Genshin Impact developer miHoYo has released a very special video that is essentially just the title’s idol character, Barbara, talking about … things. She offers to hear the ‘Traveler’, the protagonist of the game, and has a one-sided conversation about compliments and to feel down and usually acts like a vtuber of sorts based on the Hydro-tuned character from the video game.
Vtubers, or ‘virtual YouTubers’, are basically just animated character trays that respond to what is recorded on the one hand to cause the effect of a virtual character saying and moving like a real person. There was a strong upswing in their English popularity of late thanks, especially to vubbers like Watson Amelia, Gawr Gura, and more. Given the animation about Barbara in the video, which you can see above, it really looks more like the in-game model that was animated, rather than a traditional vtuber rig, which is usually much less nimble, but the basic premise is the same.
Barbara’s special video: a healing magic of the idol
Maybe I can get closer to you this way. Https://t.co/b8jyX2coTe#GenshinImpact pic.twitter.com/zkVlVH83ib
– Paimon (@GenshinImpact) 22 January 2021
Genshin Impact is currently available, free to play, for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC and mobile devices. The video game will also eventually be released for the Nintendo Switch. Version 1.2 “The Chalk Prince and the Dragon” was recently launched and added a whole new area, characters, events and more. The version 1.3 update will be released on February 3rd. You can see all our previous coverage of the popular free play title here.
Have you played yet Genshin Impact? What do you think of Barbara’s ‘special video’? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to contact us and follow me directly on Twitter @rollinbishop to play over everything that plays!