Raiden Shogun’s New Story Quest Reveals More Lore and Better Storytelling

As IGN has previously covered the v2.5 Livestream and now that the update is here, Ei’s second story quest is finally here, and it is amazing, not only story-wise, but also gameplay-wise. Raiden Shogun’s story continues with the new v2.5 updates. With her Boss domain confirmed in this patch, the two tie in together.

The player baser was in complete awe of how well written this quest was, it gave us such deeper insight into the inner workings of Ei’s traumas: how she lost her twin Makoto and friend Kitsune Saiguu, how the passage time stripped away all those she loved, how Ei was devoted to both her sister’s vision and the people of Inazuma suffering due to the events 500 years ago, how she created the Shogun Puppet in her darkest moments. Raiden Ei takes the opportunity to tell the Traveler many stories about her cherished friends and the idea of Inazuma she wants to protect.

When we first use Ei in the quest against waves of Rifthounds, her combat plays exceptionally. However, the second time we use her she can actually freezes out of nowhere, showing us how the Shogun puppet starts to hold Ei accountable for using the body as she pleases.

In Raiden Makoto’s remnant realm of consciousness, Ei and the Shogun Puppet engage in an endless fight. For the future of Inazuma, and also for Ei herself.

Now, the battle against the Shogun puppet was of epic proportions, and I can’t stress how amazing it is to actually fight her one-on-one with only Ei; not only does Ei constantly gain Elemental Recharge in the fight, which allows us to spam her burst and skill, when her HP flatlines, she regains full health in a show of her resolve! And then the Shogun puppet does the same, several times! Even in that first fight we haven’t fought the advertised boss form yet.

Except that Round Two was still a one-on-one fight, and I cannot stress enough about how impactful it is to use Ei, alone, against the Shogun puppet’s boss form. It’s the most fun I’ve had battling a boss in Genshin (thank Celestia for Ei’s determination), and it was so much more impactful because of how fitting it all was. This was a battle that Ei must do on her own, and in the end she had to do it herself.

The entire ending had me reeling; from the fact that Makoto broke through Time with the possible help of a higher power, and planted the source of Inazuma’s strength (The Sacred Sakura), the connection between Ei and the Musou no Hitotachi deepening because Ei finally understands her twin’s idea of Eternity and works towards making amends for all the wrongs she committed against Inazuma.

This may seem like an afterthought, but at the end of the quest, when Ei says she will abolish the Sakoku decree, the thunderstorm around Inazuma disappeared, which remained in the world from the start of the Inazuma questline and was briefly raised as an issue during Raiden Shogun’s Story Quest: Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter, Act I, but nothing was done until now.

The whole Inazuma arc, continuing till Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter, Act II, shows a massive growth in Ei, courtesy of the Traveler. I was extremely impressed with how, throughout the Chapter, there were so many elements incorporated and they complement different aspects of Ei, We originally see her as a dictator ruler, indifferent to everything besides her goal of Eternity, but she realizes that the ambitions and desires of her people are something to cherish, shape and protect because these things are the future.