Fontaine’s Archon Quest Changed Everything
Furina de Fontaine
Genshin’s Archon Quests Have Levelled Up
Let me start by saying that Act V of Genshin’s Fontaine Archon Quest is probably the best-written Genshin Story as of yet. It got me so invested to the point where I couldn’t even stop thinking about it the next day at work. Man, didn’t know Hoyoverse can cook.
I’ve been a fan of Genshin for a very long time, spending more time in the game than I should. Despite my biases to this game though, one of my biggest criticisms of Genshin is that I’ve always found its level of Storytelling to fall into the range of Mid to 7/10ish. I even said back then that Genshin’s main story quests (the Archon Quests) could be decent and good at most but they could never be great. And now, I take that all back.
Because in the latter parts of Sumeru’s Archon Quest (Acts IV & V) and the whole of Fontaine’s Story, I noticed that the level of Storytelling has gone up by a few levels, greatly exceeding my expectations.
One simple reason why the quality of Storytelling improved significantly is because the most recent Archon Quests have a lot more game time the first few ones.
More Time To Cook
For the opening Mondstadt Quest Series, without skipping, you can condense all the main parts, lines and cutscenes to about 2 and half hours. This is if we remove all the running, exploring, fighting, and everything else that doesn’t involve character lines of dialogues.
For Liyue, the condensed time is 4 hours.
For Inazuma, it’s around 6.
For Sumeru, it’s around 14.
And for Fontaine, its probably than that.
You see, the Sumeru and Fontaine Quests were given more time, custscenes, exposition and dialogue to deliver their own stories. The longer quest time allowed us to digest what was happening in a more favourable pace. And many times, great stories with ambitious plots take a lot of time to be set up.
What the Inazuma Archon Quests were lacking
This is what I found lacking in the Inazuma Archon Quests. I mean, the premise seemed great. The Story Arc was exciting and the characters were very iconic. It had all the potential to become something groundbreaking and phenomenal but ultimately, I think it failed to deliver what it was meant to deliver. To me, that whole Arc just felt so rushed. Many of the characters were underutilized and were not given enough parts and time to shine. And the issue regarding the actions and inactions of the Electro Archon, which ultimately led harm to her people, didn’t seem properly resolved. Her actions didn’t seem justified enough and the lack of consequences at the ending of the Story felt very unsatisfying in my opini on. And what frustrates me the most is that I know that if Hoyoverse added another hour or two to the quest line, most of the problems in this Arc could have been fixed and the delivery of the story could’ve been a lot better.
Later on, Hoyoverse tried to patch the issue by having us sympathise with Ei’s character in her Story Quest, which gave us a place to see her character go through a lot of development, but I still think that that kind of stuff, including the Epic Final Battle with the Puppet, should have been made part of the Archon Quest instead.
That being said, I think one reason why the Sumeru and Fontaine Quests are on a higher level compared to the first three Archon Quests is because the game gave the story enough time to marinate and simmer. Serving us a slow-cooked meal with complete and better ingredients as opposed to the other quests that felt and tasted like fast food.
I’m saying all this but this doesn’t mean that lengthy stories will always be better than shorter ones, okay? What I want you guys to notice is how effectively Genshin used the extra quest time to better deliver the story it’s trying to tell.
New Modes of Exposition
Another reason why I think that Genshin’s Story Quality Significantly levelled up is because in the recent Archon Quests, you can see them experimenting and trying out New Techniques of Storytelling and Different Forms of Exposition in the game.
I love how, in the Fontaine Quest, they progressed the story through a Magic Show in the Opera, followed by a Theatrical Murder Trial and an Undercover Detective Prison Arc. I’m so impressed with the way they effectively tied the Detective-Mystery Gameplay to all the details that are happening in the story.
I also noticed that in the Fontaine and Sumeru Quests, the game more often used different Points Of View, Flashbacks, and Timeskips in conveying the story, giving us just enough information to keep us on edge and have us look forward to how the rest of the story would unfold.
All of this was shown against the backdrop of the initial prophecy, politics, culture, and foreshadowing that were introduced when we arrived in the region. There are a lot of moving parts and there are many players, yet every piece on the table served its purpose well in this very cohesive story. All the while, the explores the main themes and the biggest questions within this arc: What is the true nature of Fontaine’s justice? What would you do today if you knew that everything would be gone tomorrow? What role does the Hydro Archon play in this stage play? And what is the true meaning of sacrifice and service?
It also made effective use of symbolisms and metaphors to help us understand what the characters are going through.
The Fontaine Archon Quest was doing mad combos with these elements and it ties everything in satisfying and haunting way.
The level of storytelling now definitely is more complex and sophisticated, especially if you would compare it to the simplicity of the Mondstadt and Liyue Arcs, where there were times when it felt like we are doing a game of bring-me and fetch.
Convincing Justifications and Character Redemption
Now, let’s talk about the Plot Twists and Grand Reveals. These are things that Genshin has done well since the beginning. Every Arc has that Hype Moment wherein a new character gets introduced or a new piece of crucial information changes the direction of the Story (Signora Entrance, Tartaglia Reveal, etc.)
I don’t want to put out too much spoilers but let’s just say that in the latest quest, Genshin drops a massive reveal that almost re-frames everything we know in the Fontaine Storyline, changing our strong opinions on the major characters as we see them shown in a new light with a richer and redefined context. Especially for Neuvillette and Furina. The Fontaine quest gave something the Inazuma Quest failed to deliver. It gave justifications for the actions of the main characters. It made their reasoning and motivations of the characteres very believable. We were made to understand how noble and pure their intentions were. Then once we start admiring them, the story would then put the characters in a position of weakness and vulnerability. As we form a connection with them, the story would show us their deepest regrets and insecurities. And they actually made me feel protective of these characters. They made me care.
And the biggest conflict within the game actually made lasting consequences that would impact the future of the story.
Conclusion
The Fontaine Archon Quest, together with the latter parts of Sumeru’s, have shown us that the level of Genshin’s Storytelling has evolved as it made effective use of the longer quest time to develop the characters and improve the quality of writing. New storytelling techniques were used and the story was delivered in a very cohesive and intriguing fashion. And all the characters were given their own moments to shine. Their actions and motivations were sufficiently given justification and justice.
It seems that Hoyoverse is learning from its mistakes in the previous arcs and are working hard to improve the storytelling of the game.
That’s Epic and All. But what does this mean for the future of the game, and for us, the fans who are letting Hoyoverse cook in the kitchen. What this means is that if Hoyoverse can surpass our expectations, as what they have done in the Fontaine Archon Quest, which was just overall phenomenal and mindblowing, then we can expect more bangers to arrive down the pipeline.
I thought Genshin’s Archon Quest could never get to this level but I am glad to be proven wrong.
Right now, as a Genshin fan, I’m just very excited for the future of the game. I’m so looking forward to the Future Archon Quests and to wherever new heights the game will take us next.
What do you think about Fontaine’s Story Arc? Did you like it? Who’s your favourite character? How did the story make you feel?
Just leave a comment down below so we can talk more about it.
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