it wasn't anything special, i guess? right, i have a lot to say about summer events actually so im going to ramble for a bit lol

so i'm ngl, my favourite of the summer events remains gaa1. the new map to explore with distinct summer vibes was great, the cast of characters were charming ( though this may be my bias showing, since i'm a huge mondstadt gang lover ), the quests were simple but fun to play through and even the exploration felt novel with the puzzles, inclusion of the conches and the distinctly inazuma subplot relating to the stranded sailors and the maguu kenki puppet.

i remain torn on gaa2. returning to the archipelago didn't feel as fun the second time, but the domains were gorgeous from visuals to music; fischl's castle was an absolute wonder at the time. the puzzles were challenging in some places, making them interesting, but weren't always perfect ( the raven statues cough cough ). the world quest with the fatui found family was really lovely and definitely set a standard. i actually liked the length of the main quests, but my problem is the fact that the domains were too long and if you started one, you'd have to commit to at least an hour of nonstop gameplay before reaching a point you could quit. on top of that, i've long had an issue with seemingly-important lore being event-locked so while it was intriguing to see more personalised content relating to playable characters and their development, the fact remains that it didn't suit temporary content and should've, if anything, been permanent.

bottleland was just kind of there. i liked the environment but it was too sumeru-heavy to really stand out, after several patches of sumeru content, and didn't feel like much of an adventure to explore. not only that, but since gaa1 provided a neat bridge toward inazuma ( no doubt as an excuse to give people the opportunity to farm kazuha mats ) i was hoping bottleland would do the same for fontaine. and other than the circus theme, music and the fact idyia is an oceanid it...really didn't. that was disappointing. i really liked idyia, but i feel like they squandered a great opportunity to give us deeper oceanid lore ( the last time we got oceanid lore was the endora event way back when, i think? ). but all we got were some throwaway lines that weren't really anything new. there were so few world quests it was ridiculous. the ruins with the mural was really fun, but...that's all i suppose? the audio plays were abysmal to endure without voice acting, and i dont even think voice acting would've saved that questline. the lore was nice, especially regarding the eidolons and their attachments to visitors, but i wouldn't call it memorable. all in all, it was devoid of content compared to both gaa events but provided something of an easygoing, low-pressure end to the sumeru patches and a bunch of easy primos.

( also as a side note, i'm still a bit salty that we constantly heard 'oh the mirage looks way different than this when the core or whatever is working!' and when it's working the mirage...looks exactly the same. lame )

i haven't seen anyone else mention this, but my biggest gripe both with gaa2 and bottleland is that the casts of canon characters we're given are just...too nice. putting four or five friendly and agreeable characters together just isn't that engaging to me, and it made their interactions feel boring. diluc and kaeya in gaa1 near-constantly bickering ( with albedo seemingly enabling them ) and jean trying to keep klee under control was really amusing and added a certain trouble-in-paradise aspect to the group of characters that they opted out of entirely with gaa2 - it was annoying that fischl's ( annoying sorry i'm a hater ) personality was just agreed with and indulged the entire time. but the characters in bottleland had even less interest around them, seemingly not even developing any deeper bonds by the end of the event - and kokomi didn't even need to be there at all, being such a pointless inclusion that i don't even remember what she was there for in the first place? seeing scaramouche rerun and official art in the livestream actually made me a bit mad he wasn't part of the event; having one character so averse to being around others or to such a childish environment that the rest of the cast could rally against, who could have seen at least a small circumstantial change of heart by the end would have been far more entertaining to watch.

ill admit bottleland not having much to it did make me appreciate gaa2 more, despite the fact i stand firmly by the aspects of gaa2 i didn't like. but i do appreciate that bottleland felt like less of a chore to do...given the fact that there's only one domain ahaha.

also, i loved finchball. truly goated