@puppetmasterpro3421
I also hate it how they kinda made the events so dependent on ''nightsoul state'' or ''nightsoul burst'' which makes the game feel pretty much like pay to win. they of course also dabbled into that kind of thing with fontaine with the pneuma and ousia mechanics, but it was still very possible to 100% something without fontaine characters, the pneuma or ousia were just fun bonuses. this is not the case for natlan and the extreme buffing of ''nightsoul'' things such as in exploration, spiral abyss, the theatre or even recent events. this greedy pay to win design really sucks the fun out of the game, because instead of trying to gain your interest for new units by making them innovative or special, they just put a paywall in the design of the enemies and overworld, making old characters bad on purpose so you feel forced to pull for the ''shiny new natlan units''. hope the same team that worked on natlan doesnt work on snezhnaya.
@kian-ganji
The thing is.... natlan is all over the place Fontaine had a clear aesthetic focused around noble french attire (Neuvillette,furina,navia or Emily) and steam punk mechanics (wriothesly, cheverus, navia again or clorinde ) Sumeru was clearly focused around stylized Persian clothing in the rainforest region and stylized Arabic/Egyptian clothing for the desert region Inazuma was just straight up traditional Japanese kimonos, armors and similar attires The exact same with liyue And finally.... 99% of monstadt characters have a centralized dress code around either the knights of favoniuse or the church of favoniuse with some small outliers like venti himself (who has an unrealted bard outfit) or diluc while they still perfectly fit the medieval/magical fantasy vibe that monstadt has going for it
@bellyum
I think my disconnect is that all the natlan characters look urban and modern with like jeans and leather and booty shorts when the region is like tribes and dinosaurs, its just a weird juxtaposition that doesn't make sense. Like if the archon has a motorcycle why aren't the cities like futuristic like wakanda or something.
@onlineresident2174
I hate people who defend natlan by saying 'ruinguards' 'giant mech in sumeru' If you used your brain for a moment and think about their lore you would realize they weren't created by one person and their concept didn't come from a 'dream'. Xilonen made two advanced techs, one from mavuika's dream and the other just as a passion project and decided not to do it again. And she did it all by herself and no one comments on it ever again. That is the whole lore behind a machinary too advanced for their nation.
@ubelmensch
Another thing about Fontaine vs Natlan is how "distinct" their respective characters. Navia has a shotgun, but Chevreuse has a rifle, the bots have machine guns. Chiori is from Inazuma, and her attire represent that while also retaining Fontainian aesthetics. What makes Fontaine's characters distinct is not exclusive to them, yet they still feel unique. Fontaine has a clear theme of steampunk, retrofuturism, art deco, French and American aesthetics, there's no need to spell it for you. On the other hand, Natlan is a pastiche. African, Wakanda, texmex, wild west, bronx street-gang graffitti ms-13 culture blend all in one. And they spend several dialogues to make sure you know how much they love breakdancing and rap/hiphop. There's only ONE character with something resembling a handgun, ONE object like a dj board in the entire map, only ONE motorized vehicle. Natlan it's everything and nothing. There are positive points, a few aesthetic aspects that were very well realized: Citlali, Mualani, Ororon, they blend in and stand out at the same time. Ochkanatlan and Citlali's tribe were very good areas too.
@MrBigBazinga
Instead of having futuristic mounts (the motorcycle, rollerblades, giant flying gun) the characters should have rode on unique saurians (similar to Mualani) that would’ve been much more fitting
@MrBigBazinga
Imagine if only Fontaine characters could use Marecheusse Hunter artifact set, swim underwater in exploration, and you couldn’t charge Furina’s burst without using Fontaine characters on the team That’s what Natlan feels like and that’s what people mean by saying “Natlan is restrictive”
@alexoceanmeow
Natlan feels like a theme park, tourist attraction. Not a nation with actual problems. The layout of the nation's tribes plus the arena just don't feel like a nation-nation. Just imo, Natlan is a theme park. Also great points on how uncanny valley they look in regards to the units vs their nation/npcs. I think that's exactly why I hate most of the Natlan units. They do not belong in their nation.
@Saedris
Mulani has the best design out of natlan so far imo, she fits the area, element and personality perfectly
@winner23746
Iansan looks most like a natlan character than the other imo which makes sense since she was the first designed natlan character and even then they changed some aspects of her compared to the travail trailsr
@marqkc
I actually don't mind the modernity of Natlan, what I dislike is how poorly implemented it was. Since the region was "conveniently locked out of the rest of Teyvat" (despite some NPCs traveling there), we never got to hear about this tech. Fontaine's gadgets were talked about way back in 2.X, I remember the toy making event alluding to Fontaine's "energy system" (which turned out to be Pneumousia). Xianyun is an inventor, we saw her drafts in a web event and we have been directly involved in the testing of her gadgets for years. Raiden made two entire sentient puppets using Khaenri'ah's technology and they are both pivotal in her character development. Kaveh has Mehrak, a futuristic relic from Deshret's civilization which makes sense because ASIMON + the mini Doritos are intelligent ruin-defending machines. We learnt how Ruin Guards were mass produced by Khaenri'ah, which was a nation full of innovation on both a technological front and on the "magical" aspect. It just seems so silly that the best explanation we get in Natlan is "Oh yeah, we just got these from the dragons and Xilonen recreated them". Not once have we ever seen these "technological ruins" the same way they were displayed in Sumeru's desert underground, or how Enkanomiya's artificial sun was a crucial aspect of the exploration mechanics. I just don't like it, and it feels lazy and done half-heartedly. The other regions clearly had more foresight as to how the ancient civilizations were going to play into modern-day aspects.
@cubyology
i just think its hilarious how xianyun's only noteworthy invention as an adeptal being who served by rex lapis' side for millenia is a scooter she used to race another adeptus BUT xilonen, a mere mortal, has forged: an ancient name for a descender, a flying swimming climbing motorbike for the archon, a giant flying gun for chasca and a portable dj set for herself because "phlogiston"
@Danny-mp8dq
I'm Mexican and I absolutely loved Natlan. I loved the music. The food. The environment. The vibe. I just didn't like the playable characters Tribal inspired region, but characters are running around with motorcycles, flying bikes, guns, surf boards and Mega Man Mega blasters?
@caphius6095
I think OBJECTIVELY Natlan's designs for characters and their tribes were FAR from what we all expected from the "Nation of War' But SUBJECTIVELY, yes, I don't really like the designs given what I anticipated from the famed Nation of War with what we had heard about it. I also agree that the characters designs DO all seem cohesive to me, but in the way that they are all just ready to have a big ol' party. Xilonen is DJing, Mualani is surfing, Kinich is swingin from the ceiling having the time of his life, Mavuika revving her bike and getting all the babes, while Citlali slept in and missed the party on her pillows. They definitely fit each others vibes but it is the Nation of Partying, not the Nation of War T_T Natlan really does just feel like a modern nation with all that it has. A DJ, a surfer, a biker, a lifestyle coach soon, It just feels like something you'd see in a modern game, or even Honkai, not Genshin.
@zillo1600
Something i see since the natlan release too: the shipping and fanart site of the community is pretty quiet too which is usually a pretty big part of every release. To be fair that could be my personal bubble but i think there is not much talk about ships or cute fan arts. I don't see big analyses on characters and their motivation or their interactions between each other romantic or platonic. That is just a me thing but i don't think most of the Natlan character are really that interesting and complex which could be because of the fast pace of the archon quest and that we really didn't see much of them in times of peace. they are not horribly written but i don't have a big opinion on most of them. Most of them are just there for me.
@hbtempest9854
Natlan really didn't hit with me. The modern elements feel very out of place. Exploration has a lot of cliffs, huge gaps, unclimbable phlogiston, etc, that makes it feel like a huge hassle. The solution to it, is to use saurians or get the new five stars. Either way, it doesn't let me explore the map with the characters I want to use, which feels very bad. I've played since the very first day of the game, this is the first time I have not felt compelled to explore a new area.
@BoitataFHD
I think you nailed in that thing: They stand out in comparison with the REST of region. I didnt get it why, everything is their culture is centered around the conection between natlanese and their saurian companions, but NOT A SINGLE playable character has a saurian companion (Kinich didnt either, because Ajaw is not a saurian, he is an entity from the past). I mean, you sold me this idea that natlan is a land of dragons, and this dragons are living with the people, so why the playable characters dont have them? Chasca could easyly ride her sister ququsaur, and shoot with a regular rifle. Mavuika's bike could be from the past. They could have said, "You know, 500 years ago Natlan was more modern and advance. Natlanese youth love to ride on this things. But the cataclysm hit so hard in Natlan, that all people who could build those things died, and the survivors where busy rebuilding what left from Natlan. And before put herself in the time travel, Mavuika could had stored her bike in the sacred chamber, so when she woke up, find someone who she could teach how to fix it. All they had to do was integrate the characters to the region. But they failed. Chasca is the worst to me, because all her story quest is about her people finding a mechanical way to fly, insteed rely only on the saurian companions. And that is a big taboo in the tribe... But the fucking "star" of the tribe is doing that already! Chasca is riding a flotting gun... why back packs would cause such a fuz?
@Cyrus-137
For a war nation, it looks like a holiday trip to Hawaii. I was expecting Elden Ring aesthetic
@Alckee
Slow map expansion, filler patches, power creep, character design, boring artifacts, (even with the upcoming sets), poor “a nation in constant war” adaption especially 15 minutes of balloon gameplay, politics (people need to reminded that “Teyvat has its own laws.” Compared to Fontaine Nathan has been disappointing in every regard.
@JelloImpact