest problem with nod krai tho is that it barely feels like an actual place. Island impact doesn’t help and that’s a problem because of how the actual people of nod krai and its environment don’t really get focus during the story quest. You have the frost moon scions who don’t exist outside of lauma and columbina, the light keepers who get little focus or development, and the more general group of adventurers and others that make up Nasha town. None of them are really developed which is kinda a problem when the main theme is community, especially when characters like Columbina desperately want to join them. The actual people of nod krai and its groups aren’t really a thing with how they interact being something that isn’t focused on.

This is made worse by the fact its main characters don’t develop the groups they’re apart of in significant ways. Columbina is just there, we don’t see much of a relationship between lauma and the frostmoons and what’s there is pretty negative, aino and ineffa do their own things, and nefer/jahoda barely count as representatives of nasha town. The only one that does a decent job is flins and even then it’s not great because his characterization isn’t focussed on. Maybe I’m weird for valuing that so much, but it’s kinda hard to care much about a region when the region itself is boring. Every other area in Genshin blows it outta the water in this regard.

Overall I’d give say it’s good. Good exploration mechanics, solid archon quest, and good cast. It’s just sorely lacking in a way I personally value greatly.

reparationsNowToday2026-02-02 04:22

do you stand by the same comments after completing all world quests? (i completed maybe half rn)

Melon7632026-02-02 03:01

It’s definitely not over yet lol

Dusty_Buss2026-02-02 03:02

I guess I just feel like we still don't know much about the things I really want to know about and would push the story forward. I'm really tired of them giving us crumbs to so many things.

rdhight2026-02-02 03:03

Overall, it clearly belongs in the W column despite being small in land area. Good mix of some fantasy, sci-fi, and horror tropes. I really liked the greater use of on-map homes and workplaces for the new characters; hope they continue along those lines. A good recovery after the disappointment that was Natlan.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:06

Far from the let down of the Natlan story, Spider-Man (I hope you understand the joker) was completely off with his synopsis of Natlan in the prerelease trailer.

TrashySheep2026-02-02 03:07

Shades, Sinners and Hexenzirkel are entering the picture.

Angels are becoming more relevant (First angel and Boreas dogo) and I can smell a plotline that has been cooking for years finally surfacing.

What are my thoughts? Nod-Krai is definitely my favorite>!"sub"!<region. The plot is moving along quite nicely and payoffs are happening.

Mare Jivari and the Lava Walker should be on the horizon, meaning more screentime for granny and grandpa to throw jabs at each other!

Midorito2026-02-02 03:08

I just started it , I'm not in a hurry haha, at least I don't need to fight over Bina materials

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:11

If you care about not being spoiled then you might wanna look away.

LonesomeWulf2026-02-02 03:09

Dang, is it really already over? Feel like we just got here. Don’t we have like 7 months until the yearly new zone patch?

Story was good, but also seems so different than the other areas. Like completely different tone, but was cool to see more of the background and to see old characters get brought back in (fatui). Wish Childe had a bigger role (and got a re-work).

Appropriate_Fall63762026-02-02 03:09

Same as my thoughts on the rest of Genshin. Good lore let down by a shit plot with contrivances born from needing to make the on banner character the smartest/most useful person in the room. Columbina is an especially a disappointment.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:12

I thought Columbina had some cute scenes with Aether and all, but I do wish she still had the creepy aspect from the interlude teaser.

Individual_Beat90362026-02-02 03:11

I felt so sad for rerir, he needs a redemption imo. Tholindis too

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:14

Yeah. I don't think Rerir could get real redemption, but I do wish we had more of him. They built him up as the big villain and then just kinda beat him like he's nothing. Like the dude made Nefer's eyes bleed, that shocked me a lot. But then he's just kinda done. I wish he got to see Tholindis again.

Charming_Case_72082026-02-02 03:12

Story needed to be like twice as long. Wanted more time dedicated to rerir as the main villain and the abyss. His conclusion was anticlimactic after such a good set up.

Also, still waiting for Varka time to shine...

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:16

Agreed about Rerir. I loved his writing, and they built so much up around him, and then he just gets kicked into a portal. He was the first villain to really feel like a threat. Sure Doctor Megele is cool and all, but I wanted to see more of the non harbinger.

Charming_Case_72082026-02-02 03:47

His remains are still a problem in the world too. Like how could they end his story but still have the wild hunt continue?

Wish they dedicated more time to each region to better flush out the story and character.

Sumire-Yoshizawa-2026-02-02 03:13

Best archon quest story imo. But could have been trimmed down.

Zanely16332026-02-02 03:15

I feel sorry for Rerir, Tholindis and Sonnet, they are all victims of the circumstances where they are not the main villains or party at fault, but got punished nevertheless. The last scene of Rerir and Tholindis sit leaning with each other make me feel something... sad I guess? They both deserved much better fate than this, and I really hope we can at least do something for them in the future but seeing the track records, probably they will stay there forever and never be mentioned again. Well, that is kind of what they want anyway, to have a place where they can be away from all the chaos.
Sonnet was the only one who opposed on waiting and find out what HP can do when HP first arrived at Teyvat. She did the right thing but her sisters overrule her and she can only watch the event unfold, then later getting blamed by Nibelung as a collective for betraying him. Knowing that she later fell into the abyss and get corrupted by it, while being scare the whole process is not something I would want to happen to anyone. It just feels unfair that she get punished and had the worst fate among the three moon sisters for things that are no fault of her.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:18

I wish Rerir had a more conclusive end. It was a really anticlimactic ending he got. They made him seems like the big villain with such good character writing and story, only to end him one archon quest later.

GoonbodyEmbodiment2026-02-02 05:12

Rerir was a victim of nothing but his own actions. He was carrying out a genocide back in khanreah n couldnt have cared less until it effected him personally (tholindis). Spending eternity with the thing he wants most being just out of reach is exactly what he deserves. For the most part jowever, i thought he was well written, but not a victim for sure. Tholindis and Sonnet on the other hand i completely agree.

ArcticGlaceon2026-02-02 06:47

I don't disagree, but rerir's situation is definitely nuanced. Yes did bad stuff, but he's also a victim of circumstance. Like I can empathise doing bad stuff and compartmentalising it as "just my job" because you need to support you and your loved one. It's what makes his story so interesting.

GoonbodyEmbodiment2026-02-02 07:22

I hear you but thats a bad take i feel. He wasnt a foot soldier, he was a key player in the leadership of an extensive ethnic cleansing. Literally putting men women and children to death. Its like excusing Rommels or Mengeles actions because they werent Hitler. Theres no way hes anything other then fully responsible for his actions. He acted with complete indifference until it effected him, sure you could argue its just a job n he wasnt a true believer, but that just makes the whole thing even worse. Imagine casually considering genocide to be your day job without a bother, thats just a different flavor of evil. People who live badly tend to die badly when its all said n done. He got exactly what he deserved. Tholindis on the other hand most certainly did not.

ArcticGlaceon2026-02-02 09:13

I definitely don't excuse his actions. But I would argue he's more "foot soldier" than "decision making leader". He literally receives orders on who to kill and just carries them out.

And obviously a job doing genocide is more evil than most other jobs but the attitude is something I can empathise with. I work at a bank where my team makes machine learning models to extract as much value as possible from our customers. Not exactly doing much good for society, you can argue that we're "evil" if you want, but to us it's really just a job we do, collect our paycheck and fuck off right home to support our families. Are me and my team evil? Maybe.

If you know what palantir does, there are a lot of brilliant people in STEM/CS who are joining it for the attractive package. These aren't evil people, but they end up supporting a company that builds systems that perpetuate surveillance/war etc. some of these people justify it by saying that someone's gonna do it anyway, might as well be them so that they can earn some good money for themselves. Are they evil? Who knows.

Regardless, I can definitely empathise with the kind of conflict going on within rerir. Obviously genocide is a different kind of evil, but similar attitudes here and there.

Zanely16332026-02-02 07:14

He did care and it was an increasingly bigger struggle for him, especially towards the end when he saw the targets including those young children. The operation was eating at him, he felt powerless against the king's order and there was nothing he could do to stop the king. He didn't have any political power to overturn the king, he also cannot back out from the operation or else he will also be a target to be rid of. No opportunity presented itself to him (not until the very end) to change the situation besides listen to what Vedrfolnir said and break up with Tholindis.

He was not given any choice, or rather, all choices he has only led to bad ends. To say he is not a victim of the circumstances is false, what realistically he can do under that situation?

Akkalevil2026-02-02 11:10

We must not have seen the same quest if you consider he didn't care until it affected him personally, considering how the whole quest was focusing on how he was more and more depressed and disgusted by what he was forced to do.

Koanos2026-02-02 07:58

> They both deserved much better fate than this

Tholindis yes. Rerir is more complicated. He feels remorse for his actions and it's clear he will kill anyone to protect Tholindis, but Tholindis was the final straw for his line of work even as he was killing distant connections and children.

He can't un-kill all those people, and they believe Rerir doesn't deserve to continue his life when all theirs got cut short.

Tron_bonneLoFi2026-02-02 03:17

Good story, shit level design.

If the same team is responsible for snechnaya, I'll get really sad. It's the most lazy region by far.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:20

It is a very barren area, I do agree there.

nyxsiren72026-02-02 03:18

I loved Dottore's writing so much, I liked how he challenged Traveler's ideals and made them question why they continue this journey. My favorite type of villains are when they make protagonists doubt themselves.

I didn't like how they explained Columbina's "time travel" (it was way too long and repetitive imo) and how they rushed Rerir's arc, that definitely needed seperate archon quest but overall storytelling improved a lot. Exploration is also a lot more fun now that chests are marked after certain percentage.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:24

I wish we had more Rerir. He's probably the best written villain the game has had. And I do like Dottore a lot, but I feel like he overshadowed Rerir too much.

nyxsiren72026-02-02 03:36

Best villain is obviously Dottore after playing 6.3, even Rerir was his pawn. I do like Rerir but he's way too emotionally driven to be scary or imposing. He's probably weakest among five sinners of Khaenri'ah.

Zanely16332026-02-02 04:18

Columbina "time travel" is just Cyrene 2.0. not saying it is bad because of that, but to experience a similar plot in such a short time of 3 months, the impact is lessened for me.

ETA: lol, the bare mention of Cyrene earned me down votes.

EffectiveMirror75342026-02-02 04:34

Hoyo tends to reuse a lot of story beats. Focalors' execution being basically the same as Rukkhadevata's deletion made it less impactful to me, for instance. And Columbina's death timer echoed Mavuika's death sentence, right down to being saved at the end by an element that was lightly foreshadowed.

Zanely16332026-02-02 04:46

Yea, they reused a lot of the same story elements. The "Spiritual Adam" in HI3rd and Narzissenkreuz are the same thing, the hive mind in Alhaitham story quest is also similar but not really.

AigheLuvsekks_2026-02-02 06:52

Columbina's time travel isnt even a loop since the moon sisters all die after the first iteration lol

Apekecik20712026-02-02 03:18

My favourite AQ but can't help there's some problem

Act 1 is fantastic. Lauma story is integrated well into the quest and Jahoda is a great comic relief. Everyone is having serious conversations while Jahoda is just trying to survive.

Act 2 Flins story doesn't mesh well. Dude just lore dump his backstory in uninteresting way. Final canon stop is excellent way to let Traveler rest while new characters (Sandrone) save him (new character saving Traveler will be done badly in next act)

Act 3 starts with Varka aura farm but got demoted into comic relief because he can't fight on screen (injury LoL). While Arlecchino also aura farm but doesn't fight Rerir (have to protect her W/L). Perinheri lore is great

Act 4 Rerir backstory is masterpiece but chess game is too slow. Nefer backstory ruined the pacing and idc if nefer is supposed to parallel Rerir, they are NOT THE SAME. Dains talk about how much he hate Sinners but chickened out when he has to fight one, only to come back to aura farm. Hydro MC SUCKSS

Act 5/6 are alright. Varka the lore skipper & Nicole the lore yapper. Traveler remember he has multi elements is hyped

Act 7, Hydro MC gets Aino burst because he's SUCK. Also, why didn't Varka join the crew to attack Dottore base (is he still injured?) and how did Arlecchino get lost? Dottore do have point that Traveler is an erand boy that work for dirty money but he lost point for trying to force Traveler to kill innocent

Act 8 War of Funnery Flame is explained in more detail. They have good plan to take down Dottore. Getting to moon and spaceship is a nice closure. Columbina talk about Thrain sword (Capitano revival incoming) and Dottore definitely has another segment. Doesn't feel like the end

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:23

Agreed. I wish they didn't force me to use Hydro Aether.

Jeffery_Boyardee2026-02-02 03:19

Lock quests suck. Too much talkin. Area too small. Got lauma ino and bina which are great but not that fun imo. Haven’t got much out of the hexencircle mechanic yet but that’s pretty cool. Overall 6/10

Lilacsskye2026-02-02 03:20

I love the new treasure compass! It’s actually the first region I’ve 100% since Mond (though… irl got busy and I’ve only completed the 6.0 regions lol the archon quest is done tho!!)

Tried to go through the story with an open mind as I’m not really a fan of the “wife marketing” that’s seemed to be going around each of Hoyo’s games, and I generally take all that with a grain of salt. And, honestly, if I ignore the bait, the story’s good enough. Not peak literature or anything, but it works.

But despite the game having explanations for Columbina being the way she is, I find it very, very difficult to get past the writers offscreening her leaving the Fatui. Hyping her up as someone formidable in one organization, only to have her separate from it offscreen and be an entirely separate entity with minimal buildup save for maybe some readables, isn’t a good writing choice, imo. She’s still formidable in her own right, but I just find it dissatisfying? I could go into how I hate the reliance on those trailers on social media channels being used as a storytelling device, but that’d be a separate rabbit hole. Personally, not a fan of the Selenic Chronicles either(I think I’m halfway through the second phase), though I prob wouldn’t object if it was someone I actually liked, like Childe or something :’) please give him more content hoyo I’ve loved him since I met him back in 1.0…

I wish Varka had a bigger role. He was another disappointment for me, too. For Grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius, idk, I expected him to be more impactful, but that’s the curse of gacha game storytelling. Of the early Nod Krai cast, I actually found Lauma to be my fav, even tho I pulled Flins.

And then I wish Rerir had a little bit more going on; I felt his plot wrapped up a little too fast for my liking. Like okay, he’s a threat, gets taken care of, then BOOM Dottore’s an issue now. He was done really well, too, though. Honestly, the villains were more interesting to me this time around. Rip to the Fatui as a faction though, I remember when we thought yall were the bad guys and when we looked forward to who our regional fatui boss would be 💔

TLDR: I enjoyed the exploration, the story was alright, but I wish all the cast were fleshed out more effectively within the game itself rather than abandoned as the curse of gacha game storytelling dictates.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:28

I wish Rerir had more screen time. Like they could have maybe had like a Nod Krai part 1 and part 2 style of AQ. Rerir just goes too quickly to really feel satisfying. And don't get me wrong, the Doctor is probably my favorite harbinger because he's such a scumbag. I do also wish the Fatui still felt like enemies. I miss the days of Signora donutting Venti.

jxher1232026-02-02 03:21

I liked it a lot. The plot being a big circle and the story behind Nod Krai energy made sense. It’s going to be a long filler patch from here on out. I do think the ending could’ve been 1 more patch.

Cookiecrabbies2026-02-02 03:21

I like it, probably my favorite region. The environment is stunning to look at, cool character moments and good soundtrack/tone. My favorite parts were the five sinners chess part, rerir's backstory, flins and ineffa/ aino dynamic

they lowkey did varka dirty tho, so im kinda salty about that

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:30

I think Rerir was done dirty.

Cookiecrabbies2026-02-02 03:55

yeah, I also think he needs more screentime. Hopefully he can play a role on the future.

SubstantialYak65722026-02-02 03:23

Still not got beyond AQ Part II because I am having to skip so much dialogue due to Paimoron that I can't enjoy it. If I can't enjoy it then I don't feel motivated to play it. I did a couple of world quests on Saturday, no idea what they were really about, something about some moles and shooting targets, something about a whale near a camp fire and something about some red and blue things in a passage, which I think also had a mole in it.

I just can't cope with it anymore so it's easier to ignore it than get angry at it. At some point my gamepad will save the day and I'll let it go through the dialogue for me while I do something else. It sounds like it was great from what I have read people say but experiencing it yourself is not the same when you hate the main character... even more so when other games don't have the same problem. I'll take the slightly worse story in exchange for the vastly superior experience.

tagle4202026-02-02 03:24

I love the story and characters through and through.

BusyCardiologist62232026-02-02 03:25

nod-krai is not over, leaks and datamines show the image files for the icons of act 9 and 10 of nod krai

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:31

Damn, I didn't know that.

Archmagos-Helvik2026-02-02 05:10

Looks like there's still some land west of the Pillar of Embla to use.

Longjumping_Plum_1332026-02-02 03:26

It’s not Joever yet! SNAKE!!!

There’s likely one more Nod Krai Area

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:31

ARRRAAGHH LIQUID!

Ewizde2026-02-02 03:27

Good story by Genshin standards, mediocre to bad everything else.

As someone who does not care for the AQ but does care for the WQs, the exploration, the character gameplay, etc... this region has been a flop for me so far.

Prof_Fennel_2026-02-02 04:51

Same for me. Region is not interesting, exploration was bland, really let down by world quests, characters, their kit and shill are the worst part.

Story was also kinda underwhelming too. Like so many under-utilised characters. Varka and Arlecchino were just bench warmers, we didn't get to see their strength for they're glazed by community. Wanderer was gonna get revenge but ended up being just a machine core. Alice was just there for hype.

arseholierthanthou2026-02-02 03:29

I loved it. There are very few areas in which I could have loved it more.

The story was very much the highlight. Both as its own thing and as a part of the greater worldbuilding for Teyvat, it was tense, it was dark, and it had so many great moments. It also did very well at integrating such a wide cast of characters.

And those characters were another highlight. I was really excited for Nod-Krai through the trailers, but I was underwhelmed by the character reveal one. Liked Lauma, underwhelmed by Nefer, didn't like the designs for Varka or Nicole. Happy they all looked so so much better in game. But I like the wider range of personalities we're seeing here. And they each had such depth and such a range of emotions on show. Lauma and Nefer, in particular, went through so much. The characters also have superb chemistry with each other. Lauma and Nefer are again highlights, both with each other and separately with others.

Also, oh my god the music! Not as exotic as Sumeru or Natlan but so damn pretty.

If I had any complaints, well, the land could be bigger. Especially the recent expansion felt tiny. And the flying kuuhenki lanes are fine for rapid transport but not as puzzles. The wild hunt and the new dino birds having such vulnerability to the new region mechanic is fine in the overworld but not so much in Abyss, where Nod-Krai units are pretty much a fixed requirement. I would have liked an in-universe travel link between the two land masses, like the ferry up to the Jade Chamber, or at least a kuuhenki trail. Some of the advertised factions, like the Voynich Guild, barely featured at all, and it seems there's a lot more mileage that could be had with the Treasure Hoarders. I don't know if Durin and particularly Albedo being there added all that much, but I think they were necessary as familiar Knights of Favonius backup so Varka wasn't alone and it felt more like the faction we already knew from way back.

I think Nod-Krai is the high standard by which all successive lands will be judged.

Common-Chip-49282026-02-02 03:29

Best AQ, the characters are great as an individual character and as a collective cast at the same time(something the previous 3 regions lack imo) every patch, the plot felt like it moved forward and had big moments in them not just a "set up until you reach the peak part" people say that from sumeru onward, the stories are on another level to the first 3 now I think nod krai might be another new level

But the character's combat, exploration and wq did not interest me tbh (now I haven't even finished most of Luna 1 main wq so maybe I just got unlucky and picked the uninteresting ones)

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:35

I will say Mondstadt is probably the region that's story is the most disconnected from the rest, in part due to it being before all the big plot points are set in motion.

NotTwitchy2026-02-02 03:30

I think this is the best their storytelling has been, and I don’t just mean the plot. The plot was excellent, but so was Fontaines. This took it to another level.

We had multiple characters all getting a chance to shine, and not just shilled ones. Albedo, wanderer, Arle, they all got plenty of screen time, and development. They all had their own goals, and concerns, and some like nefer don’t even end up coming around to 100% good, she’s just good enough.

Also, cutscenes felt like they got a massive bump in direction quality. They felt like they had stakes! The scene from the end of act 2, with flins and traveler confronting rerir and ineffa rushing to divert the cannon felt like a moment with more weight than the entirety of fontaines flood, and that was the climax of the whole chapter!

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:37

I liked Flins a lot. I thought he was funny in his intro especially.

sound_in_silent_hill2026-02-02 03:32

I really liked the AQ, but there were a few things that let me down. Overall, it was a good region but I feel like it had a lot of potential to be something better.

The first thing that let me down were some characters, specially Nefer and Lauma.

I really liked Nefer character design, her story was great and the way she behaved in the quests were great. But the devs did not have the courage to commit to anything happening to her. Twice she said she would lose her eyes by seeing the past and was really cool to *see* her risk losing her vision, leaving Jahoda to take care of the Curatiorium, just for it not happen. They hyped up her sacrifice, and then didn't have the courage to commit to the consequences.

I'm not a big fan of Lauma, but was really interested in who she could have been. How does she deal with other factions, being the chief of a religious group? How will she use her power to help Nod Krai? In the fights, she doesn't do a lot, but I would accept it if they showed her doing more to help elsewhere. They tried to show her calming the people of Nasha Town when Rerir attacked, but it felt flat for me. And later on, she barely does anything.

The other thing that, for me, was disapointing were the factions. I did not expect a full fledged civil war, but I wanted to see more about how the factions interacted with each other and how everything worked behind the scenes. The Treasure Hunters quest, specially, let me down. They could do so much with it, and there were good moments, but it felt underdeveloped.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:38

I would have liked if Nefer stayed blind. Like Nefer with a blindfold on would be pretty cool.

reparationsNowToday2026-02-02 04:25

i'd be better convinced if she was at least temporarily blind post dottore and maybe recover after another quest in the future

Chtholly132026-02-02 03:36

disappointed Wanderer didn't get his revenge.

Positive_Law_47522026-02-02 03:36

Absolutely zero fucks for Rerir and his plot. I think columbina was fine but also never cared much for her anyway. And didn't care for nodkrai as a forced-in-place region. Basically I can't give it a score because I genuinely do not care for anybody in that country or whatever they were.

Ravemst2026-02-02 03:38

Dude we're not done with Nod-Krai with still haven't finished the Moon Goddess statues which are at level 8 not only that there's still a bit more to do. Then after that we're done.

JaylisJayP2026-02-02 03:40

I wasnt really a fan. But I really enjoyed (and miss) Natlan.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 03:41

Natlan had poor story but really good exploration. The Saurians were really fun to transform into, especially the green one that let me swing around like Spider-Man.

JaylisJayP2026-02-02 03:45

Also my favorite music of any region

Ventea30032026-02-02 03:44

I'm stuck at act III with no motivation to go further because of how long the rest of the story would take (I have no idea how people in walkthroughs do a 5 hour act in 3 hours💔)

r0ksas2026-02-02 03:45

It's one of the most well written archon quests so far, its has good characters in the right situations, good pacing, and not too long AQ but not short either... My only complaint is nerfer sudden character quest and rerir/tholindis love story feels unfinished.. but theirs a glitch at the end of the AQ so they still probably some follow up regarding the moon lore

LilacTeax2026-02-02 03:45

Loved the AQ, especially this last chapter. The exploration is bad though, my least favorite region so far in that department. The region is pretty design wise but I’m really not a fan of the industrial looking parts.

Considering everything it’s been just ok. A great AQ does not make up for what is lacking.

Jasonicman74352026-02-02 03:49

I liked the AQ because the story connected with a lot of previous story threads while adequately introducing a new cast. Pretty good for Genshin standards.

I also loved the character designs and overall music.

I play mostly for character building and story so pretty satisfied on that front. The open world although beautiful was a bit lackluster in the exploration department

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 04:38

I felt that the area was a little bland. It looked pretty but was just really barren a lot of the time.

theatermrvlnerd2026-02-02 03:50

I doubt we are done with the region just like I doubt we will be done with the other regions and probably get more quests and stuff for each

I really loved this region thought it was all good especially the archon question

Honestly I would say it’s my second favorite after natlan

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 04:39

That's a surprise considering the general opinion of Natlan.

acceldown2026-02-02 03:53

I think it's genshin at it's best, I wanted to go to snezhnaya, but honestly this was a necessary part and it was really well made.

KickThePR2026-02-02 03:56

My main problem with Nod is switching villains from Rerir to Dottore in a “aha! it was my plan and doing all along!” moment. No it doesn’t make Dottore sound smart and cunning, it’s incompetent writers taking their readers for dumbasses. If you ever played World of Warcraft, Dottore is our Jailer, just on a much lesser scale. Switching to him was unneeded and they had better saved him for some other plot.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 04:41

I feel like Rerir was just a far better villain. He had a fleshed and tragic out backstory given and felt like a real threat to the cast. As much as I love Dottore he didn't feel like the big villain that they likely were going for,

IngwiePhoenix2026-02-02 03:56

I am genuenly impressed. When the announcement was initially made, I chalked it up as a biiiiiig fat filler version. But, that also meant my expectations were low, like really low - and yet, I think this was some of the most epic writing I have yet seen in the whole game so far.

So, I am incredibly positively impressed. Possibly my most favorite region so far in terms of story and writing...it's crazy good.

RomeKaijuBlue2026-02-02 04:07

It's okay, the production values have obviously gone way up, but that just makes me wish the other more interesting regions (mainly inazuma) had that same effort put into them, because i find NK bland as a region

s-josten2026-02-02 04:08

My whole focus in stories is character arcs, and that was pretty much the entire purpose of Nod Krai, so I definitely enjoyed it.

But I was still surprised to learn we have a spaceship.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 04:43

Agreed. I kinda preferred when it seemed like Lumine and Aether were just otherworldy beings who go to other worlds all the time. I did like the part in the first act where you get to fight along side "Lumine."

catszn2026-02-02 04:16

when it was announced, i rolled my eyes because it was another barrier between my most anticipated region snezhnaya. over time, i genuinely enjoyed nodkrai and the characters. call me lazy but the exploration made me recover from the natlan burnout. i actually enjoyed doing the world quests. the archon quests were long and repetitive at some points but id still give them a 7/10. im excited for what’s next.

TurTleking90802026-02-02 04:17

Story is by far the best we’ve gotten.

Exploration is by far the worst we’ve gotten.

There’s that.

StanTheWoz2026-02-02 04:17

It's probably the best plot we've had in any region. I like a lot of the new characters and they had good interactions. Feels like a step up in some ways.

The exploration is...okay. Maybe slightly disappointing. Honestly I haven't loved any of the last several years of exploration with maybe some minor exceptions, for me Genshin exploration peaked in Sumeru and hasn't managed to hit that high again.

I haven't done enough of the world quests to have a solid overall opinion on them.

reparationsNowToday2026-02-02 04:18

at least make rerir a trounce domain so i can beat him up repeatedly

I_See_Cupcake2026-02-02 04:25

Better than natlan, worse than Fontaine and sumeru.

Some chars I felt were being pushed onto me when I had zero interest. Like varka and arlechinno did less than nothing to make room for nefer and flins. Which I get from business perspective but it did sting. I feel this region story is broadly liked because they revisited beloved chars like wanderer/albedo and put faces to hyped ones like Alice/nicole/varka.

But I think the actual nod krai units were bad to decent. I only enjoyed aino and ineffas mother daughter dynamic, everything else wasn't for me.

Finally the villains. Dottore was much more interesting than the stupid Fontaine whale I'll give him that. Or random abyss dragon. But I'd rather they just stick to one villain for this region be it dottore or rerir. Rerir being clocked in 2 patches was deflating to me seeing a sinner getting mogged so quickly.

Exciting_Degree_68832026-02-02 04:48

Especially when that sinner had such good writing.

furio7882026-02-02 04:25

Not really a fan of what they did with Rerin. I'm glad he got a redemption at the end, but he could've done more. Same with Varka. Hyped up for 5 years and his biggest feat was getting the moon down in the last archon quest. Other than that I liked Nod Krai a lot

hhhhhBan2026-02-02 04:32

Loved the AQ, loved the exploration in 6.0, the new areas in 6.3 were extremely cramped and I didn't like that at all. It's easy to tell too with how you get 2-3 chests every 2 seconds and there's basically no proper transition between the areas

ErenIsNotADevil2026-02-02 04:35

Didn't think we'd end up on a date doin some Teygazing at the end, but I liked it

Nah fr, it was peak. Like, diamondhands peak. Peaked to the Moon. Every region since Sumeru has followed the trend of higher peaks, but Nod-Krai really sent it.

Traveller & Sibling lore? Love it.

Traveller explicitly saying that all of Teyvat - not just Natlan and Mondstadt, but *all* of Teyvat - is their home now? Catharsis.

Traveller forcing their way into three more Harbinger hearts? Beautiful. ^(one physically)

Traveller getting a significant amount of voiced lines, action scenes, *and.* BigDamnHeroes moments? Mmmmm delicious.

Hat Guy deciding to trust in the Traveller that trusts in his former coworkers? Whew.

Dottore being a villain and proud of it right up to the end? Couldn't have asked for better.

Forward_Cheesecake722026-02-02 04:37

nk aq 1 2 3 have been dissapointing to me , but 4 5 6 have been really good (restored my faith on the game story)

Mother-Squirrel73062026-02-02 04:41

Nod Krai showed me its possible that a gacha game can come up with a story that revolves around several new and returning characters **consistently** across many patches in in a unified plot. ( except for nefer's quest insert i might say ).

I'm so tired of characters disappearing then going avengers endgame on the finale.

EffectiveMirror75342026-02-02 04:42

Nod Krai is a quest chain I have a really big bone to pick, because rather than having a few big issues, it's death by a thousand cuts. It doesn't know how to focus on things appropriately and doesn't trust its audience enough to let certain scenes just be without massive amounts of setup.

In act 1 alone, we have multiple character introductions that do nothing except show us the model of the character we're talking to. We have a lot of time spent on frostmoon scion-fatui beef that ends up going basically nowhere. The jahoda heist on the base is cool but could've used cuts to the dialogue, just have us go through the setpieces normally. Less is more in situations where you wanna convey an atmosphere of tension, and speaking of which, a lot of scenes that should have tension end up lacking it because the characters just speak for too damn long.

Act 3 is the best-paced act in the entire NK AQ line, and I have a blog about it. [Nod-Krai Act 3 is very good. - by Set Noel - Sunshine Cynic](https://setnoel.substack.com/p/nod-krai-act-3-is-very-good) which also explains my issues with act 4.

Act 4 spends about 30 minutes too long in Rerir's head showing us new ways of killing children off screen. The paperwork scene? Simple. Beautiful. Brutal. Rerir walking down the spinning hallway only to find dead kids? A retread of the previous scene where he's training only to realize the dummies are dead children. Not to mention the Nefer part, which lacks tension because even though rerir dragged us in, he doesn't do anything. No enemies, ominous glitching, puppeting people to call Nefer out on her killing them, etc. Like imagine if instead of things just progressing normally, Rerir's abyssal powers warped the memories so that everyone was blaming Nefer, saying she shouldn't be alive, she's a murderer and a liar, etc. That would've justified that fight scene at the end way more. There's also entirely too much time spent on planning and divvying up who's going where- just have the viewer figure out what each character is doing at what point. I promise that 90% of us will be able to get it by the time the scene's over.

Acts 5 and 6 have the worst pacing, act 5 in particular. Invisible columbina is cool, but then we spend way, way, way too much time with Wanderer, Durin, and Albedo messing with phantoms (again, even though I love wanderer, and I thought that last scene where the ghost finally realizes he's dead was great). But it didn't need to be so long. Hoyo needs to figure out "How much legwork do I have to put in to make this scene hit?" and they have a really bad grasp on that. They always overestimate the amount of time they need. Then in act 6, we get the domain, which is visually fun but ultimately pointless, and the festival, which I enjoyed, before the final Dottore cutscene. I understand a fair bit of these are foreshadowing for the twist in act 7, but frankly speaking, a scene shouldn't exist if it's purely foreshadowing. You should be fitting those instances into other scenes. A good example is how they had the yellow shield around hiisi island during act 2's cutscene, which was just there for a moment and they talked about it a little afterwards, but it wasn't obtrusive. A bad example is the interstellar reference with the books, which was a contrived scene that existed purely for foreshadowing and would've been cut otherwise.

Acts 7 and 8 are marginally better in this regard, except for one thing: The World Formula. I forgot to bash on the previous "Sandrone yaps about Fontaine WQ lore" segments because it is so painfully clear that there was some lore that was intended to be worked in through the Fontaine AQ and that she was meant to be there. No one who didn't play the WQ will care about what she's talking about now, no one who played it will want to hear it again. Speaking from two angles, as I have a friend who skipped the fontaine WQ chains. The world-formula is a macguffin and should've been treated as one, but instead copious amounts of time are devoted to it, as well as the sidelining of Wanderer from the final fight. Why? Why? One of the few emotional cores pre-existing that people care about, and it would've been so good to see him, Arlecchino, and Columbina jump Dottore, but instead they have... Nefer, Lauma, and Flins instead. That final fight's lineup was all sorts of wrong, man. I don't have issues with the pacing there, though.

But y'know what, while I'm on that final fight... Why the fuck were Varka, Wanderer and Arlecchino sidelined while Lauma, Flins, and Nefer were boxing Dottore instead? If anything, those roles should've been reversed. Nefer fixes her chessboard to help Sandrone run the world formula, but needs to be there to run maintenance. Lauma and Flins use her Moonchanter powers and his Fae stuff to bring down the moon with the Witches' help. Meanwhile, Varka, Arlecchino, and Wanderer assemble as a perfect squad that's strong enough to believably box Dottore, but also not strong enough to beat him.

Afterwards, the whole Justice League shit was annoying. It was just a bunch of NPCs and 4 stars, no goats whatsoever, and it felt really unearned too because the faction war stuff never materialized.

FoxChoice71942026-02-02 04:43

I was massively disappointed by most of Natlan and really thought the Game was going into a downwards spiral, but Nordkrai really positively surprised me. Sure not everything was perfect, their are some things bothering me in both exploration as well as characters and story but all in all I had quite a bit of fun. Honestly Nordkrai fights with Sumeru for my second favourite region overall...

Slazapuss2026-02-02 04:46

Super mid in every aspect. To the people praising the story, I really don't get it. I just don't. I can only think that their standards are in the dirt or have never played games with really good stories. The exploration was super lazy and a fraction of the amount that Natlan had. The new characters were nothing special and had pretty boring kits and animations.

Cocoatrice2026-02-02 04:47

I mean, it's not over. We still have one more map expansion to do. And second weekly boss to unlock. It will very likely be a Nod-Krai boss.

Kataploft2026-02-02 04:51

There's 1/3 of Nod-Krai yet to be released.

Bilal_2026-02-02 04:56

wait, it is already over? Im still in fontaine

s69mmy2026-02-02 04:57

i really like nod krai. honestly, there is not a single character from the story that i hate. they all have interesting personalities and friendships, and im so glad we got to see alice and varka after so long!

the only thing i dislike about nod krai is in terms of gameplay. not character kits, but meta/dps. it feels the lunar teams do WAY too much damage compared to other teams.

i liked that the hexerei buffed older characters, but it feels like there was little to no point in doing so since lunar teams are considerably stronger.

LokianEule2026-02-02 04:57

Definitely in my top 3. I only wish Flins got a better “story quest”. Least explored of the 5*s.

And i feel it wouldve made more sense for Lauma to help Arlecchino pull the moon in, while Varka fought Dottore. I mean its *Varka*. He didnt really do much on screen, just 2 brief cutscenes

silversoul0072026-02-02 04:59

I think it achieved a perfect balance of mystery, lore building, and action. Because of that, I consider it the best among the Archon Quests we had so far.

Mira-Jay2026-02-02 05:04

I don't think it's over. The statue isn't able to be completed and I have over 200 sigils left unspent. I think there's at least one more location left and idk whether it's tied into story or not.

mr_lab_rat2026-02-02 05:35

I was disappointed when we got the news about spending the full year here. I wanted to go to Snezhnaya already.

But it delivered some great content. The AQ was epic. We got some great confirmations on the lore when it comes to the moon sisters and other stuff.

The new characters are amazing. Rerir’s story was great, including the unexpected peaceful end.

Sandrone is hilarious, I hope she can be pieced back together.

Columbina’s introduction was excellent. From not understanding what she was and how she fit in to a true goddess. While someone might argue we have seen that with Furina, I’d say it was different enough.

I absolutely love the English VA. She talks in this perfectly awkward unnatural way that makes her sound not human, while sounding very calm and pleasant at the same time. Amazing job.

Speaking of VAs. They are all killing it. Jahoda has cult following and while Ineffa’s VA sounded really awkward when she talked in the livestream, she’s perfect for the robot voice.

Gradorade2026-02-02 05:47

imo, the archon quest was peak simply because they let traveler cook and sidelined paimon. it was so refreshing to hear traveler speak so much and make their own decisions: establishing a connection with columbina so they actually feel like friends instead of the usual third wheeling when paimon dominates the convo, dynamic with>!fake abyss twin to get the marrow!<that made them feel like siblings for the first time, and dottore testing traveler and seeing traveler hesitate without paimon stonewalling. I really hope snezhnaya continues like this.

going in, I hated dottore and didn't like rerir initially but grew to appreciate them a bit more. genshin villains seem cartoonish to me but both these guys actually felt like people and not just checking off the usual tropes. supporting cast was pretty nice. columbina was the star for me, absolutely loved her but flins, jahoda, varka, nicole, alice, and sandrone were fun too. everyone else was pretty solid at least.

exploration overall was great. moonlanes aren't natlan levels of great but they did their job and I prefer them to inazuma/sumeru spiderman. nod krai compass is the goat but disappointed how we waited for multiple patches for a new region and it was small.

soon-to-be-dele2026-02-02 06:23

It feels unfinished. Neither rerir nor dottore’s conclusions felt satisfying. I’m annoyed that illuga’s big story quest was unvoiced. The quests are longer but the dialogue is SO bloated, I can skip 80% of it and not miss any important info.

I feel the devs prioritized lore dumping and catching the players up over making us feel something for this region.

AmethystMoon4202026-02-02 06:32

Rerir and Dottore were FANTASTIC antagonists!! I loved them so much!! I missed a good and actually threatening villain for 2 years 😩.

AigheLuvsekks_2026-02-02 06:37

Probably the 2nd best story in genshin so far but i can see how many would place it 1st. The pacing of the story is undoubtedly #1, we had no boring patch story-wise. Although in terms of gameplay i couldve used a better save system for the AQ

With that being said there are still issues woth the story. For one columbina isnt that good, in a vacuum she is a fine character with only a few minor inconsistencies, however she does not exist in a vacuum and is, in fact, the 3rd ranked fatui harbinger. What we got in NK is completely different from how hoyo has poratryed her character in previous trailers. Its like they wrote a completely unique moon gooddess for NK and called her columbina

I also feel like the story shouldve been a bit longer to make space for better character integration. Ineffa saw 0 action in the dottore fight, and varka was basically sidelined for both the battles agaisnt rerir and dottore. Sure the man helped bring down the moon but arlecchino couldve done it alone and i doubt it would raise any question. Him getting his big story only after the final fight seems like wasted potential to me

The fatui is also dead with this patch, no amount of writing will ever bring them back to their pre natlan days

The setting and themes are super interesting but technically has the same issue as natlan with weirdly out of place tech (though not on the same level as the other travesty). Logically NK should be the region with access to ancient dragon tech, not natlan and i see it as such, otherwise it is subject to the same criticism i gave natlan, albeit a lower degree. That is only for nasha town though, the frostmoon scion and the lightkeepers are perfect for their region

Exploration was kinda boring, NK looks beautiful but it is mechanically simple. The newest expansion is so damn small that some waypoints are placed with visual range of eachother

Clothing choices for nefer and lauma are somewhat questionable and moon wheel owners dont make much sense but i dont count this as issues with NK

Overall i think it was a great region on its own a bit worse if you factor in the whole setting of genshin, id give it a shared 2nd place with sumeru, right after fontaine

Zanzi-2026-02-02 06:39

**Exploration:**

I like how it doesn't force any mechanics for exploration but with the exception of certain areas tied to world quests, I find the overworld stuff relatively lackluster in terms of visuals, puzzles, and feel.

World quests were still really good thankfully though imo the ones featuring Illuga are the ones I liked the least.

\---

**Characters:**

The only new character I ended up loving is Sandrone. Other new characters that I ended up liking were Durin, Nefer, and Varka but every other new character I did not care for all that much despite being more noticeably developed during the AQs. Even Columbina who's the focus of this version wasn't all that likeable for me. The older characters did great though, aka Wanderer, Arlecchino, Albedo and Dori.

Also is it just me or did they try to do Sumeru 2.0 but with more interactions with each other? Despite that, the group dynamic still didn't feel as good to me. Frostmoon Scions interaction with Columbina is the most understandable one, but the connections between other different factions just didn't really 'click' for me overall even if I did enjoy some of the individual interactions.

Antagonist-wise, I really enjoyed the threat Dottore posed even though I felt like he could've done more. I look forward to seeing him again because this did not feel like the end of him thanks to that glitched screen.

On the other hand Rerir was not that great of a villain but was a good window into Khaenri'ah and the Sinners' past. I did not take him seriously as a threat because the motivation behind his destructiveness to Teyvat is just because he was mentally unstable and wielded a lot of Abyssal power. The way he was taken out of the picture was fitting but anti-climatic.

\---

**Plot:**

I noticed that the starting parts tend to drag on while things get much more interesting around the second part, but the sheer length of quests without any obvious stopping points means fatigue can negatively affect those interesting parts. An example is how I really liked Nefer's desert part but have seen how getting shoved into it after Rerir's deep dive (which was also pretty good but also pretty long because of having to do it in one sitting) has made it an unpleasant experience for many. I do agree Nefer's part should have been its own Story Quest, but imo the whole thing with Rerir could have been it's own standalone as well with less to do with the main cast. I think Rerir's story has the potential to stand out as a strong Interlude like Caribert's and I'm not that fond of the fact that he was instead used as the first 'uniting factor' for the Nod Krai factions and one of the logic pieces for Columbina's convoluted loop.

I think they ended the major acts quite well, aka the Festival and the Dottore confrontation featuring everyone involved, but somehow I didn't end up being all that invested in Nod Krai as a whole so it didn't really hit that hard for me.

\---

**Overall:**

Just okay. I liked it, but didn't love it. 7.5/10

ThatOstrichGuy2026-02-02 06:41

But its not over? The statue isn't finished

looking_at_memes_2026-02-02 06:57

Well I doubt that it's actually completely over. We still have 2 statue levels to unlock

S1mmmmpleee2026-02-02 06:59

These guys are literally complaining about exploration, no doubt why we call this game complaint impact

External_Internet_502026-02-02 08:20

I absolutely loved the Quest. All the characters were well written, except for "nefer" at the beginning. However, towards the end of the Quest, she really performed well. Every character was truly good and useful.

"Doctor" was a good villain; his script was definitely written by a psychologist, and "scara" was really good, along with everyone else.

Varka wasn't seen much, but he didn't disappoint either, and Nicole and Alice are really well drawn and have unique characterizations.

Lauma was a bit slow in her story and didn't leave much room for memories. Aino, Ineffa, and Jahoda were also rarely featured, only in the first part, but Ineffa and Aino are wonderful! Flins wasn't used much either, which is a shame. He was only very present in the fights, and in the first part.

Columbina and the Traveler had a very interesting story development, along with the Crimson Moon Dynasty. Yes, I'm talking about Harlequin, it was truly powerful!

Sandrone, on the other hand, is one of the characters I liked most in Nod Krai; I really loved his presence and his personality. Albedo, Durin, and Scara were a great trio!

There, that's one aspect of the characters I liked. The story, on the other hand, they were good. I really liked Rerir's story; it was sad but beautiful, guys! Yes. Everyone was beautiful, even the story, and the pacing was amazing!

Sudden_Tap76302026-02-02 10:01

Nod-Krai is still not over. We will still get another extension to max out the statue