More than four years after the release of version 1.0, developer Hoyoverse continues to expand the world Genshin Influence with recent characters and broad regions. The developer released a trailer on Friday that teased that the game’s major 5.0 update will be released on August 28. Titled “Flowers Resplendent on the Sun-Scorched Sojourn,” the update will add the colorful Natlan desert region and introduce players to recent characters and main quests.
After the 4.0 story took place in the super-soaked water region of Fontaine, the 5.0 story will take players to Natlan, the region of fire and the Archon Pyro. The trailer teases a story where Natlan is on the brink of destruction and has less than a year to avoid total devastation. Once again, the Traveler must save another nation.
This the trailer shows a landscape of sandstone canyons, terracotta reds, and grassy mesas. So far, it looks like the region will lean heavily on recent gameplay that will make players mobile in recent ways. Gameplay has shown off Kachina, a character who hurls himself around on a top-like device, and Kinich, a boy who looks almost like he has Spider-Man’s vine-like powers that let him hurl himself around the map. Shark rider Mualani has also been shown off.
In addition to the game’s trailer, Hoyoverse released a brief animated video to accompany the news, featuring characters from the game, titled “Blaze to Natlan“This neon dream of animation looks a bit like a child Spider-Man: Into the Universe AND Promareand gives the game a completely different atmosphere.
Hoyoverse previously released a look at Natlan in July. The reveal of characters like Mavuika drew widespread criticism from fans and the game’s voice actors, who said Genshin “whitewashed” characters inspired by the Latin American and West African regions. So it’s likely that this patch will generate a lot of interest when it releases in behind schedule August.
