Leaf17

Finally got the Midnight Blades outfit and got inspired by a user on Reddit to explore the new lighting features in camera mode. As an in-game photography enthusiast in all of my games, the camera's been one of my favorite modes since the beginning, and the new features make it even more fun, and allowed me to capture the vibe I wanted to showcase my MC's new look.

Really proud of her and of how these turned out :')

Some extra shots of the amazing outfit (it looks like a 2580 pearl outfit doesn't it?!):

Such a glow-up from her original look in my opinion ~

I think her younger, more innocent look fit for the beginning of the story, but her more mature and fierce look fits MC's growth, so it oddly helps my immersion.

Fun fact, I haven't changed her facial features at all; only her makeup's been modified, which surprises me because I was originally unsure if I'd made a mistake with her face design. I saw everyone's gorgeous and mature looking MCs and felt insecure that I'd gone with a rounder face shape for my girl, but now that seems ridiculous because she's unique and beautiful and I'm really proud of that lol! It feels really special to have an MC that doesn't look like anyone else's, and I think it's amazing that the game offers a level of customization which makes that possible :)

I really didn't think I could end up loving a non-anime game. Not because I have anything against games that aren't anime, but whenever I've tried them, for some reason they just didn't stick.

I tried Naraka: Bladepoint and actually loved it, but the combat ended up being way too sweaty for me. I tried Infinity Nikki and found it aggressively adorable and wholesome, but ultimately I just couldn't justify keeping it installed when I kept finding myself prioritizing my other games instead. There were multiple reasons, one of them being the lack of combat playing a central role, another being the fact that you can't customize your MC, which I prefer when you're playing a game where you cannot collect new characters. Lastly, the cosmetics. In a game where you can't change your MC's face and can't collect new characters, I at least wanted to feel like I could refresh my MC's looks relatively often. But the gacha and the overall lack of good freebies meant I couldn't really do that while staying f2p or a low spender. (Bonus point: while the world was very pretty and whimsical, somehow it just didn't click for me.)

Funny enough, Where Winds Meet actually improved upon these issues point for point. The customization for your MC is amazing, the amount of cosmetics you can collect either f2p or by spending very little is impressive, the combat is a lot more prevalent, and the world. The world is right up my alley. As a Wuxia drama enjoyer, I have no complaints. Not only is it immersive and expansive, it's incredibly detailed and fun to explore.

(Note: I'm not bashing Infinity Nikki, nor is it really the right game to compare to WWM, in my opinion. They appeal to separate audiences, and this comparison is only relevant because it's speaking to my personal tastes.)

Now I'll be honest: When I first started playing Where Winds Meet, I did not expect to love it. In fact, I could say I really didn't love it. I liked it, and I really wanted to try it since I first heard about it, long before it came to global, but I never would have thought it could replace a game like Genshin Impact for me, chiefly because they're just very different and not interchangeable in terms of art style and genre etc.

But here's the funny thing. I found myself getting more and more excited to log in everyday. I found myself enjoying the open world more and more. I found myself wanting to find out what happens next in the story. And above all else, I found myself getting addicted to running around an open world as a fully dressed female warrior - not a half-naked anime waifu designed purely for the male gaze.

I mean... what is this? A female character, wearing CLOTHES?? Not strips of fabric that just strategically cover the critical areas but cannot collectively be referred to as actual clothing?

Possibly this element is what had me coming back to this game again and again. Not that it doesn't have plenty of other cool things going for it - it certainly does. But enough to pull me away from Genshin? I didn't think so. But now that I've experienced playing a female character that feels designed for me, a woman, and not to satisfy a man's sexual fantasies, it's made me feel like I have no idea why I put up with the insanely stupid character designs in my anime games, and why I thought that was even normal or something I should put up with.

The most amazing part? Even the more flowy feminine outfits are still not trashy. I find myself constantly torn between playing the powerful warrior woman I've always dreamed of versus giving into my girly side and putting my MC in something soft and feminine.

And before anyone comes at me saying "wHat's wRonG wiTh sexY cHaraCteRs" please refer to my favorite characters from my anime games. Kindly google Chiori and Ningguang from Genshin Impact, or Phrolova and Chisa from Wuthering Waves, or Nan Yin from Tower of Fantasy, and while you're at it, google Fushu from Duet Night Abyss and Daffodil from NTE. Nobody in their right mind would accuse any of those female characters of being ugly, or in any way not sexy, lol. They just so happen to be wearing sexy clothing, not underwear or some weird version of lingerie that defies the laws of physics and doesn't even resemble any lingerie that actually exists in our world.

TL;DR The problem is never going to be sexy characters, attractive characters, or showing skin for that matter. The issue is always going to be developers representing women as sex objects and not much else, and thankfully Where Winds Meets has been a MUCH needed refuge from that for me.

(Did I mention the camera is also amazing?)

I can't pretend the lack of character gacha and daily FOMO hasn't also been a much needed break. Put all of this together, and the other day I looked up and realized I hadn't logged into Genshin for 8 days. I wasn't planning on taking a break. I was planning on religiously doing dailies and events and grinding my butt off to be able to maybe get Columbina in January, but probably lose my 50/50 and then barely get her and definitely not be able to get Ineffa who I've been waiting ages for after losing my 50/50 on her debut.

But instead I've been collecting gorgeous $1 cosmetics, riding around an amazing open world on horseback, and otherwise having the time of my life. It seems I'm finally getting past the FOMO that kept me logging into my gachas even when they'd lost a lot of their charm, and with all of my IRL stresses and problems and responsibilities, that's a welcome relief.

Where Winds Meet isn't perfect, but man am I glad I gave it a chance.

Nefer's story quest: A long, drawn out and immersive deep dive into her entire backstory that's plopped right into the middle of a larger overarching plot that's mostly unrelated

Flins' story quest: "Hi I'm a fairy btw"

No but in all seriousness, I thought wanted to think Flins was just a casualty of combining story quests with the Archon quests for the first time. But to be honest, I found it odd the entire time that Lauma not only had a dedicated SQ which she was VERY present in and which tackled her whole character arc, she literally had more screen time and significance to the story in HIS story quest than he did himself.

I'm going to need an hour long Varka SQ to convince me this is not gender bias lol. I don't want to sound like a husbando conspiracy theorist, but Flins is one of my favorite characters in Nod Krai and I'm really irritated that he's always a bystander and never the star of the show. Meanwhile Lauma and Nefer have BOTH gotten ample screen time and meaningful story arcs. Not to mention Columbina, who literally has special weekly quests which no character in the entire history of the game has gotten. And don't get me wrong, I love all three characters - Lauma, Nefer, and Columbina. In fact, Columbina is my MOST anticipated character release for this version.

That said, Genshin has got to stop doing this lopsided stuff. It's distracting and it's punishing to those of us who just so happen to like a character who doesn't have boobs.

So I have officially farmed for three different characters in Duet Night Abyss, and my consensus is that it is, in fact, much better than gacha. As far as whether it's grindy or not, I feel more strongly than ever that gacha games are the grindiest of all, if for no other reason than the sheer amount of time and effort it takes to grind for one single character.

So far in DNA, I haven't spent more than an hour or two farming for a character. That said, I can already see how the RNG that is involved in DNA's character farming could get really frustrating if you are really unlucky, but so far even when I've been less lucky (around 10 or so runs of a dungeon with no gold drops) it still does not hold a candle to what I experienced losing 50/50s, waiting years for character reruns, and so on. The process can get a bit tedious if you're doing the same dungeon over and over, but it's still so much faster than grinding thousands of premium gacha currency that I forgive it.

On another note, I think the devs need to rework their monetization since the general consensus seems to be that they cater to whales and f2p with no in between. I would like to spend a little to support the game, but I'm not sure there's anything in my price range that I'd like to buy. I'm vaguely considering spending $35 to unlock Phantasio so I don't have to wait until level 60 to get him, but I'm a low spender, and I also want to get a RAM upgrade on my gaming laptop... and it only costs a little more than that. So for now I'm on the fence, if I could do a monthly pass and save up the currency to buy Phantasio, I would probably do that. Hopefully, the devs can come up with something to appeal to goldfish and dolphins and solve this issue for me.

The good news is that after playing Duet Night Abyss for a few hours every day since launch, I've only come to like the game more and more, not less. There are a few bugs, yes - like the launcher issue that makes me disconnect wifi in order to launch the game, one line of dialogue missing audio, and a few NPCs' mouths being stuck in an awkward expression while talking - but the good far outweighs the bad.

I'll start with the story. I read in a reddit post that it was recommended to focus mostly on story progression until level 40, as playing through the story unlocks so many game functions, and I'm happy to report that has not been a hardship. Where my gacha games often feel tedious and weighed down with excessive, bloated dialogues, and can feel like pulling teeth to get through, I've oddly found myself eager to continue playing the story in DNA - something I didn't think was possible for me when it came to playing an anime RPG.

And it's not only the fast pace of the story in DNA, it's also the down-to-earth, relatable human problems the plot tackles. I'm so accustomed to the abstract, esoteric fantasy plotlines that something relatable and real-world applicable is extremely refreshing, and succeeded at getting me emotionally invested in the characters and plot very quickly. Trying to find a lost family member or facing discrimination and hatred are universal themes that I think everyone can relate to on some level. Another one of the things that makes it feel so relatable is a much more flawed and human MC than a lot of similar games present. Instead of being a god-like hero that everyone instantly worships, our MC faces suspicion, distrust, and hardship, and doesn't always have a magical fix that saves the day.

I'm not terribly far into the story yet as I'm trying to take time to enjoy the game without rushing, but I am already incredibly excited to find out what happens next. If the writers can maintain this level of quality going forward, I'll be very pleased.

I'd like to mention the world of DNA next. When I initially heard about this game, I figured it would be just another medieval European fantasy world, and I can't say I was excited about the prospect. However, when I discovered there would be steampunk and technological elements as well, that got my attention. Vintage cars? Futuristic-looking aircraft? In a fantasy turn-of-the-last-century city? Sign me up!

Fast forward to launch, and I have nothing bad to say about the world. Rendered with soft, glowy light and rich colors, every setting has been enjoyable to look at, from the snowy wilds to the beautifully vintage Icelake city. I can't wait to see what other settings the devs have in store. As an exploration main, I'm very satisfied, even in spite of not having a true open world to explore.

I can't talk about this game without mentioning the OST. I've so enjoyed the classical vibes, from the epic battle music to the relaxing, quiet tune that plays in our home base. The music is a work of art, and as a diehard music-lover, this is an important aspect of any game to me.

Next, let's talk about gameplay. I don't have a whole lot to say here as I'm still such a newbie, but I've heard a lot of complaints about certain aspects of the gameplay, chiefly the movement and combat.

Personally, I have never played Warframe and didn't really have specific expectations going in, and from that perspective I really don't mind the combat. I find sweeping through huge mobs very satisfying and the melee/ranged weapon combo is a lot of fun. I'm sure I'll enjoy the improvements the devs are sure to make to it in the future, but for now it's fun and I'm good with that. I think most of all, knowing that DNA used to be a gacha, I am relieved that it has unique elements and is not just a copypaste of any of the gacha games I've played.

As for movement, I agree that it could be smoother. After hearing people who played the CBT say how unpolished it was, I was pleasantly surprised that it's not more janky, but I can understand how more momentum on the helix leap would be nice and that the "climbing" is a bit cumbersome right now. Aside from those things, I do feel like there is a good amount of mobility and it makes exploration and puzzles pretty enjoyable.

As for things I'm personally enjoying, I'd also like to mention a couple of smaller details, like QoL and the UI. For example, the fact that completed events drop to the bottom on day one is a W, and I love that the interface is so clean (the SFX are so crunchy too, I love that!). I'm also enjoying that, apart from the main menu and battle pass, the UI has a unique design that, again, is not just a copypaste of my other games.

About obtaining characters & the cosmetics gacha. Before I conclude this post, I'd like to say I'm still learning the game and haven't had the chance to learn how everything works, so I'll have to come back to character farming and the cosmetics gacha later. From what I've heard from other players, it sounds like the gacha needs some improvements and I hope the devs will do that because I genuinely want this game to be successful. It doesn't affect me a lot at the moment, but that's mostly because they have not released an outfit I feel like I had to have yet. Frankly, coming from games that were very weak on cosmetics, my perspective is a bit different in that it feels rather luxurious to have cosmetics at all. Also, the characters look very good as they are. If they looked like crap without the paid skins, THEN we'd have a huge issue (cough Miliastra Wonderland cough cough).

As for character farming, opinions seem to vary a lot as to whether it's too grindy or too generous, so I'm both apprehensive and excited to find out for myself how it feels. But again, to be honest, I can't imagine a world where it's not a massive improvement from grinding for weeks for a character banner that will last three weeks, and then losing your 50/50 on said banner and having to wait three years for the character to get a rerun xD Collecting characters without the stress of FOMO is an automatic W in my opinion.

In conclusion, I am really enjoying Duet Night Abyss. More than I expected, in fact. I have been disheartened and confused by some of the hate that's exploded online for this game, and I'm sad that some people have had difficulty playing it at all, but I do have hope that the devs will work out the technical bugs. As for the game itself, all I can say is that it's a lot of fun. Solid story, beautiful graphics and OST, fun gameplay, and the ability to play without the stress of character gacha (and from a Korean dub user, very lovely voice acting). I'm excited to find out what happens next in the story and I can't wait to learn more about the combat system and farming and building characters.

I have a few worries going forward, like whether the developers and writers will eventually slide into following the path of other gachas in terms of gender ratio, harem-building, fanservice etc, or whether they'll take advantage of the game no longer being a gacha and stick to what makes the game good right now. Yes, the gender ratio is skewed, but not hopelessly. Yes, there is some fanservice, but nothing that truly detracts from my gaming experience. I hope it stays that way (or even improves, who knows!).

Been a hot minute since I posted here as life's been crazy hectic lately, and I wish I had time and energy to write an in depth post, but for tonight this quick update will have to do.

DNA is here, and it's GOOD! I'm not far into the early gameplay, but performance has been a dream (despite my PC not meeting minimum requirements I might add), the graphics look great, the voice acting is lovely (using the KR dub), story is compelling, combat already feels good. Can't wait to play more!! After wuwa's rocky launch (the only game launch I've been there for prior to this) I was nervous, but so far so good.

I'm so excited guys, DNA is finally here and worth the wait!!

PS. Oh, and I almost forgot - the OST is STUNNING.

I was skeptical about her design (to be fair, I was burned with Skirk's makeover!) but after seeing her in-game, her model looks GREAT. I'm not usually a fan of the long, blank legs as I tend to think they're boring, but the rest of her design makes up for it. I'm obsessed with her hair, obsessed with her mask thing (always have been) and genuinely think the shading and rendering on her clothes looks so nice. I kinda love the sort of marshmallow shape her clothes give too, hehe.

The fact that she is probably going to be THE meta character of version 6 feels so luxurious and surreal. I've tended to prioritize characters I love over the strongest units, so anytime I end up loving a meta character I feel lucky. Bina feels rather like one of those strong characters that's out of my league - I either end up not pulling them because I don't like them (sorry Mavuika!) or because they came at a bad time and other characters were my priority (like what happened to me with Furina). Suffice it to say, I am fully planning to pull for Bina in 6.3 (assuming she follows the usual Archon release pattern).

On a side note, I am also warming up to Nod Krai. The story has been, in my opinion, a VAST improvement over Natlan's in many respects. One specific example (so that nobody brings up "forced hate" or hypocrisy or whatever): the interpersonal dynamics between characters. Instead of the Nation of War where everyone is instantly besties and gets along all the time while defeating the abyss through the power of friendship, there is tension, there is trust dynamics, there are unique relationships.

For example Ineffa and Aino are adorable but unique and different from a simple "besties" relationship (like Mualani and Kachina), Nefer and Jahoda are hilarious and wonderfully chaotic (giving the kind of boss/employee tension one might have hoped for between Xilonen and Mavuika), Nefer and Lauma are giving an almost love hate womance vibe (another thing I would have liked to see between Xilonen and Mavuika). I'll also give a small mention for Columbina, who is an enigma and a character who greatly intrigues me, versus poor Mavuika whose entire personality, backstory, and character was puked out in almost the first scene of Natlan and never gave you a chance to wonder about her or feel intrigue ever again.

I am a little concerned that Nod Krai hasn't improved on the "Waifu Impact" thing quite as much as I hoped, but as I haven't finished Act II yet, there is room for that to improve more. Since this post is mostly about Columbina, I won't go into more detail than that, but in short, I find Nod Krai's story still imperfect but a huge improvement nonetheless - the plot itself has felt more varied and less stagnant somehow. I've also warmed up to the OST (so it was partly my cynicism talking!) and open world. Although some parts do seem a bit bland, others are very stunning, and I'm enjoying experiencing it for what it is rather than my expectations. Some of the soundtrack I've discovered exploring further have been lovely. Maybe I'll type up another post about my feelings about Nod Krai, but in case I don't, I've given the gist of where I'm at with it currently.

WARNING: 6.1 banner leaks discussed ahead!

As I talked about in my previous Genshin post, I haven't been feeling excited about Nod Krai or the upcoming character releases. Given that several of them are long-awaited and lore-relevant characters, this was odd to me, and the first sign something wasn't right. I realized that ultimately, the biggest reason for my lack of hype was due to the fact that the low pull count in Genshin of late (and the overwhelming time it takes to earn said pulls) meant it's likely I'll be losing out on quite a few characters that I want (which is what happened with Ineffa) - even if I were to invest a lot of time into grinding.

Well, this has only been compounded by the news of the 6.1 Furina rerun, which has all but convinced me to skip Flins for her. This smarts. Every single time Furina has run has been unlucky for me; despite pulling on all of her banners, she's never come home. It's hard to think about skipping Flins but it's equally hard to think of skipping Furina after she's avoided me for so long. This seems to be the final nail in the coffin of my horrible burnout with the gacha in this game.

That, and the teammate issue.

Now that Genshin is going the way of Wuwa with hyper-specific team comps and BiS supports, and no room to play around with different team ideas and still have a fully functioning DPS, I may as well choose the game that makes earning currency feel like a breeze (yes, I mean Wuwa). I can't just waltz over and get c3r1 Flins to make up for losing out on Ineffa, unlike how I got s3r1 Phrolova to make up for not having Cantarella or Roccia. I also just found out that Furina has zero pull value for Flins, despite being one of the most universal buffers ever, which we all know is just a way to force people to pull for Ineffa (and maybe eventually Columbina, if her being Aino's 5* replacement rumors are true). So even if I managed to get both Furina and Flins, Furina would be a fantastic addition to my account, but would not help Flins at all, or in any way make up for the loss of Ineffa.

And to be clear: I have already experienced pulling a mid-tier DPS with none of their premium supports: Kinich. And while it was fun at first because his playstyle is so lively and unique, it quickly became frustrating because I knew I could clear almost any domain or boss faster with my c3 Wriothesley or my decently-invested Neuvillette. I can't stand to use precious pulls on yet another character who will just be benched after a month or so of playing. And while I still use Kinich because of his fabulous exploration utility, Flins has nothing of the kind.

As for Nod Krai itself, I cannot figure out if it's my frustration and cynicism talking so take this with a grain of salt, but the scenery seems oddly bland and the music is unmemorable. I can't detect any memorable melody or "theme" which was one thing I didn't love about Fontaine's OST when compared with Sumeru, Inazuma, Liyue etc. In fact, yesterday I had a text conversation while leaving my character in Nasha Town, and got so frazzled by the music that it was a RELIEF to teleport over to Natlan and catch some of my favorite tracks while staring at the stunning red cliffs. Never thought I'd be missing Natlan considering the characters and story felt like such a miss, but here we are. Scenery and OST are also incredibly important, and nothing in Nod Krai has impressed me yet. I was incredibly hyped for the steampunk vibe of Nasha Town, yet there is something oddly lifeless about the scenery that makes it hard for me to enjoy. I can only hope it's my overall disappointment and frustration with the game talking...

(Here is what I mean about bland):

And lastly, to add insult to injury, the new constellation feature. It just introduces still more FOMO to Genshin, requiring you to log in religiously for weeks at a time to get one constellation per character. Meaning I not only cannot claim a free Shenhe (or any of the other relatively obsolete units there), I cannot even slowly c6 my Xiao over the next several years, which makes this new feature virtually useless to me (except to remind me we're never getting any free limited units in this game, lol). I wasn't expecting anything this anniversary, and would have preferred they do nothing than introduce a feature no one wanted or asked for such as this. (To make matters worse, the mechanic itself seems very confusing and convoluted, as do many of the recent QoL updates.)

Don't even get me started on the whale-geared level 100 thing, or the fact that things players have been asking for for ages STILL aren't being addressed, like artifact loadouts or buffs for older characters (no, lvl100 does NOT count).

The only thing I can foresee bringing back my passion for this game is the UGC mode. I absolutely loved designing in the Serenitea Pot and if the UGC mode were to give me the opportunity to do something similar without all the extremely intense load restrictions, I'd be very excited to give it a try. I'm also hyped at more co-op geared content and the possibility of designing my own MC (of course, only if the MC is truly customizable while remaining f2p).

TL;DR Genshin Impact is somehow letting me down on almost every level at the moment. I had high hopes for a lot of things going into version 6, and unfortunately those just didn't pan out. I'm losing out on multiple characters I wanted, again, and I'm more burned out and overwhelmed by the FOMO than ever before - with no end in sight. Genshin is doubling down on restrictive team comps and they have given no indication of becoming more respectful of players' time (no skip button) or becoming more generous with pulls to compensate.

And I know this all sounds a bit melodramatic lol, but Genshin Impact was my first gacha and a game I played during a difficult period of my life when my health prevented me from leaving my apartment much. It was a much-needed escape when I needed it the most, so I never wanted to end up feeling so frustrated with it that I seriously considered the possibility of quitting it - permanently.

LONG POST WARNING!!

I'll be honest. I have not been active in the ZZZ community of late. After getting insanely lucky on Hugo, Lighter, Yixuan, and then Fufu with hardly any room in between them to breathe, I was burned out. I was happy with my luck, happy with my teams, and there was nothing immediately on the horizon to save for, so I took a step back and focused on my other gachas instead (chiefly Wuwa because~ Phrolova!). I also had a guarantee, so it was the perfect time to sit back and wait for a character I wanted enough to spend the guarantee on.

As anyone who reads my blog knows, I was pretty sure this would be Orphie. Sadly... I was wrong. Back when we first glimpsed her in-game and so many people were disappointed that she was not the aura-farmer we saw in the initial version 2 trailer, I downplayed their concerns. I loved her and wasn't going to be dissuaded! But after seeing her animations, I must admit... I was let down. The aura issue went from "she's not as serious and intimidating as I hoped" to "she's a cutesy little chicken." While I can see objectively that she's cute, I had gotten spoiled with the gorgeous gutsy women ZZZ had previous released (Jane, Evelyn, Yixuan, and so on...) After just getting the cute Alice and Yuzuha, I was ready for something different... and didn't get it.

It wasn't just that. Orphie's animations just didn't wow me. They kind of looked like a boring mishmash of playstyles we've already seen. But the final nail in the coffin? Her kit. She fits nowhere, absolutely nowhere on my account or teams, and for a character whose personality and animations were not wowing me, it just wasn't worth my polychromes.

So. Feeling sad about Orphie - hands down my favorite character design from the version 2 trailer - I started to hope for Manato. I still wasn't a fan of his huge man boobs or the furry-but-with-a-human-face thing, but at least he was unique and giving me some of that aura I was looking for. And... he turned out to be A-rank. I was disappointed, again. Orphie wasn't what I hoped and neither was Manato.

...And then I saw Yidhari and Lucia. And you must understand, I was also inactive in the ZZZ community during the SEED debacle. I didn't really care for SEED to begin with and while I sympathized with those who wanted her to be a real mech, ZZZ was on the back burner and I didn't want to be involved in drama. Although it worried me that we seemed to be shifting from the delightfully colorful version 1 cast (Lycaon, Pulchra, Burnice, Miyabi, Lighter, Jane...) to Generic Foot Fetish Waifu, I didn't have energy to care all that much.

Enter Yidhari and Lucia, Yixuan's Sisters-in-black-pleather-booty-shorts. I felt... flabbergasted. Who were they? Where did they come from? Had they ever even been mentioned before? Why was ZZZ spitting out two generic nobodies as S-ranks instead of the character that actually had a fanbase already? It did bewilder me, but I can't say I was super upset, because although I love ZZZ I wasn't currently playing it, and I never LOVED Manato anyway. I was more upset about Orphie than I was him. (I am sorry to the Manato fans, I promise I do feel your pain).

In a way, it feels like I'm observing all this drama from a distance, and I'm kinda glad. If I was immersed in the game or - heaven forbid - the community during this disappointing time, I think it would leave a very sour taste in my mouth about a game I've enjoyed so much.

All that said, I would be lying if I said I wasn't feeling sad at all. Manato being an A rank stinks. End of story. Good luck collecting all 7 copies it's going to take to make him anywhere near as good as an M0 S-rank. Oh, and good luck getting 6 copies of his wengine lol. I'll never defend the decision to not give him S-rank status when he clearly deserved it. And what's worse, it doesn't bode well for the future of ZZZ. As I said, one of the game's strengths was always its diversity and it's crazy anything-goes kind of vibe, and I'm just not seeing that in version 2 like I was in version 1. To be honest? I'm flashbacking to Genshin version 5, with 4-star Ifa and Ororon - super hyped males with already established fan bases - and nobodies Mizuki, Varesa, Ineffa, and so on releasing as 5 stars instead (no hate to Ineffa, I love her). Not a good feeling for someone who likes pulling both genders - and all the more when they're actually lore relevant characters.

But the thing that probably stings the most, oddly enough, is Lucia. Aside from the ridiculous under-boob window on her outfit, I actually quite like her design. Yes, it's a bit generic, but it's not ugly, and I actually really like some of her colors and design elements (those HIPS!!). Beyond that, she would be a perfect addition to my Yixuan team. That said, I really don't want to replace Pan on that team - I love my lore accurate temple gang and I love Pan's character (not a furry fan usually, but LOVE pandas and enjoy the diversity as I mentioned). I also like how Pan plays. So even though I am SO close to a win, I still lost... (Kind of reminds me of how lucky I was to like Flins and LOVE Ineffa, his BiS teammate... only to not have enough currency to get both, lol!)

I guess that's enough rambling for one post. What I feel now is the slow drifting away from a game I loved. Not quitting out of anger, but just slowly... losing interest. I haven't quit permanently, although I had to uninstall to make room for the latest Wuwa update on my hard drive. If they bring any new and intriguing ladies or gents to ZZZ in the future I'll gladly come back to use my guarantee, but to be honest, with new gachas like NTE on the horizon, and the new non-gacha Duet Night Abyss coming, I can see ZZZ slowly becoming forgotten among my games.

It's funny to me that the upcoming gacha I just might be excited for the most... is not a gacha at all.

I'll be honest, I was not originally hyped for this game. It looked like a mishmash of Genshin, Wuwa, and whatever else and didn't seem to offer me anything my other games were not providing already. Then I heard about no 50/50 and being able to equip any weapon on any character (something I LOVE about Tower of Fantasy and have been BEGGING for in other games). I figured I'd definitely give it a try when it launched just for those two things alone, but I can't say I was excited.

Then came the livestream. I can't even explain my shock to find out they were literally removing the gacha. In an instant, DNA went from being a game I was willing to give a try, to a game I am HYPED for. And to be honest, I'm not worried about monetization. Games like this have always existed and even succeeded, and beyond that, there is a novelty here that few games enjoy. While Genshin's strongest point may have been being the first of it's kind, I think we'll see a similar phenomena with DNA.

Because here's the thing. To be honest? I didn't think DNA would do all that well competing against other gachas. As I said before, what did it offer that other anime gachas don't already? But what the developers have done is remove DNA from that spectrum completely. Now people who weren't going to even bother trying DNA will be trying it just to get relief from the predatory, exhausting, and FOMO-driven gacha system. Myself included. Those who are craving an anime-style combat RPG but despise gacha will be FLOCKING to DNA.

When I think about downloading it and trying it on October 28th, I don't have to weigh the decision at all. Can I handle another gacha? Do I want to bother with a game that's just like all my others? Is it even worth putting up with the stress and pressure of FOMO and scrambling to get characters in yet another game? Do I like the character designs or combat enough to bother with it? I don't have to ask myself ANY of these questions now. I'll have nothing to lose by giving it a try, and I think this is where DNA is going to succeed. It'll be the first of its kind, giving anime RPG fans a refuge free of the mire of gacha. Where originally I had to weigh DNA against all my other similar games and found it fell behind, it is now miles ahead simply because of this one key difference.

And not only that, it opens the door to other non-gacha anime games in the future. People have been BEGGING for Genshin-like games that aren't gacha for years. Perhaps the devs heard these pleas and decided to fill this gaping hole in the market, and kudos to them for that. It's about dang time.

As for the game itself, I must confess I don't know a whole lot about it and since I can try it so free of pressure, I don't plan to overthink it. I want to give it a try and be surprised. I want to get to know the game on my own without a whole lot of community input. With my previous gachas I always researched them thoroughly to make sure they were worth the hard drive space on my computer, but with this one I don't need to. So far, I do like what I've seen of the world, and some of the character designs seem bold and unique. I've heard some things about the story and OST that intrigue me even more.

I'm also REALLY looking forward to seeing what kind of characters might release in the future. As far as I know, all the current characters were designed back when DNA was still a gacha. Now that it's not, might we see some more diverse designs? Maybe a few more clothed women and maybe some more men too? If selling waifus and husbandos (but mostly waifus) to gamblers is no longer DNA's bread and butter, who knows what could happen. I'm not betting my life on seeing more diversity here, don't get me wrong, but to be honest some of DNA's designs already strike me as a bit gutsy compared to other games, and I was already dreading seeing them become more mainstream and samey as time went on (looking at you, ZZZ and Wuwa... and kinda Genshin too lol).

Although I'm not counting on anything, I'm extremely intrigued to see how this new monetization system may affect not only characters, but story as well. Might the developers feel freer to create a story of which the chief purpose is not selling the latest waifu? Might we see some real plotlines that don't center around wooing half-dressed women? I'm interested to find out.

The thing is, with Kinich and Emilie, it hurt because I really disliked her design (and no not just the boob socks, I genuinely didn't like the rest of her design/colors/composition either). With Ineffa and Flins, it feels like I just hit the jackpot, because as anyone who reads my blog knows, I LOVE Ineffa. I even loved things about her a lot of people hated. How lucky am I to love a character AND their BiS teammate? But there's one big problem.

I'm broke with primos.

"Well why don't you get on and grind? There's time if you grind hard enough!" you might say. Except that I have a life, I have a job, and I also have other games I want to play. What I don't have, is motivation to push myself to play a game I don't feel like playing, to gamble for something I may not be able to get even after grinding for hours a day.

Okay, now I sound like Complain Impact and that's not what I wanted this post to be. I love this game, truly. It has special things about it that I literally find nowhere else. But darn it if 50 pulls per patch isn't slowly killing my will to log in everyday and try for characters I know I can't get. (I also NEVER get earlies and win almost no 50/50s btw). Is this burnout? Absolutely.

But I don't see it ever getting solved if things continue on this trajectory. It's burnout that taking a break won't really fix, because when I come back to genshin, I'll come back to all the same problems (compounded because ultra specific team comps seem to be becoming more and more of a thing). Extremely time consuming to get rewards, rewards are not enough to guarantee characters, coupled with the worst gacha luck ever.

The final nail in the coffin is knowing Flins is probably going to be a worse Varesa no matter what team I give him. I can't see them making him really OP and what I don't need on my account is another mid main DPS. That might just my cynicism talking, I haven't been keeping up with leaks so maybe he's actually looking solid. It's just that I'm used to Neuvi and c3r1 Wriothesley levels of power and I'm scared Flins is going to feel horrible by comparison.

I already did two 10-pulls on Ineffa just to see if I'd get lucky, think I'm around 60 pity, no luck. It doesn't help that I still NEED Furina and am pretty sure I'm going to want Columbina (I'm a little less interested but interested nonetheless in Varka, Nefer, and Alice as well). Coming over from Wuwa where I just got s3r1 Phrolova in half the amount of currency I spent on c3r1 Wriothesley, I can really feel the difference in Genshin's playtime and rewards. Yes, part of it's luck, but part of it's the innate difference between Genshin and most of its current competitors.

I tried sharing this post on Flins Mains but I think the nuance of my struggle was lost on redditors lol. What I heard was "Flins should still be able to clear abyss without Ineffa" and "just wait for Columbina, she'll make Flins really good." And I'm thankful for the replies, really I am, but they kind of missed my point.

Welp, it happened! I thought I'd be happy to stop at S2, but I kept hearing how S3 makes her so broken and found myself wishing I'd gotten it. I went ahead and tried my 50/50 again but had lost to Verina, and was determined to save my guarantee for Qiuyuan or Chisa (or anyone else that catches my eye).

But what can I say, my sister told me to follow my heart and go for S3 if I really wanted it. This afternoon I was mostly broke with astrites, had just enough pulls for one 10-pull, thought what the heck... and what do you know? It turned GOLD. At a whopping 7 pity, she came home. Again.

Now I am a VERY happy S3R1 Phrolova haver!! She melts everything in overworld with her self buffs and skill, and I can't wait to try her in some more difficult content. (I did this week's illusive realm, suffice it to say it was so easy it wasn't even that fun loool)

I also grinded the event (heaven help my sanity) so that my profile would be properly Phrolova-fied. (I cannot believe the current battle pass gives ANOTHER Phrolova sigil. It burns me because 20$ is simply not in my budget for a namecard but dang if I don't want it like crazy. I still maintain they need to stop being lazy and give us sigils for maxing friendship like in Genshin, darn it!!).

Also finished leveling her talents and am working on her build (talents 10 x5 just for my queen). Very baffled about no tacet field for her set and I'm unsure if that's going to change? It's safe to say I've probably burned through two or three dozen modifiers trying to improve her echoes, but RNG has NOT been kind to me lol. I feel like my best girl deserves better :'(

(She does have almost 20% skill dmg bonus as well, but tbh that doesn't make me feel much better considering her crits are so far from perfect and her heavy atk bonus stat is even higher at around 24% TT)

In conclusion, if I wasn't a Phrolova main before, I certainly am now haha. Feels really good to invest in a character you love this much. <3

PS. It's worth mentioning that I finished the main quest and after seeing so much more of Phrolova's story and character, I love her even more. It's been a while since I resonated (pun not intended) so deeply with a character in a gacha. Her backstory cut deep and her desire and quest to restore a lost way of life is something I relate to quite a lot. Bravo to the writers for making an unapologetically sus character who dares not to be a Rover glazer and who doesn't have a contrived "redemption arc" by the end. I couldn't have chosen a better character to main in Wuwa :')

Summary of my pulls:

Phrolova S0, won 50/50, 71 pity. S1, won 50/50, 38 pity. Weapon, 71 pity. S2, bought with corals (worth 45 pulls). Verina, lost 50/50, 72 pity. Phrolova S3, guarantee, 7 pity. Total pull count for S3R1: 309.

This one is my new desktop background (haven't changed it from Wriothesley since before his rerun hehe). The rest are just me having fun because I love her and enjoy game photography so much :)

Note: Please don't use or repost without my permission+credit, I worked hard on them :')

I often said it would probably take the release of Geshu Lin or Phrolova to bring me back to Wuwa, and I was right. It was with big reservations and a lot of complicated feelings to sort through (including a lot of bad memories associated with the fandom) that I came back to a game I'd fully and completely quit.

I was rewarded with... the girl of my dreams! I've been a fan of Phrolova probably since before launch and always knew I would seriously consider pulling her if/when she released, whether I loved her kit or not. I just loved her design and character that much. Luckily, I ended up LOVING her animations, so it was a no-brainer.

I was on a 50/50 after winning both Brant and his S1 and didn't expect that luck to continue, but it did and I couldn't be happier.

I had budgeted for s0r1 but secretly hoped to get lucky and get a dupe (or two hehe). I decided to do some more pulling to try to get enough corals to buy her s1, and boom, 38 pity - I GOT IT!! Suffice it to say I was through the roof. I was anxious about Phrolova's performance without Cantarella (who I don't have) and decided I'd rather invest into sequences than teammates.

(no hate to Cantarella, the devs did her such a disservice with some of their design choices, because from what I've heard it sounds like she's a fantastic character).

So in the end, I'm glad I came back to Wuwa. I missed the game, missed the QoL and ease of earning currency even as a f2p, and also the beautiful graphics and OST.

Yeah, the majority of female character designs are still sussy and the ML flavor in the story is still cringey as heck, BUT I feel like at least Phrolova is her own character, and not so much part of the "harem" as a lot of the other female cast. (Maybe because she's not really acting like Flirty Femme Fatale no2039923 lol). I love her personality, I LOVE that she is so unique, and I'm so very intrigued by her backstory, I can hardly wait to find out more. Every cinematic scene with her has me taking screenshots like a maniac xD

She. is. perfect.

Also, her playstyle is WONDERFUL. Absolutely one of the most visually complex and stunning playstyles in the entire game imo. And I'm already pretty pleased with her damage despite my build being crap and having none of her BiS teammates. (Next order of business is definitely improving her echoes.)

Lastly, I have to appreciate that Phrolova has had lore significance for so long, since version 1 and all the way up until now in the version she's releasing in. She feels well established and her release feels properly built up to, and it's obvious the artists put an extraordinary amount of care into her animations and kit, making the wait for her release seem extremely worth it.

And kudos to the devs for not changing her design. I have my gripes with Kuro to be sure, but they managed to update her model and make it look even better than before while keeping her design (which I loved) the same. After a certain incident involving a long-time hyped girl from another game, I don't take this for granted, nor is it lost on me that Phrolova's release does not just feel like a cheap cash grab, aka, throwing her into a version and patch where she has ZERO relevance, and removing even more of her clothes for sex appeal (yeah I'm talking about Skirk LOOL).

So... this isn't the post I hoped I'd be writing. When you get your hopes up about something, it's only natural you'll be that much more disappointed than if you expected nothing at all.

For me, Ineffa had given me much higher hopes for Nod Krai, and I'm disappointed to report that the teaser somehow confirmed my fears rather than hopes. If you're hyped for what we saw, I encourage you to skip this post because I'm going to have to be negative for a bit.

Note: Most of my reactions have to do with character designs and are SUPER subjective based on my own preferences. If you get triggered easily by reading other people's opinions, do not proceed :D

So closing to getting S rank on all frontiers, ahhh! Still, this is farther than I've ever gotten before and I have Yixuan (and Fufu) to thank for that (and a very kind person on reddit who helped me understand Yixuan's playstyle lol). I want to say this is MUCH faster progress than I made in Genshin as I built my account there.

Also I am dumb, realizing I have not bothered clearing the easier levels of Shiyu every cycle because I thought it was like Spiral Abyss in genshin, where the easy part would not reset each time 🫠 All those polychromes I missed out on.... 😭😭😭

My teams used. As I mentioned in a previous post, getting Fufu wasn't just to make my Yixuan team stronger, it was also to free up my Pulchra since I was using her in both these teams. So in effect, it's made my Hugo team stronger too.

And Fufu isn't even built yet! (send help, I can't swing her sig wengine, how am I ever getting her 3.4k atk with 50% cr and also decent impact, help meeee 😭)

I must admit when I first saw his render, I thought his face didn't go with the rest of him AT ALL and I had an aversion to the ridiculously oversized man boobs lol (and kinda shoulders too).

After actually meeting him in-game, I think his face looks MUCH better which is a relief. As for the man boobs, well... they're still way too much. I realize this is a controversial take considering female players have been begging for this kind of thing forever (and almost never get it), but it would be hypocritical of me to pretend I'm okay with it/like it when in reality I think it's every bit as silly as Yixuan's basketball boobs.

But oh well, ZZZ devs aren't going to change anything just because of my opinions, and tbh as long as they keep releasing modest ladies like Fufu, Yuzuha, and Alice, I have little to complain about. This way there's something for everybody I guess. More males would be nice for immersion's sake and just because I genuinely really like so many of their male designs, but I'm pretty happy having girls who dress in clothes I would wear IRL, like the aforementioned girlies.

In the end, I pulled for Yixuan (and her wengine) in spite of the basketball booba because I genuinely love almost everything else about her design and I CRAZY LOVE her combat animations, so if Komano Manato has a really amazing playstyle and kit I can see myself overlooking the man boobs and getting him. That's IF he's an S rank though, and I'm still thinking he might well be A rank, in which case, I probably won't have much say in whether I end up with him or not.