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The rather unseasonal Akitsu Kimodameshi event in Genshin Impact is over. It was a strong event to end 2022 with, though not the best. (This does not really surprise me, as Chinese New Year is coming up soon. HoYoVerse is likely focusing on that.) As one might come to expect from flagship events, Akitsu Kimodameshi was rather lengthy. It featured plenty of familiar faces too, and I was very happy to see characters like Kazuha and Itto again. The gameplay outside of the story – Akitsu Yuugei – was kind of rough. But where Akitsu Kimodameshi really shined was in its story.
First off, let’s talk about Akitsu Yuugei. Like how some people jokingly referred to Theater Mechanicus as “the Arknights event” and Windblume was either “the Fall Guys event” or “the Mario Party event,” Akitsu Yuugei was similar to another classic game – Pong. Now, Pong was a little bit before my time, but I’ve played my fair share of clones. I often got a high score in Korbats Lab after all. But perhaps Korbats Lab from Neopets is not the best Pong-like in the world. I sometimes had trouble ricocheting the ball to where I wanted in Akitsu Yuugei. Even when I stood there without moving the bar, the ball occasionally veered off in unexpected directions.
Not only that, but the sheer amount of elemental reactions that you could pull off was a bit overwhelming. I didn’t use anything other than Freeze and Superconduct, and still managed to obtain all of the rewards I needed. I didn’t switch up any perks after I found three that really worked for me. So if HoYoVerse ever brings this back, I think they should add more perks. I honestly can’t think of any way that HoYoVerse could dramatically improve or expand Akitsu Yuugei. But they managed to do so for Theater Mechanicus, so we will have to wait and see what happens in the future.
As mentioned earlier, the real MVP of Akitsu Kimodameshi was its story. The three yokai and Hanyuuda Chizuru were all great NPCs. In particular, I found it a shame that Chizuru is an event-exclusive character who has almost no chance of returning in the future. Her design was fantastic, as was her characterization. The ending of the Akitsu Kimodameshi storyline after Chizuru disappears made me so emo. The evolution of HoYoVerse’s animation department was evident in the Mikawa Flower Festival cutscenes as well.
The actual kimodameshi part was really fun, albeit irritating if you accidentally veered a bit too far off the path HoYoVerse wanted you to travel. This is because the game will set you back to the beginning and you will have to listen to the dialog all over again. For reference, “kimodameshi” is a test of courage that is typically a summer activity in Japan. Thankfully, since I played the event during a polar vortex, it was not too spooky.
In Akitsu Kimodameshi, you got to choose your partner for the first two rounds, and I went with Kazuha and Yoimiya. Their reactions and dialog were really fun, but neither of them were too scared about anything going on, as opposed to if I had chosen Ayaka or Gorou. Kazuha honestly seemed really out of it, and Yoimiya practically radiated ‘I’m just happy to be here’ vibes. Most of the major Inazuman characters were present, which made it a fantastic event for anyone whose favorite character was available to walk around with.
Itto and Heizou were the characters on the marketing and event page for Akitsu Kimodameshi, but Itto was the one who had a much larger role. His kind and idiotic personality shown through in both his childish antics and the way he jumped to help the yokai with the modern-day Mikawa Flower Festival. Unfortunately, though I had been excited to see more of Heizou in a non-Hangout Event context, he did not really do much until the end. I kind of wish that he had been present for more than just the final day. We could have investigated Chizuru’s identity bit by bit every day instead of at the end. I did not even feel like I investigated too much. After talking to the yokai for a bit, Heizou figured it out on his own. At the very least, his absence wasn’t as egregious as Ayato’s in the Irodori Festival event.
Akitsu Kimodameshi in Genshin Impact ran from December 15, 2022 to January 2, 2023. This gives it the distinction of being the final event (with an actual storyline) for 2022. Those who missed this event also missed the chance to obtain the Toukabou Shigure sword. Because of all the dialog we got to see from the Inazuman characters, it was a lot of fun even outside of the Akitsu Yuugei portions. I would even go as far as to say that Akitsu Yuugei was the weakest part of the event!
Genshin Impact is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Windows PC, and mobile devices.
