that’s how a story works???
I’ve finished first act of 6.6 AQ. And tbh, it was kinda meh. Gonna have to start using the term loreslop for quests like this and Paralogism.
The plot is entirely driven by the need to establish lore and make certain plot points happen with almost no character work to get invested in or make it compelling. Tons of returning characters too for fan service reasons.
This isn’t bad on its own but the lack of actual character work in the story just sucks all interest out of it. The problem with bringing these characters back for one patch AQs is that these characters are mostly static side characters or characters whose arcs are complete and you do not have the time to give them a new one as you gotta drop lore and make plot happen.
What made Nod-Krai so incredible was Columbina’s struggle to belong, Sandrone’s opening up, Rerir’s banality of evil and etc. The sinners lore was rooted in Rerir’s own internal conflict and Dainsleif’s sense of betrayal. That’s why we care, not just cuz Sinners.
What makes a story compelling at its core isn’t lore, plot, or spectacle, it is the CHARACTERS that make it so. If they didn’t have time to give Sumeru’s cast new arcs I dunno why they don’t just have Nefer be the central figure, bring the Nod-Krai cast esp Bina along and let her and maybe Collei take centre stage bcs rn the AQ doesn’t feel like it has any central characters.
This wasn’t a problem in Sumeru proper or Fontaine. Nahida and Furina were the Axis of their chapters so I dunno why it is in these return style lore AQs like Paralogism or 6.6. Hell why did they even lock Nahida away for an entire act and where is Wanderer even? The characters with a score to settle with Dottore have gotten nothing so far.
Really hoping Act 2 makes a massive come back bcs I’m not feeling it so far.