i said i wouldn't rank these til the first half ended... but the archon quest was literally PEAK. fontaine's story has been ehhh for me. i liked neuvillette but the previous acts felt so long. furina's story is genuinely so interesting and really saved her character for me. i thought she was annoying and honestly didn't really like her visual design (it has grown on me but it's still not great. her all blue outfit is better!!) but i completed the quest and immediately i really like her. getting into some spoiler territory now: the story of focalors & furina was truly the best way they could have handled it. when 4.2 leaks revealed furina wasn't going to be the true archon, i was excited to meet focalors but also because i knew neuv would most likely be annointed as some form of new archon/true god. to see that be subverted but still meet those expectations was really awesome. genshin has so many issues, especially in its stories, but the ideas they utilize in their archon quests has never been one. say what you will about their storytelling in its pacing and length and the excessive amounts of exposition dumping, the stories at their core are so interesting. really excited to see where the rest of fontaine will take us.

that being said: i'll probs re-do a new rating/review as time passes and i expose myself to the new story quests, exploration, etc. from 4.2