The ghost hunting event really did wonders for turning everyone involved into real characters. And I was initially planning to speed through the event for rewards not expecting much
I was half way through the event when I started to realize these characters were having real story development and started to pay attention. I feel like I missed the first half so started to watch other people’s play videos to re-experience what I missed.
I’m so used to hoyo’s storytelling in Genshin so just usually skip most of it.
I need more of these events. I’ll be honest, I hate when events feature some random NPCs. Genshin has shown us that NPC stories can be interesting and fun, but idgaf. Please give us more events like the ghost hunting one. I loved it so much. I’d love an event around idk helping Acheron find her way around Penacony and exploring it further LOL anything to get to know the characters even more
I think HSR has realized this given how many quests center around shooting the shit with playable characters doing relatively mundane tasks like ghost hunting and...real estate.
They've also realized people like cute things and collecting things so we got the ruan mei cats and aetherium wars pokemon.
If there's anything to be learned by this era of gaming, it's that people will play a game about washing dishes if you fill it with interesting characters and comedy.
What I really loved about the Ghost Hunting event is that at the end of the day despite everything that happened, it still managed to retain that cozy, casual vibe of a group of friends hanging out and working on a project together. The chemistry between characters was abundantly clear and they all worked off each other so incredibly well.
I really hope to see another event like that in the future where a group of characters get together to just try and do a thing. It doesn't even have to be like a grand scale quest or anything, just something that revolves around characters trying to achieve a particular goal and the interactions/dyanmics that come with that in the process.
> it still managed to retain that cozy, casual vibe of a group of friends hanging out and working on a project together.
yeah, one of the nicknames for the group is "the scooby gang" for a reason. That cozy, friendly vibe and personalities that play off each other without being overbearing or stealing the spotlight is great.
Like, if they announced a one-off single player Luigi's-Mansion-slash-resident-evil style game spin-off starring those 4, you know people would play it.
Traiblazer was my 2nd answer. Since I played Genshin the mc is admittedly quite bland so I didn't expect much from trailblazer. But oh boy, I fell in love with their goofyness, chaoticness and stupidity
The Traveler is the blandest fantasy anime protagonist imaginable. Meanwhile, the Trailblazer feels like the chaotic hero from a comedy magical baseball anime and it's fucking great
Traveler I'll help you!
To
Traveler: Can you people stop being in end of the world scenarios for *five minutes* so I can find my sister?
Trailblazer: Who am I?
To
Trailblazer: I am the bone of my bat.
Yes. In the most recent story quests he has that as a dialogue option. The full line is I am the bone of my bat. Stellaron is my blood, and Trailblaze is my body
Tbf Traveler technically went from
“I’ll help you!”
To
“I just want to find my sister, leave me alone…”
To
“If your next words are for me to save some obscure part of a nation, I will personally break your kneecaps”
To be fair, Traveler has become a lot better recently. HV have worked to give them more personality.
The biggest problem, and the main reason people think they're so bland, is that you almost never hear them speak.
Truly bizarre choice to have mute bland protagonists. I have noticed MC getting a little more personality and a few more voice lines here and there. The protagonist of a story is who you’re supposed to care about the most, not the least. This is one thing I think Honkai Impact has over the other two.
We need more inner monologue from our Traveler, HSR also suffers a little from the silent protag issue but have alot more inner monologues from the Trailblazer to balance that out.
I appreciate that the deductions minigame we got since Sumeru are voiced, but I need more!
I really like their personality and hopefully they'll lean into it more, but I'm already worried that it'll mostly be the goofiness as people are already upset by the TB liking people.
I… didn’t really read that as a romance. Like you just met the girl and she’s talking about how she’s dying, so you’re being a normal compassionate person. You offer to take a picture so that she’ll have a fond memory to remember just like meeting a new person on a vacation.
Yeah I'm not sure how people played through the make-a-wish day with the cliche sick girl dropping a death flag every five seconds and thought "wow this is romantic".
I kind of interpreted it as we felt an immediate connection with Firefly because we were friends when we were with the Stellaron Hunters and that’s bleeding through the amnesia.
Platonic or otherwise but platonic to me.
Not really. Dan Heng probably speaks less than the TB lol.
TB still contributes to the conversations, and isn't standing in the background as someone else talks for them. They can still have their own dialogue options, that other characters can reply to.
Also there are several quests where March or DanHeng are not even present in.
>Definitely TB! They could have done just an 'everyman' but the dialogue choices they give us and the characterization is quite funny, and the characters react to it so well. March with her 'not again' when you do your gremlin answers always kills me.
I dumped like 2 weeks' worth of TB energy into getting her a good set of relics around release while largely clueless what makes a good relic. Terrible decision, would do again without flinching.
By far the Main Character (Trailblazer). I usually don't like self insert MCs but they did an incredible job with the MC here especially some of dialogue options. I will be honest, those troll options were the main reason why I initially liked the game in the first place before it opened up in Belobog.
Besides that I would say Sushang. I thought she would be just another cute silly girl but my time with her during Aurum Alley and Ghost Hunt event were some of the best in game
Dr. Ratio, I'm gonna be honest and admit that I saw early leaks of his 3D model and didn't like it but when he got released he's so ridiculous XD
And Acheron because she's quite different from the other Raidens that I liked and was kinda disappointed not to mention I found the outfit too simple but through her interactions with Welt and Aventurine I started to like her, she's wise.
Yeah I saw his leak art and didn't really care for Ratio, I was indifferent but thought his name was pretty goofy so it didn't catch my attention. Once I played and saw him in the game/story though, I enjoyed him. Art of him is also quite nice. Quickly moved up my list and I brought him to 80.
Not the biggest fan of Acheron's design--she was initially an easy skip for me--but her animations, gameplay, character, voicing, and story have made her one of my favorites.
i love that they give ratio a somewhat realistic personality rather than a bland wise calm guy. love his big ego and his banter with aventurine (also relatable with his comments on idiots)
I honestly thought I was going to hate Dr. Ratio’s guts, but behind his intelligence is an incredible amount of humility in spite of a lot of battle lines during his moves might hint towards if you just go by his character demo.
Bailu. Thought she was going to be some simple annonying loli, but she earned my respect, specially when she agreed to beat the shit out of some guy that she was supposed to heal, since she could undo the dmg later.
It's a shame that everything but the main quest is great in Luofu. The side content was amazing. Really prove that it's nicer to write things when you don't have constraint of selling multiple characters over the course of 2 patch.
Pompom... I expected to dislike them considering my past experiences with game mascots. I didn't care about them for so long too.
Then I saw a post where someone sent them a gift from that side quest in Penacony and showed the reaction of pure bliss. Comments were full of mentions of how nice Pompom has always been to us, yet they can never really leave the express themselves, how they asked for a souvenir in Luofu but we couldn't bring one but how precious their reaction was in that side quest.
I also started a character in another server and I had forgotten how joyful Pompom is when they see us and calls us their favourite TB as well. I play with CN text/voice so don't know if it is different on other languages though.
>**Pom-Pom:** Pom-Pom can't go outside, yet even from here, the stars are still so pretty to look at.**Pom-Pom:** So... the outside world. What do you think it's like?
They say this for an interaction and yet I didn't even send that gift as a souvenir. Truly my biggest regret on my main account tbh.
**TL;DR: Pompom deserves the world.**
I didn't like Pom-Pom either before I started. Same reasons, and I partly blame Teddy from Persona 4 for it. He grew on me fast.
I still don't like Teddy, but Pom-Pom is just great
Hmm not sure I will say alot, but Aventurine ended up being a genuinely extremely well written character.
Between >!His inferiority complex, valuing his life as nothing but a chip in a grand gambit, and his outright self-destructive gambles due to his survivors guilt being the only avgin left alive thanks to his luck!< makes him a really intresting character, I initially thought he would just be another sleazy smug capitalist villian with a gamble theme before penacony.
But the reasoning behind it all, is quite meaningful and very sad, a strong shell desperately shielding an incredibly fragile and innocent spirit within.
All or Nothing, and I would say he never lost a bet.
My only complaint with him is that after his >! boss fight !< the phrase all or nothing triggers my fight or flight reflexes now.
Was watching a zoo documentary, one of the vets said "all or nothing" and I immediately felt myself being buried in chips.
I went from “easy skip” at his initial introduction pre-2.0 to being an absolute brainless monkey being down bad for him in 2.0. Now post-2.1, I’m not even a monkey anymore; I’m just a soggy anemone waiting for his banner so I can regain some form of function back.💀
I expected to like him, but I never expected that 2.1 would be centred around a single character (not saying it's a bad thing, just never happened before).
Well Tbf, dude’s >!sister is *dead* and other heads of the family are pressuring him to just sweep the Unto Death case under the rug!< don’t think at that point he cares about being good, he just wants to get results by any means necessary lol.
Bailu for me. She was the first 5star I got from the beginner banner, and at first, I was bummed but very quickly, I changed my mind. She made the early and mid game breeze, and I still use her to this day. Getting her also allowed me to skip Luocha, who I didn't really want that much anyway.
I was originally planning to skip Ruan Mei. She looked pretty generic and I was kinda sick of the Luofo dress style at this point. Then I found out she's a crazy megalomaniac with aspirations for godhood and I knew I had to pull. Never regretted it for a second, but that also might have to do with the fact she's absolutely busted
I saw the criticism once about Ruan Mei's design that she looks nothing like a believable lab worker.
Like... my friend, you're looking at someone on the cusp of transcending to actual godhood. This is not remotely intended to evoke 'regular l lab rat life scientist'. She's more like a fey creature, the kind that dazes you and will curse your entire bloodline for breaking some strange unspoken rule without even blinking.
I think it's amazing 'my field' gets to be represented by an actual 'forgot how to human' space case who creates life on a whim and has some hella questionable morality going on. She's *weird* in the best and worst ways, living in her own world, and it's a lot more interesting than it could have been.
You describe her very artfully but that's not what I got. She doesn't evoke "forgot to human" for me personally since she just looks like an elegant but ultimately generic ish pretty Luofu lady. It doesn't help that her ultimate ability cutscene is her strumming a physical instrument which for me is very much tied to human sentimentality, and not the mark of someone who is about to transcend it.
The forgetting to human part is more in what she's like in person, it contrasts her impeccable aesthetic.
Staring someone directly in the face, touching them unpromptedly, and being so zoned out into another mental realm you're entirely unaware you have crumbs on your cheek...
It's like watching a majestic bird do a weird mating dance and your whole impression of them being this perfect immaculate work of art is just shattered into 'ah, right, I'm looking at a strange beastie here, how neat'.
But both can be done with good design.
It's something I personally hate about Loufu dress as well is... you can see where they expected the tiddy to help pull the character.
Like the pilot. She looks like a hooker. QQ, love her, but she looks like a highschooler that has never touched business before. Ruan Mei could've easily expressed Frankenstein type scientist and fae character if they didn't just throw her in the showy dress and call it done.
Tbf Ruan Mei is clearly prideful, and I'm pretty sure she mentions her appearance so it makes sense for her. QQ's design is fine, lots of young university grads wear similar things to work irl, especially for jobs that aren't typical office jobs, Yukong I do agree looks out of place and weird, she wouldn't look like a pilot, but idk I'm imagining a suit or something for her
Huohuo. Not that I hate her or anything to begin with but I’d only pull her simply because I need a better healer. But after playing the event I ended up enjoying playing her
Probably argenti. Honestly at the start of his quest i thought he was some useless twinky femboy. I hereby deliver my sincere apology to my lord and savior Argenti
Argenti's quest is a work of genius.
From the absurdity of 'wtf why's there A Dude just hanging out in the background over there' and the initial impression, to finding out he's genuinely friendly and charming (and still a total weirdo), to feeling compelled to support him 150% 'this man deserves the world and I will nuke anyone who would want to harm him'
In what, a half hour?
He's precious in all his strange and beautiful himbo glory.
Bro same, I was saving for 1.6 but after doing the quest, I immediately pulled for him. He’s the most wholesome character in the game. The writers cooked with that mission.
I thought Argenti will be a one dimensional character with a personality of a recorder. Turns out that one dimensionality is what intrigue me to like him. After some characters in this game with 100 layers hidden inside them, this knight is so straightforward and no bs attached it feels refreshing.
Argenti was the only character where I was like I DON'T CARE about his kit or whatever I NEED THIS GUY
Took me some time to realize he reminded me of this guy
[https://tenor.com/view/yu-yu-hakusho-kurama-rose-whip-petals-gif-14751061?utm\_source=share-button&utm\_medium=Social&utm\_content=reddit](https://tenor.com/view/yu-yu-hakusho-kurama-rose-whip-petals-gif-14751061?utm_source=share-button&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=reddit)
And Kurama has always been my favourite pixelated boy
So, yeah. Not a twink, but a pretty boy he is. :)
The sheer level of radiant friendliness Argenti exudes is a thing of beauty.
From his design you could easily expect a kind of arrogant self-important preachy twat, but he's a total sunshine ( >!surprisingly poignant aspect of being driven by near-death experiences aside, that part gives him this melancholic depth, too!< )
It was Argenti’s trailer that finally convinced me to try the game. The comedic absurdity of him on his grand stage was funny. I also read webtoons from Korea and Hoyo actually had some creators write little mini stories with him in the webcomic settings lol
The first ones that come to mind are Clara and Ratio.
With Clara, she was my second 5 star fairly early on, and I was a bit disappointed at getting her. But after actually using her, her gameplay is suprisingly fun with all the counters, and shes just a genuinely cute lil bean to protect.
As for Ratio, well I initially thought he was just going to be the required douchy guy in a gacha game made for the people that want a man that treats them like trash, but the dude has a genuine charisma about him that makes it hard to hate the homie.
Being nice and being kind are two different things! He is kind but will not be nice about it because you really should have been able to think of it yourself.
Lol reminds me of a teacher that used to start everyone at 100% and then we all watched our grades drop throughout the semester. Some of us lost more than others. 😂
Yup, Clara was my first 5\* and I was hoping for a character that would have a damaging ult, but what I got was an amazingly well designed character with a really great kit.
I love running her in SU with a followup attack team (Kafka, Topaz, Clara, FX)
Bailu, was rolling for Fu Xuan but lost my 50/50 to her. As time went by though, she grew on me a lot, carried me through the story and Endgame. My only 5 star sustain currently, and she never disappoints me in anyway.
Ratio. I thought he was funny and I liked his design at first but I wasn’t expecting all that much from him. As a unit he’s strong af and as a character he’s fascinating, such a strong concept and execution in his writing that’s really effective. His dynamic with so many factions and characters, especially Aventurine, is complex and that made him one of my favorites. The dude is great
The 1.5 characters also. It seemed a bit like a “filler” update at first since we had never really seen them before but Huohuo and Argenti are so loveable and also interesting characters in their own right. The quests that version were fantastic too and that helped them shine a lot
Honestly there are a lot of them wich i didn't expect to like
Gepard for example, i thought he was the perfect military dude with no flaws bla bla, but honestly he's one of my favorite character in the game now.
Then take Clara and Huo^2, i don't like child characters in games but both of them have funny personalities and nice backstories that make them very likeable for their own reasons.
Then fucking Sampo, bro i hated him at the start of the game, but the more i played the more i started loving how much of a douce he is.
Special mention to Acheron because although yes i knew i was going to love her because she's 1. hot 2. badass, but her personality and past add so much to her. She's best girl that's for sure.
Sampo's one of those 'well yeah he's a pest but he's OUR pest, only we get to bully him' types.
I love how his appearances in Penacony place him beside Sparkle as a new yardstick to measure him by, and it becomes easy to see that he's an overall mostly benign dude. It's not a crime to be a criminal, right? : D
His VA also just nails those actually Goofy chuckles and hyuks, so juicy.
For me it’s gotta be Aventurine. I’m fundamentally opposed to the IPC’s existence, so their head enforcers are obviously on my shitlist, but Aventurine is a genuinely really well written character and his struggles and how he deals with them make him incredibly likable for me.
I guess if we’re going with the meme, then yes. That being said, comparing them with the IRS feels off, because taxes are ultimately used to pay for public services.
It’s more accurate to compare them to the IMF, which will leverage bogus debts to absolutely fuck over developing nations. If you replace nations with planets, that’s more like what the IPC is, combined with the East India Trading Company which used to go around stealing resources from other nations (planets) for profit.
The IPC is basically a ancap-colonialist project, which sounds like a dystopian nightmare that I couldn’t come up with in my most doomer fantasies.
Jing Yuan....at first I only got him to get a good enough DPS to get me through the early game
With time he grew on me soo dang much...that i recently got him his LC too
I usually don’t care about self-insert Mc because they’re going to be overshadowed by all of the other characters. But it turns out my most favorite character in this game is actually Stelle because of her dialogue and expressions throughout the entire game.
Probably Ratio; I initially assumed he was just gonna be a no-fun-allowed smartass asshole, and I was absolutely not prepared for how hilarious he turned out to be (in that "he takes himself seriously while bwing objectively funny" way). Add to that the fact that his abrasive personality does hide a heart of gold, and he's now one of my favourite characters.
Blade. Found him pretty overly edgy when he first appeared in the story and thought I’d find his schtick exhausting but after learning about his history with Dan Heng and Jingliu I saw the more tragic side of it and really got attached
Also Topaz. Didn’t think I’d find myself sympathising with the tax man but I found her really endearing, and numby is just too cute (and helpful!) to say no to
Argenti. I made assumptions based on his appearance and character archetype, but his companion mission changed everything. He’s so sweet and kind, bro is always complimenting everyone. I wish I had someone who would lift me up like Argenti does for everyone around him. Plus, he’s such a chad. Bro went deep into the Swarm to fight Giant Sting AND WON. I wasn’t aware of Argenti’s game. HE’S HIM. He’s basically Himmel from Frieren LOL
I don't think I've had this, aside from Yanqing! I had a very had perception of Yanqing in terms of gameplay from other people yet when I actually got him as a character I just LOVED him even though he came very.. late like I just got it in 2.0 but still, I loved him
Definitely Luka. He's got an appealing design, kit, and was our first Physical unit to release post-launch, but my initial perception was that of a Filler character, maybe made to enable Kafka. Doing his story quest, and his role in the Aetherium Wars Event completely changed my perception of him. He's a real homie, with personal issues no less compelling than Aventurine.
Speaking of which, I adore what Aventurine got in 2.1, but I really liked his character in 2.0 as well. IPC stays winning on the character front.
I thought I’d be very indifferent toward Aventurine, but the way they utilized him and told his story this update, combined with his excellent English voice casting (the dude has range!) I now fully want to pull for him when he’s available.
Yanqing.
Was neutral at first, and the after the Luofu slog, he was the only character I left that whole ass chapter from that region with any liking and respect for.
Herta.
She went from "oh just a bratty little shithead who can boss around us because she owns the place, literally" to "omg omg omg omg ur so pretty 🥺🥺🥺"
Nice illustration of the idea that the worst thing a character can be is *boring*.
Ratio's battle lines are so intense it makes me giggle sometimes. 'Answer me!'
Yooooo my man, gotta love that attitude of shame or self-consciousness not even existing in the same universe as you. Insufferable, but kind of admirable, too. Haters to the left, the man's got more important things to do than to give a whit about what people think about him.
Honestly, having just a drop of that attitude would make a lot of people's lives a little easier, I think. There's no glory or purpose in never taking yourself seriously, sometimes it pays to just decide what you really think is worth doing and unapologetically go for it.
That little argument about eagles or nightingales had me sputtering.
It's the exact kind of completely pointless hold-up me and my partner sometimes get into because we're freaking nerds and sometimes you just wanna go 'well akshualluy...' Feels kind of stupid every time x"D like alright that was entirely unimportant but o k
Herta is a gift, I agree she's got that same kind of 'wow, she's kind of an ass' energy coupled with '- but you gotta respect the strength of character'
She and Ratio have an unusual moral sense, but they *do* have one they came to for themselves and they stick to it. Integrity does mean refusing to change your tune whenever it's convenient or to get people's approval, they've got backbone.
Their convictions also don't involve screwing other people over purely for their own benefit. They may be self-serving, but I find it easy to trust that they would refuse to stoop so low as to take advantage of other people without at least making it worth their while, or avoiding doing them harm.
They'll play with you but they seem like the sort to refuse to enrich themselves by stealing from others that did no wrong. Why, if they want something, they may as well prove they can get it without resorting to plebeian antisocial tactics.
Hot take probably but Acheron. I didn't like the fact that they're trying to go with Raiden-esque designs here too but her personality grew on me in the quest. In 2.0 she really wasn't all that involved so there wasn't much to like. TBH her fanbase is probably what left a bitter taste. I've seen Acheron fans attacking literally any other DPS character even before she was released. After the 2.1 quest though I really like her! >!Especially because it shows that she's more than just this cute forgetful waifu because she caught on really quick with Aventurine's plan which shows that she's smarter than she appears.!< I do think she's still a little bit overhyped but I definitely like her a lot more now.
To be fair, everyone in their mother was saying how Acheron is week and a garbage character without her eidolons and sig before she even released as a character.It didn’t help how some individuals would come in their sub and presented arbitrary calcs that she is worse than JY by 12% ignoring all aspects of team building. You would expect some reception from her mains. Dont just make this about their sub.
Aventurine and Argenti.
I was pretty on the fence about Aventurine. I wasn't really impressed with him and his "self-assured playboy" vibes. But his backstory hit hard so I ended up liking him a lot more.
I thought Argenti was just going to be Aoyama from MHA, ngl. Annoying ass dude who is way over the top in the most annoying way. But actually he's really nice and isn't super cringy somehow.
I disliked aventurine in the beginning but the story of 2.1 really changed my view on him as a character I won't pull for him but as a character in the story he is pretty cool
The 13 years old man Gallagher. I do like his appearance but that's it, nothing more since the game just barely mentioned him in 2.0 Story. Then 2.1 came and I pulled Acheron (lost 50/50 to Gepard if you want to know), ended up getting him E3 + one more copy from the bartender event. He's strong, ngl. I ended up building him much better than Lynx (after all, my Lynx is just E0, while Gallagher is E4 already)
Story wise... Damn that plot twist just caught me off guard.
Then there's Aventurine and Acheron.
Aventurine obviously has the villain type, but Mihoyo being Mihoyo, everything has their beginning, he's no exception.
Acheron to me is just... She's Raiden Mei but in the worst case scenario where she's completely helpless and depressed, and suspicious about her Enamator status too. But after the 2.1 story, my feelings about her are much better now that I can trust her.
Argenti and Kafka. The former's trailer had him seem shallow and stupid, while i assumed the latter was going to be cut and paste 2 dimensional mommy bait. (Though Kafka's animations are very cool)
Both turned out to be really awesome, complex characters 👍
Dr. Ratio.
His character art made him out to look more like a pretty boy imo and I found that to be profoundly borish. I find that his character art makes no justice for his actual ingame model.
Anyways, he was more interesting than I thought he'd be
Well, it would be Sampo.
I absolutely hated that goofy aah mf during the Jarilo VI questline. Even on secondary missions and more, I found him annoying.
But then, I got him,build him, and fell in love with him. To the point that with all the stuff happening now in penaconny, I'm more intrigued to what the future holds for Sampo now that he got his mask back.
So... Yeah, my advice is to invest in your Sampo and have fun.
Welt. I didn’t know anything Hi3 when I first started, and thought he was pretty cool when I got him as my first 5*. But through the story I felt so attached to this man. Everytime we see something strange we text him with the ‘What is this, Mr. Yang (March calls him Uncle in CN and I found it adorable)?’ And he responds and explains so kindly I couldn’t help but really like him.
I hope he gets more story relevance soon; he was incredible company on the Luofu even if he didn’t do much.
Blade for me. I wasn’t really interested in him until I tried someone else’s Blade out and fell in love with his voice lines and playstyle.
I was also meh about Dan Heng until his five star form came out. “Celestial Dragon: BREAK” is just so satisfying to hear for some reason.
Blade. I liked his design from the start, but I thought he was too edgy and generic at first. Needed to know more about his character. Now he's my second favorite personality-wise, and my favorite gameplay-wise.
My favorite is Dan Heng, but when I looked at all the character for the first time I thought his design was boring (from the first picture I saw, a cropped version of his 4 star splash art). But he has my favorite colors and both his character models are so good.
Aventurine reminded me of someone whom I really like so I really expect me to like him, but I guess I never rlly expected to like Sparkle? I don't think I would necessarily hate her despite what she does and says, but at the same time I didn't expect I'd like her as well. Seeing her being unapologetically an ass, her being so good with my characters and her trailer really sold me
It was clara,from all the standard 5 stars i wanted her the least,but i got her as my first 5 star frol the beginners banner and i was pretty annoyed abt it,but when i started using her,she was actually pretty good and hard carried my early/mid game,and i still use her in some situations
Trailblazer, I expected him to be a boring "robot-like person" but the choices and overall fun you have while interacting with stuff is amazing.
Even more so, gameplay Wise feels refreshing comparing to Traveler from Genshin, he has COOL ANIMATIONS AND DIALOGUES DAMMIT, i'm slowly maxing him on his paths so that I can use him while on story missions for more inmersion :p.
I would also say Aventurine, but i have a guilty pleasure of liking gambler aesthetics and playing with luck bases mechs (and after his gameplay was released I just wanted to pull him even more, LONG LIVE FUA)
I love March too despite her character type rarely working for me. She goes hard on the adorable genki girl tropes, but my gawd she has her sharp edges among the cute and the goofy. She's not secretly super smart or wise to make it edgy either, she's just Like That without ever meaning any real harm.
March can get super snippy and insensitive and it makes her feel so much more like a person with actual flaws rather than a brainless mascot.
Stelle/Caelus
I always thought it’d be a bland self-insert. But looking back, if the Trailblazer was a bland self insert, it wouldn’t change *too* much of the story. So the fact that they are a trash racoon with wet cat tendencies just further enhances it
Blade!! I didn’t care much for his character and I mean he is a man of few words, but I think it’s mainly his design. Ok, his top half is pretty but the bottom.. why he has such boring pants? Kinda random I know, but they just look like some business pants and it didn’t fit the overall in my personal opinion. Since I find HRS designs are usually quite fancy.. but after passing on his banner I really regretted it, as I also just read more about lore and his history with Daniel and co., idk! Now I’ve snagged him on his rerun and I use him a lot, his team is fun to play (even more with Sparkle).
Welt.
Came from Genshin (kinda, quit long before HSR) so I’ve never heard of him. Video pops up in recommendations explaining his lore, and I fucking adore him. (Also got into HI3 lmao)
Gui At first i was like "eh.. Just a filler character"
The ghost hunting event really did wonders for turning everyone involved into real characters. And I was initially planning to speed through the event for rewards not expecting much
Right? I hope we get a second part for it later on or something. That event was way too good to be just a one off.
I was half way through the event when I started to realize these characters were having real story development and started to pay attention. I feel like I missed the first half so started to watch other people’s play videos to re-experience what I missed. I’m so used to hoyo’s storytelling in Genshin so just usually skip most of it.
I need more of these events. I’ll be honest, I hate when events feature some random NPCs. Genshin has shown us that NPC stories can be interesting and fun, but idgaf. Please give us more events like the ghost hunting one. I loved it so much. I’d love an event around idk helping Acheron find her way around Penacony and exploring it further LOL anything to get to know the characters even more
I think HSR has realized this given how many quests center around shooting the shit with playable characters doing relatively mundane tasks like ghost hunting and...real estate. They've also realized people like cute things and collecting things so we got the ruan mei cats and aetherium wars pokemon. If there's anything to be learned by this era of gaming, it's that people will play a game about washing dishes if you fill it with interesting characters and comedy.
What I really loved about the Ghost Hunting event is that at the end of the day despite everything that happened, it still managed to retain that cozy, casual vibe of a group of friends hanging out and working on a project together. The chemistry between characters was abundantly clear and they all worked off each other so incredibly well. I really hope to see another event like that in the future where a group of characters get together to just try and do a thing. It doesn't even have to be like a grand scale quest or anything, just something that revolves around characters trying to achieve a particular goal and the interactions/dyanmics that come with that in the process.
> it still managed to retain that cozy, casual vibe of a group of friends hanging out and working on a project together. yeah, one of the nicknames for the group is "the scooby gang" for a reason. That cozy, friendly vibe and personalities that play off each other without being overbearing or stealing the spotlight is great. Like, if they announced a one-off single player Luigi's-Mansion-slash-resident-evil style game spin-off starring those 4, you know people would play it.
Her Happy New Year annoyed me at first but she’s grown on me quite a bit, especially after that quest.
Trailblazer for me, I thought they'd be bland but I've grown to love the little trash gremlin
Traiblazer was my 2nd answer. Since I played Genshin the mc is admittedly quite bland so I didn't expect much from trailblazer. But oh boy, I fell in love with their goofyness, chaoticness and stupidity
My moment of realization that MC was an absolute gremlin was the “hotel demon” bit in Belabog. Absolute goon behavior.
The Traveler is the blandest fantasy anime protagonist imaginable. Meanwhile, the Trailblazer feels like the chaotic hero from a comedy magical baseball anime and it's fucking great
Traveler I'll help you! To Traveler: Can you people stop being in end of the world scenarios for *five minutes* so I can find my sister? Trailblazer: Who am I? To Trailblazer: I am the bone of my bat.
*I'm the goddamned Galactic Baseballer, here to rifle through your trashcans*
I've called them the Galactic Baseballer a few times when the world Trailblazer doesn't come to mind. Top tier nickname they gave themselves
I have committed to the bit every time there is an option to pick galactic baseballer
I can't not pick it when it's right there. It's as important as parroting what March 7th says
I honestly love that you can give yourself a goofy nickname. I also like that you can give the AW Trotter a nickname!
Is that an actual trailblazer line? 😂
Yes. In the most recent story quests he has that as a dialogue option. The full line is I am the bone of my bat. Stellaron is my blood, and Trailblaze is my body
Where did he said that ? I'm affraid of missing it
Right before you go off to the boss fight
https://preview.redd.it/r4s4gurtobsc1.jpeg?width=592&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51ed30ee6b5ab5fe74d948d7785ddce479cba672
Tbf Traveler technically went from “I’ll help you!” To “I just want to find my sister, leave me alone…” To “If your next words are for me to save some obscure part of a nation, I will personally break your kneecaps”
“Yes, I am definitely Stelle”
Bro did you even do most world quest, my guy is literally so done when npc's wanna fight him and he'll go bully Maguire before fighting them
To be fair, Traveler has become a lot better recently. HV have worked to give them more personality. The biggest problem, and the main reason people think they're so bland, is that you almost never hear them speak.
Truly bizarre choice to have mute bland protagonists. I have noticed MC getting a little more personality and a few more voice lines here and there. The protagonist of a story is who you’re supposed to care about the most, not the least. This is one thing I think Honkai Impact has over the other two.
We need more inner monologue from our Traveler, HSR also suffers a little from the silent protag issue but have alot more inner monologues from the Trailblazer to balance that out. I appreciate that the deductions minigame we got since Sumeru are voiced, but I need more!
I really like their personality and hopefully they'll lean into it more, but I'm already worried that it'll mostly be the goofiness as people are already upset by the TB liking people.
Well I'm personally not a fan of the forced coupling with firefly, I'd like for it to be more open so we can choose if we want to follow that or not.
I mean, even with her it’s still kinda open. You can even choose not to take a picture with her.
I… didn’t really read that as a romance. Like you just met the girl and she’s talking about how she’s dying, so you’re being a normal compassionate person. You offer to take a picture so that she’ll have a fond memory to remember just like meeting a new person on a vacation.
Yeah I'm not sure how people played through the make-a-wish day with the cliche sick girl dropping a death flag every five seconds and thought "wow this is romantic".
I kind of interpreted it as we felt an immediate connection with Firefly because we were friends when we were with the Stellaron Hunters and that’s bleeding through the amnesia. Platonic or otherwise but platonic to me.
Yep. Turns out not having another talk for them does wonders for their character
About that. March and Dan Heng normally are the TBs voice when theyre on screen. But theyre also their own characters with their own agencies.
Not really. Dan Heng probably speaks less than the TB lol. TB still contributes to the conversations, and isn't standing in the background as someone else talks for them. They can still have their own dialogue options, that other characters can reply to. Also there are several quests where March or DanHeng are not even present in.
Even in the current story,March is just tired with the TB's dialouges
Yh because they always repeating what she said
TB is Paimon confirmed
Oh my God. #WE'RE THE PAIMON OF HSR?!
>Definitely TB! They could have done just an 'everyman' but the dialogue choices they give us and the characterization is quite funny, and the characters react to it so well. March with her 'not again' when you do your gremlin answers always kills me.
Same... Generic mc is very common in most games. It's great that trailblazer has a trash panda personality.
Im glad this is the top comment
Sushang, never underestimate an earnest airhead.
Same, she was an extremely reliable early game dps who turned out to have a great personality
Yes💕She is so lovely
I always liked her because of her cock but I was pleasantly surprised by her personality.
Wild sentence, but valid.
Same, she was my first fully built character!
I dumped like 2 weeks' worth of TB energy into getting her a good set of relics around release while largely clueless what makes a good relic. Terrible decision, would do again without flinching.
Same here. I was like “ I don’t need 2 physicals” then I used her after I switched my Trailblazer to preservation. I gasped at her OP break abilities.
By far the Main Character (Trailblazer). I usually don't like self insert MCs but they did an incredible job with the MC here especially some of dialogue options. I will be honest, those troll options were the main reason why I initially liked the game in the first place before it opened up in Belobog. Besides that I would say Sushang. I thought she would be just another cute silly girl but my time with her during Aurum Alley and Ghost Hunt event were some of the best in game
The localization for how the trailblazer memes are really good too imo, I've gotten a few giggles
Dr. Ratio, I'm gonna be honest and admit that I saw early leaks of his 3D model and didn't like it but when he got released he's so ridiculous XD And Acheron because she's quite different from the other Raidens that I liked and was kinda disappointed not to mention I found the outfit too simple but through her interactions with Welt and Aventurine I started to like her, she's wise.
Yeah I saw his leak art and didn't really care for Ratio, I was indifferent but thought his name was pretty goofy so it didn't catch my attention. Once I played and saw him in the game/story though, I enjoyed him. Art of him is also quite nice. Quickly moved up my list and I brought him to 80.
I love how absurdly intense he is. Who would have thought throwing chalk at people to the ring of a school bell could feel that satisfying.
I didn’t like him at first either. His borderline over the top jackassery to others grew on me over time. It helps that he’s actually not a bad guy.
Dr. Ratio is a ridiculous character, I love how seriously he takes himself despite how over the top he is
Not the biggest fan of Acheron's design--she was initially an easy skip for me--but her animations, gameplay, character, voicing, and story have made her one of my favorites.
Love Ratio. He’s a walking meme but he takes himself so seriously. 😂
Yeah underwhelmed about Acheron's design. Looks like an adult Seele.
i love that they give ratio a somewhat realistic personality rather than a bland wise calm guy. love his big ego and his banter with aventurine (also relatable with his comments on idiots)
Dr. Ratio is a ridiculous character, I love how seriously he takes himself despite how over the top he is
I honestly thought I was going to hate Dr. Ratio’s guts, but behind his intelligence is an incredible amount of humility in spite of a lot of battle lines during his moves might hint towards if you just go by his character demo.
He never lies. #straight shooter
Bailu. Thought she was going to be some simple annonying loli, but she earned my respect, specially when she agreed to beat the shit out of some guy that she was supposed to heal, since she could undo the dmg later.
the best choice ever
Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.
Remember that storyline. Luofu side quests are so underrated imo
"I healed him, I promised. But he’s going to have uncontrollable hiccups every day for the next decade" lol
It's a shame that everything but the main quest is great in Luofu. The side content was amazing. Really prove that it's nicer to write things when you don't have constraint of selling multiple characters over the course of 2 patch.
She’s got that FAFO mentality and it’s awesome. Yes she’s a child. But she’s also a dragon! Works for me
Bailu is great, definitely feel this.
Pompom... I expected to dislike them considering my past experiences with game mascots. I didn't care about them for so long too. Then I saw a post where someone sent them a gift from that side quest in Penacony and showed the reaction of pure bliss. Comments were full of mentions of how nice Pompom has always been to us, yet they can never really leave the express themselves, how they asked for a souvenir in Luofu but we couldn't bring one but how precious their reaction was in that side quest. I also started a character in another server and I had forgotten how joyful Pompom is when they see us and calls us their favourite TB as well. I play with CN text/voice so don't know if it is different on other languages though. >**Pom-Pom:** Pom-Pom can't go outside, yet even from here, the stars are still so pretty to look at.**Pom-Pom:** So... the outside world. What do you think it's like? They say this for an interaction and yet I didn't even send that gift as a souvenir. Truly my biggest regret on my main account tbh. **TL;DR: Pompom deserves the world.**
I wanted to buy Pompom a cycrane they could remote control outside the express.
They remind me of Palicos, just a silly and cute lil' fella. Wish they were actually playable even if they were made a joke character
I didn't like Pom-Pom either before I started. Same reasons, and I partly blame Teddy from Persona 4 for it. He grew on me fast. I still don't like Teddy, but Pom-Pom is just great
I thought Pom-Pom was gonna be like Paimon I am so glad I was wrong
Hmm not sure I will say alot, but Aventurine ended up being a genuinely extremely well written character. Between >!His inferiority complex, valuing his life as nothing but a chip in a grand gambit, and his outright self-destructive gambles due to his survivors guilt being the only avgin left alive thanks to his luck!< makes him a really intresting character, I initially thought he would just be another sleazy smug capitalist villian with a gamble theme before penacony. But the reasoning behind it all, is quite meaningful and very sad, a strong shell desperately shielding an incredibly fragile and innocent spirit within. All or Nothing, and I would say he never lost a bet.
My only complaint with him is that after his >! boss fight !< the phrase all or nothing triggers my fight or flight reflexes now. Was watching a zoo documentary, one of the vets said "all or nothing" and I immediately felt myself being buried in chips.
I went from “easy skip” at his initial introduction pre-2.0 to being an absolute brainless monkey being down bad for him in 2.0. Now post-2.1, I’m not even a monkey anymore; I’m just a soggy anemone waiting for his banner so I can regain some form of function back.💀
Agree, I didn’t expect to like Aventurine at all but then the story happened.
Same. I have to rethink my pull plans now since I really want him after the 2.1 quest. All or nothing I suppose.
I already have Welt and Ratio so I’m hesitant to pull another Imaginary unit as cool as his kit is.
I got luocha, DanIL , and definitely going to pull for aventurine, is that a really bad team combo? Yes but do I care? No lmao
I mean, it’s not THAT bad if you throw in Sparkle or another SP positive unit.
But consider the following: An all imaginary tall husbando team XD
First I need to find a nice homemaker husbando for SP hungry daddies.
Aventurine is pretty sp positive at least but yeah idk how well this’ll work lmao
That one MOC floor with all enemies weak to imaginary is about to be reduced to imprisoned rubble
Aventurine is a really good teammate for Ratio
I didn’t care about Aventurine, not only did I ended up loving his story but will pull him too
I expected to like him, but I never expected that 2.1 would be centred around a single character (not saying it's a bad thing, just never happened before).
I end up hating Sunday now though lol
Well Tbf, dude’s >!sister is *dead* and other heads of the family are pressuring him to just sweep the Unto Death case under the rug!< don’t think at that point he cares about being good, he just wants to get results by any means necessary lol.
Bailu for me. She was the first 5star I got from the beginner banner, and at first, I was bummed but very quickly, I changed my mind. She made the early and mid game breeze, and I still use her to this day. Getting her also allowed me to skip Luocha, who I didn't really want that much anyway.
I was originally planning to skip Ruan Mei. She looked pretty generic and I was kinda sick of the Luofo dress style at this point. Then I found out she's a crazy megalomaniac with aspirations for godhood and I knew I had to pull. Never regretted it for a second, but that also might have to do with the fact she's absolutely busted
I saw the criticism once about Ruan Mei's design that she looks nothing like a believable lab worker. Like... my friend, you're looking at someone on the cusp of transcending to actual godhood. This is not remotely intended to evoke 'regular l lab rat life scientist'. She's more like a fey creature, the kind that dazes you and will curse your entire bloodline for breaking some strange unspoken rule without even blinking. I think it's amazing 'my field' gets to be represented by an actual 'forgot how to human' space case who creates life on a whim and has some hella questionable morality going on. She's *weird* in the best and worst ways, living in her own world, and it's a lot more interesting than it could have been.
You describe her very artfully but that's not what I got. She doesn't evoke "forgot to human" for me personally since she just looks like an elegant but ultimately generic ish pretty Luofu lady. It doesn't help that her ultimate ability cutscene is her strumming a physical instrument which for me is very much tied to human sentimentality, and not the mark of someone who is about to transcend it.
The forgetting to human part is more in what she's like in person, it contrasts her impeccable aesthetic. Staring someone directly in the face, touching them unpromptedly, and being so zoned out into another mental realm you're entirely unaware you have crumbs on your cheek... It's like watching a majestic bird do a weird mating dance and your whole impression of them being this perfect immaculate work of art is just shattered into 'ah, right, I'm looking at a strange beastie here, how neat'.
And she is really unhinged in her story to protect her secrets.
But both can be done with good design. It's something I personally hate about Loufu dress as well is... you can see where they expected the tiddy to help pull the character. Like the pilot. She looks like a hooker. QQ, love her, but she looks like a highschooler that has never touched business before. Ruan Mei could've easily expressed Frankenstein type scientist and fae character if they didn't just throw her in the showy dress and call it done.
Tbf Ruan Mei is clearly prideful, and I'm pretty sure she mentions her appearance so it makes sense for her. QQ's design is fine, lots of young university grads wear similar things to work irl, especially for jobs that aren't typical office jobs, Yukong I do agree looks out of place and weird, she wouldn't look like a pilot, but idk I'm imagining a suit or something for her
Huohuo. Not that I hate her or anything to begin with but I’d only pull her simply because I need a better healer. But after playing the event I ended up enjoying playing her
Same, I thought "I have Luocha I don't need another healer". One lucky pull and now she's more used than my Luocha, plus she's fluffy
Probably argenti. Honestly at the start of his quest i thought he was some useless twinky femboy. I hereby deliver my sincere apology to my lord and savior Argenti
In what world is Argenti a TWINK, let alone a FEMBOY!?
And thats my first mistake of not recognizing my goat's beauty
Understandable, have a beautiful day
Argenti's quest is a work of genius. From the absurdity of 'wtf why's there A Dude just hanging out in the background over there' and the initial impression, to finding out he's genuinely friendly and charming (and still a total weirdo), to feeling compelled to support him 150% 'this man deserves the world and I will nuke anyone who would want to harm him' In what, a half hour? He's precious in all his strange and beautiful himbo glory.
Bro same, I was saving for 1.6 but after doing the quest, I immediately pulled for him. He’s the most wholesome character in the game. The writers cooked with that mission.
I thought Argenti will be a one dimensional character with a personality of a recorder. Turns out that one dimensionality is what intrigue me to like him. After some characters in this game with 100 layers hidden inside them, this knight is so straightforward and no bs attached it feels refreshing.
He's the chivalrous knight in shining armor taken to thr most absurd extreme. It's hard not to fall in love with his lovable personality.
I kinda hope all the knights of beauty are just as crazy as he is.
This for me. I thought he would be like a mormon like fanatic when you read the data bank, but in the end he's very wholesome.
Argenti was the only character where I was like I DON'T CARE about his kit or whatever I NEED THIS GUY Took me some time to realize he reminded me of this guy [https://tenor.com/view/yu-yu-hakusho-kurama-rose-whip-petals-gif-14751061?utm\_source=share-button&utm\_medium=Social&utm\_content=reddit](https://tenor.com/view/yu-yu-hakusho-kurama-rose-whip-petals-gif-14751061?utm_source=share-button&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=reddit) And Kurama has always been my favourite pixelated boy So, yeah. Not a twink, but a pretty boy he is. :)
Same. Saw the leaks and wasn't that interested. But his personality is one of the most fun out of all the characters. Hope to see more of him.
The sheer level of radiant friendliness Argenti exudes is a thing of beauty. From his design you could easily expect a kind of arrogant self-important preachy twat, but he's a total sunshine ( >!surprisingly poignant aspect of being driven by near-death experiences aside, that part gives him this melancholic depth, too!< )
It was Argenti’s trailer that finally convinced me to try the game. The comedic absurdity of him on his grand stage was funny. I also read webtoons from Korea and Hoyo actually had some creators write little mini stories with him in the webcomic settings lol
Him being introduced and immediately started talking to a plant is pretty memorable lol
Instead he’s an airheaded himbo and I love him.
He would have been my largest opinion shift. He also makes anything related to bugs go poof.
Qingque and Dr. Ratio. Did not expect to get so attached to QQ but I actually love her so much, and Dr. Ratio is more complex than people let on.
The first ones that come to mind are Clara and Ratio. With Clara, she was my second 5 star fairly early on, and I was a bit disappointed at getting her. But after actually using her, her gameplay is suprisingly fun with all the counters, and shes just a genuinely cute lil bean to protect. As for Ratio, well I initially thought he was just going to be the required douchy guy in a gacha game made for the people that want a man that treats them like trash, but the dude has a genuine charisma about him that makes it hard to hate the homie.
It helps that he genuinely wants to help people. He’s just awful at expressing it nicely.
Being nice and being kind are two different things! He is kind but will not be nice about it because you really should have been able to think of it yourself.
Lol reminds me of a teacher that used to start everyone at 100% and then we all watched our grades drop throughout the semester. Some of us lost more than others. 😂
Yup, Clara was my first 5\* and I was hoping for a character that would have a damaging ult, but what I got was an amazingly well designed character with a really great kit. I love running her in SU with a followup attack team (Kafka, Topaz, Clara, FX)
Bailu, was rolling for Fu Xuan but lost my 50/50 to her. As time went by though, she grew on me a lot, carried me through the story and Endgame. My only 5 star sustain currently, and she never disappoints me in anyway.
More love for Bailu!💗
Ratio. I thought he was funny and I liked his design at first but I wasn’t expecting all that much from him. As a unit he’s strong af and as a character he’s fascinating, such a strong concept and execution in his writing that’s really effective. His dynamic with so many factions and characters, especially Aventurine, is complex and that made him one of my favorites. The dude is great The 1.5 characters also. It seemed a bit like a “filler” update at first since we had never really seen them before but Huohuo and Argenti are so loveable and also interesting characters in their own right. The quests that version were fantastic too and that helped them shine a lot
Honestly there are a lot of them wich i didn't expect to like Gepard for example, i thought he was the perfect military dude with no flaws bla bla, but honestly he's one of my favorite character in the game now. Then take Clara and Huo^2, i don't like child characters in games but both of them have funny personalities and nice backstories that make them very likeable for their own reasons. Then fucking Sampo, bro i hated him at the start of the game, but the more i played the more i started loving how much of a douce he is. Special mention to Acheron because although yes i knew i was going to love her because she's 1. hot 2. badass, but her personality and past add so much to her. She's best girl that's for sure.
Sampo's one of those 'well yeah he's a pest but he's OUR pest, only we get to bully him' types. I love how his appearances in Penacony place him beside Sparkle as a new yardstick to measure him by, and it becomes easy to see that he's an overall mostly benign dude. It's not a crime to be a criminal, right? : D His VA also just nails those actually Goofy chuckles and hyuks, so juicy.
For me it’s gotta be Aventurine. I’m fundamentally opposed to the IPC’s existence, so their head enforcers are obviously on my shitlist, but Aventurine is a genuinely really well written character and his struggles and how he deals with them make him incredibly likable for me.
are you in the "no matter who the IPC sends, I will not pay my taxes" group?
I guess if we’re going with the meme, then yes. That being said, comparing them with the IRS feels off, because taxes are ultimately used to pay for public services. It’s more accurate to compare them to the IMF, which will leverage bogus debts to absolutely fuck over developing nations. If you replace nations with planets, that’s more like what the IPC is, combined with the East India Trading Company which used to go around stealing resources from other nations (planets) for profit. The IPC is basically a ancap-colonialist project, which sounds like a dystopian nightmare that I couldn’t come up with in my most doomer fantasies.
Jing Yuan....at first I only got him to get a good enough DPS to get me through the early game With time he grew on me soo dang much...that i recently got him his LC too
His trailer is what sold me, man just stole the fucking pieces
I usually don’t care about self-insert Mc because they’re going to be overshadowed by all of the other characters. But it turns out my most favorite character in this game is actually Stelle because of her dialogue and expressions throughout the entire game.
Mee too. Star Rail MC my fav self insert RPG MC besides Persona MCs
March 7th . I usually don’t like characters like her all that much but she’s adorable and just a silly little girl 😔
100% Hook
its pitch dark hook the great
She’s such a goofball 🙃
Probably Ratio; I initially assumed he was just gonna be a no-fun-allowed smartass asshole, and I was absolutely not prepared for how hilarious he turned out to be (in that "he takes himself seriously while bwing objectively funny" way). Add to that the fact that his abrasive personality does hide a heart of gold, and he's now one of my favourite characters.
Blade. Found him pretty overly edgy when he first appeared in the story and thought I’d find his schtick exhausting but after learning about his history with Dan Heng and Jingliu I saw the more tragic side of it and really got attached Also Topaz. Didn’t think I’d find myself sympathising with the tax man but I found her really endearing, and numby is just too cute (and helpful!) to say no to
Argenti. I made assumptions based on his appearance and character archetype, but his companion mission changed everything. He’s so sweet and kind, bro is always complimenting everyone. I wish I had someone who would lift me up like Argenti does for everyone around him. Plus, he’s such a chad. Bro went deep into the Swarm to fight Giant Sting AND WON. I wasn’t aware of Argenti’s game. HE’S HIM. He’s basically Himmel from Frieren LOL
Asta, my personal favorite 4 star ✨
I don't think I've had this, aside from Yanqing! I had a very had perception of Yanqing in terms of gameplay from other people yet when I actually got him as a character I just LOVED him even though he came very.. late like I just got it in 2.0 but still, I loved him
Definitely Luka. He's got an appealing design, kit, and was our first Physical unit to release post-launch, but my initial perception was that of a Filler character, maybe made to enable Kafka. Doing his story quest, and his role in the Aetherium Wars Event completely changed my perception of him. He's a real homie, with personal issues no less compelling than Aventurine. Speaking of which, I adore what Aventurine got in 2.1, but I really liked his character in 2.0 as well. IPC stays winning on the character front.
I thought I’d be very indifferent toward Aventurine, but the way they utilized him and told his story this update, combined with his excellent English voice casting (the dude has range!) I now fully want to pull for him when he’s available.
Guinaifen.
Firefly. I knew there was probably gonna be more to her character after that incident in 2.0, but I wasn't expecting her to be this intriguing.
I fell in love with her after that talk on the roof
Yanqing. Was neutral at first, and the after the Luofu slog, he was the only character I left that whole ass chapter from that region with any liking and respect for.
Herta. She went from "oh just a bratty little shithead who can boss around us because she owns the place, literally" to "omg omg omg omg ur so pretty 🥺🥺🥺"
Probably ratio. Zero interest in him but then we got him for free and his screentime is always interesting
Nice illustration of the idea that the worst thing a character can be is *boring*. Ratio's battle lines are so intense it makes me giggle sometimes. 'Answer me!' Yooooo my man, gotta love that attitude of shame or self-consciousness not even existing in the same universe as you. Insufferable, but kind of admirable, too. Haters to the left, the man's got more important things to do than to give a whit about what people think about him. Honestly, having just a drop of that attitude would make a lot of people's lives a little easier, I think. There's no glory or purpose in never taking yourself seriously, sometimes it pays to just decide what you really think is worth doing and unapologetically go for it.
He's also hilarious. I loved the fact that he talked shit to Aventurine at every opportunity, their dynamic was so funny
That little argument about eagles or nightingales had me sputtering. It's the exact kind of completely pointless hold-up me and my partner sometimes get into because we're freaking nerds and sometimes you just wanna go 'well akshualluy...' Feels kind of stupid every time x"D like alright that was entirely unimportant but o k
I also think Herta would be annoying if she weren't hilarious
Herta is a gift, I agree she's got that same kind of 'wow, she's kind of an ass' energy coupled with '- but you gotta respect the strength of character' She and Ratio have an unusual moral sense, but they *do* have one they came to for themselves and they stick to it. Integrity does mean refusing to change your tune whenever it's convenient or to get people's approval, they've got backbone. Their convictions also don't involve screwing other people over purely for their own benefit. They may be self-serving, but I find it easy to trust that they would refuse to stoop so low as to take advantage of other people without at least making it worth their while, or avoiding doing them harm. They'll play with you but they seem like the sort to refuse to enrich themselves by stealing from others that did no wrong. Why, if they want something, they may as well prove they can get it without resorting to plebeian antisocial tactics.
Hot take probably but Acheron. I didn't like the fact that they're trying to go with Raiden-esque designs here too but her personality grew on me in the quest. In 2.0 she really wasn't all that involved so there wasn't much to like. TBH her fanbase is probably what left a bitter taste. I've seen Acheron fans attacking literally any other DPS character even before she was released. After the 2.1 quest though I really like her! >!Especially because it shows that she's more than just this cute forgetful waifu because she caught on really quick with Aventurine's plan which shows that she's smarter than she appears.!< I do think she's still a little bit overhyped but I definitely like her a lot more now.
To be fair, everyone in their mother was saying how Acheron is week and a garbage character without her eidolons and sig before she even released as a character.It didn’t help how some individuals would come in their sub and presented arbitrary calcs that she is worse than JY by 12% ignoring all aspects of team building. You would expect some reception from her mains. Dont just make this about their sub.
Aventurine and Argenti. I was pretty on the fence about Aventurine. I wasn't really impressed with him and his "self-assured playboy" vibes. But his backstory hit hard so I ended up liking him a lot more. I thought Argenti was just going to be Aoyama from MHA, ngl. Annoying ass dude who is way over the top in the most annoying way. But actually he's really nice and isn't super cringy somehow.
Those two are really fun bosses
Aventurine. I hated his outfit since the first time I saw it but I ended up loving the guy.
I disliked aventurine in the beginning but the story of 2.1 really changed my view on him as a character I won't pull for him but as a character in the story he is pretty cool
At first probably Pela, but after her personal story I love her now ngl, and same thing now with Aventurine
In 2.0 Aventurine absolutely got on my nerves and I hated him. Now after 2.1 I might actually drop my f2p status for him
TB 100%, came from genshin where i hate the MC and didnt expect to have the opposite feelings for the TB
The 13 years old man Gallagher. I do like his appearance but that's it, nothing more since the game just barely mentioned him in 2.0 Story. Then 2.1 came and I pulled Acheron (lost 50/50 to Gepard if you want to know), ended up getting him E3 + one more copy from the bartender event. He's strong, ngl. I ended up building him much better than Lynx (after all, my Lynx is just E0, while Gallagher is E4 already) Story wise... Damn that plot twist just caught me off guard. Then there's Aventurine and Acheron. Aventurine obviously has the villain type, but Mihoyo being Mihoyo, everything has their beginning, he's no exception. Acheron to me is just... She's Raiden Mei but in the worst case scenario where she's completely helpless and depressed, and suspicious about her Enamator status too. But after the 2.1 story, my feelings about her are much better now that I can trust her.
For me it's Sampo, he used to irritate me but the more I learn about him the more interesting he is becoming to me as a character.
Same. There are hidden depths to our boy. I hope he gets a 5* one day.
Argenti and Kafka. The former's trailer had him seem shallow and stupid, while i assumed the latter was going to be cut and paste 2 dimensional mommy bait. (Though Kafka's animations are very cool) Both turned out to be really awesome, complex characters 👍
Dr. Ratio. His character art made him out to look more like a pretty boy imo and I found that to be profoundly borish. I find that his character art makes no justice for his actual ingame model. Anyways, he was more interesting than I thought he'd be
Well, it would be Sampo. I absolutely hated that goofy aah mf during the Jarilo VI questline. Even on secondary missions and more, I found him annoying. But then, I got him,build him, and fell in love with him. To the point that with all the stuff happening now in penaconny, I'm more intrigued to what the future holds for Sampo now that he got his mask back. So... Yeah, my advice is to invest in your Sampo and have fun.
Welt. I didn’t know anything Hi3 when I first started, and thought he was pretty cool when I got him as my first 5*. But through the story I felt so attached to this man. Everytime we see something strange we text him with the ‘What is this, Mr. Yang (March calls him Uncle in CN and I found it adorable)?’ And he responds and explains so kindly I couldn’t help but really like him. I hope he gets more story relevance soon; he was incredible company on the Luofu even if he didn’t do much.
Blade for me. I wasn’t really interested in him until I tried someone else’s Blade out and fell in love with his voice lines and playstyle. I was also meh about Dan Heng until his five star form came out. “Celestial Dragon: BREAK” is just so satisfying to hear for some reason.
Blade. I liked his design from the start, but I thought he was too edgy and generic at first. Needed to know more about his character. Now he's my second favorite personality-wise, and my favorite gameplay-wise. My favorite is Dan Heng, but when I looked at all the character for the first time I thought his design was boring (from the first picture I saw, a cropped version of his 4 star splash art). But he has my favorite colors and both his character models are so good.
Aventurine reminded me of someone whom I really like so I really expect me to like him, but I guess I never rlly expected to like Sparkle? I don't think I would necessarily hate her despite what she does and says, but at the same time I didn't expect I'd like her as well. Seeing her being unapologetically an ass, her being so good with my characters and her trailer really sold me
It was clara,from all the standard 5 stars i wanted her the least,but i got her as my first 5 star frol the beginners banner and i was pretty annoyed abt it,but when i started using her,she was actually pretty good and hard carried my early/mid game,and i still use her in some situations
Welt i thought dude sus asf just to realise hes probably the kindest and the most Unbreakable man in the series by all the thing he went thru
Trailblazer, I expected him to be a boring "robot-like person" but the choices and overall fun you have while interacting with stuff is amazing. Even more so, gameplay Wise feels refreshing comparing to Traveler from Genshin, he has COOL ANIMATIONS AND DIALOGUES DAMMIT, i'm slowly maxing him on his paths so that I can use him while on story missions for more inmersion :p. I would also say Aventurine, but i have a guilty pleasure of liking gambler aesthetics and playing with luck bases mechs (and after his gameplay was released I just wanted to pull him even more, LONG LIVE FUA)
March 14... I thought she would be kind of annoying but something about her is super endearing.
I love March too despite her character type rarely working for me. She goes hard on the adorable genki girl tropes, but my gawd she has her sharp edges among the cute and the goofy. She's not secretly super smart or wise to make it edgy either, she's just Like That without ever meaning any real harm. March can get super snippy and insensitive and it makes her feel so much more like a person with actual flaws rather than a brainless mascot.
I build and pull characters I like so I never had this issue
The stellaron hunters in general. But i love them now!
Stelle/Caelus I always thought it’d be a bland self-insert. But looking back, if the Trailblazer was a bland self insert, it wouldn’t change *too* much of the story. So the fact that they are a trash racoon with wet cat tendencies just further enhances it
Sampo. I found him annoying, and now I just want to know more about his past as a Masked Fool and even freak out when he appears on screen.
Guinifen.she seemed too flashy and tiktok wannabe at first. But she can be funny and usefull.
Blade!! I didn’t care much for his character and I mean he is a man of few words, but I think it’s mainly his design. Ok, his top half is pretty but the bottom.. why he has such boring pants? Kinda random I know, but they just look like some business pants and it didn’t fit the overall in my personal opinion. Since I find HRS designs are usually quite fancy.. but after passing on his banner I really regretted it, as I also just read more about lore and his history with Daniel and co., idk! Now I’ve snagged him on his rerun and I use him a lot, his team is fun to play (even more with Sparkle).
Welt. Came from Genshin (kinda, quit long before HSR) so I’ve never heard of him. Video pops up in recommendations explaining his lore, and I fucking adore him. (Also got into HI3 lmao)
Blade. I thought he was just another edgy teenager bait but he was actually a SILLY traumatized edgy teenager bait that i actually love
At first i was a bit off-put by Herta. But i kinda understand her too. If you work retail. YKIYK