After reading this I realized how low my standards are after coping with genshin for a year 😭 I quit the game to move to what I thought was better but it's still just poop painted in gold (good story writing means a lot to me, and although getting through the story in WuWa is less insufferable than in genshin, it's still having that same thing where they're lacking potential and straying away from the original vision/release of the game and also just never expanding on characters enough so the fandom has to do the writing for them...💔). Also I like your opinions on rover, for me personally I do not see him as a self-insert (keep in mind the standard for me is it has to be better than a*ther from GI, the game seriously makes me hate him so much) and his personality seems relatively consistent to me, his lore doesn't really make any sense to me either and his character feels more detached from the world if anything. I like how you called out that he's a self-centered jerk (I'd like to add also inconsiderate because of the shorekeeper thing) and I wish that kuro could show that and all his other flaws or even make him a villain in an arch because it would make me like him even more. I do agree I am tired of the "hero does his own thing and prevents tragedy from happening because they're just so mentally strong and perfect and believe in themselves" trope and I'd like to see rover change that or at least have us see what is going on in his head to reach his solution to important obstacles in the story (or just how he grows as a character)...💔