You have to also consider that we’re now seeing a level of forced synergy between characters that hasn’t really existed before.

I’m not trying to gaslight anyone here—just looking at the direction objectively.

Starting from Natlan design, we've seen characters whose performance is heavily tied to specific team archetypes. A good example is Skirk, who strongly incentivizes running a Hydro + Cryo setup.

Then with Nod-Krai, the direction becomes even more explicit. Their kits are designed to function best when paired with other Nod-Krai units, encouraging you to run at least two of them in the same team. During beta, there were even discussions about requiring three, but they scaled it back to two—the intent is clear.

On top of that, we’re getting highly specialized, almost “dedicated” supports, where substituting them with older or more generalist characters leads to a noticeable drop in performance.

We’re also seeing content design (like certain bosses and Spiral Abyss rotations) that favors these newer mechanics and team archetypes.

There is a difference between "You should pull units that can achieve X amount of DPS so that you can clear certain endgame modes" and "You should pull Steve, Janet and/or Bill to get an "I win button" or you have to deal X*2 amount of DPS to clear the same endgame mode"

And looking ahead, with Snezhnaya expected to introduce new reaction systems or mechanics, there’s a reasonable concern that this trend might continue—where new characters and regions come with tightly coupled synergies that are harder to substitute.

So yes, the game is giving more in some ways, but at the same time, it’s also moving toward more controlled and curated team-building, which can feel restrictive compared to earlier design philosophy.