The low-content seasons in Genshin Impact have always been an issue, but they have been feeling even worse lately, and future updates need to find a way to correct that before the game starts bleeding players. At the moment, the popular action RPG by HoYoverse is approaching the end of Version 5.3 and will soon head into the contents of Version 5.4. In of new content, the current patch was one of the largest in months. The update introduced the final missions of the Natlan story arc, added four new playable characters, and brought forth the Lantern Rite event.

Version 5.4, on the other hand, will slow things down significantly. Through the official livestream, HoYoverse confirmed the contents for the update. This includes a new flagship event set in Inazuma (with a free 4-star event weapon), the release of Yumemizuki Mizuki in Genshin Impact, and several other minor events that should keep players occupied. While it is natural for a patch following an update that concludes main story arcs to have less content, the dips in playable content have recently left players struggling to find things to do during these periods, something that needs to be addressed soon.

Genshin 5.3’s Content Overload Still Left The Game Feeling Stale

There Are Long Periods Without Much To Do

Even with all the content that was made available in Version 5.3, the game’s final weeks are still feeling a bit stale. The final Archon Quests in the Natlan story arc can be concluded within a few hours and, after that, players were left without any new content to run – surely, catching up with older side content is still an option, but the majority of the time I spent between the conclusion of the main story arc and the arrival of the Lantern Rite Festival event consisted of short periods of daily and limited farming in Genshin Impact.

Because of how the game structures its farming, there were also days when I didn’t have much to do. I couldn’t farm Mavuika’s materials every day and, as such, tried to find activities to run during the days when her Talent material’s Domain was inactive. The arrival of Lantern Rite gave me more to do, as there are several minigames to partake in, in addition to the event’s quests, but these can be concluded quickly; and with the barriers limiting access to new stages every couple of days, I once again see myself without much to do in Genshin Impact.

Genshin Impact 5.4 May Feel Even Worse Than Version 5.3

The Update’s Smaller Size May Leave Players Unoccupied

Version 5.3 already felt somewhat bad, but things are likely going to get much worse with the arrival of Version 5.4. As was previously mentioned, the next update will have much less content to go through compared to its predecessor. With no new story quests, the absence of new explorable areas, and the sole reliance on limited-time events to fill in the six-week period, Version 5.4 will likely aggravate the feeling of staleness regarding content. Assuming the flagship event debuts with the arrival of the contents of Genshin Impact 5.4, players will be able to slowly progress through it.

The activities will likely be concluded quickly and leave players waiting for the next threshold to lift. Within a few days, players will have maxed out the event and then there should be nearly nothing else to do until the next limited-time event drops. If the flagship event starts a few days after the release of Version 5.4, the start of the update will likely feel dry, as if the patch brought nothing new to the table. In addition to the lack of new content, per si, the release of Yumemizuki Mizuki in Genshin Impact is also worrying.

The new 5-star Anemo character from Inazuma’s gameplay kit doesn’t look like something worth pulling for, as she is a hybrid buffer and healer that pales in comparison to other dedicated characters – and is worse than Furina, who will also rerun during the same patch. The best aspect of Version 5.4 regarding characters is Wriothesley’s rerun, the first since his release in 2023. Nevertheless, with the continuous expansion of the roster, Wriothesley’s rerun in Genshin Impact 5.4 is debatably not even worth it anymore – especially with rumors about Skirk being a Cryo DPS arriving in Version 5.7.

As such, the time that could be used to farm Wriothesley’s materials may not even exist if players intend on skipping his rerun during the update. HoYoverse seems to want players to overlap their efforts through new content with farming, but this structure isn’t working anymore. The daily and weekly limitations on farming are frustrating, especially with the large requirements for each character, and the new content, especially in these low-content seasons is not enough to justify continuous gameplay – it’s often best to stay away from Genshin Impact for a few days and just return to max out events.

Genshin Impact Could Fix The Feeling Of Dullness With Minor Map Updates Every Patch

New Areas Offer Players Much More Content To Explore Than Simply Quests

One of the best ways of fixing this lingering feeling of content stagnation would be to better manage how often map updates are added. New areas to explore often keep players occupied for a much longer time than quests, specifically, as there are often several secrets to uncover. Map updates are, arguably, some of the most complicated to provide players with as there is a heavy investment in deg them. Furthermore, they are much less directly lucrative for the company than characters, per si, since map updates in Genshin Impact are free for all players, whereas characters require pulls.

However, instead of focusing on the release of gigantic map areas every three or four patches, the developer could distribute the release of new zones to explore consistently. With this, players would always have more to do with every patch, not having to rely on easily completable quests and events. New and smaller maps could tie in with the new quests and events, as well as characters. Even though it is large, the release of Chenyu Vale in Version 4.4 is the perfect example of how to keep the content fresh.

Chenyu Vale brought forth new quests, new enemies, and even materials for Xianyun in Genshin Impact.

Not every new map area needs to have the scale of Chenyu Vale, but the type of new content it brings is extremely beneficial to keep players occupied and tackle any dry seasons. It is true that the game already has a lot of content to play through, but if its updates were better distributed throughout the entirety of the year, the feeling of trite updates would largely diminish in Genshin Impact, possibly even incentivizing players to more frequently.