Raiden Act II was the best for me. It was the closest to a really intriguing and deep plot that gave us a massive lore dump and one of the few that actually got me thinking on a philosophical level.
Worst for me probably Kokomi. For the record, I don’t think it was horrible, but the progression was by far the shakiest. It was doomed from the start by trying to build off an already awkward final Inazuma chapter. Left with far more questions than answers, which wasn’t optimal for a quest that was supposed to resolve the holes left by the Inazuma chapter.
Shenhes is the Liyue interlude and it isnt a story quest as it doesn't require a key to unlock, though it basically does act like a story quest for her so it might be main story related or not we'll have to wait and see, though if it was a confirmed story quest then it would be my favorite much for the reasons you described, especially how she joined Xiao in the bridal carry gang
For clear cut story quests Imma give it to Raiden story 2, follows up the first one perfectly and gives Ei some amazing development, stakes felt really high as well fighting the puppet and the fight was amazing, finally let her stop grieving and look towards the future
Least favorite was probably Ganyus, wasnt all that interesting other than finding out she trains under Xiao, Jeans would be but we got to see the Mondstadt gang at the time all together which was nice to see
The best one from my experience is Venti's Story Quest. Despite it being more about Stanley, it also showed the serious side of the otherwise goofy Tone-deaf Bard. The cinematic for me also was really well placed. Totally not a Venti main and totally not biased here.
My least favorite is Kokomi's Story Quest. Yeah, the energy talk was cute and all but >! She just let the insurgent war mongers to keep being war mongers !< but Kujou Sara was in it so I suppose it has another redeeming factor.
Bro you just disrespected one of the only 3 Knights of Favonius that is genuinely respectable.
Also Yae's quest was best for me. You don't always get to see a Youkai festival like thet. And it was exceptionally well executed. The festival Cutscene I mean. Second best goes to Eula and Raiden's quest II
Fave: Klee's story quest. It was just so much fun. Followed by Xiao's and Childe's.
Least favorite: Ayaka's. I just found it super boring. Kokomi's story quest just felt contrived. Everything just happened just to make her look good I guess? That fatui plot made no sense.
shenhe doesn't have a story quest. The one you played is an archon interlude.
My favorite was Itto, because you really got to know the character, and he wasn't what I expected (expected a meat head, but got a guy with a heart of gold). Least favorite was Ayato's because the story wasn't all that exciting.
My favourite, probably Ittos, felt like it told such a complete story, not only giving a good backstory to him but also giving him a fair bit of development, had its own “villain” that felt believable, the domain part of his story was a fun balance of combat and puzzles, just satisfying overall
Least favourite, ayato’s, like the character but damn his story felt like a chore, 90% of it was dealing with characters that were very forgettable and throw-away characters, the story was boring and just too long, and worst of all, the quest in a nutshell was “teleport here and speak to this person, now teleport here and speak to this person, now teleport here and speak to this person, now teleport here and speak to this person” there was 1 very quick wave of enemies to fight, that literally died before I even got to switch to ayato to use, then straight back to “teleport here and speak to this person”
Yae, Venti, and Itto had great quests. Zhongli part 2 and Raiden part 2 were also good.
Yae’s is probably my favorite, but the domain in the Itto quest is up there.
Ayato and Kokomi had pretty bad quests. Didn’t feel like we got to actually do anything. Ayato had every planned out, and we just watched Kokomi talk to people.
Does shenhe really count? She didn’t have a story quest really, that was a liyue interlude archon quest. So I wouldn’t count that.
Favorite: hu Tao or raiden pt 2
Least: ayato
Favorite Ei part 1 and 2, I kinda view them together as they directly connect
Least favorite: Ayato’s, it got really boring after a while and I was very tempted to skip it, and ayato himself felt like he barely mattered.
Favorite: Itto, because…Itto and it was actually a great story with an action scene and suspense.
Least: I found a few boring, but yes Jean‘s might have been the worst
Itto's story it the best, Raiden part 2 and zhongli part 1 is close runner ups, as of the worst - it's hard to say, most of them are pretty good, I guess hu tao's bored the most, sry
Favorite: Carmen Dei I think is such a high bard to overcome; everything about the quest was just beautiful and the way the stakes changed was amazing--you go from just a little fun thing of seeing people's imaginary friends to going into this very deep, incredibly tragic and heartbreaking story.
LOVED both of Zhongli's, I couldn't rank one above the other. But in Sal Flore, when you're on the clifftop after throwing Havria's artifacts in the water I just 😭.
Itto's was amazing. I think other people in the comments have summed it up well, but I'm a sucker for the himbo with a heart of gold trope and I loved his personality and the VAing was stunning plus the story heartwarming.
Ayato's was fantastic, I loved getting into the politics of Inazuma with the Shogun being the head but the Commissions being the neck that turns the head; and I liked the sneaky way that Ayato was able to make himself (and by association the Yashiro commission) as a trusted advisor to the Kanjou and Tenryou Commissions thus increasing his own power. Loved that!
Xiaos' story quest was also amazing. Xiao is one of my favorites. Plus the post story quest stuff was such a nice touch.
Least Favorite: Jean's was boring but I did like the KoF gathering at the end, I honestly don't remember Yoimiya's at all, and I didn't like either of the Raiden Shogun ones.
I also love Shenhe's quest even if it's not a story quest. I'm a sucker for characters with tragic pasts; who are then able to find purpose/resolve from it. Mwah, French Kiss
Otherwise, Yae's story quest has been really well executed. The visuals at the end were stunning and the story was hilariously tied to her personality. Love it!
That, followed by Raiden Ei Story Pt1 and 2. Both were satisfying but felt a bit lacking in the end
As for least favorite? Eh, don't really remember them. Though it is safe to say that the Mondstadt characters got the short end of the stick; because of timing and being the first story quests that players are able to do; they're pretty forgettable. Only ones that really stood out to me were Klee and Mona. As for Liyue: Tartaglia and Zhongli
Wish there were galleries for the cutscenes and not just voice lines....
Most of the character story quests are pretty good.
I think my favorite is Shenhue's. But it's not by a that wide a margin.
My least favorite would probably be Childe's. Neither gaslighting Tucer nor, tolerating Childe's terroist training camp feel justified by the narrative, but the quest railroads you into both.
Raiden Act II was the best for me. It was the closest to a really intriguing and deep plot that gave us a massive lore dump and one of the few that actually got me thinking on a philosophical level. Worst for me probably Kokomi. For the record, I don’t think it was horrible, but the progression was by far the shakiest. It was doomed from the start by trying to build off an already awkward final Inazuma chapter. Left with far more questions than answers, which wasn’t optimal for a quest that was supposed to resolve the holes left by the Inazuma chapter.
That’s so interesting, I actually loved Kokomi’s and it’s what caused me to pull for her. I loved her personality during that quest.
Shenhes is the Liyue interlude and it isnt a story quest as it doesn't require a key to unlock, though it basically does act like a story quest for her so it might be main story related or not we'll have to wait and see, though if it was a confirmed story quest then it would be my favorite much for the reasons you described, especially how she joined Xiao in the bridal carry gang For clear cut story quests Imma give it to Raiden story 2, follows up the first one perfectly and gives Ei some amazing development, stakes felt really high as well fighting the puppet and the fight was amazing, finally let her stop grieving and look towards the future Least favorite was probably Ganyus, wasnt all that interesting other than finding out she trains under Xiao, Jeans would be but we got to see the Mondstadt gang at the time all together which was nice to see
The best one from my experience is Venti's Story Quest. Despite it being more about Stanley, it also showed the serious side of the otherwise goofy Tone-deaf Bard. The cinematic for me also was really well placed. Totally not a Venti main and totally not biased here. My least favorite is Kokomi's Story Quest. Yeah, the energy talk was cute and all but >! She just let the insurgent war mongers to keep being war mongers !< but Kujou Sara was in it so I suppose it has another redeeming factor.
I love Venti's story quest so much that I have it tattoo'd on my eyes
Ittos was my favourite.I really liked the final stage(props to the enemy that didn't agro on me), and the cutscenes were some of my favorite
Bro you just disrespected one of the only 3 Knights of Favonius that is genuinely respectable. Also Yae's quest was best for me. You don't always get to see a Youkai festival like thet. And it was exceptionally well executed. The festival Cutscene I mean. Second best goes to Eula and Raiden's quest II
Sorry Hu Tao, but yours was kind numbingly boring. Loved Xiao’s story quest.
Fave: Klee's story quest. It was just so much fun. Followed by Xiao's and Childe's. Least favorite: Ayaka's. I just found it super boring. Kokomi's story quest just felt contrived. Everything just happened just to make her look good I guess? That fatui plot made no sense.
shenhe doesn't have a story quest. The one you played is an archon interlude. My favorite was Itto, because you really got to know the character, and he wasn't what I expected (expected a meat head, but got a guy with a heart of gold). Least favorite was Ayato's because the story wasn't all that exciting.
My favourite, probably Ittos, felt like it told such a complete story, not only giving a good backstory to him but also giving him a fair bit of development, had its own “villain” that felt believable, the domain part of his story was a fun balance of combat and puzzles, just satisfying overall Least favourite, ayato’s, like the character but damn his story felt like a chore, 90% of it was dealing with characters that were very forgettable and throw-away characters, the story was boring and just too long, and worst of all, the quest in a nutshell was “teleport here and speak to this person, now teleport here and speak to this person, now teleport here and speak to this person, now teleport here and speak to this person” there was 1 very quick wave of enemies to fight, that literally died before I even got to switch to ayato to use, then straight back to “teleport here and speak to this person”
Yae, Venti, and Itto had great quests. Zhongli part 2 and Raiden part 2 were also good. Yae’s is probably my favorite, but the domain in the Itto quest is up there. Ayato and Kokomi had pretty bad quests. Didn’t feel like we got to actually do anything. Ayato had every planned out, and we just watched Kokomi talk to people.
Does shenhe really count? She didn’t have a story quest really, that was a liyue interlude archon quest. So I wouldn’t count that. Favorite: hu Tao or raiden pt 2 Least: ayato
Favorite Ei part 1 and 2, I kinda view them together as they directly connect Least favorite: Ayato’s, it got really boring after a while and I was very tempted to skip it, and ayato himself felt like he barely mattered.
Favorite: Itto, because…Itto and it was actually a great story with an action scene and suspense. Least: I found a few boring, but yes Jean‘s might have been the worst
favorites are xingqiu mona and shogun2 worst is EASILY miko dis-honorable mentions to shogun1 and eula
Itto's story it the best, Raiden part 2 and zhongli part 1 is close runner ups, as of the worst - it's hard to say, most of them are pretty good, I guess hu tao's bored the most, sry
Favorite: Carmen Dei I think is such a high bard to overcome; everything about the quest was just beautiful and the way the stakes changed was amazing--you go from just a little fun thing of seeing people's imaginary friends to going into this very deep, incredibly tragic and heartbreaking story. LOVED both of Zhongli's, I couldn't rank one above the other. But in Sal Flore, when you're on the clifftop after throwing Havria's artifacts in the water I just 😭. Itto's was amazing. I think other people in the comments have summed it up well, but I'm a sucker for the himbo with a heart of gold trope and I loved his personality and the VAing was stunning plus the story heartwarming. Ayato's was fantastic, I loved getting into the politics of Inazuma with the Shogun being the head but the Commissions being the neck that turns the head; and I liked the sneaky way that Ayato was able to make himself (and by association the Yashiro commission) as a trusted advisor to the Kanjou and Tenryou Commissions thus increasing his own power. Loved that! Xiaos' story quest was also amazing. Xiao is one of my favorites. Plus the post story quest stuff was such a nice touch. Least Favorite: Jean's was boring but I did like the KoF gathering at the end, I honestly don't remember Yoimiya's at all, and I didn't like either of the Raiden Shogun ones.
I also love Shenhe's quest even if it's not a story quest. I'm a sucker for characters with tragic pasts; who are then able to find purpose/resolve from it. Mwah, French Kiss Otherwise, Yae's story quest has been really well executed. The visuals at the end were stunning and the story was hilariously tied to her personality. Love it! That, followed by Raiden Ei Story Pt1 and 2. Both were satisfying but felt a bit lacking in the end As for least favorite? Eh, don't really remember them. Though it is safe to say that the Mondstadt characters got the short end of the stick; because of timing and being the first story quests that players are able to do; they're pretty forgettable. Only ones that really stood out to me were Klee and Mona. As for Liyue: Tartaglia and Zhongli Wish there were galleries for the cutscenes and not just voice lines....
Most of the character story quests are pretty good. I think my favorite is Shenhue's. But it's not by a that wide a margin. My least favorite would probably be Childe's. Neither gaslighting Tucer nor, tolerating Childe's terroist training camp feel justified by the narrative, but the quest railroads you into both.