My Big Beef With Genshin Impact Has Been Building for 5 Years

I have a beef with HoYoverse, and it’s kind of ridiculous. Yesterday, I was chilling in Discord with some friends and ended up going off on a rant about this. It’s not anything actually serious, but it’s something that bugs me enough for a rant.

It has to do with the outfits given to characters in their games. As many of you likely know, HoYo introduced character outfits to its games some time back. If I remember correctly, they started with outfit changes in Genshin Impact. Some are free items given for completing events or quests. Others, you buy directly from the shop. Honestly, it’s a good way to make money. Players love dressing up their characters and giving them fresh looks.

We’ve gotten several new outfits for our characters in Genshin Impact, including an outfit for Klee that’s reminiscent of her mom’s attire. Honkai: Star Rail has given us a selection of outfits as well. We even got a new outfit for March 7th when she was training to use the sword.

In both cases, however, you know who hasn’t received a new look? The main character. The character whose story it is. The Traveler and the Trailblazer are still running around in the same looks. The only thing that really changes anything about their appearance is when they get a new set of abilities. The portions of the Traveler’s outfit that glow change colors. And, well, the Trailblazer got a new hat in Penacony?

Now, if you play Zenless Zone Zero, you’ll know that the Proxies did get new outfits. Both Wise and Bell got new looks when 2.0 dropped. And that’s when it hit me. These two, who don’t even really have to leave their video store to get work done (They do, but it’s not actually necessary all the time), now have a change of clothes. Two years in, the Trailblazer is still rocking the same outfit, and they have to go out onto worlds and fight.

Then there’s the poor Traveler. Look, they’ve been running all over Teyvat on foot for five years. They’ve camped out for a lot of that. Yes, they have the teapot dimension where they can build a nice house and all. But still, there’s an awful lot of camping out and fighting.

It’s been five years, HoYo. The Traveler deserves a change of clothes. So does the Trailblazer, if I’m being honest. They’re out there doing some heavy lifting for the universe. But the Traveler’s been waiting the longest. And it’s not like they don’t know fashion experts. Someone could have provided them with new outfits.

That said, the Traveler was offered an outfit once, but we weren’t actually allowed to take it. You only had the option to say no and make some comment about the outfit you’re wearing being special. And look, I’m all for really loving an outfit. But being able to change here and there would be nice. And, well, outfits are definitely one thing I'm happy to drop money on in F2P games.

Oh, well. Maybe someday, the Traveler will be able to do some laundry.