If you were expecting to travel to Snezhnaya in Genshin Impact’s next update, you might be a little disappointed. First we need to take a detour… or even a few of them. Today HoYoverse dropped the special program for Song of the Welkin Moon VIII: Sunny Summer Fontanalia. And as the subtitle suggests, we return to Fontaine for another summer film festival.

This event answers a question that some of us definitely had after the events of the prophesied flood. “What happened to Wriothsley’s ship?” A lot of time, effort and mora went into building this thing; surely he wouldn’t leave it to rot.

It turns out he isn’t. Em vez de, they seem to have decided to turn it into a floating aquarium and are currently having it used for the filming of a film involving familiar faces from all over Teyvat. Columbina, Citlali and Charlotte all have roles. We’ll also meet Sandrone on the ship, but it seems like she’ll just stay there instead of joining in the fun.

In addition to the film portion of the (permanent) Sunny Summer Fontanalia event, there will be a side event aboard the ship where travelers will have to do a little underwater fishing and help improve the aquarium. By completing this event, players will receive Charlotte and the detective costume she wears during the event for free. Citlali also gets a new outfit, but the players have to pay for it.

So what about the second detour? Bem, the free-to-play action RPG is getting a new zone. And since this is the final version of the Welkin Moon song, it only seems to make sense that it would be the moon. Sim, we get the moon as a playable map. Apparently Columbina has been doing a lot of things up there, but something is wrong and she’s going to need our help to solve the problem.

It turns out that the dragons had plans for the moon. It makes sense, after all they created it and its sisters. There are mysterious dragon ruins and the remains of something called Project Moongazer. Players can explore a large portion of the moon, including the dark side, and even leave the moon to fly to a nearby, defunct space station. On the Moon, players can explore using a combination of the already low gravity and something called Archaeolune Energy, which manipulates gravity.

As for the new characters, the fact that Sandrone is currently relaxing on the Wingalet should be an indication that she has finally arrived. It features a new behavioral mechanic, Stellar Conduct, which turns the nearby area into a “Polestar Field” with the North Star at its center. This allows her to empower Cryo and Electric characters within the energy as well as Stellar Conduct energy.

Speaking of Stellar behavior: The coven is at work again. Magician B has appeared in Fontaine and offers readings for specific characters. Upon completion of these readings, the characters in question will receive a boost to their abilities, including abilities related to Stellar Conduct Reactions. There are seven characters doing their readings: Qigi, Mizuki, Yae Miko, Wriothesley, Cyno, Beidou, and Diona. That makes for a pretty solid team for Sandrone. If you miss any of these characters, some of them are featured in the Lightrace wish banner.

In addition to Sanrone, the update’s banners will also feature a repeat of Citlali. Luna VIII’s second banner will feature Columbina and Raiden Shogun.

Adicionalmente, HoYo has introduced a new quality of life improvement for the cutscene skippers among you. With the arrival of Luna VIII, players will be able to progress through the dialogue largely at their own pace, rather than having to wait.

Claro, the HoYo shared a few codes during the livestream: Marionette, TotheMoon and TeaPartyTime. Make sure you use them as soon as possible.

Oh sim, and one more thing. At the very end of the stream they gave us another teaser for Snezhnaya, introducing the region and some of the things that live there. If you don’t want to sit through or skim through the entire stream, we’ve listed it separately below.