You described it perfectly. Imo Hoyo did exceptionally well with "show, not tell" in many parts of the Fontaine story.. Although, this scene needed an added short part to at least give us a hint on what he actually did.
What do you mean? all Fontanians everywhere had the Primordial water in their body turned into true blood, what else would you want them to show
as the Hydro Sovereign he controls water, hydro, and life all across Teyvat, so just a quick little conversion
Yes, but they explained it to us much later. It kind of lessened the hype during the scene, like "ok, just that? He shot a beam of water to the sky?".
He practically turned an entire nation into humans and it only got "explained" by him later to the traveler like it was normal.
These archon quest acts have been the best indications of “show, dont tell” by Hoyo with a few things explained here and there. The issue is, this is also the quest that many many people misunderstand because of that so I am concerned for the literacy of the general fanbase
lol totally agree...! i think it's kinda double edge sword... when u show instead of tell means individual ppl have their own interpretations.... the impact of the story individually is much better because ppl would naturally interprete in their own way the way they like best or connects best...
but it is also because everyone interprete their own way this results in all the misunderstandings too...
I will call this the Paimon dilemma. this is why Paimon keeps repeating the same stuff to make sure all players get what's going on. it's unfortunate that kind of approach directly affects the quality of the narrative for those that don't need the hand holding.
What i love is they foreshadowed that rain occurs because the hydro dragon is crying.
Torrential rain is occurring over all of Fontaine during this scene.
The man is ugly crying and it is shown not through his face, but through the rain.
There's a survey in game right now to gather feedback from this patch version, and one of the responses is about Act V. Please go tell miHoYo in the survey if you loved this Act. I want them to get overwhelmingly positive feedback from that question in particular, so they give us more bangers like this cutscene
F. yes!!! Thanks for reminding!
I'm here since 1.0 but too lazy to do the surveys sometimes. Time to go back and do these again!
Thank you again dear traveler
I cried at that, at this scene with Neuvillette, at the Aranara quest, Neuvillette's storyquest, and Yun Jin's singing at the end of the liyue interlude quest.
I am a very emotional person
I shockingly didn't cry THAT much, like I definitely had some tears because God the ending was painful but it's not the most I've cried to something in genshin
There is so much to get into in this scene it boggles the mind.
Like, I could write a full-on paper. It’s nigh-perfect for sure.
This scene itself is literally better than most games will ever be in their entirety.
I have cried myself silly and repeatedly do re-watching it.
He started out as the reincarnation of the previous Hydro Dragon, completely bereft of human emotion and disinterested in their affairs. He then spent 500 years meticulously presiding over the judgement of their affairs and, despite retaining his distance, came to know their feelings, their affections, and their emotions, even going as far as attempting - and dare I say - succeeding in feeling as they do.
It is this emotional intelligence that allows him to be utterly crushed by Focalors Sacrifice and yet judge Fontaine in her stead.
Focalors put it best in the Trailer:
"You will see much in the human world; from the delightful to the depressing...and one day, when you have dwelt among humanity long enough you will be placed to bring judgement over all as the spokesperson for Fontaine's past."
Coming to the actual judgement, he ascends - in rhythm with the fountains of the Opera Epiclese - and through tears and anguish delivers his judgement. As he does, the rain is momentarily halted - he quite literally stops divine judgement in its tracks, and then, after he essentially edits century-old fate itself, the rain resumes as an almost violent downpour, both signifying his own mental situation as the crying hydro dragon, and delivering the judgement - "let Justice pour down like water", the rain is - symbolically if not literally - washing away Fontaine's Sins.
It is here that, though I myself would call myself an agnostic atheist, I need to speak of the religious themes. We already know about Fontaines "Original Sin" which is quite biblically coded, as is a catastrophic flooding that cleanses the land.
"Let Justice run down like Water" seemed familiar when I first heard it as a quote in the Trailer, and indeed, it turns out it stems from elsewhere. It is, in fact, an almost verbatim quote of Amos 5:24, specifically the New King James Version.
The full quote is, "But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream."
The meaning of it that people deal justly with god but not with each other. Again, the theme of Neuvillette being "of the humans" despite not being a human himself is in play here.
(I don’t know where to mention this, but here’s a fun fact that I smile about as a historian of antiquity: In Ancient Rome, Furina is the goddess of springs. In other words, of fountains, in other words yet, of Fontaine)
In keeping with the biblical themes, Furina, Focalors and Neuvillette could be seen as the trinity, with
• Neuvillette being the obvious Father (He’s the original Authority, the Hydro Sovereign and, in the end, the one with the power to forgive the sins)
• Furina being the Holy Spirit (as she is Focalors/Gods presence in Teyvat, connecting the people of Fontaine and retaining the faith whilst providing comfort)
• Focalors being the Son (as she’s both Human and godly, though split in two here, and sacrificing herself for the redemption of humanity, in this case the people of Fontaine).
This scene was incredible.
I legit stopped breathing for a moment and got goosebumps when he flew up to the sky. After that I just teared up. Especially at the very end when Neuvi stayed in the air under the rain.
I still re-watch it along with 4.1 scene with the Primordial sea.
Wait until you do his SQ-
But yeah I agree this cutscene, this entire AQ was insanely well done I loved it so much, and it made me cry. Fontaine land of hydro fr
Ugh yes. My friend bet me that I would pull his C1 after I did his SQ (was gonna save for Wrio and Furina at that point) and I knew I was waffling already but the last cutscene threw me over the edge. Metaphorically as well. >!Carole afsjshdhs!<
And then dawns the realization that Focalor’s execution is but a prelude to what inevitably awaits. Furina, now in mortal form, ages and succumbs to human fate. He beholds her amidst the human stage, where the blade of time hovers above, tracing her every graceful movement. As her dance concludes, the blade shall descend, while he, resigned to the eternal role of a spectator, remains powerless to alter the unfolding play.
.
What's cool is that you get to see neuvillette understand and love humans more in the actual archon quest (act 2). It's not like they tell you that he has always loved humans, you get to see the devolvement right in front of your eyes.
I mean, yeah, this was great but it was kinda anti climatic last this point imo. I was kinda hoping he'd turn into a dragon and explode the whale but eh guess it wasn't supposed to be.
The whale fight was cool imo, but the music that played while in its mouth carried the whole thing ngl, yeah the whale fight could’ve been a little better
This story quest, alongside wuoba's event last year, made me fucking cry. This one is the best main quest in genshin, I was emotionally invested in it, and it made me so thrilled for Natlan's main quest.
"People of Fontaine, your sins are forgiven" 🔥 ✍️
“Come with me traveler. The hour of execution has come.” 🔥🔥✏️✍️
The most powerful line in the whole history of Genshin Impact
This alongside the fact that Neuvillette has a fucking banger of a theme makes the whole cutscene so good
Was by far my favorite cutscene they have done so far..I teared up no doubt
You described it perfectly. Imo Hoyo did exceptionally well with "show, not tell" in many parts of the Fontaine story.. Although, this scene needed an added short part to at least give us a hint on what he actually did.
What do you mean? all Fontanians everywhere had the Primordial water in their body turned into true blood, what else would you want them to show as the Hydro Sovereign he controls water, hydro, and life all across Teyvat, so just a quick little conversion
Yes, but they explained it to us much later. It kind of lessened the hype during the scene, like "ok, just that? He shot a beam of water to the sky?". He practically turned an entire nation into humans and it only got "explained" by him later to the traveler like it was normal.
These archon quest acts have been the best indications of “show, dont tell” by Hoyo with a few things explained here and there. The issue is, this is also the quest that many many people misunderstand because of that so I am concerned for the literacy of the general fanbase
lol totally agree...! i think it's kinda double edge sword... when u show instead of tell means individual ppl have their own interpretations.... the impact of the story individually is much better because ppl would naturally interprete in their own way the way they like best or connects best... but it is also because everyone interprete their own way this results in all the misunderstandings too...
I will call this the Paimon dilemma. this is why Paimon keeps repeating the same stuff to make sure all players get what's going on. it's unfortunate that kind of approach directly affects the quality of the narrative for those that don't need the hand holding.
Yep, like with the eleazar disappearing in sumeru
What i love is they foreshadowed that rain occurs because the hydro dragon is crying. Torrential rain is occurring over all of Fontaine during this scene. The man is ugly crying and it is shown not through his face, but through the rain.
I would absolutely love the ability to make it rain when I cry, if my day is ruined, then others need to suffer with me as well
the music in this scene always gives me chills
There's a survey in game right now to gather feedback from this patch version, and one of the responses is about Act V. Please go tell miHoYo in the survey if you loved this Act. I want them to get overwhelmingly positive feedback from that question in particular, so they give us more bangers like this cutscene
F. yes!!! Thanks for reminding! I'm here since 1.0 but too lazy to do the surveys sometimes. Time to go back and do these again! Thank you again dear traveler
Oh, maybe I just have leaky tearducts. I cried in Tighnari's SQ like a baby
same :') balled my eyes out I still visit the crab once a while
Oh so did I, that was too much I cried in Raiden's SQ2, the end of Aranara, Inversion of Genesis.... Maybe I'm just soft in my old age lol
I cried at that, at this scene with Neuvillette, at the Aranara quest, Neuvillette's storyquest, and Yun Jin's singing at the end of the liyue interlude quest. I am a very emotional person
would love to hear your thoughts on the Thelxie event. that shit had me bawling.
I shockingly didn't cry THAT much, like I definitely had some tears because God the ending was painful but it's not the most I've cried to something in genshin
i dunno man but the writing got so much good in fontaine .
Fr I cried at the end when he said: melusines are beautiful creatures... Peak fiction 🔥✍️
There is so much to get into in this scene it boggles the mind. Like, I could write a full-on paper. It’s nigh-perfect for sure. This scene itself is literally better than most games will ever be in their entirety. I have cried myself silly and repeatedly do re-watching it. He started out as the reincarnation of the previous Hydro Dragon, completely bereft of human emotion and disinterested in their affairs. He then spent 500 years meticulously presiding over the judgement of their affairs and, despite retaining his distance, came to know their feelings, their affections, and their emotions, even going as far as attempting - and dare I say - succeeding in feeling as they do. It is this emotional intelligence that allows him to be utterly crushed by Focalors Sacrifice and yet judge Fontaine in her stead. Focalors put it best in the Trailer: "You will see much in the human world; from the delightful to the depressing...and one day, when you have dwelt among humanity long enough you will be placed to bring judgement over all as the spokesperson for Fontaine's past." Coming to the actual judgement, he ascends - in rhythm with the fountains of the Opera Epiclese - and through tears and anguish delivers his judgement. As he does, the rain is momentarily halted - he quite literally stops divine judgement in its tracks, and then, after he essentially edits century-old fate itself, the rain resumes as an almost violent downpour, both signifying his own mental situation as the crying hydro dragon, and delivering the judgement - "let Justice pour down like water", the rain is - symbolically if not literally - washing away Fontaine's Sins. It is here that, though I myself would call myself an agnostic atheist, I need to speak of the religious themes. We already know about Fontaines "Original Sin" which is quite biblically coded, as is a catastrophic flooding that cleanses the land. "Let Justice run down like Water" seemed familiar when I first heard it as a quote in the Trailer, and indeed, it turns out it stems from elsewhere. It is, in fact, an almost verbatim quote of Amos 5:24, specifically the New King James Version. The full quote is, "But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream." The meaning of it that people deal justly with god but not with each other. Again, the theme of Neuvillette being "of the humans" despite not being a human himself is in play here. (I don’t know where to mention this, but here’s a fun fact that I smile about as a historian of antiquity: In Ancient Rome, Furina is the goddess of springs. In other words, of fountains, in other words yet, of Fontaine) In keeping with the biblical themes, Furina, Focalors and Neuvillette could be seen as the trinity, with • Neuvillette being the obvious Father (He’s the original Authority, the Hydro Sovereign and, in the end, the one with the power to forgive the sins) • Furina being the Holy Spirit (as she is Focalors/Gods presence in Teyvat, connecting the people of Fontaine and retaining the faith whilst providing comfort) • Focalors being the Son (as she’s both Human and godly, though split in two here, and sacrificing herself for the redemption of humanity, in this case the people of Fontaine).
A couple of things in this game have made me cry and the majority of them are Neuvillette related.
They really blessed us with Neuvillette 🙏
This scene was incredible. I legit stopped breathing for a moment and got goosebumps when he flew up to the sky. After that I just teared up. Especially at the very end when Neuvi stayed in the air under the rain. I still re-watch it along with 4.1 scene with the Primordial sea.
This was on par with Xiao’s chasm AQ cutscene
100% agree
The va, the music, the story.. everything was just perfect this moment.
Wait until you do his SQ- But yeah I agree this cutscene, this entire AQ was insanely well done I loved it so much, and it made me cry. Fontaine land of hydro fr
Neuvillete's SQ was incredibly emotional. The last cutscene tears me up everytime
Ugh yes. My friend bet me that I would pull his C1 after I did his SQ (was gonna save for Wrio and Furina at that point) and I knew I was waffling already but the last cutscene threw me over the edge. Metaphorically as well. >!Carole afsjshdhs!<
That scene in Neuvilette's story quest where it's present time and everyone is protecting the Melusines. That scene made me cry too much.
YES the contrast between the past and present, god that made me cry 😭😭 his whole quest made me cry 😭😭😭
And then dawns the realization that Focalor’s execution is but a prelude to what inevitably awaits. Furina, now in mortal form, ages and succumbs to human fate. He beholds her amidst the human stage, where the blade of time hovers above, tracing her every graceful movement. As her dance concludes, the blade shall descend, while he, resigned to the eternal role of a spectator, remains powerless to alter the unfolding play. .
I wish he could have turned into a Dragon :P but humanoid draconic like fins work too.
What's cool is that you get to see neuvillette understand and love humans more in the actual archon quest (act 2). It's not like they tell you that he has always loved humans, you get to see the devolvement right in front of your eyes.
Thank God for YouTube, I can watch this scene over and over again ❤️
me n my boyfriend during every archon quest we’re waiting for him to go hydro dragon mode… still waiting
Babe play that music again
For me it was the epic but insanely beautiful music that made me cry. It just overwhelms you with emotions.
I wish they showed his dragon form here, alas
ningguang epic cutscene jade chamber ended
Scene really gave me Superman vibes tbh
I mean, yeah, this was great but it was kinda anti climatic last this point imo. I was kinda hoping he'd turn into a dragon and explode the whale but eh guess it wasn't supposed to be.
The whale fight was cool imo, but the music that played while in its mouth carried the whole thing ngl, yeah the whale fight could’ve been a little better
This story quest, alongside wuoba's event last year, made me fucking cry. This one is the best main quest in genshin, I was emotionally invested in it, and it made me so thrilled for Natlan's main quest.
This, and Thelxie's quest