You can absolutely write a character into the story but, forcing in my face and making it mandatory to hang out with them just to move on with the story makes it not a "story" quest anymore.
So, I have been playing Genshin on and off for a bit after coming back to it years ago and I can safely say... its dull
Like, I have tried liking it for a long time but I just cannot enjoy it at all.
Care about firework girl (whatever her name was) and go to a festival with her and help her friend thing escape the island like... I don't care. Like oh boy, Collei is suffering a mysterious sickness, man just put the fries in the bag bro
After much trial and error, I have managed to reach 2.4M points in treasure trading. I bet I could reach 2.6M or higher but, that would require so much luck and well time...
I forgot to post about this years recap event and I swear I tried making Lucia my most used agent but nothing could prepare me for the horse being used 1100 times