Ever since Genshin came out there's been discussions about how accurate its different settings are to their real life counterparts.
I'm pretty sure I don't have to remind anybody what the trend was back when it first came out.
Thankfully those guys have lost alot of steam but the question remains is Mondstadt just your typical fantasy Europe? Specifically is it actually more Celtic than German like you'd expect out of a BOTW clone and how much homework did MiHoYo actually do when creating it?
The answer is it is pretty accurate actually. One big thing to keep in mind is how interwoven medieval Germany would have been with the rest of Europe. Medieval Europe was a time period following the fall of the Roman Empire so its outlying territories across the continent became successors to it. This was dramatically upheld by the Germans who named themselves the "Holy" Roman Empire.
And the prominent Favonius Cathedral at the center of the city shows that off very nicely. Of course it's actually gothic architecture so the structure itself is from a later point in European history.
Side note: Actually maybe not. According to some the cathedral seems to be modeled after Cologne Cathedral which was constructed in the 1200s. But the design takes on the modern completed version of the cathedral which was finished in the 1800s.
Architecture is a big check mark for MiHoYo because the look of the city is easily a Wasserburg or castle with a moat.
The walled off and gated city surrounded by a lake is very Medieval Europe. But more unique to Germany itself are the other buildings inside which are point for point the Fachwerkhaus style which are fairly distinct from Irish buildings of the same period.
Similarly we can see the German culture on full display with its sausage dishes, tavern and Diluc's Dawn Winery. Germany and alcohol amirite?
Which leads me to something I actually pointed out a long while ago and that is that MiHoYo seems to be showcasing at least 1 major holiday per region. We already had 2 actually for Liyue but we already know about others for Sumeru and of course there was already Windblume in Mondstadt. Well the big one Ludi Harpastum is probably related to Oktoberfest and also Carnival.
We're also doing an event in Dragonspine now and what do we have in Germany? The Alps a snow covered range of mountains that stretches across most of Central Europe hitting Germany at Bavaria.
Lastly I want to point out something I noticed while looking this stuff up. It seems many people have problems with the English VAs pronunciation of their German names and other terms. The thing is that has nothing to do with accuracy or MiHoYo. That's an English thing. If there was an official German dub you'd likely expect them to pronounce those German terms correctly but you can't expect English VAs to pronounce accurate German. I'm reminded of this video about Evangelion.
It's even weirder these guys complain about the German not being accurate when obviously the Chinese in the English dub is so much worse. But to extend the point the Japanese dub doesn't even try to pronounce any of the Chinese names they just say them in Japanese and vice versa.
On the other hand just like the Evangelion dubs there is an in-universe assumption that the languages are spoken properly. German terms are consistently used by many of the characters and while her behavior is off-putting nobody questions any of the German words Fischl uses. Except Mona but she's from Genshin France.
Side note: The names are mostly German too. Barbara for example which comes from the derogatory Roman word barbarian. Kaeya's surname Alberich is an elven king in German folklore and Klee means clover. Meanwhile the names also draw on how interconnected Germany has always been with the rest of Europe in particular Northern Europe which it would share ancestry. So surnames like Gunnhildr and Ragnvindr are old Norse.
Any German Genshin Gamers out there? What did you think of this list? And is there anything I missed?
Tips and Tricks from a Super Casual Genshin f2p
