>Recently I realized something: whether it is Honkai Star Rail, Genshin, Zenless Zone Zero, or even Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2, none of them give me the same feeling as the first part of Honkai Impact 3rd. Back then, it was a long-form story centered around the main characters.
>Before I even played HI3, I had already heard people say it felt like watching an anime, telling the story of the main characters gradually growing. Bronya, Seele, Mei, and Kiana all developed step by step. Even though the ending felt a little rushed, the characters still had complete growth arcs. The moment the protagonist runs into trouble, the story just gets fast-forwarded to wrap things up, which is what Part 2 feels like now.
>Genshin does not really count since the perspective was always clear from the beginning. Zenless Zone Zero feels more like a slice-of-life game. This type of long-term storytelling really tests the skill of the writers. That is why I feel disappointed with Star Rail, because it feels like Genshin’s “one-stop” narrative all over again. A character gets used for one version, then is thrown aside. Their big moments basically all happen when their banner is live.
>This is also a very “clever” way to avoid mistakes. For example, in Genshin when a character is written poorly, people who do not care about them can simply ignore it. It will not affect future banners or the main story.
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