Genshin 7.0 Has Arrived!!! Snezhnaya Archon Quest Part 1, Main Events and MORE (SPOILERS)
Verse of the day:
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Warning: Spoilers!!!!
At long last, the Tsaritsa has arrived with her palace of snow and ice. The queen who was once just written text in a found book or a string of dialogue from time to time has been revealed, along with story lore, a host of tragically beautiful characters and a lot of rather haunting yet magnificent architecture and environments, here are my thoughts and personal experiences with the new update so far:
Archon Quest
At long last, we are HERE! Prior to the release, I was told to by numerous YouTubers that it would be most sufficient to stand near the border of where Nod-Krai ends and the mountains of Sneznhaya begins, in order to be able to jump right into exploring the frozen kingdom. Imagine my surprise when I was automatically thrown into the quest, the second I logged in! I made sure my home computer and iPad (where I play most of the time) were up to date the night before and honestly, I appreciated not having to do a bunch of teleporting and walking right out of the gate. I’m more of an objective oriented type of person and I play in focus mode a lot to avoid distractions from whatever I decided to do. The Quest itself didn’t take me very long to do at all, the cut scenes were incredibly beautiful and I was thankful that my travelers voice was getting more air time rather than having Paimon speak for me 24/7. Speaking of my floating companion, I was REALLY worried that I would have to spend my entire time without her, having seen the trailers, so I was rather relieved when she joined us again. I appreciated our stay in the main city, which looks like something pulled straight from a fairy tale and had fun exploring after the official quest was complete. Something I didn’t anticipate was facing off with the ruler of death in a rather compelling, “who did it” murder mystery in the grand theatre! I must warn you, if you’re easily unnerved, don’t listen with headphones 😆, it was definitely serving “Dangan Ronpa ” energy! I was incredibly spooked out by the graphics of the grand reveal but I could not have been more interested in why Ronova would go out of her way to try to hinder project stuga. She obviously sees the Tsaritsa’s plans as a real threat to the heavenly principles and I can’t wait to see the showdown between those two!
2. Characters
Odette is officially one of my dream characters and I’m going to do everything I can to pull for her 🥹🩰❄️. I absolutely adore her design, animation and gameplay! She’s one of the most tragically beautiful characters….I honestly felt horrible about Rose 🥀….i swore for a brief second that she was going to plot to kill us after she realized we caused her death….it felt a bit unrealistic to have her be so reasonable with us, in spite of it being awkward tension between us after she found out. My reasons for loving her would be obvious to anyone who knows me well, I love the ballet 🩰 and am a huge patron of the arts. In a land entombed in snow and ice, the fire of her heart burns brightly. ❤️ as for the other characters, I’m thankful we were given our valiant hunter, Alyosha. Vodyanista’s voice is bewitching and gorgeous to listen to, her design is very pretty as well but I do have a bit of an annoyance with her voice (don’t attack me, she just sounds very squeaky which isn’t foreign to younger characters in this series). I’m not a fan of the high pitch and shrilly voices in some of the girls. I don’t really have much of a personal thought about the others aside from their amazing designs, I’m most curious to learn more about the Tsaritsa and Mitya.
For those who can appreciate that reference, the edition of a gun was definitely not on my 2026 bucket list for Genshin but I’m sure not mad at it! Learning the mechanics for how it all worked came fairly easy to me, there’s a lot of new features now that I’m still adjusting to and it seems that Sneznhaya is at its peak of technological advancement with its self operated trains, and automation systems (you get your own person crafting station and adventurers guild in the comfort of your train car!) i will say this: I had to change some of the controls for sprinting because I’m more of a right handed player, other than that, it’s been lots of fun!
4. Prime Ice Construct
THIS is a feature that I can truly appreciate! Being able to create tools in the hostile environments of Sneznhaya (not only for yourself but for other players!) being able to aid others is quite a lovely addition for bringing players together. If you’re more of a solo person like myself, it can get a little lonely in-game. I hope this is something that isn’t just for the event!
5. Paimon Lore!!!!
Saving the best for last is the elephant in the room that is Paimon, Ronova reveals that she is a creation of Celestia which means: just like us, she’s not from Earth. (Makes sense) Although Ronova claims Paimon isn’t really important or valuable, she still tries to take her (which I immediately saw through). I theorize that Paimon may be one of the few things left from Khaenri’ah and given the fact that Pierro (who’s a survivor of the Cataclysmic event that destroyed Khaenri’ah ) remembers her BEFORE her memories went away, it has me raising my eyebrow. I know the game theorists are eating this information up because it goes hand in hand with a lot of speculations regarding Paimons origin. I AM glad that this debunks that Paimon is actually Ronova (officially). I am curious as to why now? What makes Paimon instrumental to the plot, to the point where Ronova herself seeks to take her away from Traveler. It can’t just be because she’s important to us….shes apart of something bigger and I’d hate to think that Ronova is vindictive and self serving (in spite of the petty crap she pulled in the theater) she’s literally the ruler of death, that wouldn’t make sense which leads me to believe she’s not our main antagonist, she’s a pawn for someone far more insidious and I get the feeling our sibling is involved…..
I also want to point out something about Paimon that I don’t see discussed enough: she’s literally the game mascot and her crown (halo) is apart of the logo for the game……her NOT being important would be a huge failure in writing. ✍️
Honorable mentions: There’s niche features and aspects of this game that I appreciate such as- Jack Frost village, being able to attend Odette's performances, the Tsaritsa obvious appreciation for the arts ( I’ve spotted a lot of artist npcs) The elegance of the architecture, the cutest wild animals!, I’m obsessed with all of the fae designs!!!! (Not a furry), and the potential for an amazing holiday/Christmas event!
Summary: Sneznhaya is definitely hiding a lot of lore beneath the ice and snow, aside from its scenic landscapes, I find it hauntingly beautiful and intriguing to say the least, at this point I’ve unlocked all of the cryo statues of the seven and I’m progressing through exploration. What about you all? How are my fellow explorers faring the temp drop? Leave your comments below and remember:
for the love of life and literature, stay prayerful and write on!
Comments